An Exploration of Administrative Heuristics in the United States and the United Kingdom

Abstract

This article is a report on a study of the use of heuristics, shortcuts, and rules of thumb by middle-line managers in institutions of higher education in the United States and the United Kingdom. Using a nonprobability convenience sample, the coinvestigators interviewed 13 middle-line managers over 5 months from eight institutions. The results indicate that managers employed a range of heuristics in response to a variety of decision-making situations and that choices to determine which heuristic was most appropriate revolved around the respondents’ perceptions of personal risk, situational ambiguity, and level of emotionality. An intriguing metaphor that emerged from the study is that of a DNA strand; that is, the three elements of emotionality, ambiguity, and risk were constants in an interactive relationship between administrators and line managers and their connection to the institution. Even at middle-management levels, administrators maintained some independence from their institutions at the level of personal and moral decisions.