A cost-benefit mechanism for selecting problem-solving strategies: Some extensions and empirical tests

Beach and Mitchell (Academy of Management Review 1978, 3, 439–449) proposed a contingency model for the selection of decision strategies in which the decision maker selected that strategy expected to result in the greatest net benefit (i.e., selection is based on a cost-benefit analysis). The perceived costs and benefits associated with each strategy are affected by various situational variables. Christensen-Szalanski (Organizational Behavior and Human Performance 1978, 22, 307–323) developed the selection mechanism in greater detail. The present paper extends that selection mechanism by proposing a set of alternative assumptions underlying the mechanism and by proposing an expanded role for the variable time in the decision strategy selection process. In addition, the present paper presents the results of a study testing certain of the proposed extensions and the effects of time constraints, task complexity, and task significance on the selection of a decision strategy.