The Structure of "Unstructured" Decision Processes

Abstract

A field study of 25 strategic decision processes, together with a review of the related empirical literature, suggests that a basic structure underlies these "unstructured" processes. This structure is described in terms of 12 elements: 3 central phases, 3 sets of supporting routines, and 6 sets of dynamic factors. This paper discusses each of these elements in turn, and then proposes a general model to describe the interrelationships among them. The 25 strategic decision processes studied are then shown to fall into 7 types of path configurations through the model.' The authors wish to express their appreciation to Richard Cyert for a number of helpful comments he made as discussant for an earlier version of this paper presented at the TIMS XX International Meeting, and to Danny Miller for his help in data analysis and his many useful suggestions.

Toward a Contingency Model of Strategic Risk Taking

“…Variance or dispersion of outcomes has also been a common surrogate for risk in both finance and psychological literature (Libby & Fishburn, 1977 (Mintzberg, Raisinghani and Theoret, 1976) and about which complete information is unavailable (Ansoff, 1965 In the past, concern with levels and types of risk has often been incorporated into the strategy formulation process in a number of simplified ways. Hertz (1979) and Hertz and Thomas (1983b) (Nickerson & Feehrer, 1975).…”

Will the application of spatial multi criteria evaluation technique enhance the quality of decision-making to resolve boundary conflicts in the Philippines?

“…A decision can be good, but at a certain stage of the procedure, the "finality of a decision" is important (Mintzberg et al, 1976). Three conditions for finality are important: documentation of decisions (e.g., memorandum of agreement -MOA), easy access to these decision documents, and the implementation of the decision (Klercker and Klercker, 1998;Masalu, 2000;Zhang et al, 2005).…”

Fleet purchase behavior: decision processes and implications for new vehicle technologies and fuels

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“…Others have shown how the importance and nature of a decision ± the complexity, novelty, scope, political rami®cations, resource commitments, and organizational consequences ± directly a ect the length of the decision process, how repetitive it is, and the number of interruptions and delays (Hickson et al, 1986;Mintzberg et al, 1976). Whenever governments promote new vehicle products and services to¯eets (and others), presumably in pursuit of social goals,¯eets treat these purchases as strategic decisions.…”

“…Mintzberg et al (1976) note that these stimuli are best represented by a continuum. At one extreme are opportunity decisions, those undertaken on a purely voluntary basis to improve a situation that is already satisfactory.…”