Background: The Chinese market is growing fast and rapidly in a high pace. Many foreign companies see the possibilities in this and are expanding their business to China. When operating business in China strategic decisions are taken by the management, sometimes without reflection of what influences the process. This makes the influence on the management strategic decision-making process vital when expanding to China, since it may reflect on the company’s strategic plans.   Purpose: To further explore and extend the research area on how the expansion to China influences the management and their strategic decision-making process.   Research questions: RQ1: Do the expansion to China influence the management strategic decision-making process?   RQ2: How does the expansion to China influence the management strategic decision-making process?   Methodology: Conducted as an abductive qualitative multiple case study, examined with semi-structured interviews with an exploratory purpose.   Conclusion: The empirical investigation showed that the management and their strategic decision-making process are influenced by the expansion to China. The influences are; rationality, decision speed, environment, politics, culture and how management view their strategy through the strategic lenses.

The strategic decision making process (SDMP) is a major issue in organisations. It is part of the larger topic of strategic management and related to strategic planning. Achievement of strategic objectives outlined in the strategic plan of an organisation depends on the decisions taken through the process. Yet the literature shows that the concept of SDMP is not well understood and organisations find it difficult to develop and implement an SDMP, particularly Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The literature indicates that decisions are taken in organizations in different ways for example using intuition, data, collaboration and ad-hoc considerations. In addition contextual factors are argued to affect the SDMP although very little research has been conducted to explain how contextual factors affect SDMP they do in HEIs. Some examples of contextual factors namely decision process characteristics have been identified and discussed as part of the SDMP literature in industry. However, lack of knowledge about SDMP and how contextual factors influence SDMP is regarded as to be a major obstacle for HEIs in taking decisions and choosing the best alternative amongst available decisions. This research seeks to contribute to address this important issue. Whilst there are many strategic decision characteristics (contextual factors) identified in the literature, this research focuses on decision importance. The rationale for choosing decision importance was that there is always some concern in the minds of the decision makers in the HEIs on what constitutes an important decision. What is considered as important decision while the decision is being taken may prove to be less important after implementation if there is no clear understanding of how to assign importance to a decision. Even in the industrial sector, Elbanna and Child (2007) it has been argued that decision importance has not been studied well. Relying upon the theoretical model developed by Elbanna and Child and other arguments found in the literatue, this research argued that the SDMP is a combination of relationships between decision characteristics, SDMP characteristics and decision outcomes that are influenced by environmental factors. As far as environmental factors were concerned environmental uncertainty was chosen as an external environment factor while organisational performance was chosen as the internal contextual factor. These two factors were argued to moderate the relationship between SDMP characteristics and SDMP outcomes and theoretical support for this conceptualisation was taken from the model developed by Elbanna and Child. A research model was developed to address the research questions, and the aim of the study was “to examine the different decision specific characteristic, SDMP characteristic and SDMP process outcome variables and develop a relationship amongst them in the context of HEIs in a changing environment”. The research was conducted in the United States of America and data was gathered from faculty members involved in decision making at the department level and higher. A positivist epistemological and objective ontological stance was adopted and a deductive approach was used. The research model was tested using the data collected from 485 valid responses to a survey questionnaire. Linear regression was the primary analysis approach and supplemented by path analysis. Results from the regression analysis showed that decision importance exerts influence on decision effectiveness through the mediators, rationality in decision making, intuition and decentralization in decision making. However, the outcome of path analysis showed that only rationality in decision making and intuition are important while decentalisation was not found to be statistically significant. Similarly environmental factors exerted pressure only on the relationship between rationality in decision making and decision effectiveness. The contradicting SDMP factors rationality in decision making and intuition were both found to be necessary to SDMP in the HEI context. This research has contributed to knowledge in terms of establishing a relationship between decision importance and decision process effectiveness mediated by rationality in decision making and intuition and development of the model. Theoretically the findings of this research show that the modification imposed on the model developed by Elbanna and Child was found to be statistically significant and found support from the literature. Environmental factors affected the relationship between rationality in decision making and decision effectiveness. This research has provided a model that can be used to help decision makers in HEIs to implement SDMP practically in the organization, to guide the process towards more robust decisions. The findings of this research find application in supporting policy makers to increase the likelihood of more effective decisions so that the decisions taken more effective.

As organisations operate in a globalised, competitive and ever-changing environment, the process of making strategic decisions, the introduction and implementation of organisational changes, and employees’ responses towards these changes are typical challenges in organisational life. In this content, the recent financial crisis of 2007-2008 had a profound impact on the Greek economy, as the Greek banking sector had undergone a series of profound organisational changes that were met with a mixed response from employees. The aim of this study is to investigate and propose an integrated theoretical model on the relationship among strategic decision-making process (SDMP), organisational change and employees’ responses to change in Greek banks. To achieve this aim, the SDMP by which organisational changes were introduced in Greek banks, and employees’ EVLN behavioural responses towards these changes are examined. Two questionnaire surveys were conducted and data were collected from 11 CEOs and 78 members of top management teams, and 1,259 Greek bank employees. The study adopted the positivistic approach and data were quantitatively analysed by using the statistical software of SPSS version 2.1 and AMOS version 22.0. The findings suggest that top management teams used their Rationality, Intuition and Political behaviour during SDMP, and different contextual factors had a different impact on this process. Moreover, employees’ EVLN behavioural responses varied depending on the type of organisational change and the level of impact of organisational commitment, job satisfaction and psychological contract breach on their responses. Also, significant differences were found on employees’ responses in terms of their age, gender, educational level, length of service at the bank, position at the bank, and the bank they worked for before the changes. The key contribution to knowledge is that this is the first study that develops an integrated theoretical model that examines the relationship among SDMP, organisational change and employees’ EVLN behavioural responses. It also enhances our knowledge and extends the literature on a number of relationships such as the impact of the antecedents of SDMP on SDMP dimensions, the effect of SDMP dimensions on organisational change, and the impact of different types of organisational change on employees’ EVLN responses. Such contribution has significant implications on making strategic decisions and managing change in times of crises.

Changes in the environment are a major area of concern to any firm in its strategic decision making process (SDMP). SDMP is considered to be an important component in the success of firms in the strategic management literature. This includes small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in the electronic, telecom and information technology (IT) sector which are subjected to frequent and extremely dynamic environments both internally and externally, unlike many other industries. A lack of prior studies supporting an understanding of the SDMP in SMEs is evident, and coupled with the extremely volatile environmental conditions that compound the problem, makes SMES dealing in electronic, telecom and IT products and services highly vulnerable to closure. An immediate investigation into the SDMP in SMEs is needed and long overdue. This research seeks to address this gap in the knowledge. In order to address the gap this research used synoptic formalism and incrementalism to develop an understanding on how SMEs in the electronic, telecom and IT sector make decisions and what is the nature of these decisions. A Strategic Decision Making Process (SDMP) model was developed based on prior research. Decision magnitude of impact acted as the input to the SDMP, rationality and intuition acted as the process component, and decision process output as the output component. Thus these three concepts acted as the three components of a process (input-process-output) configuration. The model facilitated the development of an understanding of the functioning of decision magnitude of impact as a decision characteristic factor, its relationship to SDMP and process dimensions (rationality in decision making and intuition) as an antecedent (and hence as a predictor) of decision output variables (decision process effectiveness), quality of the decision process output through the mediation of decision dimensions. In line with the need to understand the SDMP in SMEs data were collected from managers of a large number of SMEs belonging to electronic, telecom and IT sector. The territory chosen was the Gulf Cooperation Council countries (Kingdom of Bahrain, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates) as this region provides a rich source of such SMEs and the environment is highly dynamic. A self-administered questionnaire was developed by adapting previously validated questionnaire scales. Pre-testing and pilot surveys were used to ensure that the contents, format and scales were appropriate. A range of decision makers in those SMEs were targeted. 464 valid questionnaires were returned, representing a response rate of over 50%. The data was coded and analysed using SPSS/AMOS, two widely used statistical software tools. The data analysis steps included reliability and validity testing (Cronbach’s alpha and Confirmatory Factor Analysis, respectively). The entire model was tested using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Using SEM it was possible to identify the model, test the parsimonious nature of the model, determine whether the identified model makes theoretical sense and examine the fitness of the model to the data. The predictability of decision process output by decision magnitude of impact was analysed using path analysis as part of the SEM. The research outcome showed that in the electronic, telecommunication and information technology sector, where the environment is dynamic, decision magnitude as an important independent variable influences rationality in decision making directly and decision effectiveness, quality of decision process output and firm commitment indirectly. Rationality in decision making was found act as an important medicating variable in the strategic decision making process. In the same vein it was found that intuition is not affected by decision magnitude of impact. Further, dynamism in the industry and firm performance were also seen to influence decision effectiveness, quality of decision process output and firm commitment although the influence of dynamism in the industry on firm commitment was found to be very low. Thus the main contribution of this research is the development of an understanding of the relationship between decision magnitude of impact as input to the SDMP and hence as predictor of decision process output and the SDMP process output. Furthermore, the research has advanced current knowledge on the influence of rationality in decision making and intuition as mediators between decision magnitude of impact and decision process output variables. These two aspects have been tested in an SME sector that is affected seriously by dynamism in the industry and with varying firm performance as a contextual feature. The comprehensive research outcome can be of benefit to the SMEs in the electronic, telecom and IT sector and support them in overcoming potential vulnerabilities by making strategic decisions whose magnitude of impact on the firms is high and a decision process that is rational. In addition from the point of view of methodology this research has used SEM in understanding the nature and functioning of the model as well as the operationalisation of the variables. The outcome of this research is expected to benefit the SMEs in the electronic, telecom and IT sector in their SDMP and has opened up a new area of research for other researchers and academics.

Bakgrund: Digitaliseringens utveckling har under de senaste åren accelererat och innebär utmaningar för organisationer kring att snabbt kunna anpassa sig efter nya förhållanden och ställa om (Guinan et al., 2019). Chefsarbetet har därmed blivit alltmer komplext då chefer behöver ha inblick i den tekniska utvecklingen (Zeike et al., 2019). Till följd av förändringar i omgivningen ligger fokus på att ha en välutvecklad strategi för att kunna möta de utmaningar som uppkommit (Liedtka, 2000). Beslutsprocesserna har under distansarbetet blivit mindre effektiva och tar längre tid. Organisationer behöver se över sin strategi och utveckla arbetsformer för att anpassa dem till det flexibla arbetssätt som digitaliseringen medfört (Gabryelczyk, 2020). Syfte: Med hjälp av studien ämnar vi skapa en förståelse kring de utmaningar och möjligheter som uppkommit vid strategiska beslutsprocesser till följd av digitaliseringen. Ämnet belyses utifrån en kommunal verksamhet, vilket Almeida et al. (2020) menar inte forskats kring i stor utsträckning tidigare. Metod: En kvalitativ metod användes för studien. Semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med åtta personer som underlag för empirin. Förutom det, samlades även två dokument in som komplement till intervjuerna. Slutsats: Den digitala transformationen genomsyrar hela organisationen och bör tas i beaktande vid det strategiska beslutsfattandet. De faktorer som enligt det empiriska resultatet påverkat den strategiska beslutsprocessen är informationstillgänglighet, begränsad kommunikation samt deltagande. Det empiriska resultatet visar att den faktorn som påverkat de strategiska beslutsprocesserna mest till följd av digitaliseringen är att information blivit mer lättillgänglig. Till följd av detta går det enklare att få fram information till beslutsunderlag och beslutsunderlagen kan därmed hålla en högre kvalitet. Dessutom har digitaliseringen skapat möjligheter till bättre omvärlds- och konsekvensanalyser. Informationstillgängligheten antas bidra till att chefer kan vara mer rationella i sitt beslutsfattande. Den andra faktorn som empiriskt identifierats är begränsad kommunikation i form av att informationsöverföringen mellan personer brister i viss mån och att diskussioner blir stelare under digitala möten. Resultatet visar att det trots detta, genom digitaliseringen rent tekniskt finns resurser för att kommunicera samt dela information. När den mänskliga faktorn kopplas in framkommer dock att diskussioner i själva verket blir stelare vid digitala möten jämfört med i ett fysiskt rum. Digitaliseringen kan alltså i viss mån antas gynna beslutsprocessen i och med att5effektiviseringar kan göras om de digitala verktygens potential utnyttjas, men beslutsprocessen kan även missgynnas på grund av stelare diskussioner. Den tredje faktorn är att deltagandet har främjats till följd av digitaliseringen. Resultatet visar att möjligheten till ett ökat deltagande genom att bemöta digitaliseringens möjligheter har bidragit till en större möjlighet till att deltagare, problem, lösning och beslutstillfälle sammanfaller. / Background: The progress of digitalization has been incremental in recent years which poses challenges for organizations to adapt promptly to new conditions and change (Guinan et al., 2019). Therefore, the managerial work has become even more complex as managers need to be aware of the technical development (Zeike et al., 2019). The focus remains on having a well-developed strategy and strategic decision making to adapt to the changes in the environment (Liedtka, 2000). The decision-making process has become less efficient and is more time consuming since people are working remotely. The organizations need to reevaluate their stratgies and develop their working methods to implement digitalization (Gabryelcyk, 2020). Purpose: The study conducted intends to create an understanding of the challenges and opportunities that have arisen in the strategic decision-making process due to digitalization. This subject shed light based on a municipality operation which according to Almeida et al. (2020) is not a subject that has been extensively researched before. Method: A qualitative method have been used for the study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight people as a basis for empiricism. Moreover, two documents were added as a complement to the interviews. Conclusion: The digital transformation impacts the entire organization and should be taken into consideration in strategic decision-making. The factors that due to the empirical results have affected the strategic decision-making process are information accessibility, limited communication, and participation. The empirical findings shows that due to digitalization the factor that has influenced the strategic decision-making processes most is that information has become more accessible.Consequently, it is easier to obtain information for decision making. Thus, the decision foundation retains a greater quality. In addition, digitalization has created opportunities for better environmental and consequence analysis. The accessibility of information to managers is assumed to contribute to better rational decision making.The second factor empirical identified is limited communication. During digital meetings, the exchange of information has a propensity to be miscommunicated and sometimes part of the information is omitted, as well as discussions tends to be stiffer. On the other hand, the study results show that despite this, through digitalization, there are technical resources to7communicate and share information. However, when the human factor is involved, it seems that discussions become stiffer in digital meetings compared to physical ones. Hence, digitalization can to some extend benefit the decision-making process in terms of efficiency whilst utilizing the potential of the digital tools. Yet, it has also a disadvantage due to stiffer discussions.The third factor is that participation has improved because of digitalization. The results show that the opportunity for improved participation, through digitalization, has contributed to a greater opportunity for participants, problems, solutions, and decision making to coincide.