The group decision-making process: a temporal-environmental analysis

Abstract

In this article, it is investigated the dynamics of the decision-making process undertaken by work groups within a certain timeframe and environments with distinct latitudes of action (different degrees of freedom for managers). The objective is to verify the decision-making process undertaken by work groups in different time and environment. The subject is reviewed considering three topics: decision process undertaken by groups; time influence and environment in those processes, which subsidized the hypotheses. In the quantitative research, we developed a survey with 89 groups from undergraduate in Business Administration, enrolled in a course of Business Games. This research applied structural modeling via partial least squares as technique for the evaluation of constructs relationship. As results, there was temporal influence in the association between quality of decision-making and organizational results, reducing the effect of the profile of the groups. On the other hand, interpersonal relationships, in both environments, influenced the planning and execution of decisions. We concluded that relations between different profile of managers, process quality and outcomes, were observed by simultaneous incorporation of the temporal and environmental dimensions, as contingencies in analyzing the decision making process conducted by groups.