Does participatory decision-making in top management teams enhance decision effectiveness and firm performance?

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine how participatory decision-making processes in top management teams (TMT) influence strategic decision effectiveness and firm performance. Design/methodology/approach - Data from 94 TMTs are collected from structured surveys. Each firm's CEO provides data on strategic decision effectiveness, and a senior executive member of the TMT provided data on participatory decision-making processes and firm performance. Findings - Results show that participatory decision-making processes in the TMT are positively associated with decision effectiveness, but there is both a direct and an indirect relationship (through decision effectiveness) between participatory decision-making processes and firm performance. Originality/value - This paper sheds light on the importance of joint decision-making processes among TMT members for improving choices and enhances firm performance.