Decision-Making in Organizations: How Institutions Evaluate Choices Under Uncertainty
Organizational decision-making is the institutional process through which organizations interpret information, define problems, distribute authority, evaluate alternatives, and commit themselves to action under uncertainty. Far from a purely rational sequence, it is shaped by bounded cognition, information quality, hierarchy, culture, incentives, communication systems, and power. This article examines how organizations actually make decisions, why judgment degrades under bias and coordination strain, and how institutional design can improve learning, dissent, and accountability. It also introduces a semi-formal model of decision quality, along with substantial R and Python workflows for analyzing decision environments. The result is a more serious view of decision-making as a systemic feature of organizational life rather than a simplified management technique.









