Time Urgency, Load and Managerial Decision Making

Previous research has demonstrated that optimal complex managerial decision making tends to occur at intermediate information load stressor levels. The present research considers time urgency as an additional variable. Time urgency has been shown to be relatively common among managers (as part of the Type A Coronary Prone Behavior Pattern). Many managers believe that their time urgent stylistics are necessary to guarantee success at their jobs. Since urgency requires rapid responding, it may, however, be viewed as an additional stressor. The latter conceptualization would predict decrements in complex and improvements in simple performance. Experimentally induced time urgency was utilized to determine the effects of urgency on three measures of managerial performance. It was found that time urgency interacts with information load to produce performance outcome. Moderately complex planning and decision making was found to be optimal at intermediate load levels, but disintegrated when time urgency increased to high levels. Similar results were obtained for long-term complex planning. Simple retaliatory decision making increased with load. Higher levels of time urgency resulted in greater retaliatory activity. It is concluded that managerial activities which require complex decision making and long term future planning are hindered rather than aided by time urgency. (Author)