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Managerial Allocation of Time and Effort: The Effects of Interruptions

Author

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  • Sridhar Seshadri

    (Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University, 44 W. 4th Street, 7-60, New York, New York 10012-1126)

  • Zur Shapira

    (Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University, 44 W. 4th Street, 7-60, New York, New York 10012-1126)

Abstract

Time is one of the more salient constraints on managerial behavior. This constraint may be very taxing in high-velocity environments where managers have to attend to many tasks simultaneously. Earlier work by Radner (1976) proposed models based on notions of the thermostat or "putting out fires" to guide managerial time and effort allocation among tasks. We link these ideas to the issue of the level of complexity of the tasks to be attended to while alluding to the sequential versus parallel modes of processing. We develop a stochastic model to analyze the behavior of a manager who has to attend to a few short-term processes while attempting to devote as much time as possible to the pursuit of a long-term project. A major aspect of this problem is how the manager deals with interruptions. Different rules of attention allocation are proposed, and their implications to managerial behavior are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Sridhar Seshadri & Zur Shapira, 2001. "Managerial Allocation of Time and Effort: The Effects of Interruptions," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 47(5), pages 647-662, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:47:y:2001:i:5:p:647-662
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.47.5.647.10481
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Herbert A. Simon, 1955. "A Behavioral Model of Rational Choice," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 69(1), pages 99-118.
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    3. Gilbert Ghez & Gary S. Becker, 1975. "The Allocation of Time Over the Life Cycle," NBER Chapters, in: The Allocation of Time and Goods over the Life Cycle, pages 83-132, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    7. Gilbert Ghez & Gary S. Becker, 1975. "The Allocation of Goods Over the Life Cycle," NBER Chapters, in: The Allocation of Time and Goods over the Life Cycle, pages 46-82, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Min Ji & Yingchun Zhang & Yuan Zhang & T. C. E. Cheng & Yiwei Jiang, 2022. "Single-machine multitasking scheduling with job efficiency promotion," Journal of Combinatorial Optimization, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 446-479, August.
    2. Oriana Bandiera & Andrea Prat & Raffaella Sadun & Julie Wulf, 2012. "Span of Control and Span of Activity," CEP Discussion Papers dp1139, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    3. Zur Shapira, 2011. "“I've Got a Theory Paper---Do You?”: Conceptual, Empirical, and Theoretical Contributions to Knowledge in the Organizational Sciences," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(5), pages 1312-1321, October.
    4. Yongjian Yang & Guangqiang Yin & Chunyu Wang & Yunqiang Yin, 0. "Due date assignment and two-agent scheduling under multitasking environment," Journal of Combinatorial Optimization, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-17.
    5. James A. Cunningham & Paul O’Reilly & Brendan Dolan & Conor O’Kane & Vincent Mangematin, 2016. "Publicly funded principal investigators allocation of time for public sector entrepreneurship activities," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 43(4), pages 383-408, December.
    6. Gino Cattani & Roger L. M. Dunbar & Zur Shapira, 2013. "Value Creation and Knowledge Loss: The Case of Cremonese Stringed Instruments," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(3), pages 813-830, June.
    7. Yongjian Yang & Guangqiang Yin & Chunyu Wang & Yunqiang Yin, 2022. "Due date assignment and two-agent scheduling under multitasking environment," Journal of Combinatorial Optimization, Springer, vol. 44(4), pages 2207-2223, November.
    8. Joseph Porac & Zur Shapira, 2001. "On Mind, Environment, and Simon's Scissors of Rational Behavior," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 5(3), pages 206-212, September.
    9. Radboud J. Duintjer Tebbens & Kimberly M. Thompson, 2009. "Priority Shifting and the Dynamics of Managing Eradicable Infectious Diseases," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(4), pages 650-663, April.
    10. Jung-Kyu Jung & Jae Young Choi, 2022. "Choice and allocation characteristics of faculty time in Korea: effects of tenure, research performance, and external shock," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(5), pages 2847-2869, May.
    11. Xiaoyun Xiong & Peng Zhou & Yunqiang Yin & T. C. E. Cheng & Dengfeng Li, 2019. "An exact branch‐and‐price algorithm for multitasking scheduling on unrelated parallel machines," Naval Research Logistics (NRL), John Wiley & Sons, vol. 66(6), pages 502-516, September.
    12. Onesun Steve Yoo & Charles J. Corbett & Guillaume Roels, 2016. "Optimal Time Allocation for Process Improvement for Growth-Focused Entrepreneurs," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 18(3), pages 361-375, July.
    13. Zhanguo Zhu & Feifeng Zheng & Chengbin Chu, 2017. "Multitasking scheduling problems with a rate-modifying activity," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(1), pages 296-312, January.
    14. Min Feng & Driss Bourazzouq, 2021. "L’adaptation au techno-stress : Revue de la littérature," Post-Print hal-03235610, HAL.

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