Attaining decision quality and commitment from dissent: The moderating effects of loyalty and competence in strategic decision-making teams

Contradictory forces of dissent and consensus building attend the strategic decision process. Taking an information-processing perspective, we argue that two factors that affect perceptions of trustworthiness within strategic decision-making teams-loyalty and competence-play different roles in enabling dissent to enhance decision quality and build decision commitment. Results from a sample of 86 strategic decision-making teams in U.S. hospitals indicate that perceptions of loyalty within teams strengthen the relationship between dissent and decision quality. Perceptions of within-team competence strengthen the relationship between dissent and decision commitment.