Cognitive Functions and the Model of Decision-Making Competence: The Specific Case of Organizational Setting

Abstract

AbstractIntroduction: Decision- making as an executive process, consists of a wide range of inputs such as conditioning based on past experiences, sensory and emotional responses, and the anticipation of future goals. The present study aims to investigate the effects of cognitive/executive functions on decision making competence in organizational settings.Method: The sample of this research consisted of 430 managers from 5 industrial companies in Iran who were selected by random sampling method. The instruments which were used in this study were the Cognitive Ability Questionnaire and the Adult Decision Making Competence (A-DMC) tasks. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used through AMOS-22 for data analysis.Results: The results indicated that cognitive/executive functions –planning, cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control, & social cognition- had significant effects on 5 decision making competencies mediating by applying decision rules in the current model.Conclusion: To conclude, from our point of view, different decision-making tasks are separately related to cognitive/executive functions specifically at managerial frameworks. Thus, the current study indicated which cognitive control processes are most operative in the successful performance of managers on different decision tasks. If different executive functions are mainly needed for the successful accomplishment of some decision-making tasks, training these functions in organizations may improve some facets of decision-making performance.