CAUSAL INFORMATION SEARCH IN MANAGERIAL DECISION-MAKING

The objective of the research was to examine the problem diagnosis stage of decision making as decision makers attempt to determine the cause of a problem. Thirty-two experienced managers participated in an experiment designed to study the effects of focusing on a single cause on subsequent information search. Using an information board, subjects selected questions about various causes and received either confirming or disconfirming evidence for the causes. Results showed that when attention was focused on a single cause, search was directed toward that cause, but not to the exclusion of other plausible causes as previous studies would indicate. The thoroughness of search varied depending on whether confirming or disconfirming information was present. The results suggest the importance of further research on the cause-seeking process in organizational settings. © 1991.