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Image Theory: Theoretical and Empirical Foundations
Decision making plays a major role in virtually every theory of organizational behavior. However, decision theory has not provided organizational theorists with useful descriptions of how decisions are made, either by individuals or by individuals in organizations. The earliest offering came from economics in the form of the "normative" rational view of decision making. The underlying presumption was that decision makers are all striving to maximize return or minimize loss, that decisions are based upon unlimited information, and that they have the capacity to use the information efficiently. They know the options open to them and the consequences of pursuing one or another of those options. The optimal course of action is revealed by applying the appropriate analysis and choosing the most profitable option. The key concepts are rationality, analysis, orderliness, and maximization, and even a moment's thought demonstrates the gap between these concepts and real-life experience. From the viewpoint of organizational theory, the primary problem with the normative view of decision making, and by analogy with much behavioral decision research, is its reliance on the "gamble metaphor." That is, decisions are characterized as gambles in an effort to capture the inherent risk. This metaphor has the advantage of simplicity, but it is a flawed simplicity.
This book is about a different kind of behavioral theory -- image theory. It is a psychological theory of decision making that abandons the gamble metaphor and the normative logic that the metaphor supports. Instead it sees decision making as guided by the beliefs and values that the decision maker, or a community of decision makers, holds to be relevant to the decision at hand. These beliefs and values dictate the goals of the decision. The point is to craft a course of action that will achieve these goals without interfering with the pursuit of other goals. The book begins with an overview of image theory that outlines the basic concepts of the theory and a little of its history. The next two parts correspond to the theory's two decision mechanisms, the compatibility test and the profitability test. The final section contains extensions and developments of the theory as well as cognate ideas that have their basis in the theory. This book's purpose is to provide -- in one place -- the theoretical and empirical work that has been done up to now and to suggest directions for future work.
This book is about a different kind of behavioral theory -- image theory. It is a psychological theory of decision making that abandons the gamble metaphor and the normative logic that the metaphor supports. Instead it sees decision making as guided by the beliefs and values that the decision maker, or a community of decision makers, holds to be relevant to the decision at hand. These beliefs and values dictate the goals of the decision. The point is to craft a course of action that will achieve these goals without interfering with the pursuit of other goals. The book begins with an overview of image theory that outlines the basic concepts of the theory and a little of its history. The next two parts correspond to the theory's two decision mechanisms, the compatibility test and the profitability test. The final section contains extensions and developments of the theory as well as cognate ideas that have their basis in the theory. This book's purpose is to provide -- in one place -- the theoretical and empirical work that has been done up to now and to suggest directions for future work.
290 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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About the author
Lee Roy Beach
22 books1 followerAcademic Biography
I am the McClelland Centennial Professor Emeritus of Management at the Eller College of Business, University of Arizona, where I also was a Professor of Public Administration and of Psychology. I received my Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Colorado, under Ken Hammond, and then served in the U.S. Navy at the Aviation Psychology Laboratory in Pensacola and the Office of Naval Research in Washington. This was followed by two years of post-doctoral work in decision research, under Ward Edwards, at the University of Michigan.
I began my academic career in the Cognitive and the Organizational Studies programs at the University of Washington, where I served as Chair of the Psychology Department, received the Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching, was named Professor of the Year for the State of Washington and Bronze Medalist for National Professor of the Year, received the Feldman Award for research and was named to the University Teaching Academy. I have been a Visiting Professor at Cambridge (U.K.) and Leiden (Netherlands) Universities and at the University of Chicago.After joining the business faculty at Arizona, I was named Professor of the Year, served for three years as Vice Dean, taught graduate and executive education courses, and was active in research and consulting.
Before I retired, I was a Fellow of both the American Psychological Association and the American Psychological Society and a member of the Society for Organizational Behavior, the Society for Judgment and Decision Making and a regular contributor to the European Conferences on Decision Making. I was on the editorial boards of Organization Behavior and Human Decision Making, The Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, and The Journal of Forecasting and have published over 120 scholarly articles and 7 books on decision making and organizational behavior. Among the more recent of the latter are:
The Psychology of Decision Making: People in Organizations (2nd Ed.) (With Terry Connolly). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage (2005).
Leadership and the Art of Change. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage (2006).
The Human Element: Understanding and Managing Employee Behavior. Armonk, NY: Sharpe (2007).
Narrative Thinking and Decision Making: How the Stories We Tell Ourselves Shape Our Decisions, and Vice Versa.
I am the McClelland Centennial Professor Emeritus of Management at the Eller College of Business, University of Arizona, where I also was a Professor of Public Administration and of Psychology. I received my Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Colorado, under Ken Hammond, and then served in the U.S. Navy at the Aviation Psychology Laboratory in Pensacola and the Office of Naval Research in Washington. This was followed by two years of post-doctoral work in decision research, under Ward Edwards, at the University of Michigan.
I began my academic career in the Cognitive and the Organizational Studies programs at the University of Washington, where I served as Chair of the Psychology Department, received the Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching, was named Professor of the Year for the State of Washington and Bronze Medalist for National Professor of the Year, received the Feldman Award for research and was named to the University Teaching Academy. I have been a Visiting Professor at Cambridge (U.K.) and Leiden (Netherlands) Universities and at the University of Chicago.After joining the business faculty at Arizona, I was named Professor of the Year, served for three years as Vice Dean, taught graduate and executive education courses, and was active in research and consulting.
Before I retired, I was a Fellow of both the American Psychological Association and the American Psychological Society and a member of the Society for Organizational Behavior, the Society for Judgment and Decision Making and a regular contributor to the European Conferences on Decision Making. I was on the editorial boards of Organization Behavior and Human Decision Making, The Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, and The Journal of Forecasting and have published over 120 scholarly articles and 7 books on decision making and organizational behavior. Among the more recent of the latter are:
The Psychology of Decision Making: People in Organizations (2nd Ed.) (With Terry Connolly). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage (2005).
Leadership and the Art of Change. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage (2006).
The Human Element: Understanding and Managing Employee Behavior. Armonk, NY: Sharpe (2007).
Narrative Thinking and Decision Making: How the Stories We Tell Ourselves Shape Our Decisions, and Vice Versa.
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