Uncertainty and Behaviour Perceptions, Decisions and Actions in Business

Uncertainty affects us in our everyday lives, and in a wide range of situations but how do individuals and indeed organisations respond to uncertainty and how does it impact their decision-making and actions? Based on the latest developments in academic research, the author offers solid advice on how to manage uncertainty in every-day life, bringing a new perspective to these issues and extrapolating this to offer implications for an organisational and managerial context. The author brings this emerging area of research to a wider audience by: Tying together insights from various fields including psychology, engineering, business and management. Creating a framework for usefully applying the research concepts in every-day life. Extrapolating insights from the psychology of individual decision makers to the organisational context and managerial decision-making. Creating highly applicable and impactful recommendations for how managers, organisations, and every day people can understand and manage uncertainty in their life. The book is divided into two main parts. Part I deals with the behaviour of individuals facing uncertainty and includes accessible explanations and examples of every-day applications, while Part II deals with behaviour in organisations facing uncertainty, where insights from Part I are combined and related to the organisational and work context to explore how, for example, (mis)-perceptions and decision-making biases impact managerial life. This is a must read for both managers and those who are seeking to better understand their own behaviour and management approach.

Chapter 1. Introduction Part I. People and Uncertainty: Perceiving uncertainty Chapter 2. Expressing uncertainty Chapter 3. Accepting uncertainty Chapter 4. Deciding under uncertainty Chapter 5. Acting on uncertainty. Part II. Organisations and Uncertainty Chapter 6. Organisations and uncertainty types Chapter 7. Uncertainty and time Chapter 8. Uncertainty in organisational decision making Chapter 9. Organisational actions based on uncertainty Chapter 10. Conclusions

Melanie E. Kreye is an Assistant Professor at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) in the Department of Management Engineering. She received her PhD from the University of Bath, UK, and finished her undergraduate degree at the Technical University of Chemnitz in Germany. She researches and has published in the area of uncertainty in business and management, particularly its impact on organisational decision-making and on service operations.