Information acceleration to improve strategic management decisions

2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (7) ◽  
pp. 1560-1580 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heike Proff ◽  
Thomas M. Fojcik
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Strategic Management ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Top Management Teams ◽  
Sufficient Information ◽  
Market Uncertainty ◽  
Management Decisions ◽  
Technical Problems ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sales Revenue

Purpose – Really new products (RNP) run the risk not only of technical problems in the development process, but also of problems with customer acceptance. Because market uncertainty in particular is frequently high, many top management teams defer essential management decisions on these products until sufficient information is available to be able to make a sound decision. In many cases, however, the market is already been divided up by that time. The purpose of this paper is to examine how better information about customers can be acquired by providing them with a better offering of information which has been prepared in a variety of forms (“information acceleration”) and how management decisions can be improved as a result. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on modern models for decision making under uncertainty that incorporate group decisions, and shows how the measurement of purchasing behavior can be improved by information acceleration in a test studio. This is needed because customers generally cannot draw on mentally established analogies in the case of RNP, so that they are virtually unable to make meaningful statements that would improve strategic management decisions when completing standard customer surveys. A test studio was set up in the form of a Car Clinic for the example of a future electric vehicle as a RNP. 121 customers were to be offered a wide variety of information (about the future urban environment, the design of the vehicle concept and the driver’s experience), partly in order to acquire information about the customers. In particular, the extent to which customers could better evaluate their purchasing probability and willingness to pay certain prices and the extent to which the variance of customer opinions was reduced after attending the Car Clinic were examined, because these factors make it easier to forecast future sales revenue and management decisions can be made more easily. Findings – The results reveal that information acceleration in a test studio can improve the estimation of sales revenue in an early decision-making phase and can have a positive influence on decision-making behavior under uncertainty. Originality/value – This study provides an empirical, valuable step toward an investigation of management decisions on RNP under uncertainty.

Does gender specific decision making exist?

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
María del Mar Alonso-Almeida ◽  
Kerstin Bremser
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Leadership Development ◽  
Strategic Management ◽  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Geographic Area ◽  
Strategic Choices ◽  
Management Decisions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Managerial Decisions ◽  
Travel Agencies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore management decisions during the ongoing financial crisis from a gender perspective. Design/methodology/approach – An empirical analysis was conducted using a sample of 132 personal surveys involving managers of independent small travel agencies. Findings were extracted using a logistic regression analysis. Findings – This paper finds some significant gender differences in strategic management decisions in crisis times and in strategic choices. Nevertheless, no differences were found in organizational performance. Research limitations/implications – The research covers travel agencies in Madrid, Spain. Thus, findings might be restricted to this specific sector or geographic area. Practical implications – The findings provide useful empirical evidence for leadership development and strategic management that will enhance leadership effectiveness from a gender viewpoint and facilitate advances in women business management theory. Originality/value – This paper compares strategic managerial decisions in crisis times from a gender viewpoint and analyzes their impact on performance. According to our knowledge no study has currently been found that analyzes decision making in companies led by women and contrasts their actions to those taken by men faced with an identical situation.

Perceived organizational support, participation in decision making, and perceived insider status for contract workers

2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 413-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cherng G. Ding ◽  
Chih-Kang Shen
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Organizational Support ◽  
Perceived Organizational Support ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Hierarchical Regression ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Contract Workers ◽  
Perceived Insider Status ◽  
Participation In Decision Making

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the roles of perceived organizational support (POS) and work status (regular worker/contract worker) in moderating the relationship between participation in decision making (PDM) and perceived insider status (PIS). Design/methodology/approach Data were collected with survey questionnaires that were administered to a sample of 369 employees from a case company in Taiwan, for which both regular and contract workers constitute the main workforce. After confirming the reliability and validity of the measurements, the authors conducted hierarchical regression analysis to examine the hypothesized relationships. Findings The mean PIS for regular workers is smaller than that for contract workers in the case company. For the group of contract workers, the positive influence of PDM on PIS is greater for those with lower POS than for those with higher POS. However, the negative moderating effect of POS does not exist for the group of regular workers. Originality/value This study adds to the existing literature by showing that contract workers, classified as external workers, can experience PIS, and that POS negatively moderates the positive relationship between PDM and PIS for contract workers. The managerial implications are discussed.

Top management team international experience and strategic decision-making

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akbar Azam ◽  
Cristina Boari ◽  
Fabiola Bertolotti
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Top Management Team ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
International Experience ◽  
Top Management Teams ◽  
Management Team ◽  
Strategic Decision ◽  
Strategic Decision Making ◽  
Top Management ◽  
Content Type

Purpose This study aims to explore the influence of top management team international experience on international strategic decision-making rationality and, subsequently, its effect on decision effectiveness (decision performance). Design/methodology/approach This analysis is based on survey data of small- and medium-sized international Pakistani firms operating in the IT industry. Findings Results show that top management team international experience is positively related to international strategic decision-making rationality, and the latter partially mediates the international experience – decision effectiveness relationship. Research limitations/implications The study is based on data collected from a single industry and focuses on an international decision that occurred within a time-frame of previous four years. Practical implications Findings suggest that international firms, when composing their top management teams, should favor the inclusion of internationally experienced managers. Originality/value The study of the influence of international experience on the decision-making process in general and decision-making rationality in particular has been largely neglected in extant literature. This paper highlights one way through which the international experience of the top management team as a whole relates to the effectiveness of international decisions. The paper also advances emergent managerial cognition literature focusing on the top management team and not individual decision makers.

YC Company: decreasing profit margin in overseas market

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Zhuo Jun ◽  
Huang Yingrui ◽  
Li Lele ◽  
Mark J. Greeven
Keyword(s):  
Strategic Management ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
Profit Margin ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Postgraduate Students ◽  
Sales Revenue ◽  
Management Students ◽  
Rate Of Profit

Subject area Strategic management. Study level/applicability This case is suitable for graduate students, postgraduate students and MBAs. Case overview YC Company is a foreign trade SME operating in the lighting fixtures export business in Ningbo City, a major outdoor lighting products manufacturing base in mainland China. Established by Li Lele in 2008, the sales revenue and gross profit of YC Company have been increasing every year, reaching $ 4.06 million and ¥ 1.00 million, respectively, by the end of 2011. However, the growth rate of profit lagged far behind the growth of sales revenue. If this situation were not controlled, YC Company would hardly survive in this increasingly competitive market. Li Lele, the CEO of the company, was trying to find a way to enlarge the profit margin. Expected learning outcomes This case lets students learn more about strategic management. Students are expected to learn: how to precisely identify and map a problem; and how to select a better solution by analyzing the context and using some strategic analysis tools, such as Porter's Five Power, Smile Curve, SWOT. In the learning process, students are expected to acquire a better knowledge of some strategic management theory/method, international business, the condition of small and medium trading companies in China. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email [email protected] to request teaching notes.

Decision making in creating the world's first smartphone

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Virginia Cha
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Product Development ◽  
Technology Management ◽  
New Product Development ◽  
Manufacturing Industry ◽  
New Product ◽  
Future Market ◽  
Market Uncertainty ◽  
Content Type ◽  
New Generation

TitleDecision making in creating the world's first smartphoneSubject areaEntrepreneurship, Technology management and new product development.Study level/applicabilityThis class is useable for an EMBA or MBA audience, especially for modules relating to entrepreneurship, technology management and new product development.Case overviewMr Khaw Kheng Joo was a pioneer in Singapore's high‐technology manufacturing industry. In the mid‐1990s, Khaw was given the difficult task of establishing a presence for Hewlett‐Packard (HP) in the handheld Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) market. However, he believed that the PDA was not the game‐changing technology for consumers.Using his knowledge of the Bell Curve and years of entrepreneurial experience, Khaw sought to combine PDA functionalities with the Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) technology, effectively creating a new generation of mobile device fondly known today as the “smartphone”.The journey towards the finished product was met with several obstacles and barriers. Many colleagues were uncertain of the future market and had difficulty agreeing on which features to focus on. However, through his determination, expertise and decision making in uncertainty, Khaw guided his team to eventually launch the impressive HP Jornada 928, the world's first smartphone, and heralded a new generation of mobile devices.Expected learning outcomesThis case is designed to be useable in teaching three key knowledge disciplines:Decision‐making biases and heuristics in entrepreneurs and innovators. Technology diffusion of new technology. Managing market uncertainty.Supplementary materialsTeaching notes.

Relationship between competitive strategy and construction organisation performance

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (9) ◽  
pp. 2340-2366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luqman Oyekunle Oyewobi ◽  
Abimbola Olukemi Windapo ◽  
James Olabode Bamidele Rotimi ◽  
Richard Ajayi Jimoh
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Strategic Management ◽  
Competitive Strategy ◽  
Management Style ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Organisational Performance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the possible moderating role of organisational characteristics (organisational structure, management style and decision-making style) in the relationship between strategy and organisational performance among large construction organisations in South Africa. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted a quantitative research approach using a questionnaire survey to obtain data from 72 large construction organisations in South Africa. Using hierarchical multiple regression, the paper examines the relationship between the constructs discussed in the study. Findings The internal characteristics of the organisation form the vital basis for achieving optimal performance. The results obtained from the analysis revealed that decision-making style directly influences the measure of organisational effectiveness, while it could also be inferred that organisational characteristics partly moderate the relationship between competitive strategy and organisational performance. The findings indicate that internal characteristics is one of the means through which organisational strategic factors and contextual aspects are organised to achieve greater organisational performance levels. Originality/value The findings have theoretical implications for strategic management literature in construction as it extends the scope of research on strategic management from assessing a set of individual management practices to evaluating a complex mechanism that connects internal characteristics and competitive advantage. It is believed that this study will contribute positively to the role of organisational characteristics in the competitive strategy-performance relationships in large construction organisations in South Africa and to the ongoing discussion on emerging strategic management issues in construction.

Untangling self-reinforcing processes in managerial decision making. Co-evolving heuristics?

2014 ◽  
Vol 52 (5) ◽  
pp. 934-949 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gianpaolo Abatecola
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Organizational Change ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Top Management Teams ◽  
Managerial Decision ◽  
Managerial Decision Making ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
Behavioural Strategy ◽  
Conceptual Paper

Purpose – Over the last 30 years, specific investigations into self-reinforcing processes in managerial decision making have been gaining momentum within the mainstream literature of management. However, to date, it is claimed that understanding these processes properly still requires additional research efforts. Thus, the purpose of this conceptual paper is to follow this claim. Design/methodology/approach – The paper tries to inform the conversation about self-reinforcing processes in managerial decision making through adopting lenses drawing from the biological philosophy of organizational change. In particular, the co-evolutionary approach to organizational change, with a focus on CEOs, and/or top management teams (TMT), is adopted. Findings – As its core contribution, the paper proposes that self-reinforcing processes in the CEOs/TMTs’ decision making can occur because of the emergence (and subsequent consolidation) of co-evolving heuristics. On this basis, the paper also prospect potential avenues for future integrations in this field. Originality/value – As the paper concludes, advancing the general understanding of self-reinforcing processes in managerial decision making can represent an important opportunity for the research and practice of management in general, but also for some management sub-domains, such as that of behavioural strategy, in particular.

Challenges of, and techniques for, materiality determination of non-financial information used by integrated report preparers

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
A.M.I. Lakshan ◽  
Mary Low ◽  
Charl de Villiers
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Value Creation ◽  
Financial Information ◽  
Institutional Isomorphism ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Sufficient Information ◽  
Integrated Reporting ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Material Information

Purpose The international integrated reporting framework encourages organisations to disclose material information that affects their ability to create value. This paper aims to investigate the challenges and techniques preparers of integrated reports use to determine the materiality of non-financial information. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses an exploratory interpretive thematic analysis and an archival research approach. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with 55 integrated reporting (IR) preparers in 12 publicly listed companies, supported by the perusal of the companies’ integrated annual reports over a three-year period. Findings IR preparers find materiality determination for non-financial information challenging. This study found that preparers convert challenges into opportunities by using materiality disclosures as image-enhancing marketing tools, which causes concerns regarding weak accountability and a deviation from the International Integrated Reporting Council’s objective of improving information quality. This study found that IR preparers use various techniques in conjunction to determine materiality levels, as well as whether to disclose non-financial information in their integrated reports. The institutional isomorphism lens used in the study highlighted the issues IR preparers faced in their determined efforts of IR materiality levels under mimetic and normative isomorphism pressures. Research limitations/implications The challenges and techniques identified can contribute to the development of a framework for materiality level determination for non-financial information. Practical implications Regulators who are concerned with ensuring sufficient information to improve investor decision-making will be interested in the techniques IR preparers use to determine materiality levels for non-financial information, to improve their regulations and frameworks. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature regarding challenges with materiality level determination in integrated reports and techniques used by IR preparers. The application of an institutional isomorphism lens led to greater insight and understanding of IR preparers’ challenges and techniques in materiality determination. This paper makes a number of significant contributions to the IR literature. First, it identifies the usefulness of material information for decision-making and the influence stakeholders have on the materiality determination of non-financial information, which have not been mentioned in the prior literature. Second, the literature is silent on how organisations relate materiality to value creation for the purposes of determining the materiality content of an integrated report; this research provides empirical evidence of the use of value creation criteria in materiality determination. Third, the study highlights that materiality is a combination of efforts that involves everyone in an organisation. Further, the strategy should be linked to IR and preparers have indicated that integrated thinking is required for materiality determination.

Supporting strategic management decisions

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeeshan Mirza
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Strategic Management ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Reading Time ◽  
Knowledge Visualization ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Digital Twin ◽  
Twin System ◽  
Pertinent Information ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings Knowledge visualization with a strategic digital twin system can help optimize a firms decision making. Originality The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

MAKING STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT DECISIONS IN THE DIGITAL ECONOMY

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 1362-1374
Author(s):  
M.S. Faskhutdinova ◽  
◽  
N.B. Larionova ◽  
I.A. Lavrentyeva ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Strategic Management ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Digital Economy ◽  
Strategic Decision ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Management Decisions ◽  
Direct Production ◽  
Wide Range

The article discusses the development of a strategic management solution, which is one of the most important management processes; its efficiency determines the success of the business. The decision-making process is very difficult. There are many different subtleties in it that are well known to professional managers. Therefore, a strategic decision includes a deliberate conclusion concerning the need to take actions, or refrain from them, related to achieving the goals of the organization and overcoming the problems it faces. This is a process of choosing from a variety of alternatives the most preferable one for solving the problem. Each organization wishing to achieve the intended goal will be engaged in the development of strategic management decisions; and in each organization the practice of developing and making these decisions will have its own characteristics, determined by the nature and specifics of its activities, its organizational structure and internal culture. Modern enterprise is distinguished by the scale of activity, its separation from the direct production process or the provision of services. Nevertheless, there is always something in common that is characteristic of any decision-making process. This is what shapes the design and decision-making technology used in any organization. Only in this case it will be possible to obtain and achieve: clearly structured, interrelated and balanced strategic documents; a system of indicators built into logical multi-level structures that correspond to the structure of the development strategy; modeling forecasts using computational models, involving a wide range of specialists; reverse analysis of an unfulfilled or exceeded indicator, including public and professional monitoring of the consequences and violations; details of both available strategy elements and related indicators; simplified integration of an economic asset into a strategy, both for planning and in terms of obtaining feedback on the implementation of adopted programs and projects. Digital technologies are driving global changes in the business environment. The newest digital economy today is constructed on significantly different rules than the traditional economy. Entrepreneurship is forced to develop and adapt in an environment that includes an ever changing environment that stands and adapts the business to dynamically changing conditions at a strategic and tactical level. In the digital economy, its main factors are: data in digital form, their processing and use in large volumes - this is an economic activity that can increase efficiency, quality and efficiency in various types of production, technologies, equipment. It is based on the production of high-tech business structures, electronic products and services, and the sale of these products through e-commerce, which has become and will be possible thanks to applied informatics.

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