Managerial implications and further research
Managers are confronted every day with numerous decisions, albeit those which are
fairly mechanistic in nature and have rather high task certainty; decisions requiring
the use of MCS. However, with the advent of increasing globalization, work ambiguity,
and task complexity, there is a need for a manager to be more adaptable and have
greater rapid response (Pearce and Robinson, 2011). MUS may therefore play an
increasingly greater role in organizational decision-making as managers seek answers
to questions generated by new and unique situations and where existing decision
heuristics, as well as the organizational rule book, are constantly being challenged
(Harrison, 1999).
Bowman (1982) found that troubled companies take larger risks than successful
firms, by being more involved in acquisitions, litigation and newness. McEnally and
Todd (1993) showed similar results, finding that the amount of risk taken by
financially distressed firms is greater than the amount taken by successful firms.
Viewing this trend in the light of the framework suggested by this paper can shed more
light on such phenomena. This framework suggests that lower task certainty may
result in the need to make more and more (perhaps panic-based) MUS decisions.
Further research would be able to address the question whether the more distressed
and pressured decision makers feel, the more they need to rely on intuition and the less
they are able to use existing decision rules, resulting in more risk-taking behaviors. If