Thesis--Wisconsin. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 93-96).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1981. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 60-63).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1982. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 86-87).

Thesis (M.S. in Systems Technology (Command, Control, and Communications))--Naval Postgraduate School, March 1990. / Thesis Advisor(s): Jones, Carl R. Second Reader: Roberts, Nancy C. "March 1990." Description based on title screen as viewed on August 25, 2009. Author(s) subject terms: C2, C3, C31, CINC, Command and Control, Comander-In-Chief, Decision Making, Decision Making Process, Organizational Decision-Making Process. Theater Level CINC. Includes bibliographical references (p. 108-112). Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Illinois, 1965. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Illinois, 1965. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references.

The goal of this thesis project was to investigate cross-cultural differences in preferences for shared medical decision-making (SDM) by studying adults from the UK and Saudi Arabia. The aim of Study 1 was to gauge preferences for SDM in nonclinical samples from the UK and Saudi Arabia. Results show that there were indeed differences in SDM between Saudi and UK participants. Saudi participants tended to prefer stronger involvement from their doctor, whereas UK participants preferred to make choices themselves. The aim of Study 2 was to investigate in how far Saudi patients with Type 1 diabetes would be interested to be involved in a medical decision. The results of this qualitative study showed that, in general, physicians were reported to often have poor communication skills, which makes patients feel uncomfortable. Participants reported that their physician gave them medication without any discussion over the reasoning behind the prescription provided. Study 3 investigated parents’ preferences regarding their involvement in medical decisions when making decisions for themselves or their child, to record parents’ emotional reaction to shared medical decision-making, and to identify cultural differences on these topics in parents from Saudi Arabia and the UK. The results showed that parents were more likely to take an active role in the decision-making process when making the decision for themselves rather than their child. Decision confidence was higher in the non-informed choice condition. Emotional reaction and decision confidence were higher in the informed choice condition. A number of important recommendations for policy and practice that aim to increase shared decision-making and highlight the importance of culture. While European health-care professionals are increasingly encouraged to involve patients in decisions about their care, this study indicates that preferences for such shared medical decision making vary by culture and the recipient of the decision. This should be taken into account when health care professional involves patients in medical decisions.

Making decisions in the business environment is arguably the most challenging aspect of managers' yet also the easiest to fail in. Unlike individual decisions managers as agents for their organizations make decisions amidst high levels of ambiguity, incomplete information and mostly under time pressure. These are the very conditions that make managers vulnerable to the volition-undermining potential of decision-generated affect precisely when they are feeling over-extended to deal with such demands. Effective managerial decision making (MDM) involves more than applying a set of individual abilities. Managers face numerous obstacles, failures, and setbacks that often carry perturbing self-evaluative implications as well as social consequences that undermine their self-evaluations in ways that impair good use of their decision making skills (Bandura, 1997). Given the absence of a coherent theoretical framework in the literature the conceptual model of relations put forward attempts to organize and simplify how managers make decisions as agents of their organizations. Most conceptualizations apply oversimplified models that focus attention on one or a few variables, neglect the joint constellations of individual variable factors and the influence of individual self-generated influences as a contributing factor in MDM. As an ex post facto explanatory-predictive study the present research offers evidence of these links among the theoretically relevant constructs in order to formulate an account of their relations in a parsimonious framework that could guide future insights to explain and predict the intentions and direction of managerial decision behaviour. Conceptual research has outpaced empirical research in decision making of managers in organizations. A number of mini-theories exists that focus on a few variables using linear, antecedent-consequence relations with manipulations in laboratory environments that deal with decisions in contexts that are very different to those faced by managers. There is limited research on managers as research participants and empirical findings based on non-managerial samples and students may not generalize to managers in real life decision making. The present research used a non-probability, purposive sample (N = 196) of experienced managers in the Western Cape region of South Africa, all employed in private and public organizations (mean age 38.9 years, SD of 7.49, ethnic black managers constituted 15.8 percent of the sample). As part of the study it was necessary to construct and validate custom indicator measures in an independent pilot study from the same population. The pilot study determined the factor structures of the dimensionality and internal consistency of the custom-designed measures by way of both convergent, as well as, discriminative validity. The exploratory factor (EFA) and internal reliability analyses succeeded to provide both a comprehensive and empirical grasp on the constructs as was defined. Further, analyses of both standardized and custom-designed also revealed no significant difference between black and other managers across the pilot samples which provided confidence of the substantive relations of interest (i.e., the associations among the variables). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was chosen as the data analysis strategy of choice and a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) demonstrated that the operational measures by and large succeeded in providing both a comprehensive and empirical grasp on the constructs as defined. The inter-construct relations were also consistent with expectations. Evidence for convergent validity however proved that the indicator measures for the allocation of attentional resources were less than adequate in order to provide an uncontaminated measure as a latent variable. The structural model was subjected to further scrutiny by way of a spectrum of goodness-of-fit statistics. The analyses revealed that the model was not adequate and the null hypothesis that the model fitted the population data was subsequently, rejected. It was also sensible to assess the degree of lack of fit of the model with reference to RMSEA which revealed a value of .08, that suggested a reasonable model fit. The poor structural model fit could however be attributed to the failure of the measured indicators used to provide an acceptable grasp of the allocation of attentional resources as a latent variable. The inherent structural flaws in the model could however not be unequivocally be ruled out as an additional possibility of poor fit. One conclusion is the possibility of an expanded model that requires additional indicator measures and additional paths. Notwithstanding these limitations, the present research provided support for social cognitive theory that underlies the model. In accordance with the literature and empirical findings the present research demonstrated mangers' decision making is much more than reason-based behaviour. The present research demonstrates the interdependencies and cumulative effects among individual factors, self-efficacy beliefs and temporal volitional processes, as psychological iv mechanisms through which social-structural factors are linked to the quality of MDM processes. The present research also presents an argument for the independent contributions of self-efficacy beliefs as causal influences on "hot temporal processes" that promote accuracy in decision making. Although present research demonstrates that the estimates were greater for cognitive ability than for both self-efficacy beliefs and social self-confidence it does not suggest that personality traits and self-efficacy beliefs have no utility. The present research demonstrates that cognitive ability combines with personality traits, self-efficacy beliefs and temporal processes (decision-generated affect and the allocation of attentional resources) in a complex manner through multiple pathways.

A model of organizational decision making is developed in terms of which certain components of the process - formation of goals, search procedures, making of a choice etc. - are conceptualized as being arranged sequentially along a temporal continuum. The temporal extensiveness of this continuum is seen as largely being a function of bargaining processes visa-vis components of a given decision by the differentiated sub-units of an organization. Research carried out among four technologically differentiated organizations provides empirical verification for the conceptual model and illustrates certain limitations to organizational rationality and the role of organizational politics in decision making. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

The problem addressed here is the examination of the dilemmas of decision making in different substantive contexts. The contexts include peasant farmers deciding whether or not to accept an agricultural innovation, sophomore students gambling, and fishermen on British Columbia's West coast making up their minds where they intend to fish. The major conclusion is that the structure of decision making is a constant cross-cultural variable. This implies that socio-cultural factors can most profitably be viewed as a framework within which a similar structure of decision making occurs. From this consideration it follows that decision making is a basic building block for the study of social behavior. Identification of the basic structure of decision making is in terms of a theory of risk taking which relates the type of decision strategy used in any situation to considerations of the resources, information and utilities that particular individuals possess with regard to the event the decision is about. From an initial substantive concern with Third World farmers deciding to adopt or reject agricultural innovations I generalise to a number of statements about individuals and risk. Risk taking refers to behavior in situations where there is a desirable goal and a lack of certainty that it can be achieved with attendant possibilities of loss. Three main sources are used to test the assertions about risk taking — first a laboratory experiment, then fieldwork and finally secondary sources. The argument made to justify this procedure is that these situations constitute particular empirical settings in which the propositions about risk taking could legitimately be tested. The argument rests on the assumption that the same scope conditions are met in each substantive setting. The scope conditions considered here place an individual decision maker within parameters of resources and subjective utility with regard to some outcome, information and incentive conditions for any risk. The propositions predict the type of decision strategies that would be employed for given values of the above parameters. This level of abstraction, which is not tied to situational boundaries is, I submit, a necessary prerequisite for effective cross-cultural analysis. Thus my thesis is not about peasant farmers, or fishermen or gambling, the work attempted here is concerned with individuals and risk. The tools used draw upon a tradition of model building extant in economics with reference to decision theory. Thus the work attempted here is part of the growing formal tradition in economic anthropology. The model built was not a perfect fit with data but adequate enough to give one confidence in the set of methodological assumptions which were fundamental to its construction. Also the testing procedure employed has implications for the manner in which anthropologists may conduct enquiry, as it establishes that laboratory contexts are as legitimate a source of verification as field contexts. It is from these two considerations that I offer a test case for methodology in economic anthropology. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate