Analyzing decision making: how top-level managers select a solution to a job headhunting or piracy offer.

Abstract

Decision makers in organizations, specifically top-level managers, created decisions that caused crisis in organizations because of the complexity involved in decision making. Individual decision making starts internally and research showed that intrapersonal processes can lead to understanding of interpersonal and organizational behaviours. Company transfers through job headhunting by top-level managers interviewed were internally deliberated well since their career and future were at stake. Hence, the phenomenon was used to understand how top-level managers choose a solution to the job offer.

The purpose of the study was to describe how top-level managers decide for a job headhunt offer. The selecting a solution stage of the rational model and the three concepts in the bounded rationality model, which were: bounded rationality, judgmental heuristics, and satisficing, were used to describe the decision making process. The research was of qualitative nature, used the case study approach through semi-structured interview. The interview questions were guided by the research objectives and the definition of the concepts in the bounded rationality model.

Results showed that the decision making process in selecting a solution for a job headhunt offer started with the top-level managers’ judgmental heuristics as their basis for comparison for the offers. The bounded rationality used was the criteria in selecting a solution. The following bounded rationality was used by top-level managers: intrapersonal or environmental constraints, quality and quantity of information and significance of the decision, monetary considerations and organizational environment. Lastly, top-level managers satisfice by choosing to accept the offer since it is better than the past situation. However, accepting the offer was not necessarily the best decision.