Beyond Cognition: An Action Perspective on Intuition Effectiveness in Strategic Decision Making

Managers’ intuition can support effective strategic decision making under certain conditions. In a world where AI is overtaking continuously what once were exclusive human decisions, we revisit the question of intuition effectiveness. According to scholarly belief, effective intuitions are rooted in domain-specific tacit knowledge, so-called complex domain-relevant schemas (CDRS). Contrary to that, Kahneman and Klein’s (2009) conditions for the development of expert intuition suggest that strategic decision making does not permit the development of valid CDRS. If it is not managers’ CDRS, what explains the positive relationship between intuition and strategic decision making effectiveness under certain conditions? In response to this puzzle, we explore the possibility that expertise-based intuitive strategic decision making is effective for reasons beyond cognition. Based on Brunsson’s (1982, 1990) action perspective on organizational decision making, we develop an action model of intuition effectiveness in strategic decision making which highlights socio-emotional links between expert intuition and action mobilization. In conclusion, we suggest that intuitive strategic decision making is effective, not despite the social dimension of expertise, and not despite the emotional dimension of intuition, but because of it.