Rather than present decision making strictly as a quantitative science, this text views it as a multidimensional process involving values, psychology, sociology, social psychology, and politics. Using a process model—a focus on the process of a decision rather than the outcome—the book presents a variety of perspectives useful for making and evaluating decisions in all kinds of organizations.

This was the most comprehensive and thought provoking book on decision making I have read. Of the three books assigned to this course, this is the one students preferred.


No library should be without it.......   August 11, 1999
Harrison has, undoubtedly, the definitive collection of theory, philosophy, and case examples around this most simple and difficult of tasks -- the decision, and does so in a scholarly and yet no-nonsense way. It is a book which certainly no business library should be without ...


A good overview of decision theory   March 29, 2004
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I purchased this book to help me finish an project for my MBA. It has been extremely helpful in providing a clear synopsis of current research on decision theory. It is well-written and covers both quantitative and qualitative models.

The best part of the book are the case studies in the final chapters that cover The Cuban Missle Crisis, the Chrysler bailout, and EuroDisney. These are excellent applications and make the theory understandable.

One failing of this book has been that it does not go into game theory methods. It simply lumps them into quantitative methods and dismisses them as overly simplistic. I think that some treatment is necessary since they are such a buzz-word in the business world.


Class book, I don't plan to keep   July 8, 2009
Zoom Girl (Houston. TX)
The writing style of this book is formal and elaborate. This makes for a long read to wade through the wordiness to find the point. The common writing style in which the opening sentence introduces the point of the paragraph, the closing sentence summarizes and leads to the next paragraph, is not used. This makes skimming less effective, leaving the reader stuck to wading through the words. The content is useful, once you comb through the presentation.