Does Decision Making Make a Difference? Patterns of Change Within Canadian National Sport Organizations

1995 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa M. Kikulis ◽  
Trevor Slack ◽  
Bob Hinings

The theoretical rationale underpinning this study was that decision making structures are tightly coupled to the core values of organizations and thus have a high impact on organizational design change. Taking a fine-grained approach to the analysis of decision making, the purpose of this study was to determine whether amateur sport organizations have shifted away from the dominant paradigm of volunteer-led decision making in favor of professional staff authority and autonomy over strategic decisions. Data from a population of 36 Canadian national sport organizations were used to show that changes in decision making have occurred. However, the shift in control from volunteers to professionals has not been established. In addition, change in decision making varied according to the direction of change, the decision making dimension, and the decision topic.

1988 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon A. Olafson ◽  
Dennis W. Hastings

This paper examines the effect of personal style on the administrative behavior of executive directors of sports governing bodies. Seventy-two executive directors from the National Sport and Recreation Centre in Ottawa and the Ontario Sport Administrative Centre in Toronto completed surveys designed to describe personal style (Personal Style Inventory) and administrative behavior (Leadership Behavior Description Questionnaire). Statistical analysis revealed significant differences in behavior based on personal style. The best model of prediction included the behavioral variables of representation, reconciliation, structure, tolerance of freedom, consideration, and predictive accuracy. The results of this study support the hypothesis put forward by Kilmann and Herden (1976) that a person’s behavior in a decision-making role may be a reflection of personal style. These findings suggest that it may be important to understand the contribution of personal style to the decision-making process. Further, this may be a helpful exercise in understanding administrators in many organizations and, particularly as it pertains to this study, in volunteer sport organizations.


Author(s):  
Mathew Dowling ◽  
James Denison ◽  
Marvin Washington

<p>This article explores the consequences of modernization on the policy-making processes of a singular National Sport Organization: Athletics Canada. In drawing upon the works of Green and Houlihan (2005) as a baseline comparison we examine how the organizations’ policy-making processes have changed over a 10-year period (2002-2012). Specifically, our analysis focuses on the nature and extent of these intra-organizational policy-related changes and how they have influenced the organizations’ decision-making capabilities. The descriptive analysis is informed by empirical data collected from eight in-depth semi-structured interviews with senior Athletics Canada personnel and concentrates on three inter-related themes (i) the development and prioritization of OTP-funded policies and programs; and (ii) the development and prioritization of evidence-based policies and programs, which, in turn, has resulted in (iii) increased inter-organizational relationship strain between Athletics Canada and its key delivery partners. More broadly, our investigation contributes to recent amateur sport scholarship that has sought to better understand how these broader socio-political shifts have influenced the specific decision-making processes of sport organizations.</p>


Author(s):  
Robin Markwica

In coercive diplomacy, states threaten military action to persuade opponents to change their behavior. The goal is to achieve a target’s compliance without incurring the cost in blood and treasure of military intervention. Coercers typically employ this strategy toward weaker actors, but targets often refuse to submit and the parties enter into war. To explain these puzzling failures of coercive diplomacy, existing accounts generally refer to coercers’ perceived lack of resolve or targets’ social norms and identities. What these approaches either neglect or do not examine systematically is the role that emotions play in these encounters. The present book contends that target leaders’ affective experience can shape their decision-making in significant ways. Drawing on research in psychology and sociology, the study introduces an additional, emotion-based action model besides the traditional logics of consequences and appropriateness. This logic of affect, or emotional choice theory, posits that target leaders’ choice behavior is influenced by the dynamic interplay between their norms, identities, and five key emotions, namely fear, anger, hope, pride, and humiliation. The core of the action model consists of a series of propositions that specify the emotional conditions under which target leaders are likely to accept or reject a coercer’s demands. The book applies the logic of affect to Nikita Khrushchev’s decision-making during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 and Saddam Hussein’s choice behavior in the Gulf conflict in 1990–91, offering a novel explanation for why coercive diplomacy succeeded in one case but not in the other.


Author(s):  
R. A. W. Rhodes

The core executive is a new concept replacing the conventional debate about the power of the prime minister and the Cabinet. It refers to all those organizations and procedures that coordinate central government policies, and act as final arbiters of conflict between different parts of the government machine. In brief, the ‘core executive’ is the heart of the machine. The chapter reviews the several approaches to studying the British executive: prime ministerial government; prime ministerial cliques; Cabinet government; ministerial government; segmented decision-making; and bureaucratic coordination. It then discusses several ways forward by developing new theory and methods. The Afterword discusses the core executive as interlocking networks, and the fluctuating patterns of executive politics.


Author(s):  
Kasey Barr ◽  
Alex Mintz

This chapter examines the effect of group dynamics on the 2016 decision within the administration of President Barack Obama to lead the international coalition in a mission to liberate Raqqa, Syria, from the Islamic State. The authors show that whereas the groupthink syndrome characterized the decision-making process of the US-led coalition’s decision to attack Raqqa, it was polythink that characterized the decision-making dynamics both in the US-led coalition and within the inner circle of Obama’s own foreign policy advisors. Through case-study analysis, the authors illustrate that groupthink is more likely in strategic decisions, whereas polythink is more likely in tactical decisions.


2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 226-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Said Elbanna ◽  
Ioannis C. Thanos ◽  
Vassilis M. Papadakis

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to enhance the knowledge of the antecedents of political behaviour. Whereas political behaviour in strategic decision-making (SDM) has received sustained interest in the literature, empirical examination of its antecedents has been meagre. Design/methodology/approach – The authors conducted a constructive replication to examine the impact of three layers of context, namely, decision, firm and environment, on political behaviour. In Study 1, Greece, we gathered data on 143 strategic decisions, while in Study 2, Egypt, we collected data on 169 strategic decisions. Findings – The evidence suggests that both decision-specific and firm factors act as antecedents to political behaviour, while environmental factors do not. Practical implications – The findings support enhanced practitioner education regarding political behaviour and provide practitioners with a place from which to start by identifying the factors which might influence the occurrence of political behaviour in SDM. Originality/value – The paper fills important gaps in the existing research on the influence of context on political behaviour and delineates interesting areas for further research.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abbasali Ebrahimian ◽  
Seyed-Hossein Hashemi-Amrei ◽  
Mohammadreza Monesan

Introduction. Appropriate decision-making is essential in emergency situations; however, little information is available on how emergency decision-makers decide on the emergency status of the patients shifted to the emergency department of the hospital. This study aimed at explaining the factors that influence the emergency specialists’ decision-making in case of emergency conditions in patients. Methods. This study was carried out with a qualitative content analysis approach. The participants were selected based on purposive sampling by the emergency specialists. The data were collected through semistructured interviews and were analyzed using the method proposed by Graneheim and Lundman. Results. The core theme of the study was “efforts to perceive the acute health threats of the patient.” This theme was derived from the main classes, including “the identification of the acute threats based on the patient’s condition” and “the identification of the acute threats based on peripheral conditions.” Conclusions. The conditions governing the decision-making process about patients in the emergency department differ from the conditions in other health-care departments at hospitals. Emergency specialists may have several approaches to decide about the patients’ emergency conditions. Therefore, notably, the emergency specialists’ working conditions and the others’ expectations from these specialists should be considered.


10.6036/9917 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 96 (5) ◽  
pp. 455-459
Author(s):  
MAHDI NADERI ◽  
ANTONIO FERNÁNDEZ ULLOA ◽  
JOSÉ ENRIQUE ARES GÓMEZ ◽  
GUSTAVO PELÁEZ LOURIDO

Despite the growing importance that is being given to the concepts of sustainability in many areas, not only in industry but also in the economy and public opinion in general, until now, most research has focused, practically, on the analysis of the concepts, but has not addressed, in a comprehensive way, its impact in decision making probably due to the complex relations of interdependence between its different aspects. In this context, MAPSAM (Methodology for the Assessment of Sustainability in Manufacturing Processes and Systems) was created to help the decision-making process, allowing a conscious and transparent assessment by administrators and managers at the different levels of the structure of companies and organisations. This article explains its development and application in a "job shop" type manufacturing system with an approach that allows the integration of economic, environmental and social criteria. MAPSAM is based on the use of various techniques and tools to quantify the importance of each aspect of sustainability and it has been applied in other production environments, being implemented in different systems, analysing their ease of use and evaluating their behaviour. The objective is to show how it helps to make operational, tactical and strategic decisions in the management on these type of manufacturing companies and, specifically, in this contribution we want to highlight its versatility and applicability, by validating it in a certain type of layout. With this new application, MAPSAM increases its possibilities as an innovative instrument that allows companies to make conscious and sustainable decisions in order to be more efficient, fair, supportive and respectful of the environment. Keywords: Manufacturing System, Simulation, Decision Support, Sustainable Production, Decision-Making


Author(s):  
Brit Johanne Eide ◽  
Ellen Os ◽  
Ingrid Pramling Samuelsson

Title: Young children’s participation during circle time. Abstract: In day schedules of early childhood education, circle time has traditionally been one of the core situations. According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, children should be given opportunity to influence their everyday life. This article presents an analysis of circle time in 8 toddler groups. The focus of the analysis is children’s opportunities to participate and take part in the process of decision-making during circle time. The results indicate that the toddlers take part in community of the group, but their opportunities to influence are limited.


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