Management Papers
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of this Version
1-2007
Publication Source
Organization Science
Volume
18
Issue
1
Start Page
39
Last Page
54
DOI
10.1287/orsc.1060.0216
Abstract
At its core, a behavioral theory of choice has two fundamental attributes that distinguish it from traditional economic models of decision making. One attribute is that choice sets are not available ex ante to actors, but must be constructed. This notion is well established in our models of learning and adaptation. The second fundamental postulate is that the evaluation of alternatives is likely to be imperfect. Despite the enshrinement of the notion of bounded rationality in the organizations literature, this second postulate has been largely ignored in our formal models of learning and adaptation. We develop a structure with which to capture the imperfect evaluation of alternatives at the individual level and then explore the implications of alternative organizational structures, comprising such individual actors, on organizational decision making.
Keywords
organizational search, bounded rationality, organizational decision making
Recommended Citation
Knudsen, T., & Levinthal, D. A. (2007). Two Faces of Search: Alternative Generation and Alternative Evaluation. Organization Science, 18 (1), 39-54. http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1060.0216
Date Posted: 27 November 2017
This document has been peer reviewed.