Analyzing managerial discretion: An assessment tool to predict individual policy decisions

Managerial discretion, defined as individual empowerment to act, has received increased attention in the management literature, particularly in the policy area. An instrument to measure discretion of individual managers is developed. Vignettes are used to measure the willingness of managers to act i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of organizational analysis (2005) 1997-04, Vol.5 (2), p.134
Main Author: Key, Susan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Decision making
Empowerment
Ethics
Investigations
Management decisions
Organizational behavior
Public policy
Questionnaires
Social responsibility
Sociopolitical factors
Studies
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Summary:Managerial discretion, defined as individual empowerment to act, has received increased attention in the management literature, particularly in the policy area. An instrument to measure discretion of individual managers is developed. Vignettes are used to measure the willingness of managers to act in response to dilemmas that have organizational policy implications. The investigation of the reliability and validity of the developed measure, the Individual Discretion Questionnaire (IDQ), reveals that it identifies variability in managerial response and correlates significantly with 2 other established measures: locus of control and organizational ethical culture. The results suggest that this assessment tool may provide a means to identify how willing individual managers are to take preventive action in situations that present financial and sociopolitical risks to their organizations.
ISSN:1934-8835
1758-8561