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Normative target-based decision making

Author

Listed:
  • Ali E. Abbas

    (School of Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA)

  • James E. Matheson

    (SmartOrg, Inc., 855 Oak Grove Avenue, Suite 202, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA)

Abstract

This paper relates normative expected-utility decision making to target-based decision making, and introduces a new quantity, the aspiration equivalent. We show that using the aspiration equivalent as a target provides a new method for choosing between lotteries that is consistent with expected-utility maximization. Furthermore, we show that the aspiration-equivalent target provides a win-win situation for executive-manager delegation. This result furnishes a new link between normative decision analysis and target-based decision making. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Suggested Citation

  • Ali E. Abbas & James E. Matheson, 2005. "Normative target-based decision making," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(6), pages 373-385.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:mgtdec:v:26:y:2005:i:6:p:373-385
    DOI: 10.1002/mde.1234
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Daniel Kahneman & Amos Tversky, 2013. "Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Leonard C MacLean & William T Ziemba (ed.), HANDBOOK OF THE FUNDAMENTALS OF FINANCIAL DECISION MAKING Part I, chapter 6, pages 99-127, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    2. 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.
    3. Robert Bordley & Marco LiCalzi, 2000. "Decision analysis using targets instead of utility functions," Decisions in Economics and Finance, Springer;Associazione per la Matematica, vol. 23(1), pages 53-74.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Abbas, Ali E., 2007. "Moments of utility functions and their applications," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 180(1), pages 378-395, July.
    2. Lucy Gongtao Chen & Daniel Zhuoyu Long & Melvyn Sim, 2015. "On Dynamic Decision Making to Meet Consumption Targets," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 63(5), pages 1117-1130, October.
    3. Tian Bai & Samuel N. Kirshner & Meng Wu, 2021. "Managing Overconfident Newsvendors: A Target‐Setting Approach," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(11), pages 3967-3986, November.
    4. Chernonog, Tatyana & Avinadav, Tal, 2014. "Profit criteria involving risk in price setting of virtual products," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 236(1), pages 351-360.
    5. Bai, Tian & Feng, Gengzhong & Wu, Meng & Zhu, Stuart X., 2025. "A newsvendor model with multiple reference points: Target-setting for aspirational newsvendors," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 320(3), pages 655-669.
    6. Ilia Tsetlin & Robert L. Winkler, 2007. "Decision Making with Multiattribute Performance Targets: The Impact of Changes in Performance and Target Distributions," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 55(2), pages 226-233, April.
    7. Andrea C. Hupman, 2022. "Cutoff Threshold Decisions for Classification Algorithms with Risk Aversion," Decision Analysis, INFORMS, vol. 19(1), pages 63-78, March.
    8. Shi, Chunming Victor & Zhao, Xuan & Xia, Yu, 2010. "The setting of profit targets for target oriented divisions," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 206(1), pages 86-92, October.
    9. Sean D. Vermillion & Richard J. Malak, 2020. "An investigation on requirement and objective allocation strategies using a principal–agent model," Systems Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(1), pages 100-117, January.
    10. Ali E. Abbas & James E. Matheson & Robert F. Bordley, 2009. "Effective utility functions induced by organizational target-based incentives," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(4), pages 235-251.
    11. Jeffrey M. Keisler & Robert F. Bordley, 2015. "Project Management Decisions with Uncertain Targets," Decision Analysis, INFORMS, vol. 12(1), pages 15-28, March.
    12. Ilia Tsetlin & Robert L. Winkler, 2006. "On Equivalent Target-Oriented Formulations for Multiattribute Utility," Decision Analysis, INFORMS, vol. 3(2), pages 94-99, June.
    13. Avinadav, Tal & Chernonog, Tatyana & Perlman, Yael, 2014. "Analysis of protection and pricing strategies for digital products under uncertain demand," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 54-64.
    14. Maximilian Zellner & Ali E. Abbas, 2023. "Experimental Assessment of Utility Functions Induced by Fixed and Uncertain Targets," Decision Analysis, INFORMS, vol. 20(3), pages 187-201, September.

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