Top managers' improvisational decision-making in crisis: a paradox perspective

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe how top management teams' expertise in comprehensive and intuitive decision-making contributes to effective improvisational decision-making in times of crisis. Also, improvisational decision-making, as a means for balancing or transcending the dualities of comprehensive and intuitive decision processes, enables the three strategic decision-making processes to coexist and contribute to decision-quality when in crisis.Design/methodology/approachAfter providing a general overview of comprehensive, intuitive and improvisational decision-making and introducing paradox theory, this paper offers a conceptual model of the link between improvisational decision-making and decision quality in crisis situations. Three boundary conditions are discussed: expertise in comprehensive decision-making, expertise in intuitive decision-making and the paradoxical balanced combination of comprehensive and intuitive decision-making. Two brief cases are included to illustrate the theory.FindingsAlthough comprehensive and intuitive decision-making are rooted in distinct information processing approaches with different cognitive demands and at times contradictory logics, they can be combined in unique ways when senior executives improvise decisions in crisis situations.Practical implicationsParticularly in the contexts of crises, it is critical for managers to understand the value of improvisational decision-making and the balanced combination of decision-making tools available to them in order to make rapid and quality decisions. Potential action research interventions are suggested.Originality/valueThis paper offers an integrated model of decision-making, encompassing comprehensive, intuitive and improvisational processes and highlights the combinatory and synergistic nature of these approaches in a crisis.