Interpreting Bounded Rationality in Business and Industrial Marketing Contexts: Executive Training Case Studies

집행관배훈안례연구(阐述工商业背景下的有限合理性):집행관배훈안례연구(执行官培训案例研究)

This article provides training exercises for executives into interpreting subroutine maps of executives' thinking in processing business and industrial marketing problems and opportunities. This study builds on premises that Schank proposes about learning and teaching including (1) learning occurs by experiencing and the best instruction offers learners opportunities to distill their knowledge and skills from interactive stories in the form of goal.based scenarios, team projects, and understanding stories from experts. Also, (2) telling does not lead to learning because learning requires action-training environments should emphasize active engagement with stories, cases, and projects. Each training case study includes executive exposure to decision system analysis (DSA). The training case requires the executive to write a "Briefing Report" of a DSA map. Instructions to the executive trainee in writing the briefing report include coverage in the briefing report of (1) details of the essence of the DSA map and (2) a statement of warnings and opportunities that the executive map reader interprets within the DSA map. The length maximum for a briefing report is 500 words-an arbitrary rule that works well in executive training programs. Following this introduction, section two of the article briefly summarizes relevant literature on how humans think within contexts in response to problems and opportunities. Section three illustrates the creation and interpreting of DSA maps using a training exercise in pricing a chemical product to different OEM (original equipment manufacturer) customers. Section four presents a training exercise in pricing decisions by a petroleum manufacturing firm. Section five presents a training exercise in marketing strategies by an office furniture distributer along with buying strategies by business customers. Each of the three training exercises is based on research into information processing and decision making of executives operating in marketing contexts. Section six concludes the article with suggestions for use of this training case and for developing additional training cases for honing executives' decision-making skills. Todd and Gigerenzer propose that humans use simple heuristics because they enable adaptive behavior by exploiting the structure of information in natural decision environments. "Simplicity is a virtue, rather than a curse". Bounded rationality theorists emphasize the centrality of Simon's proposition, "Human rational behavior is shaped by a scissors whose blades are the structure of the task environments and the computational capabilities of the actor". Gigerenzer's view is relevant to Simon's environmental blade and to the environmental structures in the three cases in this article, "The term environment, here, does not refer to a description of the total physical and biological environment, but only to that part important to an organism, given its needs and goals." The present article directs attention to research that combines reports on the structure of task environments with the use of adaptive toolbox heuristics of actors. The DSA mapping approach here concerns the match between strategy and an environment-the development and understanding of ecological rationality theory. Aspiration adaptation theory is central to this approach. Aspiration adaptation theory models decision making as a multi-goal problem without aggregation of the goals into a complete preference order over all decision alternatives. The three case studies in this article permit the learner to apply propositions in aspiration level rules in reaching a decision. Aspiration adaptation takes the form of a sequence of adjustment steps. An adjustment step shifts the current aspiration level to a neighboring point on an aspiration grid by a change in only one goal variable. An upward adjustment step is an increase and a downward adjustment step is a decrease of a goal variable. Creating and using aspiration adaptation levels is integral to bounded rationality theory. The present article increases understanding and expertise of both aspiration adaptation and bounded rationality theories by providing learner experiences and practice in using propositions in both theories. Practice in ranking CTSs and writing TOP gists from DSA maps serves to clarify and deepen Selten's view, "Clearly, aspiration adaptation must enter the picture as an integrated part of the search for a solution." The body of "direct research" by Mintzberg, Gladwin's ethnographic decision tree modeling, and Huff's work on mapping strategic thought are suggestions on where to look for research that considers both the structure of the environment and the computational capabilities of the actors making decisions in these environments. Such research on bounded rationality permits both further development of theory in how and why decisions are made in real life and the development of learning exercises in the use of heuristics occurring in natural environments. The exercises in the present article encourage learning skills and principles of using fast and frugal heuristics in contexts of their intended use. The exercises respond to Schank's wisdom, "In a deep sense, education isn't about knowledge or getting students to know what has happened. It is about getting them to feel what has happened. This is not easy to do. Education, as it is in schools today, is emotionless. This is a huge problem." The three cases and accompanying set of exercise questions adhere to Schank's view, "Processes are best taught by actually engaging in them, which can often mean, for mental processing, active discussion."

本文为执行官提供了他们在处理日常业务问题和市场机会时如何阐述自己思考过程的培训. 本研究建立在Schank提出的教学基础上, 包括: (1)经验学习和最好的指导提供给学习者从诸如全球背景, 团队项目和专家经历等的互动的故事提炼知识和技能的机会. (2) 告诉不会导致学习, 因为在学习需要的行动训练环境中, 应强调积极使用故事, 案例和项目. 每个培训案例包括执行官解释自己的决策系统分析(DSA, 还需要执行官做DSA简报. 在训练时要求执行官写DSA简报. 在执行官学员写书面报告的说明中包括(1) DSA路线图的本质的细节(2) 警告和机会的陈述, 读者的行政地图及图内的DSA解释. 该报告的最大长度为500字, 其规则就是使行政人员培训课程行之有效. 引言之后是第二部分文献综述, 简要地总结了有关人们在对问题和机会的背景下的想法及文献. 第三部分通过使用对不同的贴牌生产客户定价相同的化学产品的培训练习来解释DSA的起源和过程, 第四部分展示一个炼油设备公司订价决策的培训练习. 第五部分提供一个商业客户办公家具采购的市场策略案例. 第六部分是结论和建议. 这些建议是关于使用培训课程和发展其他培训课程来磨练执行官制定决策的能力. 文章引导读者利用工具箱研究综合的报告, (DSA)路线图根据生态合理性理论将战略与环境相匹配. 这三个案例的研究让学习者在意愿层面征求建议来作出决策. Todd and Gigerenzer 提出人们使用简单启发式,因为他们在自然的决策环境中通过探索信息的结构使适应性行为有可能产生. "简单是一种美德, 而不是诅咒", 有限理性理论强调了西蒙的命题中心, "人类理性的行为仿佛一把剪刀, 其刀片则是任务环境的结构和执行者的计算能力". Gigerenzer的观点和西蒙的环境的危害相关, 也和本文中三个环境结构的案例相关. "环境这个词, 在这里, 并不是指总的物理和生理的环境, 而只是指被给予需要和目标的重要有机体 本文关注了结合任务环境的结构和使用适应的工具箱启发的报告. (DSA)路线图根据生态理性理论将战略与环境相匹配. 渴望适应理论是这一方针的核心. 渴望适应理论将决策制定作为一个没有把目标整合的多目标问题模拟成一个把所有决策选项进行完全的优先顺序化. 这三个案例研究让学习者在意愿层面征求建议来作出决策. 渴望适应用一系列的调整步骤的形式. 一个调整步骤通过仅一个目标变量的变化就可以改变在渴望网格上邻近点当前的渴望水平. 上调步骤是目标变量的提高, 下调步骤是目标变量的下降. 创造和使用渴望适应水平是对有限理性理论的整合. 文章通过提供学习者经验和实践环节增加了意愿采纳和有限合理性的理解和特点. 利用DSA图排列CTSs和撰写TOP可以清晰和深化Selten的观点 "清晰, 意愿采纳必须作为研究的解决方案整合到整个蓝图中". 这些有限理性的研究许可了在现实生活中为什么, 如何作决策的理论和在自然的环境中利用启发式的学习训练两方面的发展. 本文中的练习鼓励根据不同使用目的学习快速而简洁的启发式技巧和原则. 这也正回应了Schank的思想 "从本质上来看, 教育不是让学生们知道发生了什么, 而是让他们感受到所发生的事情. 这不容易做到. 在如今的学校教育是没有情感的, 这是一个很大的问题". 这三个案例和附加的练习问题遵守了Schank的观点. "这种教育过程最好是通过参与他们其中来实现, 也可以这样认为, 精神层面的积极讨论".