Making Space for Intuition in Decision-Making: The Case of Project Prioritization

Abstract

An ongoing debate in the field of organizational decision-making concerns the use of intuition versus analytical rationality in decision-making. For the purpose of contributing to this debate we use a rich empirical dataset built from a longitudinal study of information technology project prioritization in a large financial institution to investigate how managers make space for the use of intuition in decision-making. Our findings show that during project prioritization meetings, senior decision makers apply three different techniques: bringing-in project intangibles, co-promoting intuitive judgments, and associating intuitive judgments with shared group context, when they make space for intuition in decision processes.

Citation

Constantiou, I.D., Shollo, A. and Vendelø, M.T. (2016), "Making Space for Intuition in Decision-Making: The Case of Project Prioritization", Uncertainty and Strategic Decision Making (New Horizons in Managerial and Organizational Cognition), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 147-169. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2397-52102016014