DECISION THEORIES AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS: UNDERSTANDING THE DYNAMICS OF DECISION-MAKING

Decision-making is a central function of management. It is a complex process which requires a highcognitive commitment, because the decision-maker has to assess and choose between different courses ofaction. Moreover, the decision-making is considered a continuous and dynamic process which implies a choiceand is oriented to the achievement of the organizational objectives. In the literature can be found varioustheories and models of decision-making. The higher attention towards the decision-making process is aconsequence of the understanding of its importance in creating sustainable competitive advantages. In adynamic and turbulent environment becomes much more difficult to achieve and maintain a good competitiveposition. The decision-making process is studied by a number of disciplines such as philosophy, mathematics,statistics, psychology, sociology, economics, management, political and social sciences. In the decision-makingtheory we can distinguish two main approaches: the normative theory and the descriptive theory. The normativetheory, based on the concept of economic man, studies the way in which decisions should be made by rationaldecision-makers. The descriptive theory is strongly related to the concept of bounded rationality and tries todescribe how real decision-makers behave when making decisions. The normative approach support an analyticdecision-making, while the descriptive approach an intuitive one.The main goal of the current research is to understand how the decision-making happens and its dynamics.Thus, we analyze and discuss about the various decision-making theories in order to know the behavior of thedecision-maker in different situation. The intention is to identify variables and elements and to discover possiblerelationships between them, so as to be able to define some general reflections about the decision-making.Without doubt, from Barnard to Simon, from Kahneman and Tversky to Klein, the way of perception of thedecision-maker and decision-making process has changed a lot. Each one of the theories reflects the changes ofits period regarding the perception and the functioning of the organization. So, the criterion of choice may bedifferent from organization to organization, from an individual to another. It varies between optimization,satisfaction, negotiation and agreement, casualness. What we can say is that there are important differencesbetween the theories, but also many aspects in common. However, is impossible to define the best decisionmakingmodel. Each one of them is valid according to the characteristics of the problem and context.