O uso da razão e da intuição na tomada de decisão estratégica e a percepção de incerteza no ambiente de negócios

Abstract

This study is aimed at assessing the use of either reason or intuition as mental frameworks on the strategic decision process, considering the degree of perceived uncertainty on the business environment. It is based on field research data collection, transverse regarding time span and oriented to correlation relationships between variables. The survey was conducted in a sample of 201 professionals working in organizations located at the city of São Paulo, Brazil and performing jobs in which strategic decisions are taken. Questionnaires included respondents demographic data, their perceptions about environmental business uncertainty, the existence of stress related to strategic decision taking as well as their personal style of decision making. Results confirmed different degrees of perceived uncertainty on the business environment and revealed six different styles of decision-making and positive associations between: (1) demographic variables such as age, time of professional experience and hierarchical level of the job with the decision-making style adopted; (2) the stress sensation with the perception of uncertainty of State and of Response and (3) the stress sensation with the study operational hypothesis called adjustment (fit). This research fosters the understanding of how the perceived environmental uncertainty affects the strategic decision-making process and helps to identify possible stress sources for the strategic decision maker. It also confirms the role played by age and professional experience in adopting more flexible patterns in decision making such as intuition and reaffirms the point of view of authors who consider stereotyped the statement that: women is the naturally intuitive gender. Finally, it points out as future research the need to explore new ways that can provide a better fit between individual profiles and the degree of environmental uncertainty on the business environment faced by organizations.