Dissertation
Naturalistic decision-making by university leaders during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic
Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.), Drexel University
Jun 2021
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00000811
Abstract
As universities continue to face crises, a leader's ability to effectively make decisions helps ensure the academic, reputational, financial, and community viability of the institution. This longitudinal exploratory qualitative study used grounded theory to identify themes and develop a crisis decision-making framework based on the experiences of university leaders in the United States during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. A framework for effective crisis decision-making will help future leaders be more successful, saving lives, saving time, and preserving university communities. The research questions follow: RQ1: How do leaders make decisions in times of crisis? RQ2: How can decision-making strategies be adjusted to optimize outcomes in times of crisis? RQ3: How do leaders experience different decision-making styles? RQ4: What is the enhanced framework for successful decision-making? The difficulty in studying crises real-time means conceptual models have not been thoroughly tested in practice. I used semi-structured interviews in meetings with ten university leaders three times between March and September 2020 to enrich the decision-making body of knowledge with analysis of real-time, real-world leader experiences. This study showed: (a) adaptive governance supports the organizational flexibility needed to address a crisis, (b) immersive communication is essential, (c) data matters, (d) crises are addressed in the context of the larger environments, (e) intuition supplements incomplete data, (f) some decisions have a shelf life, and (g) crises go through phases, offering intra-crisis learning. Leaders experienced COVID-19 decision-making under extreme pressure, with an overwhelming number of decisions to make, and with limited and inconsistent guidance and information. They emerged with greater self-efficacy and invaluable intra-crisis learning. Leaders making decisions during the COVID-19 crisis recognized there were no perfect decisions. They rapidly navigated networks to get the best data and broadest insights, evaluated that against guiding principles and the university's unique characteristics, and communicated the decision broadly and transparently, knowing things may change. In the end, leaders found that the best answer was not borne solely from statistical analyses, past experience, and intuition. Rather it was the one arrived at using empathetic, confident, immersive communication and with the considered incorporation of the community's voices through adaptive governance.
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Details
- Title
- Naturalistic decision-making by university leaders during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic
- Creators
- Bridget E. Blake
- Contributors
- Murugan Anandarajan (Advisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Number of pages
- xv, 199 pages
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Bennett S. LeBow College of Business; Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 991015242080504721