Modelo

mental model
See Also
Definition
Mental models are images, representations, or schemes of how we perceive and understand the world around us. Like all models, mental models are abstractions of reality. The model is less complex than the real world. No matter how well constructed, all models are wrong in some context or time. As the economy evolves, the mental models that were once successful become outdated. Therefore, refreshing the mental model of organization leaders is a chief requirement of a strategic management competency.
See the related term schema.
""The ideas and beliefs we use to guide our actions. We use them to explain cause and effect as we see them, and to give meaning to our experience"" (O'Connor, 1997).
Mental models encompass all the beliefs that individuals hold about what drives success in their industry. It is the prevailing dogmas or orthodoxies about what customers to serve, what those customers want, how to price, how to organize, which distribution channels to use and so on (Hamel, 2002).
Importance of explicitly identifying mental models --
The danger of mental models is that if they go undefined they go unrecognized. A mental model unrecognized is a mental trap, a trap that prevents further learning. For example, if mental models of organization structure had not been challenged over time, all businesses today might resemble the strict hierarchy of Henry Ford from the early 1900s. It was Alfred Sloan's questioning of that model that led to GMs divisional model. Many other variations on organizations have continued to evolve over time.
The lack of mental models is just as much a problem as having the wrong mental model. The lack of mental model makes all stimuli a priori equal. The decision maker without mental models to apply is overwhelmed.
Mental models vs. business models (Hamel, 2000, pp 136) --
To redesign business models, the mental models must first be exposed and challenged. Mental models form from and reinforce