The Bounded Rationality Bias in Managerial Valuation of Real Options: Theory and Evidence from IT Projects*

Although real options theory normatively suggests that managers should associate real options with project value, little field research has been conducted to test whether they suffer from systematic biases in doing so. We draw on the notion of bounded rationality in managerial decision making to explore this understudied phenomenon. Using data collected from managers in 88 firms, we show that managers exhibit what we label the bounded rationality bias in their assessments: They associate real options with value only when a project's easily quantifiable benefits are low, but fail to do so when they are high. The study also contributes the first set of empirical measures for all six types of real options. The study contributes to managerial practice by identifying the conditions under which managers must be vigilant about inadvertently neglecting real options and by providing a simple approach for assessing real options in technology development projects.     

Rationality in Strategic Information Technology Decisions: The Impact of Shared Domain Knowledge and IT Unit Structure*

Rationality is a fundamental concept to several models of IT planning and implementation. Though the importance of following rational processes in making strategic IT decisions is well acknowledged, there is not much understanding on why discrepancies occur in the IT decision‐making process and what factors affect rationality. Drawing upon structural and resource‐based perspectives of strategy, this study examines the influence of shared domain knowledge and IT unit structure on rationality in strategic IT decisions. Data were gathered from 223 senior IT executives using a survey to examine the relationships among the research constructs. The results suggest a positive impact of shared domain knowledge and formalization of IT unit structure on rationality in strategic IT decisions. Further, a highly centralized IT unit structure was found to negatively influence shared domain knowledge. On the other hand, formalization of IT structure positively influenced shared domain knowledge. The implications of the findings for research and practice are presented.     

论农村贫困大学生的行动困境与社会支持

农村贫困大学生的认知心理与行为理性一直是社会关注的焦点.从制度支持、资源支持和情感支持角度梳理社会支持理论,并根据贫困大学生心理困境与行为困境互为因果、相互影响的现象提出社会支持理论化解其行动困境的机制在于发挥社会结构中惩罚与规训作用,减少搭便车现象;凝聚社会共识,进一步激发集体行动的有效性;尊重个人感受,促进个人价值与社会价值由对立向统一转化.     

论道德评价标准和尺度的合理性

道德评价标准不同,对行为和行为主体的评价及结论就不同。一般而言,道德评价标准有一般标准、具体标准和终极标准,它们与阶级标准及历史标准既有联系又有区别。在选择道德评价标准时,我们应该遵循主体性原则、科学化原则和普遍化原则;在道德评价尺度上,力争做到合规律性、合规范性以及合人性。     

浪漫主义的技术之基

浪漫主义作为与理性主义相对立的一种社会思潮,它宣告了人的突出地位,并以强烈的感觉、激情和想象等非理性的情感与冷酷的理性形成对立,但浪漫主义却与理性、技术的发展分不开。从技术、理性与浪漫主义的关系角度来探讨浪漫主义及其兴起,从而明晰浪漫主义的起源是以理性和技术为前提的．其目的就是反技术、反理性。     

Including the nonrational is sensible midwifery

Since the subordination of midwifery by medicine and nursing in the 19th and 20th centuries the standard approach to childbirth has been dominated by rationality. This approach proceeds by creating dichotomies and then prioritising one half of the dichotomy whilst rejecting the opposite term. Rationality itself is prioritised, for example, by contrasting it with the rejected opposite: irrationality. Expert clinical practice is, however, increasingly identified as being inclusive of more than merely rational ways of knowing and behaving. This paper is based on a post-structural study concerning changes to women's embodied sense of self during childbearing. We expose the limitations of pure rationality in the context of childbirth and use the concept of safety to exemplify the limitations that pure rationality imposes. The paper draws on philosophical and spiritual theory to present an analysis of ideas about mind, body, soul and spirit. The standard rational/irrational dichotomy is critiqued and contrasted with the embodied reality of nonrational experiences that are individual, contextual and 'in-the-moment'. Nonrational experiences are identified to be inclusive of power and knowledge that are both rational and nonrational. This revised conceptualisation provides a theoretical basis that allows for and promotes more possibilities and thus more holistic ways of knowing in midwifery. Our thesis is that midwives and women need to take conscious account of nonrational knowledge and power during the childbearing year. We argue that pure rational thinking limits possibilities by excluding the midwife's embodied ways of knowing along with the ways of knowing embodied by the woman. The inclusion of women's and midwives'nonrational ways of knowing in childbearing situations opens us up to knowledge and power that provides for a more complete, and therefore a more optimal, decision-making process.     

Can consumers detect lemons? An empirical analysis of information asymmetry in the market for child care

This paper tests adverse selection in the market for child care. A unique data set containing quality measures of various characteristics of child care provided by 746 rooms in 400 centers, as well as the evaluation of the same attributes by 3,490 affiliated consumers (parents) in the U.S., is employed. Comparisons of consumer evaluations of quality to actual quality show that after adjusting for scale effects, parents are weakly rational. The hypothesis of strong rationality is rejected, indicating that parents do not utilize all available information in forming their assessment of quality. The results demonstrate the existence of information asymmetry and adverse selection in the market, which provide an explanation for low average quality in the U.S. child care market.

在理性与非理性统一的基础上重建新理性精神

对新理性精神的探索,不是简单地重复传统理性主义的观点,而是站在时代精神的前沿,对理性赋予新的含义。它力图证明,传统理性主义的基石虽然“坍塌”了,但理性依然屹立着,理性仍然是人之所以为人的本质属性和内在根据。新理性主义便是在理性与非理性统一的基础上所理解的一种新理性。     

探索幸福之径

斯宾诺莎的伦理是以探讨幸福问题为核心的,这一核心思想呈现出一个清晰而鲜明的主线或主题:人只有通过理性对必然性的认识,即人对“神”的理智的爱,用理性控制情感,才能走上自由的幸福之路,过上一种新的理性指导之下的真正幸福的生活。斯宾诺莎既探讨何为幸福问题,也探讨幸福之可以实现问题,使斯宾诺莎在西方伦理学史上具有独特的地位。     

战略决策过程中决策、决策团队与程序理性的实证研究

战略决策制定是企业高管团队的主要职责之一。本文基于管理决策、高管团队与组织行为学的相关理论,对企业战略决策过程的影响因素和影响机制进行探讨,深入分析了决策团队对战略决策过程中程序理性行为的影响,提出假设并进行了实证检验。研究发现,战略决策团队的工作经验、进取精神和沟通正向影响程序理性;战略决策的重大程度正向影响程序理性。同时发现,控制变量企业的业务多元化程度负向影响程序理性。