STRATEGIC DECISIONS IN ORGANIZATIONS: RATIONAL AND BEHAVIOURAL VIEWS

Paul Schoemaker

Journal of Management Studies, 1993, vol. 30, issue 1, 107-129

Abstract: Various models or lenses have been used to predict and understand strategic decisions in organizations. This article examines four classes: (1) the unitary rational; (2) the organizational; (3) the political; and (4) the contextual. They are conceptualized as stemming from different assumptions about goal congruency and co‐ordinative efficiency. the contextual view is especially highlighted, as it is a relatively new perspective, both organizationally and cognitively. A brief discussion is offered of disciplines and findings that either support or refute some of these models. Possible syntheses and reconciliations of the four views are explored, focusing on: (1) assumptional fit; (2) level of analysis; (3) cost of fashioning collective rationality; (4) information processing limits in organizational design; and (5) the role of adaptation lags and disequilibrium. the article concludes with a call for a meta‐theory that places the various perspectives in a larger framework.

Date: 1993
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