Title: Deciding: decision-making as a social practice

Authors: Eduardo Guedes Villar; Carolina De Souza Walger; Gustavo Abib; Karina De Déa Róglio; Fabricio Stocker

Addresses: Business School – PPGADM, Federal University of Paraná, 632 Lothario Meissner Avenue, 2º floor, Jardim Botânico, ZIP Code: 80210-170 – Curitiba – PR, Brazil ' Business School – PPGADM, Federal University of Paraná, 632 Lothario Meissner Avenue, 2º floor, Jardim Botânico, ZIP Code: 80210-170 – Curitiba – PR, Brazil ' Business School – PPGADM, Federal University of Paraná, 632 Lothario Meissner Avenue, 2º floor, Jardim Botânico, ZIP Code: 80210-170 – Curitiba – PR, Brazil ' Business School – PPGADM, Federal University of Paraná, 632 Lothario Meissner Avenue, 2º floor, Jardim Botânico, ZIP Code: 80210-170 – Curitiba – PR, Brazil ' FEA-USP, University of São Paulo, 908, Prof. Luciano Gualberto Avenue, Butantã, ZIP Code: 05508-010 – São Paulo – SP, Brazil

Abstract: This conceptual paper aims to show how the concept of strategy-as-practice can help illuminate decision-making as social practice. In our analysis, we rely on four assumptions from the literature on strategy as a social practice and decision-making. First, we assume that all organisational members are potential participants in decision-making, a proposal that diverges from the traditional focus on one formal decision maker in an organisation. The second assumption is that the intertwining of decisions supports and is supported by social practices in the flow of daily activities. The third assumption posits that decisional work takes place in praxis, broadening the concept of a specific moment of the formal choice in a given decision. Our fourth assumption is that decisions are continuously (re)built in social practice by means of deciding. We believe that conceptualising decision-making in this manner can lead to a new direction for research on decision-making, broadening its theoretical scope.

Keywords: strategy as social practice; decision-making; decisional work; decision maker.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMDM.2018.093502

International Journal of Management and Decision Making, 2018 Vol.17 No.3, pp.279 - 298

Received: 14 Aug 2017
Accepted: 28 Feb 2018
Published online: 26 Jul 2018 *

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