Decision-makingʹs impact on organizational learning and information overload

Although an abundance of academic literature positions organizational information processing as antecedent to decision making, little attention is paid to the possibility that decision making can be antecedent to certain elements of organizational information processing. Specifically, does the decision making process impact the type of organizational learning that takes place? Do different approaches to decision making alter the amount and variety of information made available to the organization, that is, the level of information overload? This paper examines incremental and comprehensive decision making to understand the effects of different decision making types on organizational learning and information overload. Incrementalism suggests that decision making should take place in small steps or increments. This approach analyzes only a few scenarios to make decisions resulting in few, if any, major organizational changes. However, comprehensive decision making requires the consideration of all possible scenarios and potential outcomes, resulting in a major overhaul of traditions and procedures within the organization. Consequently, each decision making approach has a different impact on organizational learning and information overload.