Intuitive Decision-Making Processes in Management Systems

Intuitive decision making refers to the rapid, non‐conscious judgments that managers employ when confronted with complex or uncertain situations. Grounded in dual‐process theories, this mode of thought complements analytical reasoning by drawing on tacit knowledge, pattern recognition and emotional cues. In dynamic organisational contexts—ranging from strategic pivots to crisis response—intuition enables leaders to act swiftly when data are incomplete or evolving. Such processes are integral to sensemaking, allowing firms to translate ambiguous signals into coherent courses of action. Practical applications of intuitive decision making include scenario planning, performance management adjustments and real‐time risk assessment. By integrating intuitive insight with analytical frameworks and emerging digital tools, management systems can harness both speed and rigour, promoting adaptive resilience and innovation on a global scale.

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Research from all publishers

Recent contributions have advanced our understanding of intuition in managerial settings. A foundational review distinguished two forms of intuition—intuitive judgment, which applies familiar heuristics to new problems, and intuitive insight, which yields spontaneous creative solutions through subconscious knowledge integration. Building on this distinction, a holistic model of leadership decision making mapped a process that moves from external analysis through deeper intuitive discernment, emphasising how senior leaders blend sensory input, reflection and tacit knowing to tackle high‐complexity issues. Complementing these conceptual advances, a systematic literature review from the neuroscience domain examined how affective states and cognitive processes interact during managerial choices. This work supports a unified perspective in which emotion and reason operate in concert, highlighting neural evidence that affective signals can guide analytical thought and vice versa. Together, these studies elucidate the mechanisms by which managers integrate fast, experience‐based judgments with slower, deliberative evaluation.

Intuitive Decision-Making Processes in Management Systems publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in intuitive decision-making processes in management systems across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Heuristics: Rules‐of‐thumb or mental shortcuts that reduce cognitive load by simplifying complex decision tasks.

Dual‐process theory: A cognitive framework distinguishing System 1 (fast, intuitive) processes from System 2 (slow, analytical) reasoning.

Intuitive insight: A sudden, non‐conscious emergence of novel ideas or solutions, often arising from pattern recognition within tacit knowledge.

Sensemaking: The ongoing process by which individuals interpret ambiguous information and construct coherent frameworks for decision making.

References

1. Understanding intuition: The case for two forms of intuition. Management Learning (2012).
2. Holistic View of Intuition and Analysis in Leadership Decision-Making and Problem-Solving. Administrative Sciences (2021).
3. Affect and Cognition in Managerial Decision Making: A Systematic Literature Review of Neuroscience Evidence. Frontiers in Psychology (2022).