This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Khatri, N. Articles by Ng, H. A. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

The Role of Intuition in Strategic Decision Making

ankhatriWntu.edu.sg

H. Alvin Ng

Wellington Polytechnic in New Zealand, alvin{at}directorate.wnp.ac.nz

Although intuitive processes are critical for effective strategic decision making, there is little in the way of applied research on the topic. Apart from many popularized treatments of intuition in the literature today, there are only a handful of serious scholarly works on the subject. The majority of them are essentially theoretical in nature; field research in management settings is virtually nonexistent. This study examined this neglected but important process in strategic decision making. We surveyed senior managers of companies representing computer, banking, and utility industries in the United States and found that intuitive processes are used often in organizational decision making. Use of intuitive synthesis was found to be positively associated with organizational performance in an unstable environment, but negatively so in a stable environment.

Key Words: experience • gut-feelings • intuition • judgment • rationality • strategic decision making

Human Relations, Vol. 53, No. 1, 57-86 (2000)
DOI: 10.1177/0018726700531004


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				Jia Wang, H. M. Hutchins, and T. N. Garavan Exploring the Strategic Role of Human Resource Development in Organizational Crisis Management Human Resource Development Review, March 1, 2009; 8(1): 22 - 53. [Abstract] [PDF]

				E. Sadler-Smith The Role of Intuition in Collective Learning and the Development of Shared Meaning Advances in Developing Human Resources, August 1, 2008; 10(4): 494 - 508. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. H. Astrachan and P. Jaskiewicz Emotional Returns and Emotional Costs in Privately Held Family Businesses: Advancing Traditional Business Valuation Family Business Review, June 1, 2008; 21(2): 139 - 149. [Abstract] [PDF]

				W. J. Ritchie, R. W. Kolodinsky, and K. Eastwood Does Executive Intuition Matter? An Empirical Analysis of Its Relationship With Nonprofit Organization Financial Performance Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, March 1, 2007; 36(1): 140 - 155. [Abstract] [PDF]

				M. Harvey, M. Novicevic, N. Leonard, and D. Payne The Role of Curiosity in Global Managers' Decision-Making Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, February 1, 2007; 13(3): 43 - 58. [Abstract] [PDF]

				T. Hutzschenreuter and I. Kleindienst Strategy-Process Research: What Have We Learned and What Is Still to Be Explored Journal of Management, October 1, 2006; 32(5): 673 - 720. [Abstract] [PDF]

				D. P. Spicer and E. Sadler-Smith Organizational Learning in Smaller Manufacturing Firms International Small Business Journal, April 1, 2006; 24(2): 133 - 158. [Abstract] [PDF]

				M. Sinclair and N. M. Ashkanasy Intuition: Myth or a Decision-making Tool? Management Learning, September 1, 2005; 36(3): 353 - 370. [Abstract] [PDF]

				B. A. Jacobs A Typology of Street Criminal Retaliation Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, August 1, 2004; 41(3): 295 - 323. [Abstract] [PDF]

				E. Sadler-Smith Cognitive Style and the Management of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Organization Studies, February 1, 2004; 25(2): 155 - 181. [Abstract] [PDF]