The Neuro-Rational Organization: A Framework for Mitigating Cognitive Biases in Strategic Decision-Making
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Strategic decisions are vulnerable to cognitive biases, social pressures, and organizational routines that distort how evidence is collected and interpreted. Awareness training alone may not reliably produce durable improvements across settings. This conceptual paper proposes the Neuro-Rational Organization, an integrated framework combining behavioral economics, cognitive science, and organizational design to support higher-quality strategic judgment. The framework comprises four mutually reinforcing pillars: (1) Neuro-Literacy and Metacognitive Training, which develops awareness of cognitive limitations and habits of reflective checking; (2) Decision Architecture and Nudge Engineering, which improves how choices, alternatives, uncertainty, and evidence are presented; (3) Structured Deliberation and Algorithmic Support, which institutionalizes dissent, premortems, analytical checks, and human oversight of AI; and (4) Organizational Plasticity and Psychological Safety, which enables candid feedback, error correction, and organizational learning. The model treats intuitive and deliberative processing as interacting cognitive modes rather than anatomically separate systems, and does not assume that a neural correlate establishes a particular bias or that AI is neutral. Drawing on research in debiasing, framing, and organizational learning, the paper develops implementation strategies and a staged evaluation agenda. Its contribution is an integrative, testable organizational design proposal, not an empirically validated claim of superior decision performance. Future research should examine the added value, costs, adverse effects, and transferability of each pillar and of their combination.
Author: TAN, Kwan Hong
Language: English
Subfield: General Decision Sciences
Field: Decision Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7224181589