Executive-Level Decision Skill Enhancement: Development Theory and Measures

Leaders must be able to solve the kind of complex, ambiguous problems that arise in organizational settings. Prior research on the determinants of leader performance indicates that mental models may play a key role in guiding leader performance and problem solving. In the effort prposed herein the literature bearing on the development and application of mental models in complex problem solving will be reviewed in relation to extant theories of leader performance. This review will be used to identify the central characteristics of the mental models leaders use in operatinal problem solving, planning, and visioning and identify the kind of differential and situational variables that influence the development and application of these models. Subsequently, compuer-based measures for assessing leaders' operational problem solving, planning, and visioning models will be constructed and validated. These measures will then be applied in a series of experimental studies intended to identify the kinds of training interventions likely to contribute to the development and effective application of these models. The evidence obtained in these studies should provide a basis for later training intended to develop leaders' decision making and problem solving.