Taking the mystery out of intuitive decision making

Academy al Management Executive. 1999. Vol. 13, No.
Taking the mystery out of
intuitive decision making
Lisa A Burke and Monica K. Miller
Executive Overview
Making decisions by intuition is increasingly viewed as a viable approach in today's
business environment. Intuition may be beneficial in certain scenarios, and at times may
be the primary decision approach available. To investigate the use of intuition in
decision making, we interviewed 60 experienced professionals holding significant
positions in major organizations across various industries in the U.S. The executives
provided rich descriptive insights about intuitive decision making. They discussed the
nature of intuition and how it is developed, how often they use intuition and how they
are prompted to do so, and the types of workplace situations in which intuition is used.
The interviews were used to develop a descriptive profile of those using intuition in the
workplace and to document the perceived quality and benefits of intuitive decisions.
Intuition is not some mystical or magical
thing. It is taking advantage of the way our
brains are designed to be able to think about
things subconsciously and to bring those
things to the forefront when needed. A smart
organization will recognize employees who
have this skill.
—Manager, technical services
At a time of rapid and unprecedented change in
the business environment, intuition plays an increasingly
significant role in contemporary decision
strategies. Executives who understand how to
balance their use of intuition and analytic thinking
may be better prepared to lead in this environment.
Much of the research on intuitive decision
making is conceptual, and little quantitative or
qualitative research has been done in field settings
to support generalizations.' This qualitative
study of professionals who have faced a
variety of decision scenarios investigates a skill
that has been portrayed as everything from a
magical sixth sense to an innate personality trait
to an accumulation of experience.^- By clarifying
what intuition is, how it's used, and whether it
can be trusted, we may help other professionals
make effective decisions.
91
Experience of Professionals
We conducted in-depth, semi-structured telephone
interviews with 60 professionals across various industries
and geographic locations in the United
States. {See Appendix A.) These individuals were
responsible for significant project or program development,
management, or implementation in
medium-to-large organizational settings, and each
had at least 10 years of total work experience. Among
those interviewed were a director of executive development,
a manager of technical services, a staff engineer,
a director of internal auditing, a nurse, a vice
president of marketing and advertising, a police
records supervisor, and a human resource administrator.
Practitioner Descriptions
Our first question dealt with defining intuition,
which researchers have defined in different ways
and used interchangeably with other constructs.
(See Appendix B.) Table 1 summarizes the frequency
of the responses to this question and provides
sample comments from participants.
• Experienced-based decisions. Fifty-six percent
of the interviewees said intuitive decisions were
based on experience. Accumulated successes
and failures, in work and in personal life, formed
a set of experiences on which they drew in par-

92 Academy of Management Executive November
Table 1
"What does it mean to make decisions using your intuition?'
Response Themes and Examples of Participants' Comments Percent oi Participants
ExpeTience-based decisions: 56
Experience-based intuitive decision making is like a central processing unit. Individuals look
through these experiences in their central processing unit and make decisions based on their
past experiences.—Manager, mass support customer service, communication
Af/ecf-in ifiafed decisions based on feelings and emotions: 40
Sometimes I've had a strange feeling that something about the claim isn't quite right and
then I dig for more information and lind that the facts weren't absolutely accurate as reported
to me.—Manager, worker compensation and risk management, public administration
Cognitive-based decisions applying skills, knowledge, and training: 23
The sum total of the experiences that you have had in life plus business school.—^Manager,
flight test support, spaceflight/aerospace
Subconscious mental processing: 11
My subconscious mind has data that can lead the conscious mind in certain directions. It
helps lead me to Ihe path to make decisions when I don't have iniormation right at my
fingertips.—Technical rate advisor, space flight/aerospace
Decisions based on personal or company values or ethics: 10
Everything seems to center around an ethical sense or moral obligation to the business or
customer. There's no book or manual to tell you how to do this. It comes from within.—Design
support analyst, transportation
Note: Percentages total more than 100 as some participants stated multiple facets of intuition.
ticular situations. This concept of intuition upholds
some concepts recently put forth in the
academic literature, and suggests that intuition
resembles a mental map or schema generated
from years of practice.^
Affect-initiated decisions. Forty percent of the
subjects said intuition is based on a person's
feelings or emotions when presented with information
in a decision-making scenario. This
characterization is consistent with the lay interpretation
of intuition as a gut feeling, and has
been supported by research that suggests emotion
is a central element in decision making.''
Cognitive-based decisions. Some participants
also characterized intuition as based on knowledge
and skills learned through training seminars
and textbooks. The methods for strengthening
intuitive skills that were mentioned,
including workshops, courses, and books, have
been noted in the decision-making literature.^
Subconscious mental processing. Others described
intuitive decisions as a subconscious
mental processing that automatically happens
in the background. Because this view of intuition
is reported in research,^ we asked participants
to rate the difficulty of our questions on a scale
of 1 to 5 (1 being extremely easy, 5 being extremely
difficult). Since the average ranking was
2.5, it appeared that the topic of intuition was not
as enigmatic as previously portrayed, even
though understanding the process of using intuition
may well be.
• Value-based decisions. A few participants suggested
that intuition involves some element of
personal introspection by decision makers to
generate a decision that is compatible either
with their own moral codes or with their companies'
cultures. Prior empirical work supports a
relationship between intuition and a concern
with human values.'' For example, in our study, a
few respondents referred to their intuitive decision
making as attempts to make a correct, acceptable,
or ethical decision.
No one in our group of professionals viewed intuition
as a paranormal power or a personality trait,
which may help us to understand at least what intuition
is not. Nevertheless, more than half represented
intuition as distilled experience and an affective response.
Thus, intuition may be thought of as a cognitive
conclusion based on a decision maker's previous
experiences and emotional inputs.
How Intuitive Decision Making Skills are
Developed
Forty-two percent of the managers interviewed
said they learned or developed their intuitive skills

1999 BurJre and Miller 93
Table 2
Samples of Participants' Comments
Deveioping intuitive decision making skills:
I was put in a situation and didn't have enough time to collect all the data I needed. I had no choice but to go ahead and make
a decision. That has been repeated so many times as a manager that I have learned to trust my instincts because I have seen.
time after time, that I can make a decision with limited data and still be able to say that it was a good decision.—Manager,
technical services, space flight/aerospace
Prompting intuition:
Eye contact and body language play a good part in that the volume of the voice of a particular person and how they came
about talking to you are important.—Manager, area engineering and facilities, space flight/aerospace
Most of the time I'm driving, walking the dog, or taking a shower, not concentrating on the task. My mind is in neutral. My
intuition ends up being a catalyst to go look for data.—Director, executive development, manufacturing
Situations calling for intuition:
A lot of decisions are made based on what the patient looks like. We may not know exactly what is going on, but you know
inside that something is the matter and act upon that. That kind of knowledge, that something is going to happen, occurs
frequently.—Clinical Coordinator, intensive care, services
Sometimes things don't feel right. People ask questions or they bring a procedure to look at and something really doesn't leel
right. It's a learned ability to sense that something is wrong.—Assessor, public administration
In uncertain situations where the answer is not clear or the problem is not well-defined, I try to draw on past experience in how
I dealt with things before—does it stink or does it feel right?—Director, internal auditing, services
Who's using intuition at work?
There are a lot of good old boy systems in this environment, and so women seem to be more factual in their
decisions.—Computer staff software engineer, space ilight/aerospace
I think women are more detail-oriented and data-driven in business, although more emotional outside of business.—Director,
internal auditing, services
Practical implications:
Every decision is a combination of deduction and intuition. I believe that intuition isn't particularly useful all by itself. I
suppose you could run into managers who believe intuition means pulling an answer out of the air and having that answer
work, but I don't believe that is possible. I don't think intuition can operate unless there is data available to you that you can
process and combine with past experience and also with some data-driven analysis. Training and experience are the fuel, and
then intuition and deduction are the engine. You put those two together and you end up being able to move forward.—Manager,
technical services, space flight/aerospace
through experience. (See Table 2.) These participants
said they developed an experiential database
that fed their intuition. Others said they developed
their intuitive skills by repeatedly using
them, or that education and training helped them
to learn and develop intuition.
Some interviewees observed mentors, role models,
and supervisors and worked with diverse
groups of people to learn about their decision making
styles. In fact, researchers have suggested that
intuition can be cultivated by close affiliation with
a role model who demonstrates intuitive qualities.^
Employing Intuition in the Workplace
Frequency of use
Asked whether they always, often, sometimes, seldom,
or rarely used intuition in the workplace, 47
percent of our sample answered often, 30 percent
sometimes, 12 percent always, seven percent seldom,
and three percent rarely. Intuition plays a
fairly significant role in these decision makers'
daily work life, and the overwhelming majority of
participants use intuition to some degree in making
workplace decisions.
Prompting infuifion
Asked whether any specific physical or emotional
signals prompt individuals to employ their intuition,
the vast majority of respondents answered
no. However, about 28 percent of the sample engaged
their intuition based on receiving some type
of physical nonverbal signal, including eye con-
Thus, intuition may be thought of as a
cognitive conclusion based on a decision
maker's previous experiences and
emotional inputs.
tact and such facial expressions as smiles, frowns,
a raised eyebrow, or a raised voice. A few suggested
that intuition automatically kicked in while
their conscious thought processes were disengaged.

94 Academy of Management Executive November
The majority of the professionals talked about
invoking intuition in response to situations rather
than to internal factors. For example, if a situation
had no predetermined guidelines or rules to follow
or if the objective data did not seem correct, participants
said they would look to their intuition for
guidance. However, some participants professed
knowing, feeling, believing, or recollecting something
that prompted their intuition. For example,
some said personal value systems signaled something
was wrong or was headed in the wrong direction.
Situations caiJing for infuifion
Forty percent of the professionals used intuition
to make personnel, or people-related, decisions.
Such decisions included interviewing, hiring,
training, scheduling, performance appraisal, harassment
complaints, patient care, and safety
issues. Participants also reported employing intuition
when decisions needed to be made
quickly or unexpectedly because potential costs
were associated with delays. Other participants
responded that they used intuition when uncertainty
pervaded such novel situations as a firsttime
restructuring or reorganization and in some
financial issues, such as formulating budgets,
estimating prices, and selecting investments.
Furthermore, situations lacking explicit cues
were identified as appropriate for intuitive
skills, such as when policies needed to be interpreted,
requirements were absent, or data were
insufficient.
Almost all respondents (91.5 percent) said that
they had combined intuition with data analysis in
their history of workplace decision making, employing
intuition in concert with deductive processes.
Research supports this notion of combining
intuition with intellectual and cognitive skills^ and
suggests that the problems faced will likely determine
the mix of skills to be applied.'° For example,
intuition might be used to fill in the blanks when
quantitative data are lacking in strategic business
decisions, such as new product planning, or in
cases of extreme information overload." Given the
explosion of information confronting decision makers,
intuitive decision making may become, paradoxically,
even more pertinent.
Who's using intuition at work?
Asked about the types of people they had witnessed
using intuition at work and what, if anything,
they had in common, the majority of respondents
agreed on a few common traits based on
their observation of specific decision processes,
explanations they had received from decision
makers, or the nature of the decisions. The variables
reported included years of experience, level
in the organization, and age. Employees who have
more experience, who are older, or who hold managerial
positions tend to use their intuition more.
Indeed, researchers claim that upper-level executives
need to apply intuition more than others because
of their need to see the bigger picture, to
address conceptual rather than technical matters,
and to deal with long-term rather than short-term
time horizons.'2 Our subjects said managers who
effectively employ intuition in the workplace are
confident and comfortable, open-minded and flexible,
experienced, willing to take risks, fair and
unbiased, reflective and insightful, knowledgeable,
and creative. Although many writers have
reported women to be more intuitive,'^ nearly 80
percent of our interviewees did not cite gender
when listing people they had witnessed using intuition.
Women in male-dominated workplaces
may wish to appear analytical rather than emotional
in their decision making, or they may tend to
employ their intuition less at work than in nonprofessional
situations. Nevertheless, our findings
may call into question traditional gender-based
assumptions about decision-making styles in the
workplace.'•*
Quality and Other Benefits of Intuitive Decisions
Little research has been done on the ultimate
quality of intuitively-driven decisions. We asked
practitioners to rate the quality of the intuitive
decisions they had made and then categorized
their open-ended responses.
Two-thirds of the respondents felt that intuition
led to better decisions. However, 12 percent reported
no effect on their decision quality either
way, nine percent said it depended on the situation,
while five percent felt it had a mixed positive
and negative impact. Finally, two individuals said
intuition had reduced the quality of their decisions.
While most participants regarded the effect
of intuition on decision making favorably, our findings
do not suggest that they were intensely confident
in their intuitions, as has been found in
some research.'^ Some interviewees noted, for example,
that mixed effects can result from situational
variables, or that memory can distort decisions.
As one interviewee stated: "If your
recollection and experiences are wrong, then intuition
is bad."
But because many interviewees suggested that
intuition had led them to make better decisions.

1999 Burke and Millei 95
we explored the specific benefits they associated
with intuitive decisions. As detailed in Table 3,
our sample of professionals outlined various
benefits that can be clustered into four broader
categories.
• Expedites decisions. Many participants felt a direct
benefit of intuition is that it speeds the decision-making
process. Put simply, by reducing
the amount of data required, they experienced a
faster decision process, as measured by time.
• Improves ultimate decision. Some participants
reported benefits associated with intuition as a
result of improved decision-making outcomes.
Examples included a fairer outcome, a higher
quality product, and enhanced customer satisfaction.
• Facilitates personal development. A few respondents
saw intuition as having certain personal
benefits—a skill which helped them develop a
full set of professional skills or provided them
with a certain element of power.
• Promotes decisions compatible with company
culture. Other study participants claimed intuition
helped them make decisions that were consistent
with their company's culture and values.
Finally, one participant declared that there were no
benefits to using intuition in the workplace. This
quality control manager suggested that intuition can
"get you into trouble" when lacking the necessary
data to measure accuracy. For this individual, objective
data were demanded by management to back
up his decisions. This response points to the limitations
of making intuitively-based decisions in the
wrong situations or at the expense of data collection
and analysis.
Overcoming a Bad Reputation
Intuitive decision making has had a bad reputation,
the result of a prevailing lack of understanding,
unfounded generalizations, and varying
interpretations presented in the research
literature. Future research should identify the
specific situations in which intuition works best.
Particular attention should be paid to decision
type, the demographics of a firm's workforce and
management team, the decision maker's profession
or industry, and the nature of the corporate
culture. As additional information is gathered
regarding the role of such contingency factors,
executives will be in a better position to understand,
support, and reinforce the selective and
appropriate use of intuitive decision making in
their organizations.
Table 3
Benefits of Intuition in Workplace Decision
Making
Benefits of Intuition
Expedites decision mating.-
-leads to quicker decisions
-enables decisions without all the data
-eventually leads to financial cost savings
-gets the job done
-makes it easier to reach goals
-helps to avoid analysis paralysis
-starts process of decision making
-helps adapt to flexible, changing
environment
Improves the decision in some way:
-provides a check and balance
-allows fairness in dealing with people
-leads to a higher quality product
-avoids baving to rework the decision
-helps to focus on area needing attention
-improves customer satisfaction
-prevents negative outcomes
-causes one to pay more attention
Facilitates personal development:
-develops iull tool set
-gives one more power
-provides opportunity to grow
-improves one's instincts
-helps to apply one's experiences
-allows recognition for positive risk taking
Promotes decisions compatible with culture:
Number of
Participants
34 (57%)
15
7
4
3
2
1
1
1
18 m%)
6
3
a 2
2
1
1
1
11(18%)
4
3
I
1
1
1
6(10%)
Note: Percentages total more than 100 percent as some participants
stated multiple benefits.
Making Use of Intuition
U.S. companies reportedly use good decision
skills about 12 percent of the time."* Prior research
suggests that many adults have not developed
their intuition to any significant extent and that
managers are often trained to disregard and mistrust
their judgment.''' Increased organizational
and employee awareness of and practice with integrating
intuitive skills into decision making are
essential.
Our practitioners offered several suggestions for
helping managers hone their intuitive skills, advancing
the idea that intuitive skills are not the
rarefied talent of a privileged few. Given that intuitive
decision-making skills may be dormant in
some employees,'^ such practical methods may
prove beneficial, and should be explored.
Managers should:
• be more attentive to the overall decision process;
• challenge decisions when they feel or sense the
need to do so;

96 Academy of Management Executive November
• reflect on past decisions and the role that intuition
played and attempt to learn from any mistakes;
• practice applying intuition in work situations or
with hypothetical scenarios, cases, or exercises;
• watch and observe when and how others employ
their intuition;
• become educated about intuitive decision making
by reading books and articles, and attending
conferences;
• learn to take risks when making decisions without
being afraid of the consequences;
• practice making decisions without all the data
necessary.
Meditation, journal writing, and mind
may also be useful in becoming more knowledgeable
about intuition.
Managers should be increasingly concerned
with developing their employees by using jobbased
experiential learning strategies. For example,
job rotation, or lateral career moves, exposes
employees to numerous decision-making scenarios
and decision-making styles from which they
can learn vicariously.^o Job rotations also help
managers quickly collect data about the organization's
business and work practices. Training and
development programs feed managers' intuitive
skills by giving them experience in solving business
problems.^'
To develop employees' intuitive potential, top
executives should pay close attention to how the
corporate culture may be explicitly or implicitly
discouraging the use of intuition. Indeed, research
suggests that intuition flourishes only if it is valued
in an organization.22 If an organization's work
environment, leadership, political climate, and socialization
processes do not support the use of intuition,
then many employees will rely solely on objective
methods and discount lessons learned from
To develop employees' intuitive
potential top executives should pay
close attention to how the corporate
culture may be explicitly or implicitly
discouraging the use 0/ intuition.
their personal database of experience. Therefore,
organizations should facilitate and selectively encourage
employees who incorporate their intuitive
skills in the appropriate decision scenarios.
Specifically, upper-level managers should reinforce
employees' use of intuition in situations that
are more likely to benefit from intuitive skills. Incorporating
intuition into decision making appears
relevant and applicable in the following scenarios:
• when decisions need to be consistent with the
organization's culture and values;
• when time is of the essence;
• when explicit cues are lacking because policies,
rules, guidelines, or expert guidance are absent;
• when uncertainty prevails because of new product
planning or strategy formulation;
• when quantitative analyses require a check and
balance.
Because such scenarios have become increasingly
common in today's workplace, the ability to effectively
engage one's intuition is becoming more
important. A vice president of human resources in
a small firm stated: "Often I have found myself in
situations without access to specialists or consultants
and I needed to be willing to use my intuition
and just go for it."^^
Organizational mindsets must be modified to
help eliminate the myths about intuition so that it
can be used effectively in the workplace. Top managers
need to transcend traditional linear decision
making by exploring and appropriately integrating
nonlinear approaches when addressing complex
business decisions.^^ The benefits of doing so
may represent a viable source of competitive advantage
in the 21st century.
Appendix A: Sample and Study Methodology
Study participants were selected from membership
of the National Management Association
(NMA) and from author contacts. Potential participants
were sent an introductory letter describing
the nature of the study and including the interview
questions. Thirty-nine percent of the individuals
contacted volunteered to participate, and complete
data were obtained from 74 percent. Although participants
were not randomly chosen, none self-selected
into the study, thus limiting the biases of
self-selection.
The group included 60 professionals employed
in various industry segments. The 39 men and 21
women worked in an array of medium to large
organizations, in both the public and private sectors,
and were from across the United States. The
average total years of work experience was 27.5
(SD = 9.7), the mean organizational tenure was 15.9
years {SD = 9.6} and the average job tenure was 6.4
years (SD = 6.5 years). The vast majority of partic-

1999 Buike and Miller 97
ipants had master's, bachelor's, or associate's degrees,
or multiple degrees.
Industry segments included 14 respondents in
space flight operations and aerospace engineering,
12 in public administration, 12 in manufacturing,
11 in communication/transportation/utilities,
and 11 in services.^^
A pilot study with seven business professionals
was conducted prior to the main study to determine
the validity of the content and the appropriateness of
the interview protocol. We used results of the pilot
study to clarify question wording and to arrange
questions into logical groupings. The pilot study results
also pointed to the importance of providing the
interview questions ahead of the scheduled interview
to enhance participant reflection.
In the main study, the second author conducted
and taped semi-structured phone interviews to obtain
rich description. The potential for biased responses
was minimized by asking participants
only the questions in the interview protocol, by
following up only with questions that helped respondents
clarify or elaborate upon their answers,
and by cross-checking interviewer notes with
taped conversations.
The results are based on an analysis of the interview
responses using thematic analysis and a
constant comparative method.^^ We constantly
compared interviewee responses, with the goal of
organizing the data into systematic categories of
analysis by seeking recurring themes. To enhance
the trustworthiness of our interpretations,^^ we
also employed multiple sources of data. The second
author created a journal as an additional data
source to identify recurring themes. The first author
provided a reliability check by listening to
several of the telephone interviews, taking notes,
and then comparing the two sets of notes. We
found a 96-percent rate of agreement in these sets
of notes. In addition, the first author reviewed a
randomly selected subset of the second author's
journal to independently validate the identified
themes. This confirmed the generation of similar
themes.
Finally, to enhance the credibility of the data, we
conducted member checks to confirm the viability
of our interpretations.28 A summary of the findings
was presented to a subset (seven percent) of our
sample, based on our interpretation of the data.
Each individual reported that the findings appeared
to have significant face validity.
Appendix B: The Nature of Intuition
Researchers have conceptualized intuition as
a sixth sense, a paranormal power, a gut instinct.
an evaluative affect, an innate personality trait,
and an accumulation of experience.^^ One of our
objectives was to determine how closely the definitions
of the professionals we surveyed paralleled
those in the literature. The results are highlighted
in Table 1.
Several constructs—creativity, tacit knowledge,
judgment—have been used interchangeably
with intuition. Intuition and creativity share
common properties, and it has been suggested
that intuition is a first and necessary stage of
creativity,^'^ that some sort of preconscious activity
guides an individual to novel ideas.^' Individuals
may therefore be able to enhance creativity
by recreating environments in which they have
experienced intuition.
Intuition has also been differentiated from tacit
knowledge and implicit learning. Knowledge management
focuses on leveraging the know-how and
experience about customers, products, and processes
within a firm.2^- Intuition is sometimes
viewed as an end product of tacit knowledge,^^
which is embodied in cognitive processes and implicitly
learned through experience. Tacit knowledge
is uniquely personal and complex.3" For example,
skilled craftsmen develop a wealth of
readily-available expertise, with basic building
blocks that are etched and entrenched in their
minds and do not require conscious thought to
analyze.3^
Our present study also suggests that judgment is
not regarded in the literature as encompassing an
emotional element, but an affective component is
often attached to the intuition construct. (See Table
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the support
of the National Management Association (NMA), its
president, Stephen K. Bailey, along with Karen Tobias
and all of the NMA staff members. We also
thank the University of Dayton for funding the
project, as well as Lisa Cheraskin, Gordon Dehler,
and William Lewis for providing feedback on earlier
versions of our manuscript.
Endnotes
' For a review, see Agor, W. H. 1989, Intuition in organizations:
Leading and managing productively. Newbury Park:
Sage. For a discussion of how intuition has been measured
using the MBTI, see Zemke, R. 1992. Second thoughts about the
MBTl. Training. 29:43-47; Schweiger, D. M. 1985. Measuring
managerial cognitive styles: On the logical validity of the

98 Academy of Management Executive November
Myers-Briggs type indicator. Journal of Business Research. 13:
315-328.
^Behling, O., & Eckel, N. L. 1991. Making sense out oi intuition.
The Academy of Management Executive, 5:46-54.
^See Huff, A. 1990. Mapping strategic thought. In A. Huff
(Ed.), Mapping strategic thought. Chichester: Wiley; Simon, H.
1979. Information processing models of cognition. Annual
Review of Psychology. 30:363-398; Wally, S., & Baum, J. R. 1994.
Personal and structural determinants of the pace of strategic
decision making. Academy of Management Journal, 37:932-
956.
^ Time. 1995. Glimpses of the mind. July 17:44.
^Harper, S. C. 1988. Intuition: What separates executives
from managers. Business Horizons, 31:13-19.
^ See Vaughan, F. E. 1979. Awakening intuition. Garden City,
CA: Anchor Press; Goldberg, P. 1989. The intuitive experience. In
Agor, op. cit. Simon, H. A. 1987. Making management decisions:
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Executive, 1:57-66.
' Westcott, M. R., & Ranzoni, J. H. 1963. Correlates of intuitive
thinking. PsychoiogicaJ fleporfs, 12:595-613.
^ Davidhizar, R. 1991. Intuition and the nurse manager. The
Health Care Supervisor. 10:13-19.
^ See Parikh, J., Neubauer, F., & Lank, A. G. 1994. Intuition: The
new frontier of management. Santa Cruz: Blackwell Business;
Harung, H. S. 1993. More effective decisions through synergy ot
objective and subjective approaches. Management Decision,
31:38-45; Davidhizar, ibid.
'" Simon, op. cit.
"See Hitt, M. A., Keats, B. W., 8f DeMarie, S. M. 1998. Navigating
in the competitive landscape: Building strategic flexibility
and competitive advantage in the 21^' century. The Academy
of Management Executive. 12:22-42; Harper, op. cit.
'^ See Agor, W. H. 1983. Tomorrow's intuitive leaders. Futurist,
17:49-53; Harper, op. cit.
'^See Sharma, S. 1990. Psychology of women in management:
A distinct feminine leadership. Equal Opportunities
International. 9:13-18; Rubinstein, G. 1986. Women on the way
up. Association Management, 38:26-30; Lamkin, M. D.
1986. Power: How to get it, keep it, and use it wisely. Vital
Speeches. 53:151-154; Agor, W. H. 1986. How top executives
use their intuition to make important decisions. Business
Horizons, 29:49-53.
'* For further discussion and research of gender and intuition
see Ekman, P. 1992. An argument for basic emotions. Cognition
and Emofion, 6:169-200.
'^ Bastick, T. L982. Intuition: How we think and act. New York;
Wiley.
'^ This finding, generated by a Princeton-based firm that has
administered basic decision training to over two million managers,
was cited in Newsweek. 1987. The wisdom of Solomon.
August 17:62.
"See Newsweek, ibid.; Harung, op. cit.
'^Davidhizar, op. cit.
'^ Agor. op. cit.
^° For a discussion of job rotation strategies see Noe, R. &
Ford, J. K. 1992. Emerging issues and new directions for training
research. In K. Rowland & G. Ferris (Eds.), Research in
Personnel and Human Resource Management. Greenwich,
CT: lAI Press.
^' Gumpert, J. 1994. GE's work-out: Creating leaders in a
boundaryiess organization. Paper presented at the 1994 Academy
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^^ Vaughan, op. cit.
^^ Goldstein, Ken. Fall, 1998. From bureaucrat to entrepreneur.
Management Education and Development Division Newsletter
(Academy of Management), p. 8.
^^See Hitt, op. cit.; Clarity, T. 1990. Face it! Intuition is a
necessary part of the marketing process. Marketing News, 24:8.
^^ Standard Industrial Classification Manual. 1987. Springheld,
VA: U.S. Bureau of the Budget, Office of Statistical Standards.
^^ Patton, M. Q. 1990. Qualitative evaluation and research
methods, 2'"' ed. Newbury Park: Sage.
"Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. 198S. Naturalistic inquiry.
Newbury Park: Sage.
^^Bell, R. W., Sherry, Jr.. J. F., & Wallendorf, M. 1988. A naturalistic
inquiry into buyer and seller behavior at a swap meet.
Journal of Consumer Research, 14:449-470.
^^ Shirley, D. A., & Langan-Fox, J. 1996. Intuition: A review oi
the literature. Psychological Reports. 79:563-584.
^° Bastick, op. cit.
3' Finke, R. A., Ward, T. B., & Smith, S. M. 1992. Creative
cognition; Theory, research, and applications. Boston, MA: Massachusetts
Institute of Technology.
^^ Ruggles, R. 1998. The state ol the notion: Knowledge management
in practice. California Management Review. 40:80-91.
^^ Shirley, D. A., & Langan-Fox, J. 1996. Intuition: A review oi
the literature. PsychoiogicaJ Reports, 79:563-584.
^* See Leonard, D., & Sensiper, S. 1998. The role oi tacit knowledge
in group innovation. California Management Review. 40:112-
130; Cole, R. E. 1998. Introduction to special issue on knowledge
and the firm. California Management Review, 40:15-21.
^^ See McClean, B. C. W. 1995. Intuition in modem command
philosophy. Military Review. 75:98-99; Nonaka, I. 1991. The
knowledge-creating company. Harvard Business Beview. 69:36-
105.
^^ Time. op. cit.

1999 Burie and MiiJer 99
Lisa A. Burke is a visiting assistant
professor at Louisiana
State University in Shreveport.
Her research interests focus on
management training, development,
and education. Her research
has been published in
Human Resource Management,
Human Resource Development
Quarterly, and Human
Resource Management Review.
Contact: lburke@pilot.
lsus.edu.
Monica K. Miller is a work
group coach at Kraft Foods.
When this study was conducted,
she was a student at
the University of Dayton.
where she received the Theta
Phi Alpha National Senior
Service Award. She was also
awarded membership in
Who's Who Among Students In
American Universities & Colleges
and the Golden Key National
Honor Society. Contact:
monica.milier@juno.com.