Business Decision Making: A Phenomenological Approach

The phrase “definition of the situation” is taken from the work of W. I. Thomas. This research may be thought of as an application of the so-called Thomas theorem which asserts, “If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences,” “The Methodology of Behavior Study,” Social Behavior and Personality, Volkhart Edmund H. , ed. (New York: Social Science Research Council, 1951), p. 81. The phrase is used and the concept discussed in the organizational context by March James G. Simon Herbert A. , Organizations (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1958), pp. 151–157.

For a discussion of the differences between these two approaches, see Snygg Donald , “The Need for a Phenomenological System of Psychology,” The Phenomenological Problem, Kuenzli Alfred E. , ed. (New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1959), pp. 3–27; and Macleod R. B. , “The Place of Phenomenological Analysis in Social Psychological Theory,” Current Perspectives in Social Psychology, Hollander E. P. Hunt Raymond G. , eds. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1963), pp. 28–41. For a discussion of the basis of the phenomenological method, see Strasser Stephan , Phenomenology and The Human Sciences (Pittsburgh, Pa.: Duquesne University Press, 1963). For a specific elaboration in the field of business, see Cyert Richard M. March James G. , A Behavioral Theory of the Firm (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1963).

Henshaw Richard C. Jr. Jackson James R. , The Executive Game (Homewood, Ill.: Richard D. Irwin, Inc., 1966).

As a matter of information, the teams finished in the following order, based on the discounted rate of return earned on initial owners' equity: #9, #1, #7, #4, #6, #5, #3, #8, #2. However, no significance should be attached to the relationship between the teams' decision models and the order of finish.

March Simon , op. cit., p. 152.

For a discussion of these problems, see Allport Gordon W. , The Use of Personal Documents in Psychological Science (New York: Social Science Research Council, 1943).

Thomas , op. cit., p. 37.

This problem is reviewed by Boring Edwin G. , “A History of Introspection,” Psychological Bulletin, L:3 (May 1953), 169–189.

Blumer Herbert , Critiques of Research in the Social Sciences, Vol. I (New York: Social Science Research Council, 1939).

Allport , op. cit.

For a treatment of the general problem, see Bruner Jerome S. Goodnow Jacqueline J. Austin George A. , A Study of Thinking (New York: Science Editions, Inc., 1956).