- Adaptive mode: Sometimes referred to as “muddling through,” this decision-making mode is characterized by reactive solutions to existing problems, rather than a proactive search for new opportunities. Much bargaining goes on concerning priorities of objectives.
Strategy is fragmented and is developed to move a corporation forward incrementally.
This mode is typical of most universities, many large hospitals, a large number of
governmental agencies, and a surprising number of large corporations. Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc., operated successfully for many years in this mode, but it continued to rely on the door-to-door selling of its prestigious books long after dual-career couples made that marketing approach obsolete. Only after it was acquired in 1996 did the company change its door-to-door sales to television advertising and Internet marketing. The company now charges libraries and individual subscribers for complete access to Brittanica.com and offers CD-ROMs in addition to a small number of its 32-volume print set.