This case study aims to explore how decision making is performed under circumstances characterised by high uncertainty. We have identified and interviewed two types of organisations dealing with investments in pharmaceutical drug development, a business characterised by high uncertainty. We have found that the two types of organisations we have interviewed display different decision making behaviour evaluating the same type of investment. Further we have explained these differences in decision making behaviour by using relevant decision making theories. This study has showed that different forms of decision making are appropriate depending on the conditions facing the decision maker..

Many researchers emphasize the increasing strategic importance of supply chain management, but there is still a lack of concrete guidance for managers faced with strategic decisions in supply chain. Within decision-making theories, the rational decision-making model is the most commonly used. This because of its suitable foundation, enabling a structure to the complex decision process. The rational decision-making model is today not developed to include the aspects of strategic decision-making made in supply chain. The purpose of this research is to adjust a structured rational decision-making model, making it applicable for strategic decision-making in supply chain.

Background: Every patient and each situation is unique. Therefore the nurse has to act in a flexible intervention and still keep an ethical perspective. Aim: The aim of this studie was to illuminate nurses? different aspects of decision making in emergency situations. Method: The result is based on nine scientific articles.

This paper investigates decision-making under uncertainty and complexity. The focus point of the study was to investigate how organizations in Stockholm has come to a decisions on how to manage the trial implementation of a congestion tax in terms of their company cars. The study was conducted as a survey with complementary interviews with the decision makers in change of congestion tax problem. The aim of the study was to gain an understanding for the decision making processes, and how and why the companies decided as they did. The theory on which we based our study emanated from both systems theory and business economic theory on decision making.

Background: High demands are today placed upon Swedish elderly care nurses as more elderly live with multimorbidity while the hospital bed capacity is becoming lower. Aim: The aim of the study was to explore nurses? perception of decision-making in situations with acutely ill patients in nursing homes and which factors may influence the decision about transferring patients to the emergency department or not. Method: This is a qualitative study with a phenomenographic approach. Semi-structured interviews have been conducted with 11 nurses working in nursing homes. The data analysis was based on Dahlgren and Fallsberg (1991) data analysis. Result: Three different description categories were presented, which describes variations of the nurses? perceptions.Feeling comfortable in making the decision; which involved the nurses feeling confident in the decision-making about transferring patients to the emergency department or not.Hesitant in making the decision; which described how nurses perceived the decision-making as problematic, with regard to transferring patients to the emergency department.Many wishes to consider in taking the decision; which explained how nurses? decision-making was influenced by requests from the patients or from people close to them.Conclusion:  The study reflected how  supporting and aggravating factors could influence how nurses in nursing homes perceived the decision-making and how nurses have to take in consideration different opinions concerning the decision making process of transferring patients to the emergency department or not.

Background: Previous studies have shown that intuition occurs in decision making in small enterprises. However, these studies have not illuminated which decision attributes leads to intuitive decision making.Purpose:The purpose with this study is to contribute with an increased understanding of which decision attributes leads managers in small enterprises to use intuition in decision making and why these decisions attributes have an impact on the role of intuition. The follow-ing research question will be answered in our study: Which decision attributes leads to intui-tive decision making in small enterprises, and why?Method: To answer the research question we have conducted semi structural interviews with managers in small enterprises to achieve a deeper understanding of the role of intuition. We have also used a method called Visual Card Sorting as a complement to the semi structural interviews.Result/conclusion: The result of our study indicates that the relevance and the uncertainty of a decision have the greatest significance in the use of intuition in decision making in small enterprises.

Background: Previous studies have shown that intuition occurs in decision making in small enterprises. However, these studies have not illuminated which decision attributes leads to intuitive decision making.Purpose:The purpose with this study is to contribute with an increased understanding of which decision attributes leads managers in small enterprises to use intuition in decision making and why these decisions attributes have an impact on the role of intuition. The follow-ing research question will be answered in our study: Which decision attributes leads to intui-tive decision making in small enterprises, and why?Method: To answer the research question we have conducted semi structural interviews with managers in small enterprises to achieve a deeper understanding of the role of intuition. We have also used a method called Visual Card Sorting as a complement to the semi structural interviews.Result/conclusion: The result of our study indicates that the relevance and the uncertainty of a decision have the greatest significance in the use of intuition in decision making in small enterprises.

Managers operating within the dynamic society of today are said to rely on intuition when effective and quick decisions are to be made. This skill or phenomenon has aroused an interest within the academic world of management whom has explored intuition, its relation to decision making and its influencing factors, especially in the private sector. Intuitive decision making is however not isolated solely to this sector but also involved in decision making associated to the public sector. Therefore, the aim of the thesis is to investigate whether managers at the hospital Akademiska in Uppsala involve intuition in decision making and to what extent the factors time, amount of information, individual experience and decision complexity influence the intuition.The theoretical framework includes academic research regarding how intuition and rationality affect decisions, the concept of intuition and factors influencing the intuitiveness of decision making. Furthermore the theoretical discussion explores intuition connected to leadership, negative aspects of intuitive decisions and a comparison between different factors that separates public and private sector in terms of decision making.

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the construction of consensus in commune-collaborations. By a review of written material combined with elite interviews we have been able to follow the decision-making and the forming of consensus, in a commune-collaboration called NOSAM, in which they have decided to use consensus as a decision method. The thesis is based on a case study and we have decided to follow a specific issue that has been discussed for some time.We have created an instrument based on the ideal of deliberative democracy, through which we have been able to examine whether the decision-making in NOSAM can be described as a deliberative process or if consensus is formed by other incentives.The study shows that the decision-making in NOSAM cannot be described as a deliberative process, although there are some elements of deliberation. Consensus is formed in a proposition drawn up by the officials for the commune-representatives to agree on. Afterwards, the decision has to be brought up in each commune before reaching a final decision in NOSAM.Our opinion is that having consensus as the decision method leads to difficulties when deciding on bigger issues..

After the tsunami disaster in December 2004 many arguments were heared that one oft the major reasons behind the poor Swedish effort connected to the evacuation and health care of the Swedish citizens in Thailand right after the incident is the Swedish model with independent government authorities. By comparing the constitution, the political decision making tradition by the ministers and the handling of the catastrophe in the tree Scandinavian countries Denmark, Norway and Finland, plus analysing the behaviour of the Swedish foreign and prime minister from a rational choose inspired individual decision making theory the research shows that there is no proof that a constitutional change in Sweden into the traditional model with government authorities controlled by the ministers alone would led to a more effective crisis handling by the government due to crises concerning Swedish citizens out states. Although the research shows that the constitution and the tradition of decision making in the government provides the basic condition of the ministers individual rational decision making.

In December 2004 an earthquake coursed waves that hit Thailand. Over 5000 people died, and Sweden was the tourist country that has been effected the worst. The catastrophe precipitated Sweden in crises and the demand became high for Swedish government to act. Swedes followed the development via media, why media became the crucial element for how the public perceived politicians? acting.

Bakgrunden för denna studie är problematiken kring beslutsfattande. Tidigare forskning visar att en individ dagligen fattar en mängd medvetna och omedvetna beslut. Dessa beslut faller sig olika utefter vilka erfarenheter, preferenser och känslor individen har och hur detta påverkar individen vid köp av dyra sällanköpsvaror. Syftet med studien är att identifiera faktorer och personlighetstyper som influerar köparens beslut gällande dyra sällanköpsvaror..

The main purpose of this study is to investigate to what extent municipalities in Sweden use democratic innovations to include citizens in the decision making process. Along there are three research questions:? What different forms of democracy innovations are Swedish municipalities applying in order to increase the civic participation between elections and what forms are dominant?? What potential influence in decision-making are citizens getting through these democratic innovations based on the results?? Based on the results ? in what ways is the democracy innovations used in municipalities challenging representative democracy? The method used to fulfill the purpose and answer the research questions is a web survey including 287 of 290 (in total) municipal websites. The theoretic framework includes a model which is called ?Smith?s ladder of participation? and is influenced by the research of Graham Smith and Sherry Arnstein.

The representative democracy has become weakened during the last decades. At the same time the United Nations declared at the Rio de Janeiro meeting in 1992 that environmental problems can best be solved by involvement of all concerned citizens in decision-making. The main purpose of this study has been to examine if citizens panels is a possible way to involve citizens in environmental decision-making and what the outcomes can be. Furthermore the study has investigated what the participation has contributed to environmental politics and how representative the results have been. This has been carried out by investigating the Piteåpanel in the municipality of Piteå by conducting interviews.The result of the study shows that the involvement of the citizens in the decision-making influenced the environmental politics of the municipality.

Citizens? freedom of choice has been a subject of debate in Sweden for over 30 years. This study focuses on decision making processes among patients within the Swedish healthcare system. The main conclusions are that in contrast to how patients? freedom of choice is described within governmental bills and governmental inquires and reports, patients are not following the steps included in the rational model of decision making.