Openness as Moderator between Feeling Bored and Managers' Decision-making Competence: A Study of Managers in the Retail Industry

Abstract

Purpose – The aim of this study is to determine the impact of feeling bored on managers' decision-making in the digital age under conditions of increased uncertainty by examining the role of personality trait openness and empirically testing such relationships within the context of retail middle managers.

Design/methodology/approach – Feeling bored was defined within a broader Decision-Making Process Model, which included the personality trait openness. An empirical study with retail middle managers was conducted to examine the relationships between feeling bored and decision-making competence (DMC). Regression models were fit to test whether feeling bored affects DMC and whether the associations were moderated by personality trait openness.

Findings – In the relationship between feeling bored and DMC, the moderating role of the personality trait openness was established. Results showed that feeling bored has a significant negative association with middle managers' confidence levels and risk perceptions when making decisions. Results also provided evidence that the learning component of personality trait openness plays a moderating role in the relationship between feeling bored and DMC. Most notably, the learning component of personality trait openness neutralizes the negative effects of feeling bored on managers' ability to remain appropriately confident when making decisions. In addition, the learning and inquisitive components temper the positive association between mood excited and risk perceptions. Limitations to the study are outlined.

Practical implications – Since trait openness (specifically its learning component) benefits decision-making contexts, it makes trait openness a worthy criterion to include when screening aspirant retail middle managers. The benefits of trait openness (specifically its learning component) for middle managers and their teams (especially when they are feeling bored) are indicated, since learning neutralizes the negative effect feeling bored has on appropriate confidence levels in retail management decision-making contexts.

Citation

du Preez, M.M., Kriek, H.S. and Albright, J. (2020), "Openness as Moderator between Feeling Bored and Managers' Decision-making Competence: A Study of Managers in the Retail Industry", Härtel, C.E.J., Zerbe, W.J. and Ashkanasy, N.M. (Ed.) Emotions and Service in the Digital Age (Research on Emotion in Organizations, Vol. 16), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 193-216. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1746-979120200000016016