ABSTRACT
Whether the decision is how much to pay a new executive, or which of several job candidates to hire, it is unlikely to be made by one organizational member alone. In other words, important organizational decisions are typically a collective effort, with different organizational members contributing to varying degrees to the final decision. Hence, organizational decisions rarely occur in a “social vacuum” (Bonaccio & Dalal, 2006). In these cases, it is expected that diverse viewpoints, different information, and even unsolicited advice will be exchanged among organizational members. Combining information to arrive at a final decision is no easy task, and it is not uncommon for decision makers to struggle with this process. This chapter reviews four different research streams speaking to the process of combining information, and bringing together diverse viewpoints into a collective product.
