Strategic investment decision-making: A theoretical perspective

Download This Article

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

Abstract

There is a stream of research that has introduced strategic investment decision-making (SIDM) through case studies and organisation-based fieldwork. However, a systematic theorisation around SIDM processes and practices still under-presented in the literature. This research aims to show how strong structuration theory (SST) could be used as an appropriate theoretical lens to explore how SIDM studies are theorised and conducted. Through employing the parameters and the concepts of SST within the SIDM context, we found that SID is a judgemental decision that is constructed by various influences. SIDs are not isolated from the social, political, and economic aspects. Subjective judgements and the decision-makers’ intuition are crucial throughout the process of SIDM. Therefore, SIDs cannot be abstracted as an objective decision-based on applying investment appraisal technical methods. The theoretical lens presented in this paper will enable researchers to drill down into the ‘ontic’ level to empirically explore in-depth the complex interrelationships between various agents and structures which, arguably, fits the SID context. Furthermore, this paper will help scholars understand how SID is made from SST perspective and guide them to conduct future research to build on and also help executives to be guided by.

Keywords: Strategic Decision-Making, Investment Appraisal, Managerial Judgement, Strong Structuration Theory

Authors’ individual contribution: Conceptualization – M.E.; Theoretical Analysis and Discussion – M.E. and M.A.; Writing – Original Draft – M.E., M.A., and T.E.; Writing – Review & Editing – M.E., M.A., and T.E.

Declaration of conflicting interests: The Authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments: We gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), Grant Code: G00003349.

JEL Classification: D70, D91, G11, G32, M41

Received: 07.09.2020
Accepted: 26.10.2020
Published online: 29.10.2020

How to cite this paper: Elmassri, M., Abdelrahman, M., & Elrazaz, T. (2020). Strategic investment decision-making: A theoretical perspective. Corporate Ownership & Control, 18(1), 207-216. https://doi.org/10.22495/cocv18i1art16