Managerial decision making: articles summary and discussion

¶ … journal from ProQuest

According to Erna Szabo's 2006 article entitled "Meaning and context of participation in five European countries," from the peer-reviewed journal Management Decision, while universalist rational models of decision-making have been increasingly discredited in the field of managerial research, the types of qualitative methodology designed to more effectively study differences in cross-cultural management decisions have likewise been criticized because of the difficulty of comparing findings across cultural settings. Szabo's article attempts to study participatory management from a cross-cultural perspective in the Czech Republic, Poland, Finland, Sweden, and Germany.

The author is intensely self-conscious about the methodology deployed, the author's national background and demeanor during the interviews conducted for the article. Managers were interviewed, but before they were subjected to quantitatively analyzed tests which also required them to provide detailed written feedback. The value of mixing such qualitative and the quantitative approaches is reflected in the fact that the Czech managers spoke and rated employee participation in positive terms, but their seemingly positive attitude was undercut by their descriptions of quite autocratic managerial practices. The Czech's post-communist, Eastern European counterparts, the Poles, were more individualistic in their orientation, yet with what the author characterized as a historical respect for authority typical of former Eastern block nations, the Poles also strongly believed in a need to secure respect from authority figures and to achieve to meet standards set by the authority.

In stark contrast, Finns were very independent, and placed a high premium on producing a quality product, not upon obedience. They believed in allowing employees to work independently and fostering employee empowerment was valued in the workplace. The Finn's Nordic neighbors, the Swedes, also stressed employee empowerment but achieved this though consensus building, as well as valuing equality and fair consideration of all employee opinions, to create the smoothest interpersonal relations possible. Authority was deemphasized, creating community was more important. Finally, German managers strove to use participation to maximize the value of human capital to optimize worker productivity.

Article 2: Non-peer reviewed article from ProQuest

If we are so devoted to the idea that making mistakes is necessary for learning, perhaps managers should not view employees making occasional mistakes in such a damaging light, suggests the New York Times' Alina Tugend in a 2007 article "The many errors in thinking about mistakes." For managers, there is a great deal of ambivalence about allowing mistakes, and also for even the most talented individuals, to risk making them for a potential game. Perfectionists may shy away from taking on risky tasks, experimental studies indicate, as students praised for being smart by the tester will often take the easier test, when given the choice by an observing researcher.

Ironically, even though students allowed to make mistakes without penalties tend to learn more efficiently, the modern business climate emphasizes the importance of error-free decision-making, seeing every error is seen as a detriment to the bottom line. But not making mistakes and shying away from risk can lead to a lack of creativity, even overconfidence. While inexperienced managers make many mistakes and learn, experienced managers may be so superficially proficient at avoiding mistakes, they may always take the easy way out. Like the children told they were very smart in the research study, they choose safe and easy options, and thus avoid learning and developing ability to improve as circumstances change. Being risk-averse when making decisions as a result of pride and the defect-free rewards system and managerial philosophy may lead to a lack of needed change, both personally, and also within the organization.

Comparison / Contrast