Understanding factors that enable and inhibit strategic decision making effectiveness

Abstract

The literature review has revealed that strategic decisions are complex, ill-structured and require much of organizational resources. Organizations are dependent on strategic decisions for sustained performance or even survival. Strategic decision-making is important in an organization as it is the process used to implement the strategic intent of the firm. Literature has also revealed that managers fail to process optimally, information for effective strategic decision-making due to their cognitive limits. This study set out to explore and understand the enablers and inhibitors of strategic decision-making effectiveness. The study was conducted using an exploratory qualitative method, which consisted of in-depth semi-structured interviews. A total of 14 executives and managers were interviewed from coal mining organizations operating in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. Interviews were recorded then transcribed into text. Directed content and frequency analysis were used to analyze the data and extract common themes. ATLAS.ti was used for the coding process during data analysis. The findings of this study were the enablers and inhibitors of strategic decision-making effectiveness being discussed in detail. An empirically based framework was developed using the findings on ensuring strategic decision-making effectiveness. The factors used for the framework are : having support from the superiors, have a competent team in strategic decision-making, considering the external business environment, considering and involving stakeholders, ensure the quality of data and continuously review strategic decision-making process.