Decisionmaking has long been a preoccupation of students of politics and organization. The reason for this interest, of course, is because decisions, at a policy, administrative, or operational level, play such a major role in determining the ultimate success of any organization and the quality of life therein. Herbert Simon, the Nobel laureate, has built an entire organizational theory and distinguished career around decisionmaking (Simon, 1976). Generations of scholars have attempted to capture the essence of this vital yet elusive task. Research on decisionmaking has followed several roads. That is, some scholars have probed the sequence by which decisions are reached; others have examined systems for maximizing decision effectiveness. Still others have sought to understand the match or tension between organizational decision needs and individual decisionmakers' personal characteristics (O'Reilly, 1981). Regardless of the focus of study, there seems to be a general agreement that information can and should play a vital role in effective decisionmaking. There are few who would