Passing From Discrete Experiences to Journeys That Connect the Dots: 21st Century Collaborative Decision Making

Abstract

There have been a number of factors that include the gradual disintegration of hierarchies, the creation of flatter learning organizations, the presence of heterogeneity and conflict among the principal agents, and the centrality of knowledge in the organizations of the twenty-first century. Despite the fact that flatter organizations are classless, in which no single individual has all the answers, and in which a lateral approach to managing knowledge at all levels appears to be the key to competitiveness, the focus on decision making has been primarily as a strategic outcome. This is the case despite the fact that all of these factors have been taken into consideration. It is implied in this approach that the premise that decision making is still a level-derived phenomenon. Despite the fact that the nature of the job is becoming more technical and the requirement for engagement is growing and becoming more important than further compliance to instructions from above, the truth remains that the demand for participation is increasing.