Decisimaking and Planning Across Cultures

SPRING 2016

MGT 4030 B

CROSS CULTURAL

MANAGEMENT

WEEK NINE

DECISION-MAKING AND

PLANNING ACROSS CULTURES

1

Learning Objectives

By the end of this week the student should be able to:

 The different perspectives of decision making

 Explicitly explain the impact of culture on decision making.

 Understand reflections of culture on planning.

Topics

 Managing uncertainness across cultures;

 The optimal approach to decision making;

 Limitations of the optimal approach;

 Cross-cultural differences in decision-making;

 Meaning of planning,

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DEFINITION

 The conscious process of moving toward

objectives after considering various

alternatives Shull et al (1970)

 Concerned with making an appropriate

choice among a multitude of possible

scenarios. Mintzberg ( 1998), Evans et al

(2002)

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Decision Making

Stages in the Rational Decision Making

Model

1. Defining the problem

2. Gathering and analyzing relevant

data

3. Considering alternative solutions

4. Deciding on the best solution

5. Choose best alternative

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External factors Internal factors

 Political

 Speed of making

 Economic volatility

decisions

 Associative thinking

of exchange rates,

 Nature of direct

foreign investments

 Location of decision

making : Head

office, Subsidiaries

or with an alliance

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Prescriptive

Descriptive approach

approach

Focus on

Focus on

 Various steps that are

 Understanding the

involved in the way

rational processes that

managers carry out the

managers use to reach

task of decisionan optimal outcome.

making.

 Includes, situational

 Includes, information

factors like time,

needed, approvals to

market pressures and

be obtained, chain of

concessions needed to

command to be

make an optimal

observed, time taken to

decision

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DEDUCTIVE VERSUS

INDUCTIVE DECISION

MAKING

 Deductive Reasoning: Encourages managers to start

with broad and wide generalizations or...