Publications

February 2000
Teaching Note

Strategic Decision Processes & Making Fast Strategic Decisions in High-Velocity Environments TN

By: David A. Garvin and Jeffrey Berger

Article

Corporate Stakeholders Management – An Empirical Study of Organisational Decision Making Criteria

By: Shashank Shah and Sudhir Bhaskar

Keywords: Stakeholder Management; Decision Making; India

2009
Chapter

Organizational Design: Balancing Search and Stability in Strategic Decision Making

By: Jan Rivkin and Nicolaj Siggelkow

Managers often must make decisions that depend on decisions in other parts of the organization. These interactions create a network of interdependent choices and make strategizing difficult. In this chapter, the authors explore the intersection between organizing and... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Design; Strategy; Balance and Stability

2023
Working Paper

Senior Team Emotional Dynamics and Strategic Decision Making at a Platform Transition

By: Timo O. Vuori and Michael L. Tushman

Based on an inductive case study, we develop an emotional-temporal process model of an incumbent’s strategic decision making at a platform transition. We describe the senior team’s emotional response to this transition and the impact of these emotions on their... View Details

Keywords: Emotions; Decision Choices and Conditions; Transition; Digital Platforms

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Research Summary

Decision making

Dr. Bos investigates how unconscious processes aid and improve performance. His work contests the common-sense notion that conscious deliberation always leads to the best outcomes. Dr. Bos and colleagues propose that, for complex decisions, the best outcomes result... View Details

January 2014
Supplement

Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B)

By: Juan Alcacer and Nancy Hua Dai

The case reveals that Ford decided to open its own e-coating plant in Gujarat, India, and details how the decision was made at different organizational levels. View Details

Keywords: Foreign Investment; Organizational Alignment; Strategic Decision Making; Motivation and Incentives; Communication; Organizational Structure; Decision Making; Business Processes; Foreign Direct Investment; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; Gujarat

Mar 31 2017
Interview

Optimizing Strategic Decisions

October 2024
Article

Strategic Decision Making at Platform Transitions: The Case of Nokia (2010-2011).

By: Timo O. Vuori and Michael Tushman

We studied Nokia’s decision to adopt the Windows platform in 2011 to induce new theory on the emotional dynamics of incumbent firms’ strategic decision making at platform transitions. We find that platform companies’ entry into an established industry activates a... View Details

Keywords: Emotions; Technology Adoption; Corporate Strategy; Transition

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January 2024
Background Note

Making Strategic Choices

By: Jan W. Rivkin

This note lays out a process that students and business leaders can follow to make well-integrated sets of strategic choices. View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Strategy

Research Summary

Intra-Household Decision Making

Professor Ashraf's research in intra-household decision making examines how households make financial and health decisions, particularly in the presence of asymmetric information or benefits.

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2017
Working Paper

The 4 Minds of the Customer: A Framework for Understanding and Applying the Science of Decision Making

By: Ryan Hamilton and Uma R. Karmarkar

Scientists have spent decades creating powerful and detailed descriptions of how people make decisions. Unfortunately, many of these theories make contradictory predictions and are difficult to understand and implement. We introduce the 4 Minds framework as a practical... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Choice; Market Research; Decision Making Process; Decision; Marketing Research; Consumer Behavior; Decision Choices and Conditions; Marketing; Decision Making; Segmentation; Research

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September 1989
Background Note

Introduction to Decision Making

By: Francis Aguilar

Describes the process of decision making (establish objectives, generate alternatives, and so on) emphasizing the human side of it (using rules of thumb, favoring one's own pet projects) yet demonstrating the role an analytic/quantitative contribution has to make. View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Goals and Objectives; Mathematical Methods; Perspective

1983
Book

Decision Making at the Top: The Shaping of Strategic Direction

By: Gordon Donaldson and J. W. Lorsch

Keywords: Management Teams; Decision Making

Find at Harvard

2013
Book

Sidetracked: Why Our Decisions Get Derailed and How We Can Stick to the Plan

By: Francesca Gino

You may not realize it but simple, irrelevant factors can have profound consequences on your decisions and behavior, often diverting you from your original plans and desires. Sidetracked will help you identify and avoid these influences so the decisions you make do... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Decision-making; Judgment; Decisions; Strategy; Behavior; Ethics; Attitudes

Find at Harvard

February 2017
Background Note

Decision Analysis

By: George Wu and Kathleen McGinn

Describes decision analysis, a systematic approach for analyzing decision problems. A running example illustrates problem structuring (decision trees), probability assessment, endpoint evaluation, “folding back the tree” as a method of analysis, and sensitivity... View Details

Keywords: Decision Analysis; Decision Trees; Probability; Decision Making; Analysis

Video

Informed Decision Making Exercise

October 2003 (Revised January 2005)
Case

Shared Decision Making

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer, Karen Sepucha and Laura Feldman

The Foundation for Informed Medical Decision-Making has created an interactive videodisc system that provides patients with customized support regarding medical treatment or screening decisions when they face a choice between two equally effective courses of action.... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Borrowing and Debt; Health Care and Treatment; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Product Marketing; Distribution Channels; Production; Partners and Partnerships; Research and Development; Information Technology