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Do environment and intuition matter in the relationship between decision politics and success?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 January 2015

Said Elbanna ,
C Anthony Di Benedetto  and
Jouhaina Gherib
Said Elbanna
Affiliation:
College of Business and Economics, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar
C Anthony Di Benedetto*
Affiliation:
Fox School of Business, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Jouhaina Gherib
Affiliation:
ISCAE, University of Manouba, El Mourouj, Tunisia
*
Corresponding author: anthony.dibenedetto@temple.edu
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Abstract

Little is known about the relationship between political behavior and successful decision making in non-Western national settings, or about the impact of environmental factors on this relationship. Moreover, our understanding of the decision processes through which political behavior translates into decision outcomes is also not well understood. The present research extends previous studies by examining how political behavior influences decision success in a new setting, with reference to the moderating impact of three environmental factors representing industry and society/nation environment effects, and the mediating role of a decision process, intuition. The findings from a survey of 131 Tunisian firms suggest that the practice of political behavior negatively influences decision success. We also find evidence of the importance of product uncertainty and intuition in understanding this relationship. Our findings address key issues not yet well understood in the theoretical literature, and provide managerial insights into ways of improving strategic choices in organizations.

Keywords

decision successenvironmentintuitionpolitical behaviorthe global financial crisis
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 21 , Issue 1 , January 2015 , pp. 60 - 81
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2015 

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