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Activity-based costing (ABC) is presented in accounting textbooks as a costing system that can be used to make valuable managerial decisions. Little experimental or empirical evidence, however, has demonstrated the benefits of ABC under controlled conditions. Similarly, although case studies and business surveys often comment on business environments that appear to favor ABC methods, experimental studies of actual behavioral issues affecting ABCs usage are limited.

This study used an interactive computer simulation, under controlled, laboratory conditions, to test the decision usefulness of ABC information. The effects of presentation format (theory of cognitive fit and decision framing), decision commitment (cognitive dissonance), and their interactions were also examined. ABC information yielded better profitability decisions, requiring no additional decision time. Graphic presentations required less decision time, however, presentation formats did not significantly affect decision quality (simulation profits). Decision commitment beneficially affected profitability decisions, requiring no additional time. Decision commitment was especially influential (helpful) in non-ABC decision environments.

This study aims to contribute to the existing understanding of export practices in sub-Saharan African firms with a contextual focus on Ghanaian exporters operating in business-to-business (B2B) markets. Underpinned by resource-based theory and its association with the relational view, it examines how the interplay between various decision makers’ international experience, export commitment and distribution adaptation decisions influence firms’ performance.

The study uses a mixed methods approach, using survey data from 116 internationalising Ghanaian businesses across three sectors, supplemented with qualitative insights from 18 follow-up interviews.

The study establishes a full mediation effect of export commitment on the association between international experience and export performance; also, the moderating effect of distribution adaptation on export commitment – performance relationships. Unique insights are provided into the perceived role of trustworthy, intermediaries as “stakeholders” that add to a respective firm’s resource base; that is, in building capabilities in overseas markets and informing evolving business model decisions to overcome potential export barriers.

The insights from sub-Saharan African firms provide contextual value given the relatively under-represented existing research from the region. Original insights highlight ways in which decision makers build capabilities and that they do not always follow a forward moving internationalisation process, so use different measures of performance regarding B2B product-market ventures over time.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of three important group process variables, namely, agreement-seeking behavior, group trust, and cognitive diversity, on decision outcomes. In addition, it seeks to examine the role of process conflict as a moderator in the relationship between agreement-seeking behavior and team effectiveness; agreement-seeking behavior and decision commitment; cognitive diversity and team effectiveness; and cognitive diversity and decision commitment.

Using a structured survey instrument, this paper gathered data from 160 students enrolled in a strategic management capstone course that features strategic decision making in a simulated business strategy game. The data from 41 teams were collected from the student population using a carefully administered instrument, and the data were aggregated only after appropriate inter-rater agreement tests were run.

Results show that the group process variables are positively related to decision outcomes. The data support the view that process conflict acts as a moderator in the relationship between agreement-seeking behavior and team effectiveness and decision commitment. Further, the results support that cognitive diversity has a positive impact on decision commitment and team effectiveness. Process conflict, which acts as a deterrent, is outweighed by the presence of agreement-seeking behavior.

Since the present research is based on self-report measures, the limitations of social desirability bias and common method bias are inherent. However, sufficient care is taken to minimize these limitations. The research has implications for both the conflict management and strategic decision-making process literatures.

This study contributes to both practicing managers and the strategic management literature. The study suggests that administrators should select those teams who are prone to agreement-seeking behavior; and team members who trust one another. Administrators need not unduly avoid process conflict because diversity in opinions and thinking and agreement-seeking behavior outweigh the negative effects of process conflict.

The findings from the study will be useful for creating congenial social environment in the organizations.

This study provides new insights about the previously unknown effects of process conflict in strategic decision-making process.

This study aims to explore the challenges that the escalation of commitment poses to information security.

Two distinct scenarios of escalation behavior are presented based on literature review. Psychological, organizational and economic theories on escalation of commitment are reviewed and applied to the area of information security.

Escalation of commitment involves continuation of a course of action after receiving negative information about it. In the information security compliance context, escalation affects a firm when an employee decides to break the firm’s information security policy to complete a failing task. In the information security investment context, escalation occurs if a manager continues investment in policies and solutions that are ineffective because of psychological, organizational or economic factors. Both of these types of escalation may be prevented with de-escalation techniques including a change in management or rotation of duties, monitoring, auditing and governance mechanisms.

Implications of escalation of commitment behavior for information security decision-makers and for future research are discussed.

This study complements the literature by establishing the context of escalation of commitment in decisions related to information security and reviewing managerial and economic theories on escalation of commitment.

This paper aims to examine the de-internationalization process to determine how different forms of attitudinal commitment influence the de-internationalization process.

Because of the exploratory nature of the study, a case study design is used. Two cases of Swedish companies, which de-internationalize from the French market, are studied.

Different commitment profiles influence the de-internationalization process. In particular, a general commitment profile, in which affective, normative, instrumental and continuance commitment play a role, influences the timing of de-internationalization, while the effort directed toward the execution of de-internationalization is mainly influenced by normative commitment and the extent of de-internationalization mainly by instrumental commitment.

By offering three propositions regarding the four types of commitment and the effects of these commitment types on the process of de-internationalization, the authors contribute to the literature on de-internationalization and the commitment literature.

The findings suggest that there is a risk that managers continue to commit resources to a market for a longer period without clear benefits because of affective and continuance commitment. As local employees persist in committing to the local market because of continuance commitment, offering viable alternatives reduces commitment to the foreign operations.

Distinguishing between different types of commitment, the paper builds on a more fine-grained typology of commitment than previous internationalization literature. Thereby, the paper opens up for new insights in the de-internationalization process.

This paper aims to theorize on the internationalization process model to explain cases of manufacturing reshoring as decisions taken to manage risk when internationalizing.

The paper is of a conceptual nature. Building on the logic of the internationalization process model, the authors extend previous work by focusing on firms’ risk perception (determined by commitment, knowledge and uncertainty as key variables) to explain also reshoring decisions.

Four propositions were developed, concerning the likelihood of firms to make manufacturing reshoring decisions. The first two propositions deal with the effects of new risk contingencies, and the other two refer specifically to the effects of managerial perceptions of three different typologies of risk, namely, host-country, home-country and reshoring-process specific risk.

While reshoring has been discussed mainly on the basis of economic arguments, this paper offers an alternative, behavioural view of this phenomenon as a strategic risk-management process. Therefore, it offers initial steps to theorize about reshoring from a risk-management perspective and, in doing so, opens up a number of avenues for future research.

The purpose of this study is to provide a theoretical driven model, explaining the interaction between psychic distance and environment on increased (subsequent) resource commitment decisions made by firms in their internationalization process. Increasingly, contrary to the Uppsala internationalization process (IP) model, firms are engaging in direct investment, rather than exporting as an initial step into overseas markets. Yet, it remains unclear how psychic distance affects firms engaged in increased resource commitment, especially in the initial phase of their international expansion when uncertainty is higher.

Building theory by integrating two key theories of internationalisation (IP model and eclectic paradigm), the paper explains increased resource commitment. Comparing firm types, the study also fills the research gap of recognising multinational enterprises (MNEs) as heterogeneous in their internationalization experience. Psychic distance and environment are analysed across three groups of firms (born‐global, recent and older entrants) to observe the moderating effects of firm experience and related uncertainty. A model and propositions of the relationships between psychic distance and environment, providing an increased commitment perspective, are presented.

There are mixed responses to the three groups of firms for psychic distance factors (political, geographic, social, information and commercial and economic development); and environmental factors (near‐market effects and sunk costs). Surprisingly born‐global and recent entrants are less affected by psychic distance, and more influenced by external factors, but for different reasons, in making early increased resource commitment decisions in the host market, than are older entrants.

Firms need to consider the strategic objectives of the parent company, psychic distance, local environment and international experience when engaging in increase resource commitment in host economies.

The paper provides theoretical insights and practical implications for those involved in international business and marketing.

Research on strategic decision‐making has emphasized the importance of team decision‐making as it brings the benefits of synergy. Literature on healthcare is silent on the role of professional doctors in the strategic decision‐making process and their impact on decision outcomes. The purpose of the present paper is to empirically examine the outcomes of decisions when physician executives were involved in strategic decision‐making process in healthcare organizations.

Using a structured survey instrument, this paper gathered data from 361 senior executives from 109 hospitals in USA and analyzed the data using regression techniques on whether the presence of physicians in strategic decision‐making processes enhanced decision quality, commitment, and understanding.

Results showed the presence of professional doctors in the decision‐making process enhances commitment and decision quality in healthcare organizations.

Only the healthcare industry was considered. Self‐report measures may have some inherent social desirability bias.

This study contributes to both practicing managers as well as to strategic management literature. This study suggests that healthcare administrators need to engage physician executives in strategic decision‐making to have successful decision outcomes.

To the extent strategic decision‐making process is similar in other industries, the findings can be generalizable across other industries.

This paper aims to investigate the effect of cooperative conflict management on agreement-seeking behavior, agreement-seeking behavior on decision outcomes, moderating role of competence-based trust on the relationship between agreement-seeking behavior and decision outcomes, and mediating role of agreement-seeking behavior between cooperative conflict management and decision outcomes.

Using a structured survey instrument, this paper gathered data from 348 students enrolled in a strategic management capstone course that features strategic decision-making in a simulated business strategy game. The data from 94 teams were collected from the student population using a carefully administered instrument. The data were aggregated after running the inter-rater agreement test and the analyzed to test the hypotheses.

The results from the hierarchical regression of the complex moderated mediation model reveal that cooperative conflict management is positively related to agreement-seeking behavior, and agreement-seeking behavior mediates the relationship between cooperative conflict management and decision outcomes. The results also suggest that competence-based trust acts as a moderator in the relationship between agreement-seeking behavior and decision quality; agreement-seeking behavior and team effectiveness, and agreement-seeking behavior and decision commitment. Results also support mediation of agreement-seeking behavior between cooperative conflict management and decision outcomes.

The present research is based on self-report measures, and hence, the limitations of social desirability bias and common method bias are inherent. However, adequate care is taken to minimize these limitations. The research has implications for the strategic decision-making process literature.

In addition to the strategic management literature, this study contributes to practicing managers. The study suggests that competence-based trust plays a vital role in decision effectiveness. Administrators need to select the members in the decision-making process who have competence-based trust on one another and engage in agreement-seeking behavior.

The findings from the study help in creating a fruitful social environment in organizations.

This study provides new insights about the previously unknown effects of cooperative conflict management and agreement-seeking behavior in strategic decision-making process.

Past research on strategic decision making has emphasized the influence of cognitive conflict and affective conflict on the decision outcomes. Early researchers demonstrated that affective conflict has negative outcomes whereas cognitive conflict has positive outcomes. While the negative outcomes of affective conflict remain non‐controversial, the positive outcomes of cognitive conflict are not always consistent. The research on the outcomes of cognitive conflict is perplexedly mixed. Taking an information processing perspective, the present study aims to examine the relationship between cognitive conflict on decision outcomes, while controlling for affective conflict.

The authors surveyed 109 hospitals in the USA and collected data from top management teams (CEOs and senior executives). After performing confirmatory factor analysis of the measures used, the data were analyzed using hierarchical regression techniques to examine the curvilinear relationships between cognitive conflict among the teams and its influence on decision quality and decision understanding.

Analysis of team data supports the hypotheses that there exists curvilinear (inverted‐U shaped) relationship between cognitive conflict and decision quality, and between cognitive conflict and decision commitment.

Since the data were collected from self‐report measures, limitations of social desirability bias may be inherent.

Evidence for a curvilinear relationship between cognitive conflict and decision outcomes extends to the existing strategic management literature. Further, the findings from this study are particularly useful for practicing managers. This study suggests that CEO and team members need not overemphasize cognitive conflict beyond a limit because it may have deleterious consequences. The findings reveal that a moderate level of cognitive conflict, instead of too much conflict, is always desirable.

Though the sample in the present study focuses only on the healthcare industry, to the extent strategic decision making process is similar in other industries, the findings can be generalizable across other industries.