The role of intuition in strategic decision making

Although intuitive processes are critical for effective strategic decision making, there is little in the way of applied research on the topic. Apart from many popularized treatments of in-tuition in the literature today, the re are only a handful of serious scholarly works on the subject. The majori ty of them are essentially theoretical in nature; field research in managem ent settings is virtually nonexistent. This study examined this neglected b ut important process in strategic decision making. We surveyed senior manag ers of companies representing computer; banking, and utility industries in the United Stales and found that intuitive processes are used often in orga nizational decision making. Use of intuitive synthesis was found to be posi tively associated with organizational performance in an unstable environmen t, but negatively so in a stable environment.