Decision Making

Author(s):  
Alvaro López-Cabrales ◽  
Mar Bornay-Barrachina

Decisions are choices. Decision making is the essence of management. Managers make decisions every day and the practical implications of such decisions are key to the success of the company. After reading this chapter, managers, or those who are preparing to be managers, should be better able to do the following: (1) understand the extent to which such organizational characteristics as structure or technology affect decision making, (2) see why the complexity of task environments determines the decisions being made by managers, (3) define and manage certain strategic organizational capabilities such as learning or absorptive capacity, (4) think about cognitive and non-cognitive human capital characteristics that play a role in decision making, and (5) be aware of the impact of culture on decision-making processes. Understanding these aspects will help you develop a deeper understanding of the role and importance of decision making, not only in the domestic market but also internationally.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksei Gorgadze ◽  
Anastasia Sinitsyna ◽  
Julia Trabskaya ◽  
To'neill Bala

PurposeThe main purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between ranges of affective components that have an impact on the revisit intention of museum visitors, in the context of a major city event. The study reveals the most significant factors that affect decision-making by applying the findings to a structural equation modelling (SEM) and conditional inference tree (CTree).Design/methodology/approachThe paper utilises face-to-face survey research at the “Long Night of Museums” event in Saint Petersburg, 298 questionnaires were completed on the night of the event. The empirical part of the research is based on the SEM and interpreted by using the CTree. The SEM model measures the direct and indirect influence of the cognitive and affective components; the CTree enables the testing of both component and the joint effect they both produce.FindingsThis study shows a strong indirect correlation between the cognitive component of the major city event and the revisit intention of museum visitors. When focussing on affective components, both the SEM and the CTree demonstrated that attractiveness and atmosphere are revealed to be the most impactful elements regarding visitor retention and repeat custom. The research allows for a deeper understanding of visitor behaviours, intentions and their decision-making processes.Practical implicationsThe results of the study allow museum managers to understand how to create repeat custom amongst visitors, by appreciating the importance of participation in major city events and the role that attraction and atmosphere play when creating intention for repeat visit. The research has uncovered which dimensions are the most important to visitors, and as a result, these particular dimensions should be thoroughly developed by museums in future in order to attract and repeat visits. This study has demonstrated the practical implications for museums participating in city events. When considering policy makers, this particular research provides an opportunity to develop recommendations for future city events, as well as using the CTree to assess and predict the effectiveness of visitor behaviour.Originality/valueThis is an original study which aims to integrate the impact of the perceived value of the cognitive component and a new range of affective elements regarding museum retention in the context of a major city event. The study includes newly developed dimensions of perceived value, as well as a unique focus on affective dimensions such as – atmosphere and attraction. Another point of originality is provided by using a CTree, which captures an in depth understanding of the intention formation process. This study provides an opportunity to advance our understanding of visitor decision-making processes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 7007
Author(s):  
Habtamu Nebere ◽  
Degefa Tolossa ◽  
Amare Bantider

In Ethiopia, the practice of land management started three decades ago in order to address the problem of land degradation and to further boost agricultural production. However, the impact of land management practices in curbing land degradation problems and improving the productivity of the agricultural sector is insignificant. Various empirical works have previously identified the determinants of the adoption rate of land management practices. However, the sustainability of land management practices after adoption, and the various factors that control the sustainability of implemented land management practices, are not well addressed. This study analyzed the factors affecting the sustainability of land management practices after implementation in Mecha Woreda, northwestern Ethiopia. The study used 378 sample respondents, selected by a systematic random sampling technique. Binary logistic regression was used to analyze the quantitative data, while the qualitative data were qualitatively and concurrently analyzed with the quantitative data. The sustained supply of fodder from the implemented land management practices, as well as improved cattle breed, increases the sustainability of the implemented land management practices. While lack of agreement in the community, lack of enforcing community bylaws, open cattle grazing, lack of benefits of implemented land management practices, acting as barrier for farming practices, poor participation of household heads during planning and decision-making processes, as well as the lack of short-term benefits, reduce the sustainability of the implemented land management practices. Thus, it is better to allow for the full participation of household heads in planning and decision-making processes to bring practical and visible results in land management practices. In addition, recognizing short-term benefits to compensate the land lost in constructing land management structures must be the strategy in land management practices. Finally, reducing the number of cattle and practicing stall feeding is helpful both for the sustainability of land management practices and the productivity of cattle. In line with this, fast-growing fodder grass species have to be introduced for household heads to grow on land management structures and communal grazing fields for stall feeding.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
Jeaneth Johansson ◽  
Malin Malmström ◽  
Joakim Wincent

Researchers question the impact of governmental venture capitalists (GVC) compared to private venture capitalists (PVC), but we know little about why this difference occurs and if this criticism is justified. We observed a group of GVCs and developed a new model that describes the way that GVCs process signals pre- and post-decisions. Certain macro level factors severely undermine micro level performance, causing GVCs to financially underperform with respect to PVCs. This helped us to understand that GVCs do not make investment decisions in the same way as PVCs, and what undermines the performance of GVCs’ decision-making processes. The main goals of GVCs are to promote investments in responsible SMEs, mobilizing societal impact. We discuss that the criticism of GVC needs to be more nuanced, as they have a different role than PVC in the financial system as providers of sustainable investments in responsible SMEs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Augustina Koduah ◽  
Reginald Sekyi-Brown ◽  
Joseph Kodjo Nsiah Nyoagbe ◽  
Daniel Amaning Danquah ◽  
Irene Kretchy

Abstract Background Licences to operate pharmacy premises are issued by statutory regulatory bodies. The Health Institutions and Facilities Act (Act 829) and Health Professions Regulatory Bodies Act (Act 857) regulate pharmacy premises and the business of supplying restricted medicines by retail, respectively, and this could create a potential regulatory overlap for pharmacy practice in Ghana. We theorise that the potential overlap of regulation duties stems from how law-makers framed issues and narratives during the formulation of these Acts. Objective To describe the policy actors involved, framing of narratives and decision-making processes relating to pharmacy premises licensing policy formulation. Methods A qualitative study was conducted and data gathered through interviewing eight key informants and reviewing Hansards, reports, bills, memoranda and Acts 829 and 857. Data were analysed to map decision-making venues, processes, actors and narratives. Results The Ministry of Health drafted the bills in July 2010 with the consensus of internal stakeholders. These were interrogated by the Parliament Select Committee on Health (with legislative power) during separate periods, and decisions made in Parliament to alter propositions of pharmacy premises regulations. Parliamentarians framed pharmacies as health facilities and reassigned their regulation from the Pharmacy Council to a new agency. The Pharmacy Council and the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana could not participate in the decision-making processes in Parliament to oppose these alterations. The laws’ contents rested with parliamentarians as they made decisions in venues restricted to others. Legislative procedure limited participation, although non-legislative actors had some level of influence on the initial content. Conclusion Implementation of these laws would have implications for policy and practice and therefore understanding how the laws were framed and formulated is important for further reforms. We recommend additional research to investigate the impact of the implementation of these Acts on pharmacy practice and business in Ghana and the findings can serve as bargaining information for reforms.


Curationis ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mosehle S. Matlala ◽  
Thanyani G. Lumadi

Background: Midwifery is the backbone of women and child healthcare. The shortage of staff in maternity units is a crisis faced by many countries worldwide, including South Africa.Objectives: This study aims to explore the perceptions of midwives on the shortage and retention of staff at a public institution.Method: The study was conducted at one of the tertiary hospitals in Tshwane District, Gauteng Province. A total of 11 midwives were interviewed through face-to-face and focus group interviews. An explorative, descriptive generic qualitative design method was followed, and a non-probability, purposive sampling technique was used. Thematic coding analysis was followed for analysing data.Results: The impact of shortage of midwives was reported to be directly related to poor provision of quality care as a result of increased workload, leading to low morale and burnout. The compromised autonomy of midwives in the high obstetrics dependency units devalues the status of midwives.Conclusion: Midwives are passionate about their job, despite the hurdles related to their day-to-day work environment. They are demoralised by chronic shortage of staff and feel overworked. Staff involvement in decision-making processes is a motivational factor for midwives to stay in the profession. The midwives need to be in the centre of the decision-making processes related to their profession. The revision of the scope of practice and classification of midwifery profession away from general nursing complex by the South African Nursing Council (SANC) could place midwifery in its rightful status.


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.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Constantina Costopoulou ◽  
Maria Ntaliani ◽  
Filotheos Ntalianis

Local governments are increasingly developing electronic participation initiatives, expecting citizen involvement in local community affairs. Our objective was to assess e-participation and the extent of its change in local government in Greece. Using content analysis for 325 Greek municipal websites, we assessed e-participation status in 2017 and 2018 and examined the impact of change between these years. The assessment regards two consecutive years since the adoption of digital technologies by municipalities has been rapid. The main findings show that Greek local governments have made significant small- to medium-scale changes, in order to engage citizens and local societies electronically. We conclude that the integration of advanced digital technologies in municipalities remains underdeveloped. We propose that Greek municipalities need to consider incorporating new technologies, such as mobile apps, social media and big data, as well as e-decision making processes, in order to eliminate those obstacles that hinder citizen engagement in local government. Moreover, the COVID-19 outbreak has highlighted the need for enhancing e-participation and policymakers’ coordination through advanced digital technologies.


Author(s):  
Sean Peckover ◽  
Aldo Raineri ◽  
Aaron T Scanlan

This study aimed to examine the views of runners regarding their experiences with congestion during running events, including its prevalence, its impact on their safety and satisfaction, and their preferred controls to mitigate congestion. Runners (n = 222) with varied experience participating in running events (1-5+ years, 5-km races to Ultramarathons, and a mixture of road, trail, and cross-country events) completed an electronic survey. The survey was developed to assess the characteristics of respondents, whether they have experienced congestion during running events, the impact of congestion they have experienced during running events on their safety and satisfaction, and their preferred controls for congestion during running events. Survey data indicated runners had experienced some form of congestion prior to the race in the start corrals (93% of respondents), as the race started (97% of respondents), and during the race while running (88% of respondents). In turn, 73% of respondents indicated their experiences with congestion somewhat to extremely (i.e., rating of at least 3 on a 5-point Likert scale) negatively impacted their satisfaction with an event, while 43% of respondents indicated congestion somewhat to extremely negatively impacted their safety during an event. Regarding the impact of congestion on runner safety, 38% of respondents indicated they had slipped, while 27% of respondents indicated they had fallen during running events due to congestion. Further, congestion was attributed to injuries sustained (9%) and not finishing a race due to sustaining an injury (5%) during running events in some respondents. Respondents identified seeding runners based on previous run times (91%), use of wave starts (91%), and designing courses with limited pinch points, U-turns, and narrow paths (89%) as their most preferred controls to mitigate congestion during running events. Respondents resoundingly indicated self-seeding is not an effective method of managing congestion during running events. This study provides novel evidence that congestion is an issue for runners during running events, subsequently diminishing their satisfaction with events and posing safety concerns. In this way, race directors should involve runners in their decision-making processes when implementing appropriate controls to combat congestion for minimising injury risk to runners and ensuring a viable participant base remains attracted to their events in the future.


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