Numerous quantitative planning models have been developed and successfully applied to facilitate the solutions of relatively well-structured problems. Unfortunately, qualitative models and techniques, particularly those applicable to ill-structured problems, are less well developed. One...

In this chapter, we discuss the use of narrative fiction and semi-fiction in organizational research and explore the strengths and weaknesses of these alternative approaches. We begin with an introduction reviewing the existing literature and clarifying what we mean by fiction and semi-fiction....

Prior studies examining factors that influence the learning curve mainly focus on settings in which firms adopt new products or technologies or open new plants or assembly lines. Less is known, however, about how more mature firms learn, when they are further down the learning curve. To gain...

A three-year case study was conducted of the effects of computer-based decision technology on policy formation, policy implementation, and routine operations in the Federal Coal Management Program. Several methodologies were used, including semistructured interviewing and content analysis....

The case is made for performing more longitudinal research into organizations and their adaptive processes. Previous literature on the empirical longitudinal analysts of organizations is classified into five categories on the basis of the breadth of scope of the research, the number and...

This paper produces new estimates of the rate of organizational forgetting in the well-known case study of U.S. wartime ship production. Estimates obtained using data constructed from primary sources at the National Archives yield rates of forgetting that are much smaller than previously...

The metasystem approach to organizational decision-making presented in this paper is set in a control systems framework. Decision-making is approached from a control systems viewpoint. The concept of metasystem is introduced as a framework for decision-making about decision-making, that is, the...

Although relative performance schemes are pervasive in organizations, reliable empirical data on induced sabotage behavior are almost nonexistent. We study sabotage in repeated tournaments in a controlled laboratory experiment and observe that effort and sabotage are higher for higher wage...

This paper deals with strategic planning for management information systems. Specifically, those variables of the strategic plan which impact on the success or failure of MIS are identified, and propositions are formulated relating states of the variables to system conditions. The variables...

Objectives have long been considered a basis for sound decision making. This research examines the ability of decision makers to generate self-relevant objectives for consequential decisions. In three empirical studies, participants consistently omitted nearly half of the objectives that they...