Strategic Decision Making

Business executives are faced with complex decisions in an increasingly turbulent world due to globalization of markets and rapid technological change. For example, how do they respond to new competition or to shifts in demand due to innovative new technologies? Most research suggests that decision makers in complex situations under time pressure bypass deliberate, rational analysis and depend on their intuition or cognitive shortcuts such as scripts and schemas. Based on a study of 19 oil company CEOs, this paper argues that successful executives manage complex decisions, not by substituting intuition for rational analysis, but by combining them in two iterative processes: 1) integration by essentials (IBE) and 2) spiraling. IBE entails identifying fundamental cause-effect relationships and forming and using guiding principles based on such relationships. IBE governs intuitive (subconscious) storage and retrieval of all the relevant knowledge bearing on a decision. This allows spiraling, or rapid evaluation of the decision alternatives. Spiraling involves zooming in on the most feasible alternative with the help of the identified principles, and using the principles to test and adjust the decision before committing to it. Empirically based descriptions of these processes shed light on the way managers can cope with complex decisions under time pressure while guarding against cognitive biases. Besides the processes of IBE and spiraling, the main guiding principles used by the CEOs, and three thinking-related traits shared by the effective CEOs—focus, motivation and self-awareness—are also described. Implications for effective decision making and further research are discussed.

The Data Warehouse techniques for powered strategic decision-making information are dominating the companies attention since the 1990s. The healthcare organizations, including the public healthcare organizations, are adopting this technology to achieve the better efficiency in the health management. The objective of this work is to present a Data Warehouse project for the management of the public health. The Data Warehouse will supply the Health Secretary of São Paulo with strategic information through the integration from several isolated data sources. This Paper details the methodology and strategy adopted for the project, the used tools, the challenges and the solutions. The conclusion show the success in the implementation of the first part of project and stimulate the continuity of the project. The experience obtained with the implementation of the data warehouse showed by this work, can be used to similar projects in the health care organizations.

This study examined the mediating role of task complexity in the relationship between core self-evaluations (CSE) and satisfaction. In Study 1, eighty three undergraduate business students worked on a strategic decision-making simulation. The simulated environment enabled ...

The research examines the moderating effect of environmental unpredictability on the relationships of two supply chain information technologies (IT) on operational and financial performance. The results show that the greater the environmental unpredictability, the weaker the effect of B2B e-commerce that integrates the firm with supply chain members on operational and financial performance. In contrast, the greater the environmental unpredictability, the stronger the effect of supply chain analytic IT that fosters operational and strategic decision-making on operational and financial performance.

This paper contrasts strategic decision making styles in Britain, Germany, the USA and Japan, first by reviewing contextual and cultural differences, and secondly through an analysis of 78 strategic investment decisions taken by 71 motor component manufacturers in the ...

Competitive computer gaming or eSports is a phenomenon that has become a fundamental element in today's digital youth culture. So far very little effort has been made to study eSports in particular with respect to its potentials to positively influence research developments in other areas. This paper therefore tries to lay a foundation for a proper academic treatment of eSports. It presents a short overview on the history of eSports, provides a definition that is suitable for academic studies on eSports related issues and discusses first approaches to this topic that might lead to results that are applicable to problems in seemingly unrelated fields such as strategic decision making or management training.

Sarel LAVY 1 and Igal M. SHOHET 2 1 Department of Construction Science, College of Architecture, Texas A&M University, 422A Langford, 3137 TAMU, College Station, Texas 77843-3137, USA E-mail: slavy@archmail.tamu.edu 2 Division of Construction ...

Business intelligence (BI) is a strategic approach for systematically targeting, tracking, communicating and transforming relevant weak signs1The authors use the concept of weak sign instead of ‘weak signal’ as proposed by Ansoff, 1975 because they feel the word ‘signal’ implies greater quantitative measurability. However, authors continue to use it for the same purpose.1 into actionable information on which strategic decision-making

This work aims to predict the evolution in freezing processes due to climate change during the 21st century and the potential damage to historic structures and archaeological remains in Europe. We have developed a range of techniques to convert climate data into parameters related to the freeze-thaw processes and study their progression within the A2 scenario using the Hadley HadCM3 Model , from 1961 to 2099. Freezing and thawing is important because it represents a process where a phase change occurs at an exact temperature. A few degrees change in temperature or small percentages change in precipitation amount do not initially seem to present a threat to materials. However, freeze-thaw events occur at fixed temperature, so the effects of small temperature changes can be amplified. Our results suggest that much of temperate Europe will see a significantly reduced incidence of freezing in the future. This should mean that porous stone typically used in the monuments of temperate areas may be less vulnerable to frost damage in the future. Warmer temperatures in the far north look set to affect archaeological sites that have been preserved in the permafrost. These changes may also affect the foundations of structures and induce landslides. Exploring the range of possible changes allows us to contemplate appropriate contingencies and support strategic decision making by heritage managers.

In the era of the 21st century, the best higher education institutions have more than one role. Not only do they educate and train students but they also create new ideas and knowledge for the short-term contemporary issues as well as long-term complex problems. In the strategic goals, five aspects are critical in higher education: the democratization of knowledge and access, the contestability of the market and funding, the research technologies, the global mobility and the integration with the industry. Universities should have strategic plans including strategic goals. In this study, the strategic models and plans of the public (5) and private (5) universities are analysed from the five different aspects. In order to deeply understand the dynamics at these universities, the phenomenological interpretive analysis is preferred. University leaders
and managerial departments should consider market needs and do strategic plan accordingly. Hence, they should develop the strategic thinking capacity of both their academic staff and researchers for short and long terms need of the industry. Results have shown that most universities have wrong perception regarding the strategic model and plan. Neither private nor public universities possess enough knowledge on the subject.
Keywords: Higher education, university and industry partnership, strategic model and planning, higher education management, financing of higher education.

Wright and Goodwin (2002) maintain that, in terms of experimental design and ecological validity, Hodgkinson et al. (1999) failed to demonstrate either that the framing bias is likely to be of salience in strategic decision making, or that causal cognitive mapping provides an effective means of limiting the damage accruing from this bias. In reply, we show that there is ample evidence to support both of our original claims. Moreover, using Wright and Goodwin's own data set, we demonstrate that our studies did in fact attain appropriate levels of ecological validity, and that their proposed alternative to causal cognitive mapping, a decision tree approach, is far from ‘simpler.’ Wright and Goodwin's approach not only fails to eliminate the framing bias—it leads to confusion. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Parties that are involved in an infrastructure project under public–private partnership (PPP) procurement system typically have different perceptions of proper risk allocation. Consequently, disputes may arise between those parties thus reducing the chances for the project’s success. Moreover, PPP projects are generally challenged with both project management problems which require day-to-day supervision (short-term) as well as partnership problems which require more of a strategic approach (long-term). Consequently, PPP projects can be considered to have governance concerns because they deal with monitoring and overseeing strategic direction as well as strategic decision-making.This research is conducted to discover the perception of proper risk allocation of each party involved and utilises the findings as the foundation to develop the concept of good project governance. Accordingly, this concept will perform as a mean to achieve proper risk allocation in tollway projects that are developed under PPP procurement system which would enhance the project’s performance. A case study research on a tollway project in Indonesia is carried out for this purpose and the preliminary results of the analysis are presented in this paper.

Like understanding that stylistic differences exist between mathematicians and accountants, management scholars care about cognitive styles because they help explain why managers with the same skill set and level of ability make different decisions. Top managers' ...

There is no doubt that strategic management tools and techniques are important parts of the strategic management process. Their use in organizations should be observed in a practice-based context. This paper analyzes the empirical studies on the usage of strategic management tools and techniques. Hence, the main aim of this study is to investigate and analyze which enterprises, according to their country development level, use more strategic management tools and techniques and which of these are used the most. Also, this paper investigates which strategic management tools and techniques are used globally according to the results of empirical studies. The study presents a summary of empirical studies for the period 1990–2015. The research results indicate that more strategic tools and techniques are used in developed countries, followed by developing countries and fewest in countries in transition. This study is likely to contribute to the field of strategic management because it summarizes the most used strategic tools and techniques at the global level according to varying stages of countries’ economic development. Also, the findings from this study may be utilized to maximize the full potential of enterprises and reduce the cases of entrepreneurship failures, through creating awareness of the importance of using strategic management tools and techniques.

This paper is one of the few studies to review the empirical literature on strategic management tools and techniques usage. There are many techniques, tools, and methods, models, frameworks, approaches, and methodologies, available to support strategic managers in decision making. They are developed and designed to support managers in all stages of strategic management process to achieve better performance. Management schools provide knowledge of these tools. But their use in organizations should be seen in practice‑based context. Consequently, some questions arise: Do they use these strategic tools and techniques in their workplace? Which strategic tools and techniques are used more in organizations? To answer these questions we have made a review of empirical studies using textual narrative synthesis method. Initially, this study presents a tabulation with a summary of empirical research for the period 1990–2015. The included studies are organized clustering them by enterprise size and sector and by country level development. A synopsis of the ten most used strategic tools and techniques worldwide resulted as follows: SWOT analysis, benchmarking, PEST analysis, " what if " analysis, vision and mission statements, Porter's five forces analysis, business financial analysis, key success factors analysis, cost‑benefit analysis and customer satisfaction.

Despite the central place of rationality and political behavior in the decision-making literature, we know little about the relationship between these two dimensions. Can decisions be made using both rational and political methods, or must managers use one approach or the other? These questions were addressed in a study of 61 strategic decisions in 24 companies using a multiple-informant, structured interview protocol. Results indicate that procedural rationality and political behavior are independent dimensions of the strategic decision-making process. The implications of our findings for future strategic decision-making research are discussed.