Deciphering millennial managers' fear of better options: A study on managerial decision-making in complex environments

Abstract

This study aims to explore the extent of Fear of Better Options (FOBO) experienced by millennial managers in an organization concerning technology and the time frame needed to decide on as latent factors impacting FOBO. This study also explored the interdependencies of the factors concerning the level of FOBO. Data was collected through structured questionnaires and interview responses received from 216 millennial managers. Latent class analysis and multinomial logistic regression were used for data analysis. The results indicate that millennial managers are facing the fear of better options (FOBO) and the extent of FOBO is impacted by the use of technology and time frame to decide on latent factors. Fear of better options (FOBO) is being faced by millennial managers. The extent of FOBO depends on the time available to make a decision and the use of technology in decision-making. This study is a contribution to the human resource management field by understanding the effects of FOBO on millennial generation managers. The findings serve as a guideline for enhancing managerial decision performance. Organizations ought to develop a mechanism to manage the fear of better options being faced by managers.