Management indecision

Abstract

Purpose

Indecision is not the hallmark of a great manager, but what do we know about when and why managers avoid or postpone decisions? The purpose of this paper is to discuss the limited research on indecision.

Design/methodology/approach

This article reviews research from judgment and decision making, psychology, management, and marketing literatures to assemble what we already know about indecision. The review spans situational and personal determinants of indecision, highlighting what we know about when and why people experience indecision as well as who is predictably indecisive.

Findings

Decisions are avoided when people are asked to justify them, when options are similar in attractiveness, and when there are a large number of options to consider. Indecision may sometimes be a result of systematic biases (i.e. omission bias and status quo bias), and indecisive people may be more prone to confirmation bias. Finally, indecisiveness is related to numerous other individual differences, many of which are negative.

Practical implications

Specific recommendations for managers include evaluating options separately rather than comparing options, structuring incentive systems to reward decisive action, and explicitly considering the risk of lost opportunity when deciding whether to put off making a decision.

Originality/value

The literature reviewed in this paper spans diverse disciplines and perspectives. This paper provides a starting point for managers and researchers interested in understanding indecision: when and why it occurs, who is likely to be most indecisive, and what we might do to counter indecision.

Citation

Brooks, M.E. (2011), "Management indecision", Management Decision, Vol. 49 No. 5, pp. 683-693. https://doi.org/10.1108/00251741111130788