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Maximization is an indispensable construct to choice theorists. In the last two decades, an extensive body of maximization research has developed. However, fundamental questions surrounding the operational validity and conceptual clarity of the construct are evident. Research has begun to present profoundly and troublingly conflicting results. One cause of this is a lack contextual considerations. Therefore, this research, adopting a context of innovation, sets out to tackle these fundamental operational and conceptual questions surrounding the construct. RQ1, a two-week, two-time-point longitudinal survey (n=197) assessed maximization's operational validity in terms of temporal stability and discriminant validity from similar constructs. Measures of maximizing goal and maximizing strategy, components of maximization, were stable, as well as maintaining discriminant validity against other constructs, with maximizing goal and perfectionism the only exception to this. RQ2, a cross sectional survey (n=196) compared maximization with consumer innovativeness measures and demonstrated that maximization only correlated with cognitively associated constructs, and not the sensorial ones. RQ3, a protocol analysis, asked participants to talk aloud as they performed an innovation adoption decision task. The findings suggested maximization was stimulated by goals and was not a driving force in the decision process, rather it was a supporting function of other decision processes. The findings of this thesis contribute to the maximization literature in 3 principle ways. Firstly, maximization's trait status (with some noted limitations) is strengthened in ways not previously done so (through temporal stability and discrimination from similar constructs). Secondly, by broadening maximization's nomological net, more can be understood about maximization, conceptually. Finally, the conceptualisation of maximization can now be developed with an understanding of the limited yet supporting influence of maximization on decision making process; one that relies on goals as paramount in allowing maximization manifestation. Contributions to the innovation literature are, too, available when reminded of the positive relationship between maximizing and consumer innovativeness. Additional research is needed to further address the extent of maximization's existing operational integrity. In particular, assessing the stability of maximization across lengthier time frames and with larger samples will support the theory of a distinct maximizing trait; these efforts should be extended across domains to strengthen these claims further. Also, researchers should look to investigate the behavioural manifestation of maximization so as to understand the maximization process less ambiguously than is currently available.

If information is abundant, the resource that in turn becomes scarce and in need of allocation is what information consumes - the attention of its recipients. Drawing from recent advances in behavioural decision theory, this thesis presents three essays on issues relating to limited attention in information-rich environments. In the first essay, we attempt to explain recent empirical discrepancies suggesting that despite low material costs, consumers continue to search for a very narrow number of alternatives in online contexts. We appeal to the idea of a general economy of attention and suggest that this discrepancy can be understood through the lens of a fundamental attention allocation problem. In the second essay, we build on this analysis and ask whether individuals that prioritise the expansion of alternatives in their decision making process suffer a decline in their ability to exercise deliberative judgement. We draw on the psychological literature on heuristics and biases and demonstrate that individuals attempting to 'behaviourally maximise' are more susceptible to rudimentary judgemental fallacies as compared to decision makers that directly confront their own cognitive limitations. Finally, the third essay, draws on these insights and investigates the interplay between selective attention, enduring personal dispositions and task complexity on the facility with which individuals can deploy simplifying selection policies when choosing between items within a bundle. We demonstrate that alongside the information structure characterising task environments, individuals' capacity to efficiently allocate attention has implications on their ability to simplify the problem space within contexts where multiple conflicting objectives need to be taken into account and counterbalanced.

Management and organisational literature reports that half of all decisions are considered to fail, as they are either discarded before an implementation attempt, or are implemented with fruitless efforts. Such decisions are expected to be based on facts, information and expertise, and carried out in a rational manner. However, most organisational decisions are not based on precise information or carefully deliberated analysis; they are not objective or carried out in an isolated manner. Instead, organisational decisions are made through personal experiences, social relationships and interactions, and often in an unconscious manner. Thus, there is a need to understand the complexity of the 'way' decisions are made in organisations, uncovering the hidden construing, expectations, orientations and interactions of organisational decision-makers. The focus of this study is the problem of how the complex phenomenon of organisational decision-making can be captured, modelled and explored in order to understand 'why' organisations make the decisions that they do. This study has identified a conceptual gap that represents an oversimplification of the complex and interlocking phenomenon of organisational decision-making. It is argued that there is a need to consider the multi-dimensional layers and interactions of the private and social worlds of the organisational decision. A conceptual model is presented that reveals the power of synthesising Organisational Sensemaking and Personal Construct Theory, to gain an alternative perspective of organisational decision-making that considers organisational decisions, sensing and actions. Additionally, this study proposes an innovative methodology known as FORMED to elicit the complex and iterative practices of decision-makers, thus providing a 'vehicle' through which the decision-makers are able to map their organisational decision landscape. An important constituent of this study is the ability to capture both the individual and social perspectives of each of the organisational decision-makers in a visible and measurable manner. The findings empirically demonstrate the influences of personal experiences, natural choices, behaviours, relationships and interactions upon the organisational decision, which is concerned with the planning and development of organisational growth. An emergent empirical finding established how operational and strategic management tensions are a natural and essential aspect of the organisational decision and confirmed how the discussion of assumptions and distinctions can trigger a debate and agreement regarding the organisation's identity, its direction and its policies. Thus, through reflective practices decision-makers demonstrated their ability to step out of their habitual choices and change their circumstances, as they moved through the terrain of the organisational decision landscape, reconsidering their choices and orientations, ultimately shifting their organisational decision.

The purpose of this thesis is to enhance our understanding of the relationship between the social network profile of S&P1500 firms and their environmental and financial profiles. The three dimensions of this research are social network profile, financial profile and environmental profile, which are becoming increasingly interlinked. The nature of this research is multidisciplinary and still in its early stages. The existing studies focus mainly on two streams of research, the first of which explores the relationship between firms' environmental and financial profiles, which reveals contradictory results. The second research stream investigates the impact of the social networks between directors on the firms' financial profiles. This thesis is submitted in an alternative format and includes four journal papers, which are interrelated in addressing the purpose of this thesis. First, it is essential to provide effective reviews to create a foundation for developing knowledge in this field of research and to explore the area in which more research is required. Therefore, the first two papers attempt to review systematically the existing research streams, namely: (i) the impact of social network profile on financial profile; and (ii) the relationship between environmental profile and financial profile. Second, the review of the impact of social network profile on financial profile reveals the need to investigate social networks in the organisations from a social network theory perspective. Therefore, the third paper uses quantitative method to provide a concrete definition of social networks and social network centrality metrics in the context of organisations. In addition, a clear process for extracting social networks at both director and board levels from the directors' information repository is defined. Third, through the fourth paper, this thesis explores the impact of the board's roles on environmental governance as an essential component of environmental profile. This paper uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative evaluation. The roles of the board of directors in relation to environmental profile are twofold, namely board monitoring and board resource provision. In this work, the board's social network is examined as a board resource-provision role.

Making decisions at the right time and in the right way is vital in dealing with extreme events. However, uncertainties and severe time constraints usually make the tasks hard and stressful. Since catastrophes are not frequent events in our lives, prior practice is essential to increasing preparedness. In accordance with its rapid development and extensive dissemination, information communication technology (ICT) has been recognised as an indispensable instrument, not only to assist onsite activities of professional emergency responders, but also to support collaborative actions of a wide-range of stakeholders for effective preparedness. This research intends to explore the feasibility of workshop-style decision-making exercises on the basis of scenarios of extreme events, and to examine the role of ICT in mediating the interactive processes during a workshop. A comparative approach between the UK and Japan was employed to find similarities and differences in the way of identifying major issues, proceeding to a discussion, and reaching a decision on which course of action to take. Interviews with Japanese and British experts, including researchers and practitioners, were conducted to develop realistic scenarios and to hear their opinions about the use of ICT in the crisis preparedness context. Experimental face-to-face (FTF) workshops and online workshops were respectively organised for Japanese and British research participants to examine the applicability of the scenario method under these two different methods of communication. Complementary online workshops were also conducted for Japanese and British practitioners to obtain practical feedback on the idea of scenario-based online workshops. The main finding of this study was that scenario-based exercises are beneficial regardless of the nationality or the methods of communication in decision problems in which individuals have no prior experience. The most noteworthy finding was that scenario-based online workshops are unlikely to be argumentative and results-oriented under certain conditions, such as complexity of issues and tasks, amount of time spent by participants, degree of facilitation and type of technology used. This finding indicates that online exercises require different strategies from FTF exercises. In theoretical aspects, this study provides a foundation for theory formation regarding scenario methods. In addition, this work contributes to further development of online communications based on the comparison with FTF communications. In practical terms, the examination of the scenario method and use of ICT offers methodological alternatives in order to implement more robust preparedness.

Process support is a core organisational competence which aims to help people plan and perform their work. This thesis addresses process support for Emergent Knowledge Processes (EKP). EKP can be characterised by human-orientation, emerging domain requirements, compliance requirements and dispersed participants/stakeholders. Current Process Aware Information Systems (PAIS) do not meet several important support requirements of EKP. Addressing these requirements will create business value. Through a Design Science (Hevner, March et al. 2004) research approach, this thesis addresses that problem. An approach to support EKP is conceptualised and implemented. The main contribution is a prescriptive framework. The framework consists of four components; interactive modelling, a combination of procedural and declarative models, flexible model management and real-time collaborative working. Interactive modelling is an approach to flexible process support where users create, adapt, analyse and enact visual models of their work processes. Underpinning the interactive modelling approach are both procedural and declarative models. Declarative models capture organisational rules. Procedural task-based models capture actual plans of work. Procedural models must comply with the rules established in the declarative models. Flexible model management and real-time collaboration support offer a cooperative working and knowledge management environment for interactive modelling. The conceptual design ideas have been realised in an academic software prototype. A Web-based groupware application, D2P, was developed as a 'plug-in' for the collaborative, Web-based modelling environment PowerMeeting. It is shown how Web technology can be leveraged for collaborative process support. A contribution is made through further demonstration of the applicability of Web-based solutions for professional, process related business requirements. As a final contribution, the results of a usability study demonstrate the usability of the D2P and PowerMeeting tools. Empirical evidence in the form of results from a usability study and user questionnaire confirmed that semi-skilled users with a small amount of training can activate the concepts and tools which make up the approach. Of particular importance is the demonstration of the usability of the less familiar declarative modelling paradigm. Scenarios are also provided to demonstrate the applicability of the approach.