Strategic Decision-Making and Business Risk Management: Simon's Bounded Rationality Theory in Organizational Policy Formulation Processes Amid Uncertainty
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62794/ijober.v4i3.372Keywords:
Bounded rationality, business risk management, Indonesia, strategic decision-making, strategic decision qualityAbstract
This study examines how bounded rationality constraints are associated with strategic decision quality and business risk management effectiveness in Indonesian organizations. A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted with 285 organizational decision-makers from manufacturing, financial services, retail and distribution, and public sector organizations. The proposed relationships were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with bootstrapping. The findings show that cognitive limitations, information incompleteness, time pressure, and environmental uncertainty were significantly associated with strategic decision quality (β = 0.29–0.45, p < .01). Strategic decision quality was strongly associated with business risk management effectiveness (β = 0.61, p < .001). Significant indirect effects were found for all four bounded rationality dimensions, with information incompleteness producing the largest indirect effect (β = 0.28). The residual direct effect of the higher-order bounded rationality construct on business risk management effectiveness was not significant (β = 0.19), highlighting the importance of strategic decision quality as a mediating mechanism. These findings emphasize the importance of improving information quality and structured strategic decision processes under uncertainty. However, the cross-sectional design, purposive sampling, and reliance on perceptual measures limit causal inference and broader generalizability, while organizational learning culture was measured but not empirically tested as a moderator. This study extends Simon's bounded rationality framework by empirically linking cognitive, informational, temporal, and environmental constraints with business risk management effectiveness through strategic decision quality in an Indonesian organizational context.
References
Almutairi, W., & Almatrodi, I. (2025). Trust under bounded rationality: Exploring human-AI interaction in decision-making through large language models. SAGE Open, 15(4), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440251380135
Ansyari, S. (2024). Implementation of risk management in strategic decision making. Journal of Scientific Interdisciplinary, 1(1), 35–44. https://doi.org/10.62504/t7c2r379
Arend, R. J. (2024). Uncertainty in strategic decision making: Analysis, categorization, causation and resolution. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-48553-4
Balogh, A., & Oraby, T. (2025). Stochastic games of parental vaccination decision making and bounded rationality. Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering, 22(2), 355–388. https://doi.org/10.3934/mbe.2025014
Barone, C. (2025). The microlevel foundations of social stratification processes. In M. Gangl, L. Platt, J. G. Polavieja, & H. G. van de Werfhorst (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of social stratification. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197539484.013.3
Bracey, E. N. (2025). The political scientist as an economist: Decoding bounded rationality, AI (artificial intelligence), and organizational decision making in the works of Herbert A. Simon. Education, Language and Sociology Research, 6(2). https://doi.org/10.22158/elsr.v6n2p86
Cheriyan, V. (2025). Bounded rationality in asset markets: A framework for understanding price dynamics through the lens of human decision-making. European Journal of Computer Science and Information Technology, 13(42), 75–82. https://doi.org/10.37745/ejcsit.2013/vol13n427582
David, B. (2024). Impact of corporate governance structures on strategic decision-making processes in organizations. International Journal of Strategic Management, 3(4), 50–62. https://doi.org/10.47604/ijsm.2884
Davis, I. (2024). Rational representations of uncertainty: A pluralistic approach to bounded rationality. Synthese, 203(5), Article 142. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-024-04586-z
Elmojarrush, A., Alsosi, A., & Amer, M. (2025). Impact of technology on modern business management: Technological tools, strategic decision-making, and future trends. Majallat Shamal Ifriqiya lil-Nashr al-'Ilmi (NAJSP), 25–35. https://doi.org/10.65414/najsp.v3i4.661
Figueira, F. (2025). Theorising bounded rationality in EU policy-making. JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 63(4), 1298–1317. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13704
Fuchs, H., & Banaszak, S. (2024). Cognitive biases and heuristics in decision-making processes affecting budget and perceptions in special education committees and the potential contribution of expanding psychological flexibility among decision-makers. In S. Kot, B. Khalid, & A. ul Haque (Eds.), Corporate practices: Policies, methodologies, and insights in organizational management (pp. 47–76). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-0996-0_4
Ghalmi, E. (2025). Decision making between psychological influence and mental perception: Bounded rationality model. Jusur Al-Ma'rifa, 11(3), 964–972.
Gigerenzer, G. (2024). From bounded rationality to ecological rationality. In G. Gigerenzer, S. Mousavi, & R. Viale (Eds.), Elgar companion to Herbert Simon (pp. 149–175). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800370685.00017
Gigerenzer, G., Mousavi, S., & Viale, R. (Eds.). (2024). Elgar companion to Herbert Simon. Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800370685
Grüner, S. L. (2024). Uncertainty decomposed: Understanding levels of contingency to enable effective decision-making. Strategic Management, 29(3), 5–27. https://doi.org/10.5937/StraMan2400003G
Hair, J. F., Risher, J. J., Sarstedt, M., & Ringle, C. M. (2019). When to use and how to report the results of PLS-SEM. European Business Review, 31(1), 2–24. https://doi.org/10.1108/EBR-11-2018-0203
Harper, D. E. (2025). Unpacking rationality in security studies: Beyond expected utility and towards enriched understanding of strategic decision-making. Critique Open Research & Review, 3(3), 5–10. https://doi.org/10.55640/corr-v03i03-02
Hasan, S. I. (2025). Applying decision science: Bounded rationality and ethical integrity in strategic management [Preprint]. SSRN. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5436155
Heo, W. (2025). Revisiting algorithmic bounded rationality with potential solutions: How recommendation systems amplify cognitive biases in consumer decision-making. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 59(4), e70032. https://doi.org/10.1111/joca.70032
Iminov, O. K. (2025). The role of data and analytics in the strategic decision-making process in modern organizations. Journal of Management and Economics, 5(11), 59–61. https://doi.org/10.55640/jme-05-11-11
Jiang, K. (2024). Strategic decision-making in large holding firms: Diversification, influencing factors, similarity and difference, and challenges. Highlights in Business, Economics and Management, 24, 1774–1785. https://doi.org/10.54097/ves9ym64
Joshi, S. (2025). The role of artificial intelligence in strategic decision-making: A comprehensive review [Preprint]. Preprints.org. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202505.0047.v2
Junior, R. A. (2025). Conhecimento organizacional, decisão e efeitos não intencionais: Uma análise crítica de processos decisórios em ambientes de alta incerteza. RCMOS – Revista Científica Multidisciplinar O Saber, 1(2). https://doi.org/10.51473/rcmos.v1i2.2025.1462
Khan, S. (2025). From constraints to cognition: Integrating bounded rationality into AI design for realistic decision-making. The Critical Review of Social Sciences Studies, 3(3), 1511–1535. https://doi.org/10.59075/n96xaa33
Lei, X. (2025). Availability heuristic, risk tolerance, and investment decision-making: A behavioral perspective. Highlights in Business, Economics and Management, 58, 88–95. https://doi.org/10.54097/c5k0yw82
Love, P. E. D. (2025). The ecological rationality of heuristics: Implications for decision-making under uncertainty in construction. Journal of Management in Engineering, 41(2). https://doi.org/10.1061/JMENEA.MEENG-6464
Macchi, L., & Bagassi, M. (2024). Problem solving, bounded rationality and the enigma of thought. In G. Gigerenzer, S. Mousavi, & R. Viale (Eds.), Elgar companion to Herbert Simon (pp. 228–246). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800370685.00021
Masek, F. (2025). Aggregate uncertainty and bounded rationality in New Keynesian models: A note [Preprint]. SSRN. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5255515
Moleka, P. (2025). Neurocomplexity leadership theory: A cognitive-systemic model for decision-making under high uncertainty. International Journal of Economics and Business Management Research, 1(2), 15–21. https://doi.org/10.64137/31079423/IJEBMR-V1I2P103
Novelli, E., & Spina, C. (2024). Making business model decisions like scientists: Strategic commitment, uncertainty, and economic performance. Strategic Management Journal, 45(13), 2642–2695. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.3636
Permana, A. Y., & Wening, N. (2024). The influence of groupthink and bounded rationality in decision-making on public policy. Eduvest – Journal of Universal Studies, 4(3), 855–870. https://doi.org/10.59188/eduvest.v4i3.1086
Petracca, E. (2024). A double-edged metaphor: Simon and the scissors of bounded rationality. In G. Gigerenzer, S. Mousavi, & R. Viale (Eds.), Elgar companion to Herbert Simon (pp. 131–147). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800370685.00016
Ramanujam, B. (2025). Leadership and decision-making in financial risk management. International Journal of Finance & Banking Studies, 14(2), 130–137. https://doi.org/10.20525/ijfbs.v14i2.4192
Rivero, O. (2025). Strategic decision-making in the age of AI: A conceptual framework for managers. European Journal of Studies in Management and Business, 35, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.32038/mbrq.2025.35.01
Roelofse, E. (2017). M3 strategic decision-making under uncertainty: Modes, models, and momentum [Doctoral dissertation, Newcastle University]. Thesis Commons. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/dwt3a_v1
Sakwaya, M., Anwer, Y., & Rana, A. (2026). Navigating uncertainty: The role of governance in shaping corporate innovation and investment amid policy uncertainty. In M. I. Mohamed, N. Zakaria, A. Norhidayah, & K. Sohag (Eds.), Risk management and corporate governance in unpredictable business environments (pp. 83–110). IGI Global Scientific Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3373-0613-1.ch004
Schneider, S. (2025). Role of strategic planning in navigating business uncertainty in Germany. Journal of Business and Strategic Management, 10(1), 27–39. https://doi.org/10.47941/jbsm.2498
Scholtes, C., Trif, S., & Curseu, P. L. (2024). Managerial rationality, dysfunctional cognition and organizational decision comprehensiveness. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 37(3), 490–503. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-01-2024-0021
Seres, G., Jin, L., Sapanel, Y., & Ho, D. (2025). Bounded rationality in AI-assisted medical decision-making [Preprint]. Research Square. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7813323/v1
Seto, Y. Y. C. (2025). Game theory in strategic management: Enhancing decision-making in competitive business ecosystems. Advances in Economics and Management Research, 14(1), 731. https://doi.org/10.56028/aemr.14.1.731.2025
Shimizu, K. (2024). The cores of strategic management (2nd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003499954
Simon, H. A. (1955). A behavioral model of rational choice. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 69(1), 99–118. https://doi.org/10.2307/1884852
Simon, H. A. (1972). Theories of bounded rationality. In C. B. McGuire & R. Radner (Eds.), Decision and organization (pp. 161–176). North-Holland.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Ahmad Zakki Mubarok, Dede Sunaryo, Lena Erdawati

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
