Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

5-2003

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Business Administration

Major Professor

Michael J. Stahl

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between group decision process characteristics and group members' decision commitment. A conceptual model was developed drawing on the collaboration literature and the conflict literature. The model provides the basis for propositions concerning the positive relationship between expressed substantive conflict during the decision process and the level of decision commitment by each group member. Likewise, a positive relationship was proposed between the collaborative behavior exhibited during the group decision process and the level of decision commitment. Decision modeling based on behavioral decision theory was used to gather data to test these relationships. The decision exercise was designed to ask each respondent to make a series of 32 decisions based on various combinations of decision process and decision content variables as independent variables. This methodology provided a combination of relevant and realistic decision contexts and rigor through the experimental control of variables. Another benefit of this methodology is the opportunity to develop a decision model for each respondent, as well as a decision model for the sample as a whole. Evidence was found to strongly support the hypothesized relationships between the group decision process characteristics and the members' decision commitment. Specifically, it was found that there was a diversity of decision models used by the respondents, with a high level of internal consistency within each respondent's decision criteria (high individual R\ but a much lower consistency across respondents (lower group R 2 ). Sixteen percent of the respondents used only the decision content variable in their commitment decision. Fifty-four percent used only decision process variables (one or both) and twenty-seven percent used some combination of content and process variables. This study breaks new ground by using decision modeling to provide evidence of the importance of process characteristics in strategic-level group decisions.

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