This paper examines the relationship between organizational directives and managerial decision making. Specifically, a variety of issues surrounding compliance/noncompliance with organizational directives are examined. Directives are seen as formal reflections of the intentions and past learning of the firm. An expectancy-based model is developed to explain conditions of compliance with directives vs. the decision-maker's search for an initiative solution. A number of implications of this analysis are presented and discussed for both theory and practice in organizational decision making.
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