When to Talk and When to Keep It to yourself? Strategies for Legitimating Managerial Intuitions in An Organisational Context

The purpose of this study is to explore the strategies deployed by managers in organisations to legitimate their intuitions. Managerial practice is a continual process of emergence and integration of problems and projects, and by which managers navigate a complex world. To do so, they rely partly on...

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Main Authors: Christian Le Gousse, Isabelle Bouty
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Association International de Management Stratégique (AIMS) 2024-03-01
Series:M@n@gement
Subjects:
Online Access:https://management-aims.com/index.php/mgmt/article/view/9274/17019
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author Christian Le Gousse
Isabelle Bouty
author_facet Christian Le Gousse
Isabelle Bouty
author_sort Christian Le Gousse
collection DOAJ
description The purpose of this study is to explore the strategies deployed by managers in organisations to legitimate their intuitions. Managerial practice is a continual process of emergence and integration of problems and projects, and by which managers navigate a complex world. To do so, they rely partly on their intuitions, whose effectiveness has largely been demonstrated in the literature. However, the rational model is still considered the optimal cognition and decision-making process in organisations. The persistence of the myth of rationality compels managers to deploy strategies to legitimate their intuitions. But these strategies are poorly understood. The aim of this study therefore was to describe them. For this purpose, we collected 191 accounts of episodes where managers legitimated their intuitions. Our analysis of these accounts revealed seven intuition legitimation strategies. Some of these strategies had not previously been identified in the institutional literature (personalisation, transparency, exploration and compound strategy). For others which had already been partly described (rationalisation, manipulation and relational strategy), we show that managers deploy new modes. These results contribute to the knowledge of legitimation strategies from a conceptual point of view. They also shed some light on the mistrust of intuition that still prevails in organisations, despite its importance.
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spelling doaj.art-545115d790654422b400627b08e18b1c2024-04-02T10:31:43ZengAssociation International de Management Stratégique (AIMS)M@n@gement1286-46922024-03-012711410.37725/mgmt.2024.92749274When to Talk and When to Keep It to yourself? Strategies for Legitimating Managerial Intuitions in An Organisational ContextChristian Le Gousse0Isabelle Bouty1Epta Group and CEMR-Dauphine, Paris, FranceUMR CNRS 7088, Dauphine recherches en management (DRM), Université Paris Dauphine PSL, Paris, FranceThe purpose of this study is to explore the strategies deployed by managers in organisations to legitimate their intuitions. Managerial practice is a continual process of emergence and integration of problems and projects, and by which managers navigate a complex world. To do so, they rely partly on their intuitions, whose effectiveness has largely been demonstrated in the literature. However, the rational model is still considered the optimal cognition and decision-making process in organisations. The persistence of the myth of rationality compels managers to deploy strategies to legitimate their intuitions. But these strategies are poorly understood. The aim of this study therefore was to describe them. For this purpose, we collected 191 accounts of episodes where managers legitimated their intuitions. Our analysis of these accounts revealed seven intuition legitimation strategies. Some of these strategies had not previously been identified in the institutional literature (personalisation, transparency, exploration and compound strategy). For others which had already been partly described (rationalisation, manipulation and relational strategy), we show that managers deploy new modes. These results contribute to the knowledge of legitimation strategies from a conceptual point of view. They also shed some light on the mistrust of intuition that still prevails in organisations, despite its importance.https://management-aims.com/index.php/mgmt/article/view/9274/17019intuitionlegitimationexpertisemanager
spellingShingle Christian Le Gousse
Isabelle Bouty
When to Talk and When to Keep It to yourself? Strategies for Legitimating Managerial Intuitions in An Organisational Context
M@n@gement
intuition
legitimation
expertise
manager
title When to Talk and When to Keep It to yourself? Strategies for Legitimating Managerial Intuitions in An Organisational Context
title_full When to Talk and When to Keep It to yourself? Strategies for Legitimating Managerial Intuitions in An Organisational Context
title_fullStr When to Talk and When to Keep It to yourself? Strategies for Legitimating Managerial Intuitions in An Organisational Context
title_full_unstemmed When to Talk and When to Keep It to yourself? Strategies for Legitimating Managerial Intuitions in An Organisational Context
title_short When to Talk and When to Keep It to yourself? Strategies for Legitimating Managerial Intuitions in An Organisational Context
title_sort when to talk and when to keep it to yourself strategies for legitimating managerial intuitions in an organisational context
topic intuition
legitimation
expertise
manager
url https://management-aims.com/index.php/mgmt/article/view/9274/17019
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