Managing social interaction as a key to organizational decision making : from problem solving to sensemaking and design

Abstract

It is argued that the design of decisions is a process that in many ways is shaped by social factors such as identities, values, and influences. To be able to understand how these factors impact on organizational decisions, the focus must be set on the management level. It is the management that shoulders the chief responsibility for designing collective actions, such as decisions. Our propositions to management for improving the quality of organizational decisions are these: 1. The identity of the people involved in organizational decision making affects the quality of decisions and should be taken into account in the design of decisions, 2. The decision maker or designer of decisions should engage the members of an organization to create a shared vision, 3. Getting the members of an organization to express and share common values should improve the decison making process, and 4. Being able to socially influence the members of an organization, as well as letting them participate in the process should improve the quality of decisions.