A study of the Decision styles of Individuals choosing alternatives when there Is Uncertainty

• Main Author: Johnson, Thomas L.
• Published: NSUWorks 1988
• Subjects: Computer Sciences
• Online Access: http://nsuworks.nova.edu/gscis_etd/609

There were two primary purposes for conducting this study. The first purpose was to assess subject ski1 in decision making. The second, and equally important purpose, was to evaluate and predict subject decision-making performance based on cognitive and contingency style. Subjects were first categorized according to decision-making style using the Rowe (1985) "Decision Style Inventory III." The subjects were categorized, depending on their score, into groups that possessed one of four styles. The style classifications used were directive, analytical. Conceptual, and behavioral. It is possible for the individual subject to possess more than one style. In order to assess their decision-making skills, the subjects in each of the four style groups were then examined to determine the risk strategy used in a hypothetical problem. In the research design employed, the subject was given a problem, with choices for solving that problem. The subjects made a decision based on the many factors involved in their individual decision-making process. The resulting decisions were examined in terms of the basis of decision style and type of risk exposure. The subjects were selected from students majoring in Management Information Systems (MIS) or Business Administration at Mobile College in Mobile. Alabama. All subjects participating in the study had completed college courses in beginning statistics, mathematics through beginning algebra, and at least twelve hours in management information systems as well as one course in management theory. The study focused on the decision styles of the student decision makers and their tendencies to undertake certain types of risk based on their decision styles.