scholarly journals Behavioral analysis of mergers and acquisitions decisions

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 8-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daisuke Asaoka
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Mergers And Acquisitions ◽  
Conflicts Of Interest ◽  
Fair Value ◽  
Endowment Effect ◽  
Strategic Decisions ◽  
Corporate Decisions ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Governance Architecture

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are among the key strategic decisions that firms make. But the problem is that they often result in failure and impairment loss, with the fair value of the acquisition price becoming an issue that poses the risk of overvaluation. The purpose of this paper is to explain the nature of this risk by shedding light on the errors and biases of decision-making managers and directors and their effect on decision-making processes which involve a high degree of discretion and judgment. The paper finds that biases causing overvaluation include overconfidence by managers; an escalation of bidding prices leading to winner’s curse; anchoring in pricing; the endowment effect; and hindsight and confirmation biases. Corporate governance architecture can be designed to mitigate these biases while preserving the positive aspects of overconfidence, such as its promoting of productive and creative activities and coherent internal management. But it is not a panacea since independent directors also have biases and conflicts of interest inherent in the mechanism. Advancements in the understanding of human emotion and psychology promise to protect shareholders by deepening our understanding of corporate decisions.

The Risk Perception of Family Business Owner-Manager in the Tourism Industry

2021 ◽  
pp. 126-153
Author(s):  
Gundula Glowka ◽  
Martin Tusch ◽  
Anita Zehrer
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Risk Perception ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Business Owner ◽  
Complex Task ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
High Degree

Successfully dealing with risk has become a major challenge for firms to stay competitive in the long run. The tourism industry is vulnerable to any crisis and therefore has to deal with a high degree of uncertainty including many risks. The Alpine tourism industry is shaped by small and medium-structured family businesses. Such firms have more informal decision-making processes and more generations involved, while risk taking depends on the decisions of an owner-manager. Understanding the risk perception owner-managers is thus a complex task. This study conducts n=12 qualitative interviews with senior and junior owner-managers of family SME in tourism. Understanding the risk perception for tourism family SME might therefore contribute to build resilience and long-term competitiveness.

HR managers’ decision-making processes: a “reflective practice” analysis

2016 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 655-671 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolina Walger ◽  
Karina De Dea Roglio ◽  
Gustavo Abib
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Reflective Practice ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
Strategic Decision ◽  
Strategic Decision Making ◽  
Strategic Decisions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Reflection In Action ◽  
Hr Managers

Purpose Human resources (HR) department managers play an important role in the processes of defining and implementing organizational strategies. From this perspective, decisions made by HR managers directly influence organizations’ competitiveness. There is a gap in the literature related to decision-making processes by these managers, particularly with respect to the subjective elements involved in them. This paper’s aim is to analyze HR managers’ strategic decision-making processes from the perspective of reflective practice. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative study was conducted based on an analysis of five HR department managers’ strategic decision-making processes. Findings The results indicate that reflection-in-action is one possibility for narrowing the gap between action and reflection in management practice, as this could contribute to improving strategic decisions; HR managers’ decisions are delimited by internal and external organizational issues; and these decisions involve intensive information sharing. Research limitations/implications The results of this research contribute to extend the existing knowledge on reflection, one of the subjective elements that influences decision-making processes, and which has been identified as a subject in need of research by several authors (Eisenhardt and Zbaracki, 1992; Hambrick, 2007; Langley et al., 1995; Nutt, 2010). Practical implications A better understanding of HR managers’ decision-making processes, particularly in the Brazilian context, which other organizations can use as examples of alternative choices for HR departments strategic management. For managers, reflection-in-action facilitates an effective decision-making process, increases self-knowledge, contributes to the processes of individual and organizational learning and improves managers’ global overview of their organizations. Originality/value These results represent a development in understanding one of the subjective elements of HR department managers’ decision-making processes – reflection – and should help to improve the results of strategic decisions by these managers and by managers of other organizational departments.

Holacracy: A New Way of Organizing?

2021 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 302-317
Author(s):  
Maria Farkhondeh ◽  
Barbara Müller
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Self Organization ◽  
New Work ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Work Arrangements ◽  
The Core ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
New Form ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Do So

Organizations have to act in environments that are constantly becoming more insecure, dynamic, and competitive. Practitioner and scholar literature continue to call for and explore new work arrangements. The concept of Holacracy - often referred to as a ‘new form of organizing’ - represents a reaction to the increasing complexity and environmental dynamics that organizations have to deal with. It promises a new way to run organizations and aims to replace traditional hierarchical and bureaucratic structures in organizations with decentralized authority and self-organization. This article looks beyond the recent hype about Holacracy and analyses what is actually novel about the concept. In specific, we aim at identifying the core principles of the concept and discuss them against the background of bureaucratic and post-bureaucratic approaches to review whether and how Holacracy deviates from these two approaches. We do so by applying a qualitative analysis method where the book ‘Holacracy’ was subjected to content analysis. The results of this paper demonstrate that - given the high degree of formal standardization - the concept itself is still bureaucratic, although with certain modifications, especially regarding participative decision-making processes. Further, our results demonstrate that Holacracy has a very unique and unprecedented interpretation of power and authority, which requires more intensive empirical research and analysis.

Athletes’ Decision-Making in Career Change-Events

2013 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roy David Samuel ◽  
Gershon Tenenbaum
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Career Change ◽  
Strategic Decision ◽  
Strategic Decisions ◽  
Position Change ◽  
High Tendency ◽  
Change Events ◽  
Motivation For Change ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Change Event

This study examined decision-making processes in response to athletic career change-events (e.g., injury, field position change). Athletes’ (N = 338) initial strategic decisions whether to address or ignore a change-event, and their subsequent decisions whether to make the required change were measured using the Change-Event Inventory (Samuel & Tenenbaum, 2011b). Athletes reported a high tendency of making a strategic decision to consult with others, which could be predicted from the event’s perceived significance and availability of professional support. Athletes also reported a high tendency of making a subsequent decision to change, which could be predicted from the helpfulness of support, motivation for change, and certain coping strategies. The two types of decisions were related. Perceived outcome of the change process and athletes’ motivation could also be accurately predicted. In conclusion, to effectively cope with change-events athletes need to feel involved, be in control, and make independent decisions that reflect their genuine needs and wishes.

Cognitive Processing of Miscommunication in Interactive Listening: An Evaluation of Listener Indecision and Cognitive Effort

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Jennifer M. Roche ◽  
Arkady Zgonnikov ◽  
Laura M. Morett
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Cognitive Effort ◽  
Mouse Tracking ◽  
Computer Mouse ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Computer Mouse Tracking ◽  
Listening Task ◽  
Processing Effort

Purpose The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the social and cognitive underpinnings of miscommunication during an interactive listening task. Method An eye and computer mouse–tracking visual-world paradigm was used to investigate how a listener's cognitive effort (local and global) and decision-making processes were affected by a speaker's use of ambiguity that led to a miscommunication. Results Experiments 1 and 2 found that an environmental cue that made a miscommunication more or less salient impacted listener language processing effort (eye-tracking). Experiment 2 also indicated that listeners may develop different processing heuristics dependent upon the speaker's use of ambiguity that led to a miscommunication, exerting a significant impact on cognition and decision making. We also found that perspective-taking effort and decision-making complexity metrics (computer mouse tracking) predict language processing effort, indicating that instances of miscommunication produced cognitive consequences of indecision, thinking, and cognitive pull. Conclusion Together, these results indicate that listeners behave both reciprocally and adaptively when miscommunications occur, but the way they respond is largely dependent upon the type of ambiguity and how often it is produced by the speaker.

“It's Not Humanly Possible to Do Everything”: Perspectives on Intervention Decision-Making Processes of Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erinn Finke ◽  
Kathryn Drager ◽  
Elizabeth C. Serpentine
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Individualized Education Program ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Individual Decision ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Interview Methodology ◽  
Communication Interventions

Purpose The purpose of this investigation was to understand the decision-making processes used by parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) related to communication-based interventions. Method Qualitative interview methodology was used. Data were gathered through interviews. Each parent had a child with ASD who was at least four-years-old; lived with their child with ASD; had a child with ASD without functional speech for communication; and used at least two different communication interventions. Results Parents considered several sources of information for learning about interventions and provided various reasons to initiate and discontinue a communication intervention. Parents also discussed challenges introduced once opinions of the school individualized education program (IEP) team had to be considered. Conclusions Parents of children with ASD primarily use individual decision-making processes to select interventions. This discrepancy speaks to the need for parents and professionals to share a common “language” about interventions and the decision-making process.

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