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Working Paper | HBS Working Paper Series | 2008

How Can Decision Making Be Improved?

by Katherine L. Milkman, Dolly Chugh and Max H. Bazerman

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Abstract

The optimal moment to address the question of how to improve human decision making has arrived. Thanks to fifty years of research by judgment and decision making scholars, psychologists have developed a detailed picture of the ways in which human judgment is bounded. This paper argues that the time has come to focus attention on the search for strategies that will improve bounded judgment because decision making errors are costly and are growing more costly, decision makers are receptive, and academic insights are sure to follow from research on improvement. In addition to calling for research on improvement strategies, this paper organizes the existing literature pertaining to improvement strategies, highlighting promising directions for future research.

Keywords: Decision Making; Judgments; Performance Improvement; Research; Strategy;

Language: English Format: Print 28 pages Read Now

Citation:

Milkman, Katherine L., Dolly Chugh, and Max H. Bazerman. "How Can Decision Making Be Improved?" Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 08-102, June 2008. (Revised July 2008.)

About the Author

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Max H. Bazerman
Jesse Isidor Straus Professor of Business Administration
Negotiation, Organizations & Markets

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More from the Author

  • Chapter | Making Research Matter | 2017

    Government and Organizations: Transforming Institutions Using Behavioral Insights

    Abigail Dalton and Max Bazerman

    Citation:

    Dalton, Abigail, and Max Bazerman. "Government and Organizations: Transforming Institutions Using Behavioral Insights." Chap. 5 in Making Research Matter: A Psychologist's Guide to Public Engagement, edited by Linda Tropp. Washington, DC: APA Books, 2017.  View Details
    CiteView DetailsFind at HarvardPurchase Related
  • Article | Negotiation Journal

    Prescriptions Based on a Realistic View of Human Behavior

    Max Bazerman

    Citation:

    Bazerman, Max. "Prescriptions Based on a Realistic View of Human Behavior." Negotiation Journal 33, no. 4 (October 2017): 309–315.  View Details
    CiteView DetailsFind at Harvard Related
  • Exercise | March 2008 (Revised August 2017)

    The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the AGENT

    Deepak Malhotra and Max H. Bazerman

    A two-party negotiation between an Agent representing a new author and an Editor at a large Publishing Firm. The exercise involves a one-issue, zero-sum negotiation concerning the advance on royalties that the publisher will pay to the author.

    Keywords: Ethics; Agreements and Arrangements; Negotiation Preparation; Negotiation Tactics; Negotiation Types; Publishing Industry;

    Citation:

    Malhotra, Deepak, and Max H. Bazerman. "The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the AGENT." Harvard Business School Exercise 908-051, March 2008. (Revised August 2017.)  View Details
    CiteView DetailsPurchase Related
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