The complementary effects of rationality and intuition on strategic decision quality

Rationality and intuition are important dimensions of the strategic decision process. Prior studies have viewed these as distinct dimensions, providing limited insights for our understanding of strategic decision processes. Drawing on the dual process theory and research on process capability, this study examines the interplay between rationality and intuition based on a sample of 103 strategic decisions made by service firms in Greece. The results suggest that combining rationality and intuition at the same time leads to successful strategic decisions. Also, the moderating role of environmental dynamism was investigated. We found that in dynamic settings, decision-making teams which combine rationality and intuition outperform teams which use rationality or intuition separately. The implications of these findings for theory and practice are important and are analysed in the paper.