[This book] analyzes ... the chains of blunders and bad judgments that led to fifteen legendary debacles, including the Firestone tire recall, EuroDisney, and Quaker's failed acquisition of Snapple. In each case, [the author] pinpoints exactly how and where the decision-making process went wrong and shows what managers in any organization can learn from these monumental fiascoes. Based on his analysis of 400 strategic decisions made by top managers in areas such as products and services, pricing and markets, personnel policy, technology acquisition, and strategic reorganization, [the author] estimates that two-thirds of all decisions are based on failure-prone or questionable tactics. He uses the fifteen monumental decision-making disasters to illustrate the potential consequences of these common tactical errors and traps ... He then details successful alternative approaches to decision-making.-Back cover.

Why Decisions Fail analyzes---in many cases for the first time anywhere---the chains of blunders and bad judgments that led to fifteen legendary debacles, including the Firestone tire recall, EuroDisney, and Quaker s failed acquisition of Snapple. In each case, author Paul Nutt pinpoints exactly how and where the decision-making process went wrong and shows what managers in any organization can learn from these monumental fiascoes. Based on his analysis of 400 strategic decisions made by top managers in areas such as products and services, pricing and markets, personnel policy, technology acquisition, and strategic reorganization. Nutt estimates that two-thirds of all decisions are based on failure-prone or questionable tactics. He uses the fifteen monumental decision-making disasters to illustrate the potential consequences of these common tactical errors and traps. Most importantly, he then details successful alternative approaches to decision-making.

Based on the his analysis of 400 strategic decisions made by top managers in areas such as products and services, pricing and markets, personnel policy, technology acquisition, and strategic reorganization, Nutt estimates that two-thirds of all decisions are based on failure-prone or questionable tactics. He uses the fifteen monumental decision-making disasters to illustrate the potential consequences of these common tactical errors and traps and then details successful alternative decision-making approaches. Why Decisions Fail translates decades of award-winning research into practical terms that managers can use to improve their own decision-making practices.