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Heuristics in managerial decision making during company turnaround and uncertainty

Mini Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2017.

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Other Authors: Lew, Charlene
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2017
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Lew, Charlene
author_browse Lew, Charlene
author_facet Lew, Charlene
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2017 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria.
description Mini Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2017.
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:36:37.921Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2017
publishDateRange 2017
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publisher University of Pretoria
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spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/59834 Heuristics in managerial decision making during company turnaround and uncertainty Lew, Charlene ichelp@gibs.co.za Govender, Lovendran UCTD Mini Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2017. The ever-changing business landscape is becoming increasingly uncertain and complex. Negative environmental forces, often uncontrollable by companies, are frequently causing firms to pursue a state of turnaround to navigate out the spiral of decline they unfortunately enter. Managerial decision making is understood to be an important lever that firms possess with potential to enable or disable successful organisational turnaround, driving a business imperative for understanding. Heuristics, often referred to as shortcuts or rules of thumb, have enjoyed growing acceptance in academia as a valuable decision technique to combat uncertainty under decision constraints of time and cost. This research explored the use of heuristics by managerial decision makers during company turnaround, the relationship between heuristics and changes in company environment, and motivating factors for heuristics in conditions of company turnaround. The research was conducted as a qualitative exploratory and quasi-experimental study containing three purposefully designed vignettes prompting a decision to be made, followed by several open ended questions. Data was collected from thirteen semi-structured interviews with Senior Managers in various decision making positions across a firm undergoing turnaround. The use of vignettes to test heuristic use in a qualitative manner contrasts existing computational quantitative studies, contributing to future research in heuristic decision making and environmental influence. Key findings revealed the use of three heuristics, although not dominant, in conditions of turnarounds by managerial decision makers, namely the Take-the-best, Satisficing and Recognition heuristic. However, a blended approach, combining both rational and cognitive decision making, was the preferred approach. Heuristic use was found to be influenced by changes in the company environment and better suited during company turnaround, where uncertainty is evident. The study extends existing factors for heuristics by revealing that comfort level, decision impact, urgency, pressure and strategic importance motivate heuristic use in organisational turnaround. Identified heuristic development methods contribute to existing literature and provides guidance to companies intending to address uncertainty in company turnaround decision environments. nk2017 Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) MBA Unrestricted 2017-04-07T13:05:53Z 2017-04-07T13:05:53Z 2017-03-30 2017 Mini Dissertation Govender, L 2017, Heuristics in managerial decision making during company turnaround and uncertainty, MBA Mini Dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/59834> http://hdl.handle.net/2263/59834 en © 2017 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle UCTD
Heuristics in managerial decision making during company turnaround and uncertainty
title Heuristics in managerial decision making during company turnaround and uncertainty
title_full Heuristics in managerial decision making during company turnaround and uncertainty
title_fullStr Heuristics in managerial decision making during company turnaround and uncertainty
title_full_unstemmed Heuristics in managerial decision making during company turnaround and uncertainty
title_short Heuristics in managerial decision making during company turnaround and uncertainty
title_sort heuristics in managerial decision making during company turnaround and uncertainty
topic UCTD
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/59834