Choices, decisions, and the call to take action: a phenomenological study utilizing bounded rationality to explore complex decision-making processes.

• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2047/d20128379

The nascent trends confronting higher education institutions augment the complexity of decision-making among college and university presidents as they internationalize their respective campuses. Internationalization can no longer be understood as a simplistic, linear, cause and effect logic model, with one correct solution. Instead, the complicated nature of internationalization requires higher education leaders to explore multiple outcomes with the understanding that the optimal solution may not be available, thus requiring them to select among satisficing options, and make good decisions based on incomplete information within the context of unknown and dynamic variables. This qualitative descriptive phenomenological study explored the complex decision-making processes inherent to internationalizing college and university campuses and captured the essence of how six college and university presidents describe their experiences navigating the decision-making arena with respect to internationalization. The researcher conducted one-on-one, in-depth, face-to-face interviews with each of the participants, and utilized a combination of semi-structured and open-ended questions. The researcher transcribed the data and employed Giorgi's (2009) descriptive phenomenological methodology of analysis to write the textual and structural description of the phenomenon, and reveal the essence of complex decision-making. Through the lens of bounded rationality, the findings reveal that complex decision-making evokes strong emotions, and requires college and university presidents to incorporate a combination of strategies and processes as they maneuver through both linear and non-linear paths for acquiring information, seeking alternatives, and making decisions.