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Proceedings

Trends Effects & Managerial Decision Making Survey Results

Thursday, June 26, 2008 - 9:15 am - 10:15 am

Track: Cutting Edge Research & Benchmarking

Session Abstract:

Strategic decision making plays a fundamental role in the ability of companies to execute their marketing and supply chain strategies. Because many decisions confronting managers involve complex judgments made on the basis of incomplete or ambiguous information, such evaluations would seem quite susceptible to bias.

The proposed study is designed to investigate a number of potential differences among channel partners. For example, one research question involves the decision making process of channel partners that are ‘upstream’ from the distributor, i.e., manufacturers of electronics components for distributors, versus those that are ‘downstream’ from the manufacturer, i.e., distributors of electrical components.

Based on our preliminary assessments, we believe there will be important decision making differences between distributors and manufacturers. Our goal is to investigate the reasons underlying these potential differences. The proposed study will also investigate whether a marketing orientation (e.g., salesperson as a respondent) versus an operational business orientation (e.g., an operations manager) will systematically bias decision making processes. Based on evidence in related fields, we believe that there will be significant differences between a respondent who is more marketing-oriented as compared to one who is more operational in their orientation. We also plan to investigate a number of additional research questions from the data (e.g., risk propensity of the respondent and its effects on decision making, market-based factors such as market volatility, etc.).

These and other research questions the study investigates have the potential to provide important management implications. For example, the results will help managers predict preferences among upstream or downstream in the channel. In addition, the study will also provide specific factors that affect the decision processes of the different channel members. The results will also help understand the relationship building process within the channel by offering insights into how to better manage supply chain dynamics given different preferences among marketing and operations personnel. It is also important to note that this study is part of an ongoing stream of research. The data collection phase of this particular project is currently underway and the additional data collected by the DBM participants promises to offer some interesting comparisons.