Expanding the search for alternatives during strategic decision-making

Academy of Management Executive

Volumn 18, Issue 4, 2004, Pages 13-28

  Nutt, Paul C ^a  

^a OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 11144248561     PISSN: 10795545     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.5465/AME.2004.15268668     Document Type: Review

References (50)

1. Nutt, P. C. 2002. Why decisions fail. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.
2. Recent research will be drawn upon to offer some answers. More than four hundred strategic decisions were collected in this research effort. The decisions involved new products, marketing, and operations-the sorts of things that organizational leaders deal with regularly. Only real decisions in real organizations made by real people were included so the consequences of the decisions in which the responsible people bore burdens or reaped benefits could be understood and documented. The research identified the practices followed to make each decision and accounted for the situation confronted. Linking the consequences of strategic decisions to decision-making practices applied, both good and bad, and controlling for the situation being confronted provided a telling appraisal of the practices used and their effectiveness, A narrative of events, giving a picture of each decision and its context, was constructed from taped interviews with key participants. The narrative was probed, looking for reasons why some practices worked well and others failed, seeking practices that might improve the prospect of success. Appendix I in Why Decisions Fail offers additional detail about the twenty-year research effort.
3. Kolb, D. 1983. Problem management: Learning from experience. In S., Srivastra (Ed.), The executive mind. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass: 109-143.
4. Janis, I. 1989. Crucial decisions. New York: Free Press
5. Pounds, W. 1969. The process of problem finding. Industrial Management Review, Fall: 1-19.
6. Wildavsky, A. 1979. Speaking truth to power. Boston: Little Brown.
7. Mintzberg, H., & Westley, F. 2000. Decision-making: It's not what you think. Unpublished manuscript, August 2000.
8. Starbuck, W. H. 1983. Organizations as action generators. American Sociological Review, 48: 91-102.
9. March, J. G. 1994. A primer on decision making: How decisions happen. New York: Free Press.
10. Cyert, R. M., & March, J. G. 1963. A behavioral theory of the firm. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
11. Nutt, P. C. 1993. The identification of solution ideas during organizational decision making. Management Science, 39(9): 1071-1085.
12. Mintzberg, H., Raisinghani, D., & Theoret, A. 1976. The structure of unstructured decisions. Administrative Science Quarterly, 21(2): 246-275.
13. Nutt, 1993, op. cit.
14. Nutt, P. C. 1998. Evaluating complex strategic choices. Management Science, 44(8): 1148-1166.
15. I b i d.
16. Nutt, 1993, op. cit.
17. Damanpour, F. 1991. Organizational innovation and preference: The problem of "organizational lag." Administrative Science Quarterly, 29: 392-409.
18. Nutt, 1993, op. cit.
19. The call for multiple alternatives appears in Dewey, I. 1910. How we think. New York: Heath. It has been a recommendation of most writing on decision-making from this point on.
20. Nutt, P. C. 1999. Surprising but true: Half of organizational decisions fail. The Academy of Management Executive, 13(4): 75-90.
21. Snyder, R. C., & Page, G. D. 1958. The United States decision to resist aggression in Korea: The application of an analytical scheme. Administrative Science Quarterly, 3: 341-378.
22. Allison, G. T. 1971. Conceptual models and the Cuban missile crisis. American Political Science Review, 63: 968-718.
23. Hall, P. 1984. Great planning disasters. Berkeley: University of California Press.
24. McKie, D. 1973. A sadly mismanaged affair: The political history of the third London Airport. London: Croon Helm.
25. Material used to prepare the Shell discussion was taken from a variety of sources including: Det Norkse Veritas. DNV investigations of Brent Spar inventory concluded. 18 October 1995; as well as internal communications. For a complete list, contact the author.
26. Material used to prepare the Quaker/Snapple discussion was taken from a variety of sources including: Distribution is altered for beverages in Texas. Wall Street Journal, 25 November 1996, as well as business publications and company annual reports for the years in question. For a complete list, contact the author.
27. Material used to prepare the Nationwide arena discussion was taken from: Baim, D. 1996. The stadium as a municipal investment. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press; from local papers other than the Dispatch, and from the minutes of a leadership team meeting. For a complete list, contact the author
28. Profit estimates for the arena are documented in Chapter 7 of Nutt, P. C. 2002. Why decisions fail. San Francisco: BerrettKoehler.
29. Nutt, 1993, op. cit.
30. See, for example: Langley, A. 1989. In search of rationality: The purpose behind the use of formal analysis in organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 34: 598-631; and Langley, A., et al. 1997. Opening up decision-making: The view from the black stool. Organization Science, 6(3): 260-279.
31. See, for example: Langley, A. 1989. In search of rationality: The purpose behind the use of formal analysis in organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 34: 598-631; and Langley, A., et al. 1997. Opening up decision-making: The view from the black stool. Organization Science, 6(3): 260-279.
32. Nutt, P. C., 1999, op cit.
33. Nystrom, P., & Starbuck, W. 1984. To avoid organizational crises, unlearn. Organizational Dynamics, 12(4): 53-65.
34. A good discussion of creativity to prompt innovation can be found in the following: Ray, M., & Myers, R. 1989. Creativity in business. New York: Doubleday; Goldberg, P. 1983. The intuitive edge. Los Angeles: Tarcher; Morgan, G. 1993. Imagination. Newbury Park, CA: Sage; Woodman, R. W. 1989. Evaluation research and organizational change: Arguments for a "combined paradigm" approach. In R. W. Woodman & W. A. Pasmore (Eds.), Research in organizational change and development, Vol. 3, 161-180. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
35. A good discussion of creativity to prompt innovation can be found in the following: Ray, M., & Myers, R. 1989. Creativity in business. New York: Doubleday; Goldberg, P. 1983. The intuitive edge. Los Angeles: Tarcher; Morgan, G. 1993. Imagination. Newbury Park, CA: Sage; Woodman, R. W. 1989. Evaluation research and organizational change: Arguments for a "combined paradigm" approach. In R. W. Woodman & W. A. Pasmore (Eds.), Research in organizational change and development, Vol. 3, 161-180. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
36. A good discussion of creativity to prompt innovation can be found in the following: Ray, M., & Myers, R. 1989. Creativity in business. New York: Doubleday; Goldberg, P. 1983. The intuitive edge. Los Angeles: Tarcher; Morgan, G. 1993. Imagination. Newbury Park, CA: Sage; Woodman, R. W. 1989. Evaluation research and organizational change: Arguments for a "combined paradigm" approach. In R. W. Woodman & W. A. Pasmore (Eds.), Research in organizational change and development, Vol. 3, 161-180. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
37. A good discussion of creativity to prompt innovation can be found in the following: Ray, M., & Myers, R. 1989. Creativity in business. New York: Doubleday; Goldberg, P. 1983. The intuitive edge. Los Angeles: Tarcher; Morgan, G. 1993. Imagination. Newbury Park, CA: Sage; Woodman, R. W. 1989. Evaluation research and organizational change: Arguments for a "combined paradigm" approach. In R. W. Woodman & W. A. Pasmore (Eds.), Research in organizational change and development, Vol. 3, 161-180. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
38. This is widely reported. See Miller, D. 1990. The Icarus Paradox: How excellent companies bring about their own down-fall. New York: Harper. Also see Jantsch, E. 1975. Design for evolution: Self organization and planning in the life of systems. New York: Brasilia.
39. This is widely reported. See Miller, D. 1990. The Icarus Paradox: How excellent companies bring about their own down-fall. New York: Harper. Also see Jantsch, E. 1975. Design for evolution: Self organization and planning in the life of systems. New York: Brasilia.
40. NadIer G. 1981. The planning and design approach. New York: Wiley.
41. I b i d.
42. Gemundem, H., & Hauscchildt, I. 1985. Number of alternatives and the efficiency in different types of management decisions. European Journal of Operational Research, 22(2): 178-190; and Nutt, 1993, op. cit., offer empirical evidence to support the identification of multiple options.
43. Gemundem, H., & Hauscchildt, I. 1985. Number of alternatives and the efficiency in different types of management decisions. European Journal of Operational Research, 22(2): 178-190; and Nutt, 1993, op. cit., offer empirical evidence to support the identification of multiple options.
44. Nutt, 2002, op. cit.
45. Nadler G., & Hibino, S. 1990. Breakthrough thinking. Rocklin CA: Prima.
46. Linstone, H. 1984. Multiple perspectives for decision making: Bridging the gap between analysis and action. New York: North Holland.
47. Thompson, L. 2003. Improving the creativity of organizational work groups. The Academy of Management Executive, 17(1): 96-111.
48. Separating the evaluation of alternatives from their generation is widely recommended. See, for example: Stein, M. I. 1975. Stimulating creativity; Volume 2-Group procedures. New York: Academic Press; and Goldberg, 1983, op. cit.
49. Nutt, 1999, op. cit.
50. Nutt, 2002, op. cit.