Influences on strategic decision effectiveness: Development and test of an integrative model

Abstract

This paper draws upon three broad perspectives on the strategic decision-making process in order to develop a more completely specified model of strategic decision effectiveness in a different context, namely Egypt. The key variables in this model consist of three strategic decisionmaking process dimensions (rationality, intuition, and political behavior); seven moderating variables concerning decision-specific, environmental, and organizational factors; and strategic decision effectiveness as an outcome variable. A two-stage study was conducted in which the first stage provided exploratory insights and the second stage investigated hypotheses on the impact of strategic decision-making process dimensions on strategic decision effectiveness and the moderating role of broader contextual variables. The second-stage study produced three major findings: (1) both rational and political processes appear to have more influence on strategic decision effectiveness than does intuition; (2) strategic decision effectiveness is both process-and context-specific; and (3) certain results support the 'culture-free' argument, while others support the 'culture-specific' argument.

When Experts Become Liabilities: Domain Experts on Boards and Organizational Failure

“…A crucial feature of our contingency perspective is that it does not simply posit an automatic relationship between the proportion of domain experts and organizational failure. Rather, it specifies the boundaries of our core hypothesis and emphasizes the theoretical importance of decision uncertainty (Elbanna & Child, 2007) for influencing the extent to which board composition matters for organizational outcomes. Thus, this perspective contributes to the literature on board composition by clarifying the conditions under which the professional makeup of boards matters the most.…”

“…Specifically, we argue that these detrimental mechanisms are more likely to surface under greater decision uncertainty. Identified in prior work as a critical factor that affects strategic decision making, decision uncertainty is high when outcomes are difficult to predict and information about relevant cause-and-effect relationships is limited or ambiguous-such as when decision makers cannot easily anticipate the consequences of their investments or the strategic moves of competitors (Beach & Mitchell, 1978;Dean & Sharfman, 1993;Elbanna & Child, 2007;Papadakis, Lioukas, & Chambers, 1998). Decision uncertainty often arises from the environment and the activities of the focal organization (Leblebici & Salancik, 1981).…”

“…To address this question, we build on prior research on domain experts and decision-making groups (Forbes & Milliken, 1999;Furr et al, 2012) to develop the argument that the relationship between the proportion of domain experts on a board and the risk of organizational failure is contingent on the level of decision uncertainty (Elbanna & Child, 2007). We suggest that when decision uncertainty is greater, the potential negative characteristics of domain expert-heavy boards-cognitive entrenchment, overconfidence, and limited task conflictare more likely to be influential and undermine effective strategic decision making.…”

How Does Investment Climate and Business Environment Impact Firms’ Efficiency in a Post-Conflict Setting? Evidence from Democratic Republic of Congo

“…For example, Rajagopalan et al (1993) argue that organizations in munificent environments are less likely to be penalised for poor decisions than those in hostile environments; thus, decision processes which are suited to munificent environments may be inappropriate for less munificent ones. Elbanna and Child (2007) and McArthur and Nystrom (1991) demonstrate that the level of environmental hostility-munificence was a significant predictor of the relationship between the strategy process and organizational outcomes. Miller and Friesen (1983) report a positive relationship between environmental hostility and the degree of analysis in the strategy process.…”

Academic library directors’ strategic decision-making process

“…In addition, it is also believed that the decision-making process is also influenced by cultural background as well as decision-specific characteristics (Elbanna and Child, 2007). Decision-specific characteristics are decision's familiarity; complexity; magnitude of impact; threat/crisis or opportunity; risky decisions; and decision type (Nooraie, 2012).…”