Biases in Decision Making

Korte / DECISION BIASES Advances in Developing Human Resources 10.1177/1523422303257287 IN HRD

ARTICLE

November 2003

Biases in Decision Making and Implications for Human Resource Development

Russell F. Korte

The problem and the solution. Effectively solving problems is a common goal for individuals and organizations, and successful problem solving is dependent on the quality of decisions made along the way. Making decisions to diagnose and direct organizational performance improvement efforts is a continual task throughout the human resource development (HRD) process. However, evidence shows that there is a large gap between theory and practice in effective decision making. In practice, the decision-making process is heavily influenced by the assumptions and biases of the decision makers. This article describes decision-making processes and the many sources of bias that confound decision makers in their attempts to solve problems. Furthermore, it describes the implications of these biases for HRD professionals and suggests ways to minimize the influence of biases in the decision-making process. Attending to the pitfalls of decision-making biases is crucial to improving the success of decisions that drive HRD professionals’ efforts. Keywords: biases; decision-making; HRD

Traditional models of decision making are built on logic and rationality. Although such models may be elegant in the logical structure of their processes, reality shows that decision making rarely follows such a logical structure. Decision-making processes vary and are often confounded by various assumptions and biases held by the decision makers. Finding a more successful model of decision making requires recognition of the assumptions and biases affecting decisions, along with recommendations to minimize their ill effects. The purpose of this article is to present a brief survey of the literature on decision making and the ways in which biases undermine decisions. In addition, it...