Abstract:

This paper investigates the use of fast-and-frugal heuristics by financial analysts operating under conditions of uncertainty and time pressure. Our study adopts a sociological lens to explore the broader organisational and institutional functions of heuristic-based decision-making. Drawing on interviews with 32 buy-side and sell-side analysts in the Irish financial services sector, we identify interrelated forms of heuristics focussed on individual/collective and screening/procedural decisions. Informed by Stones’ strong structuration theory (SST), our findings demonstrate that heuristics act as internalised resources that support analyst decision-making. Specifically, these rules contribute to processes of signification (shared meanings and interpretive frameworks), legitimation (norms and expectations), and domination (capacity to act), while also fostering a sense of ontological security among practitioners. By situating heuristic use within a strong structuration theory framework, we illustrate that heuristics are not merely cognitively efficient shortcuts, but socially meaningful practices that sustain and reproduce professional actions under conditions of uncertainty.

Please choose your submission type: Full Paper

Primary Track: Organisational Psychology

Keywords: Cognition in organisations   

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Dr. Irene Neville