scholarly journals An analysis of systemic thinking in decision-making processes in the municipalities within the province of KwaZulu-Natal

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 531-547
Author(s):  
Mbuyiseni Goodlife Ntuli ◽  
Lawrence Mpela Lekhanya
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Process Model ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Rational Decision ◽  
Systemic Thinking ◽  
Rational Decision Making ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Decision Making Model

This paper advocates the adoption of systemic thinking in decision-making processes in municipalities. Most importantly, in this epoch of managing in complex and thought-provoking business environment, decision making is one of the most important skills required by any manager to remain effective. The success of a municipality or any business hinges on how well decisions are taken and implemented. In this paper, I intend to scrutinize decision making processes at strategic management levels in the municipalities within the province of KwaZulu-Natal. In doing that, a mixed method approach of qualitative and quantitative techniques was adopted in gathering data from sixty-one municipalities within the province of KwaZulu-Natal. This was done in order to substantiate theoretical perspectives from different erudite scholars on the discourse of systemic thinking in decision making processes. This notion of systemic thinking is coined upon the universally used rational decision making process model. Thus, the conceptualization of rational decision-making model was also considered in this paper, the possibility of decision failure, the complexity of the municipality, and systemic thinking as the recommended option of dealing with complexity was explored. The results indicates that the theory that underpins the adoption of systemic thinking in dealing with complexity today’s business environment is relevant.

scholarly journals Decision Science: A New Hope

2018 ◽  
Vol 122 (6) ◽  
pp. 2417-2439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee J. Curley ◽  
Rory MacLean ◽  
Jennifer Murray ◽  
Phyllis Laybourn
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Process Model ◽  
Threshold Model ◽  
Dual Process ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Decision Science ◽  
Rational Decision ◽  
Rational Decision Making ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
The Mind

Decision science is an area of enquiry that crosses many disciplines, from psychology to economics, each with their own perspective of decision-making. Traditionally, mathematicians have envisaged decision-making as a purely rational endeavor, whereas psychologists and behavioral economists have critiqued this narrative and suggested that cognitive short cuts are the real mechanisms behind how decisions are made. However, contemporary dual process theorists argue that two systems of the mind exist: system 1 (intuitive decision-making) and system 2 (rational decision-making). The current review will present a relatively new metaphor for decision-making: the unified threshold model. This model is a global approach to decision-making which allows both intuitive and rational decision-making processes to be explained in a more flexible manner than the dual process model. This review will introduce the reader to different types of threshold models (counter and diffusion), their assumptions, and their ability to explain decision-making behavior. Implications and future research will also be discussed. In summary, the aim of this review is to highlight that a rather than the unified threshold model of decision-making may give a more adequate explanation of decision-making data in comparison to previous models and theories.

The Moral Limitations of the Rational-Monistic Model

2015 ◽  
pp. 127-145
Author(s):  
Galit Berenstok ◽  
Ishak Saporta
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Moral Values ◽  
Rational Action ◽  
Rational Decision ◽  
Rational Model ◽  
Utility Value ◽  
Rational Decision Making ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Decision Making Model ◽  
Range Of Values

This chapter proposes a rational-pluralistic model for decision making in organizations. The authors developed this model as a potential solution to the negative moral implications (such as alienation from the workplace) that the formal rational decision making model has on organization employees. The negative moral implications are due to the fact that the formal rational model is monistic, limited by the considerations of the organization's utility, and neglects moral values and non-utility values that are related to the employee. The rational-pluralistic model is based on a revision of the concept of rationality and rational action. The basic assumption of this model is that there is a range of values other than the utility value that are involved in rational decision making. The more extended definition of rationality makes it possible to avoid a situation in which employees are only the means for organization goals, rather than ends in themselves.

Entrepreneurial decision-making: new conceptual perspectives

2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (7) ◽  
pp. 1283-1300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaylee De Winnaar ◽  
Frances Scholtz
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Conceptual Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Business Environments ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Entrepreneurial Decision

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to call for inclusion of alternative but complementary conceptual perspectives in entrepreneurial decision-making theory and practice. Design/methodology/approach A conceptual approach, drawing on two sets of theoretical perspectives relating to decision making of entrepreneurs, is adopted. Findings The paper presents a conceptual framework of entrepreneurial decision making utilising the intersection between a metacognitive model of the entrepreneurial mindset and the recognition-primed decision-making theory. The paper argues that the convergence of these theoretical viewpoints provides a selection of decision-making processes for entrepreneurs in an uncertain business environment. Practical implications Decision-making models and tools are available to entrepreneurs; however, the relevance and applicability are restrained by the complexity and uncertainty of business environments in which entrepreneurs operate. New and more inclusive conceptual perspectives are required to improve the accuracy of decision making. Originality/value The study offers a framework that integrates two diverse theoretical dimensions of entrepreneurial decision making. The findings of this study provide direction for practice and for future research on entrepreneurial decision making. The paper intends to encourage researchers to support a new combined theoretical approach and to help practitioners better understand the reasons for entrepreneurial decision failure.

Residents values in a rational decision-making model: an interest in academics in emergency medicine

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 993-997 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Christian Burkhardt ◽  
Rebecca Smith-Coggins ◽  
Sally Santen
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Emergency Medicine ◽  
Rational Decision ◽  
Rational Decision Making ◽  
Decision Making Model

The Moral Limitations of the Rational-Monistic Model

2015 ◽  
pp. 1394-1413
Author(s):  
Galit Berenstok ◽  
Ishak Saporta
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Moral Values ◽  
Rational Action ◽  
Rational Decision ◽  
Rational Model ◽  
Utility Value ◽  
Rational Decision Making ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Decision Making Model ◽  
Range Of Values

This chapter proposes a rational-pluralistic model for decision making in organizations. The authors developed this model as a potential solution to the negative moral implications (such as alienation from the workplace) that the formal rational decision making model has on organization employees. The negative moral implications are due to the fact that the formal rational model is monistic, limited by the considerations of the organization's utility, and neglects moral values and non-utility values that are related to the employee. The rational-pluralistic model is based on a revision of the concept of rationality and rational action. The basic assumption of this model is that there is a range of values other than the utility value that are involved in rational decision making. The more extended definition of rationality makes it possible to avoid a situation in which employees are only the means for organization goals, rather than ends in themselves.

Evaluation and the Administrator: How Decisions are Made

1974 ◽  
Vol 156 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy L. Roser
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Theoretical Model ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Reading Program ◽  
Reading Programs ◽  
Rational Decision ◽  
Job Descriptions ◽  
Rational Decision Making ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Actual Decision

The investigator describes how principals, supervisors, and central office personnel made decisions in public school reading programs. The study compares the actual decision-making processes with a theoretical model of rational decision making. Typical decisions for administering and supervising a school reading program were obtained from job descriptions and from literature in reading education. Test subjects identified their respective decisions. Through interviews, these administrators and supervisors described the processes by which their identified decisions had been made and compared the descriptions with a representative rational model of decision-making in order to determine how real life decision-making processes approximated a theoretical model. Regardless of staff position, there appeared to be no difference in group ability to identify respective administrative decisions. Analysis of the actual decision-making processes employed by administrators indicated an incomplete awareness of a rational decision-making prescription. Past experience and intuition, rather than attempts to identify alternative actions and to weigh these for relative merit, were the basis of the greatest number of decisions.

Contingent use of rational, intuitive and political decision-making in R&D

2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (6) ◽  
pp. 997-1020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linn Marie Kolbe ◽  
Bart Bossink ◽  
Ard-Pieter de Man
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Innovation Process ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Rational Decision ◽  
Political Decision ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Rational Decision Making ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Political Decision Making ◽  
Over Time

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into the contingent use of rational, intuitive and political decision-making in R&D. Design/methodology/approach This research is based on a study in an R&D department of a multinational high-tech firm in the Netherlands. The study consists of a case study design, focusing on four embedded cases, longitudinally studying each case. Findings The literature distinguishes three dimensions of innovation decision-making processes: rational, intuitive and political. By studying these interwoven dimensions over time, this study finds that the dominant use of each of these dimensions differs across the innovation process. There is an emphasis on intuitive decision-making in an early phase, followed by more emphasis on political decision-making, and moving to more emphasis on rational decision-making in a later phase of the R&D process. Furthermore, the predominant choice in a specific innovation phase for one of the three decision-making dimensions is influenced by the decision-making dimension that is dominantly employed in the preceding phase. Research limitations/implications This study contributes to the innovation decision-making literature by developing and applying a model that distinguishes rational, intuitive and political decision-making dimensions, the interactions among these dimensions in innovation decision-making in R&D, and the contingency of these dimensions upon the innovation phase. It calls for further research into the contingent nature of innovation decision-making processes. Practical implications For practitioners this study has two relevant insights. First it highlights the importance and usefulness of intuitive and political decision-making in addition to the prevailing emphasis on rational decision-making. Second, practitioners may be more alert to consciously changing their dominant decision-making approach across the phases of the innovation process. Third, companies may adjust their human resource policies to this study’s findings. Originality/value The literature on rational, intuitive and political decision-making is quite extensive. However, research has hardly studied how these decision-making dimensions develop in conjunction, and over time. This paper reports on a first study to do so and finds that the dominant use of these dimensions is contingent upon the phase of the R&D process and on the decision-making dimensions used in earlier phases. The study suggests that using a contingency approach can help to further integrate the debate in research and practice.

Resource-rational decision making

2021 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
pp. 15-21
Author(s):  
Rahul Bhui ◽  
Lucy Lai ◽  
Samuel J Gershman
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Rational Decision ◽  
Rational Decision Making
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