THE PROCESSES USED IN UNSTRUCTURED STRATEGIC DECISIONS FOR ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES BY NURSE ADMINISTRATORS.
Contributors: University of Florida.
Published: 1988
Number of pages: 180
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: The purpose of the study was to analyze the decision processes nurses in administrative positions used when making unstructured strategic decisions about allocating human, material, or financial resources. Unstructured strategic decisions were important choices involving a plan, method, or series of maneuvers, to achieve specific results where no known precedents existed. The study tested a model of strategic decision making developed by Mintzberg, Raisinghani, and Theoret (MRT) and generated hypotheses for future research.

The units of analyses were 1167 thought units generated during individual interviews with 6 nurse administrators who were asked to describe unstructured strategic decisions and their decision making. Thought units were coded and analyzed in verbal protocols according to the elements and relationships described in the MRT model. The decision processes used by participants included identification of presenting problems through diagnosis of the causes of problems; development of novel, innovative solutions through searches of information sources, screening and designing potential solutions; and selecting the optimal solution from among the alternatives, using all available resources.

The MRT model was extended to include all aspects of the decision processes described by the nurses. The extensions were as follows: adding screening activities to the development phase; describing two types of authorization activities--gaining approval of a solution and providing information designed to elicit approval; adding an implementation phase which included planning activities to prepare for the implementation of solutions, implementing solutions, and evaluating the outcomes of decisions; and adding a political routine labeled "politicality," which is engaging in subtle maneuvers to influence key individuals who have an impact on the decisions about the allocation of resources.

Understanding of decision making is fundamental to the scientific growth of knowledge in nursing administration. The study identified factors that influence decision making in complex organizations providing health care services. Extensions of the MRT model provide a framework for describing highly important unstructured strategic decisions involving large scale, long range planning and development in nursing.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-07, Section: B, page: 2847.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA, 1988.

School code: 0070.