Paul C. Nutt & David Wilson 
Handbook of Decision Making 

HANDBOOK OF DECISION MAKING

This handbook offers a state-of-the-art overview of research and theories on decision making in organizations at the strategic level of analysis.

Chapters are authored by leading international scholars, with some illustrative case vignettes from practitioners. Each contributor was selected for his/her special knowledge of the field.

The Handbook addresses key questions confronting the decision making research of the past and the present, offers critiques, and suggests future research directions. Topics covered emphasize the classic decision theory perspectives while also incorporating recent insights from the fields of strategic choice, risk & uncertainty, scenario planning and complexity theory, with a broad social science perspective on the disciplinary roots of decision theory in economics, politics, and social theory.

This is a landmark reference volume for the field, offering scholars and practitioners:

* Comprehensive, but accessible, coverage of classic and recent developments

* Chapters by established international experts

* Case analyses illustrating practical consequences of theories

* Guide to new research directions and theory

Table of Content

Notes on the Contributors ix

About the Editors xxi

Part I Introduction 1

1 Crucial Trends and Issues in Strategic Decision Making 3
Paul C. Nutt And David C. Wilson

2 Research on Strategic Decisions: Taking Stock and Looking Ahead 31
Vassilis Papadakis, Ioannis Thanos, and Patrick Barwise

Part II Key Theoretical Perspectives 71

3 Decision Making: It’s Not What You Think 73
Henry Mintzberg And Frances Westley

4 Organizing and the Process of Sensemaking 83
Karl E. Weick, Kathleen M. Sutcliffe, And David Obstfeld

5 The Political Aspects of Strategic Decision Making 105
John Child, Said Elbanna, and Suzana Rodrigues

6 Organizational Identity and Strategic Decision Making 139
Aimee L. Hamilton And Dennis A. Gioia

Part III Conceptualizing Strategic Decision Making 153

7 Building a Decision-making Action Theory 155
Paul C. Nutt

8 A Decision Process Model to Support Timely Organizational Innovation 197
Andre L. Delbecq, Terri L. Griffith, Tammy L. Madsen, And Jennifer L. Woolley

9 Decision Making in Groups: Theory and Practice 231
Colin Eden And Fran Ackermann

Part IV Factors and Considerations That Impinge On Decision Making 273

10 Decision Making in Professional Service Firms 275
Tim Morris, Royston Greenwood, and Samantha Fairclough

11 Risk Taking and Strategic Decision Making 307
Philip Bromiley And Devaki Rau

12 Decision Errors of the 4th, 5th, and 6th Kind 327
Kim Boal And Mark Meckler

13 Decision Making in Public Organizations 349
Hal G. Rainey, John C. Ronquillo, And Claudia N. Avellaneda

14 Strategic Decision Making and Knowledge: A Heideggerian Approach 379
Haridimos Tsoukas

15 Challenges of Using IT to Support Multidisciplinary Team Decision Making 403
Michael Barrett and Eivor Oborn

Part V Recent Empirical Findings That Support Theories And Views 431

16 The Bradford Studies: Decision Making and Implementation Processes and Performance 433
Susan Miller

17 Comparing the Merits of Decision-making Processes 449
Paul C. Nutt

18 Of Baseball, Medical Decision Making, and Innumeracy 501
Lori Ferranti, Steven Cheng, and David Dilts

19 The Dimensions of Decisions: A Conceptual and Empirical Investigation 517
Lori S. Franz and Michael W. Kramer

Part VI Methodology for The Study Of Decision Making 541

20 Empirical Methods for Research on Organizational Decision-Making Processes 543
Marshall Scott Poole and Andrew H. Van De Ven

21 On the Study of Process: Merging Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches 581
Paul C. Nutt

22 The Bradford Studies: Issues Raised by These and Other Studies for the Understanding of Decision Making 619
David C. Wilson

Part VII Directions and Perspectives 643

23 Discussion and Implications: Toward Creating a Unified Theory of Decision Making 645
Paul C. Nutt and David C. Wilson

Index 679

About the author

Paul C. Nutt is Professor Emeritus of Management Sciences in Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University and Professor of Management at University of Strathclyde’s College of Business. His research interests include organizational decision-making, strategic management, and radical change. Current research topics include averting decision debacles, decision style, formulation and implementation, ethics, learning, organizational transformation and de-development, vision, and leadership. He has written over 150 articles and seven books on these topics. He has received numerous awards for his research and teaching from the Decision Sciences Institute, the Academy of Management, Institute for Operation Research and Management Sciences (INFORMS), and others. He is a Fellow in the Decision Sciences Institute and a charter member of the Academy of Management’s Hall of Fame.

David C. Wilson is Professor of Strategy and Organization in the University of Warwick where he is also Deputy Dean of the Business School. He is the author of eight books and over seventy journal articles. He was Chairman of the British Academy of Management (1994-1997) where he served for over ten years as an Executive member. He is a Fellow of the Academy, elected in 1994. He was Chairman of the scholarly society, the European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOS) from 2002 to 2006. He has had a long association with the Journal Organization Studies, becoming Co-Editor (1992-1996), Deputy Editor (1996-1999) and finally Editor-in-Chief (1999-2003). He is currently Chair of the Editorial Advisory Board for Organization Studies. He has been a member of EGOS for over twenty years and has served on the Board for the last eight years.