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Book part
Publication date: 5 November 2016

Ioanna D. Constantiou, Arisa Shollo and Morten Thanning Vendelø

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…

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.

Details

Uncertainty and Strategic Decision Making
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78635-170-8

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 May 2014

Andrew Miles and Eugene Sadler-Smith

This qualitative study of managers’ use of intuition in the selection process aimed to understand if and how managers use intuition in employee hiring decisions and suggest ways…

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Abstract

Purpose

This qualitative study of managers’ use of intuition in the selection process aimed to understand if and how managers use intuition in employee hiring decisions and suggest ways in which the use of intuition might be improved. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with managers from a range of backgrounds, and with varying experience of recruitment and selection.

Findings

Findings revealed that reasons for the use of intuition included personal preferences, resource constraints and recognition of the limitations of more structured approaches. Intuition was used an indicator for performance, personality and person-environment fit. Intuition tended to be used with requisite caution; participants were aware of its limits, the potential for bias and the difficulties in justifying its use; several participants used their intuitions in concert with more structured, non-intuition based approaches.

Research limitations/implications

The small-scale investigative study has limited generalisability. The paper concludes with five specific recommendations on how to improve managers’ understanding and use of intuition in employee selection.

Originality/value

Despite increased interest in intuition in management there is a paucity of qualitative studies of intuition-in-use in management in general and in personnel in particular. This research helps to fill this gap.

Details

Personnel Review, vol. 43 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0048-3486

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Article
Publication date: 20 July 2017

Robert Zacca, Mumin Dayan and Said Elbanna

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of conflict and intuition on explorative new products and performance in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of conflict and intuition on explorative new products and performance in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Design/methodology/approach

The study proposes a theoretical model that was tested using two survey instruments: one instrument was administered to the owners of 150 SMEs within the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the second was administered to senior managers within the same SMEs.

Findings

The results show that within the decision-making process both objective and personal conflicts drive decision makers to the use of intuition, with high levels of market turbulence strengthening the effect of objective conflict on the use of intuition. Furthermore, the use of intuition was found to have an adverse effect on explorative new products, negating the positive effectiveness of explorative new products on SME performance.

Research limitations/implications

The study’s conceptual model may not completely represent the perspective it aims to elucidate. An alternative model with equally well-conceived explanatory variables could provide further interesting results.

Practical implications

Drawing on the perspective of the decision-making process, an interpretation of the model results and some practical implications are discussed.

Originality/value

The primary contribution of this study is the introduction of a model investigating the influence of conflict on the use of intuition in strategic decisions. Furthermore, the study collected empirical evidence from SMEs operating in the dynamic economy of the UAE, which is a less studied setting.

Details

Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, vol. 24 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1462-6004

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 May 2019

Hannu Kuusela, Siiri Koivumäki and Mika Yrjölä

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the use of intuition in successful merger and acquisition (M&A) decisions. M&As are strategic decisions that can create growth, open up new…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the use of intuition in successful merger and acquisition (M&A) decisions. M&As are strategic decisions that can create growth, open up new markets and strengthen the company’s position and competence portfolio. Strategic decisions involve, by their very nature, considerable investments and have company-wide and long-lasting implications. At the same time, the decision-makers have access to large amounts of data from various sources, but these data are often uncertain and inaccurate and entail numerous assumptions. Therefore, M&A decisions are only rational to a degree, and emotional elements, such as intuition, likely play a significant role.

Design/methodology/approach

Acknowledging how critically important, but also how difficult, M&As are, the authors analyzed nine instances (cases) of successful acquisitions, in which the executives believed that the role of intuition was critical.

Findings

The findings show that intuition in strategic decision-making emerges on three levels: individual, collective and environmental.

Practical implications

This paper encourages top executives to proactively acknowledge and take advantage of intuition in their strategic decision-making. It proposes a framework to help with these endeavors.

Originality/value

This paper contributes by highlighting that intuition is not just a factor on an individual level; it can also surface from group interactions as well as the environment. Surprisingly, all the executives interviewed spoke of the positive effects that intuition can have on acquisition decisions. This is in contrast to the dominant view that considers intuition as nonrational and even as a form of bias.

Details

Journal of Business Strategy, vol. 41 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0275-6668

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Article
Publication date: 28 September 2010

Penny Mavor, Eugene Sadler‐Smith and David E. Gray

The purpose of this paper is to examine conceptual and theoretical links between intuition and coaching; investigate accomplished coaches' practical experiences of intuition;…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine conceptual and theoretical links between intuition and coaching; investigate accomplished coaches' practical experiences of intuition; identify skill set of an intuitive coach; discuss implications of findings for coaches', HRD professionals', and line managers' learning and development.

Design/methodology/approach

In‐depth, semi‐structured, individual interviews with 14 accomplished experienced executive coaches (eight males and six females) averaging 14.5 years as a coach.

Findings

Outline of core attributes of an intuitive coach.

Originality/value

Immersion in experience, a reflective approach to practice, effective feedback and supervision, and attending to personal well‐being are likely to enable coaches, HRD practitioners and line managers to take a more informed and intelligent approach to “going with their gut” in coaching and other situations where inter‐ and intra‐personal awareness are important.

Details

Journal of European Industrial Training, vol. 34 no. 8/9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0590

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 January 2022

Fabio Musso, Barbara Francioni, Ilaria Curina, Fabio Tramontana, Paolo Polidori and Maria Gabriella Pediconi

The paper analyses the influence of the decision-makers' overconfidence on the intuitive practices' adoption, as well as on the international performance during international…

Abstract

Purpose

The paper analyses the influence of the decision-makers' overconfidence on the intuitive practices' adoption, as well as on the international performance during international strategic decision-making processes (SDMPs) of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Moreover, the study investigates the possible mediating effect of intuition on the relationship between overconfidence and international performance.

Design/methodology/approach

A semi-structured questionnaire based on a sample of 160 SMEs and a regression analysis have been employed.

Findings

Results show a negative relationship between intuition and international performance and a positive one between overconfidence and international performance. Furthermore, a negative relation between overconfidence and intuition has been identified. Findings also highlight the mediating role of intuition in the relationship between overconfidence and international performance.

Practical implications

The paper provides valuable implications related to the analysis of overconfidence as a critical decision-maker's character and intuition as a feature of the decision-making methodology. Moreover, the study offers indications for SMEs facing complex strategic decisions.

Originality/value

The paper adopts an original perspective by combining the SDMP analysis with that of international strategy within the SMEs context. Additionally, the study enriches the existing literature by (1) investigating overconfidence in the decision-making; (2) enhancing the examination of overconfidence and intuitive practices in the international SDMP; (3) deepening the research field focused on the identification of the intuitive processes' predictors that is still in its infancy.

Details

Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, vol. 29 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1462-6004

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 January 2018

Lamberto Zollo, Sukki Yoon, Riccardo Rialti and Cristiano Ciappei

The purpose of this paper is to explore the understudied antecedents of moral reasoning and cognitive processes that ultimately shape the ethical consumption. The theory of…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the understudied antecedents of moral reasoning and cognitive processes that ultimately shape the ethical consumption. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the socio-intuitionist model are integrated. Holistic, inferential, and affective dimensions of intuition are identified as critical antecedents of environmental concerns that then influence the ethical consumption.

Design/methodology/approach

Structural equation modeling is used to analyze intuitive judgments and ethical concerns in 256 US undergraduates. The New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) is used to measure ethical concerns and the ecologically conscious consumer behavior (ECCB) instrument is used to measure ethical consumption.

Findings

The results indicate that inferential intuition, but not affective intuition, significantly predicts the ethical concerns (NEP), which in turn significantly influence all five dimensions of ethical consumption behavior (ECCB).

Practical implications

Managers and marketing strategists should focus on non-rational influences such as moral intuition to effectively promote ethical and responsible consumption.

Originality/value

The TPB and the intuitionist theory are integrated to reveal empirically how intuitive judgments may affect consumer attitudes and to provide new insights regarding the ethical consumption.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 56 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 December 2002

Milorad M. Novicevic, Thomas J. Hench and Daniel A. Wren

In the closing decades of the twentieth, and at the start of the twenty‐first, centuries, attention has again turned to the critical role of intuition in effective managerial…

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Abstract

In the closing decades of the twentieth, and at the start of the twenty‐first, centuries, attention has again turned to the critical role of intuition in effective managerial decision making. This paper examines the history of intuition in management thought by tracing its origins to Chester I. Barnard. This paper reveals not only the intellectual roots linking Barnard’s conceptualization of intuition in management thought to, among others, the influential works of the economist and sociologist, Vilfredo Pareto; Lawrence Henderson’s influence on Barnard through Henderson’s leadership and direction of the Harvard Pareto Circle; the works of the early pragmatist John Dewey; Humphrey’s The Nature of Learning; and Koffka’s Principles of Gestalt Psychology. Further, Barnard’s conceptualization of intuition foreshadowed by nearly two decades nearly all of Polanyi’s thinking and elaboration of tacit knowledge. This paper also examines Barnard’s and Simon’s differing views on intuition and provides a brief overview of contemporary research on intuition in managerial decision making.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 40 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 December 2004

Mats Sundgren and Alexander Styhre

The role of intuition receives little attention in the literature on organizational creativity. This paper describes a study of the role of intuition and its implications for…

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Abstract

The role of intuition receives little attention in the literature on organizational creativity. This paper describes a study of the role of intuition and its implications for organizational creativity within pharmaceutical research. The study applies French philosopher Bergson's philosophy of intuition. The study is based on a series of interviews with employees in pre‐clinical research (discovery) in a major pharmaceutical company; in this context, creativity is defined as an organization's ability to bring forth a new candidate drug in the gastrointestinal and cardiovascular therapy areas. This paper concludes that intuition is a resource that facilitates new drug development. Pharmaceutical researchers perceive the roles of intuition and creativity as intertwined in ground‐breaking innovations. However intuition is a controversial phenomenon in the organization because it opposes reductionistic and analytical forms of thinking, which are highly prized in new drug development. Bergson's philosophy may form a fruitful foundation from which intuition and its relevance for organizational creativity can be exploited.

Details

European Journal of Innovation Management, vol. 7 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1460-1060

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 November 2017

Usman Talat, Kirk Chang and Bang Nguyen

The purpose of this paper is to review intuition in the context of organizational change. The authors argue that intuition as a concept requires attention and its formulation is…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review intuition in the context of organizational change. The authors argue that intuition as a concept requires attention and its formulation is necessary prior to its application in organizations. The paper provides a critique of dual process theory and highlights shortcomings in organization theorizing of intuition.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is conceptual and provides in-depth theoretical discussions by drawing from the literature on decision and intuition in the context of organizational change.

Findings

Investigating whether dual process theory is sufficiently clear, the authors found ambiguity. Specifically, the current definition provided by Dane and Pratt is not clear in terms of its four sections: the consciousness of non-conscious processing, involving holistic associations, that are produced rapidly, which result in affectively charged judgments. Finally, the authors note that the evolutionary perspective is missing and they provide foundational concepts for such a perspective, including the discussion of information templates, memes and genes, as argued by research, condition intuition.

Originality/value

The paper finds that an evolutionary perspective develops a picture of intuition as an adaptive resource. This evolutionary perspective is currently absent in research and the authors provide foundational concepts for such a perspective. They propose specific arguments to highlight the evolutionary perspective.

Details

The Bottom Line, vol. 30 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0888-045X

Keywords

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