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Decision impelling differences: An investigation of management by exception reporting

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Abstract

An investigation of management by exception reporting is conducted using practicing managers as subjects. A comparison of exception reporting using absolute variations, percentage variations, and a combination of both indicates that managers should not use exception reports that provide only absolute or percentage criteria. Apparently, a combination of absolute and percentage criteria are required to help managers to make decisions based on variations from norms. The explanation of this behavior is labeled as decision impelling differences.

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1

Director of the Research and Instructional Computing Service at the University of Houston. He is on the faculty in the Executive Development Program and the Executive M.B.A. Program at the University of Houston.

2

Assistant Professor in Computer Information Systems at Arizona State University. At present, he is actively engaged in research activities in the area of office automation. He has conducted research in decision support systems for the aerospace, aircraft, and law enforcement sectors.

3

Director of the Management Information Systems (MIS) Research Center and an Associate Professor of MIS in the School of Management at the University of Minnesota. He has held MIS management and technical positions with several major U.S. corporations. He has directed computer centers and been on the faculty at several universities. He is widely published in MIS journals and is the author of texts on systems analysis and design and MIS management. His primary research interests are in MIS management and systems design.

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