"They're Making All The Wrong Decisions" - Unintended Consequences of Empowerment Resulting From Individual Situated Cognition

Coleman, Jonathan

2007-01
2015-03-09

This paper describes how organizational culture affects individual level decision-making processes in large organizations. This is particularly notable in the effect on the relative communication of qualitative versus quantitative information. Different levels of success in communicating these two kinds of information affect the development of the situated cognition prior to making a particular decision. We present the findings of a qualitative research study of thirteen executive level decision makers representing four Fortune 100 companies from four diverse industries. These executives were involved in strategic decisions in the normal course of business and also had particular experience in decisions involving socially responsible actions. A grounded theory analysis revealed that the different visibility of quantitative and qualitative information affects the strategic decision making process by shaping the situated cognition of the decision maker. Visibility of quantitative information is perceived as consistent at all levels, but the visibility of qualitative information that influences the context of decisions deteriorates as it filters down through an organization. This “downward invisibility” of qualitative information was apparent in the discourse about any strategic decision making, but was most readily apparent in the discussion about values and principles surrounding socially responsible actions. Based on this finding, we introduce a “situated cognition continuum” to depict the range of situated cognition displayed by the decision makers in this study. As an organization empowers decision makers at lower and lower levels, the deterioration of qualitative information exposes that organization to variance in the situated cognition of individuals. This variance can lead to decisions that are misaligned with organizational strategy. In the worst cases, this misalignment becomes embedded through reinforcement of quantitative metrics without understanding the underlying qualitative mechanisms that are misaligned.

Organizational behavior.

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http://hdl.handle.net/2186/ksl:weaedm063

47 p

Doctorate of Management Programs