Strategic Decision-Making
“Rational decision-making is an impossible ideal in strategy formulation and implementation due to incomplete information and organisational politics.”
Strategy is formulated and implemented by organisations as a means of gaining competitive advantage and achieving organisational success. Frequent fast, widely supported, and high quality strategic decisions are the cornerstone of effective strategy (Eisenhardt, 1999 in Clegg et. Al, 2012). In today's world of borderless business, ever-evolving technology and rapid change, can these decisions be made rationally? Currently there are three main decision-making paradigms in the literature – rational decision-making, political decision-making and the garbage can model. Each paradigm frames the decision-making process differently and each will be discussed in turn in this essay. It will then be concluded that while rational decision-making is possible, it is only boundedly so due to incomplete information confounded by the limitations of human cognition, particularly in the fast-paced business world of today. Furthermore, while people can be individually rational, collectively this is not the case (Eisenhardt & Zbaracki, 1992) - as organisations are political systems, politics and power are often central to decision-making in the formulation and implementation of strategy.
Rational decision-making Model According to the rational decision making model, clear goals and objectives are first identified and listed in order of importance. All the alternative courses of action associated with each objective are then identified and the consequences of each action are established. Consequences are assessed against the values and objectives pursued, with the course of action that best maximises these values being the one that is chosen. This logical step-by-step approach suggests that the outcome will be maximised. It also assumes the decision maker has complete knowledge of not only all possible alternatives, but
Strategy is formulated and implemented by organisations as a means of gaining competitive advantage and achieving organisational success. Frequent fast, widely supported, and high quality strategic decisions are the cornerstone of effective strategy (Eisenhardt, 1999 in Clegg et. Al, 2012). In today's world of borderless business, ever-evolving technology and rapid change, can these decisions be made rationally? Currently there are three main decision-making paradigms in the literature – rational decision-making, political decision-making and the garbage can model. Each paradigm frames the decision-making process differently and each will be discussed in turn in this essay. It will then be concluded that while rational decision-making is possible, it is only boundedly so due to incomplete information confounded by the limitations of human cognition, particularly in the fast-paced business world of today. Furthermore, while people can be individually rational, collectively this is not the case (Eisenhardt & Zbaracki, 1992) - as organisations are political systems, politics and power are often central to decision-making in the formulation and implementation of strategy.
Rational decision-making Model According to the rational decision making model, clear goals and objectives are first identified and listed in order of importance. All the alternative courses of action associated with each objective are then identified and the consequences of each action are established. Consequences are assessed against the values and objectives pursued, with the course of action that best maximises these values being the one that is chosen. This logical step-by-step approach suggests that the outcome will be maximised. It also assumes the decision maker has complete knowledge of not only all possible alternatives, but
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