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RISK-TAKING BEHAVIORS, DECISION-MAKING STYLES AND LEADERSHIP

STYLES OF CITY OFFICIALS OF TUGUEGARAO
Mark Lawrence S. Tattao, Lovely Alyssa T. Bonifacio, Jomar B. Bacud, Rochelle P. Ulila,
Lovely B. Banguilan, Elizalde Y. Tagal, and Gio M. Antonio
INTRODUCTION
A leaders decisions are necessary actions in any organization. Most often than not, it
is the leader who serves as a rudder that directs the movement of an organization. The
decision of a leader is crucial because it can make or unmake organizations move towards
the attainment of its goals thus, necessitates a lot of weighing of things and pondering
coupled with a risk. Hence, decision making is often associated with risk taking.
Decision often necessitates risk because not all decisions could bring about positive
effects to the institution. Risks are uncertainties about events that may or may not happen.
Almost any human endeavor carries some risk, but some are more risky than others. Hubbard
(2009) proposes instead that risk is a kind of vector quantity that does not collapse the
probability and magnitude of a risk by presuming anything about the risk tolerance of the
decision maker. Risks are simply described as a set or function of possible loss amounts each
associated with specific probability. How this array collapsed in a single value cannot be
done unless the risk tolerance of the decision maker is quantified.
Kimberly and Rottman (1987) describe decision making in organizations as a process
of behavior with the economic model (or total rationality) at one extreme and with the social
model (or complete irrationality) at the other extreme. This description implies that only
irrational decision making accords human values precedence over economic values. In the
organizational environments of the 21st century, leaders must find some middle ground

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between these extremes, for it is evident that neither set of values can be ignored. Leaders
make decisions every day that affect their team and their institution. Before any leader makes
a decision, one has to define first the goals. To make sound decisions as a manager, one needs
to collect information from anyone involved and affected by the decision.
Decision making is a mechanism for making choices at each step of the problem
solving process. It is an important process for organizational effectiveness. It is an
organizational process because it transcends the individual and has an effect on organizational
goals. It is a process of identifying and choosing alternative courses of action in order to
come with the most suitable option. The decision making process is a key determinant of the
success of both the management and the organization. The process of decision making
involves selecting a particular course of action from all the alternatives available. It helps an
individual to narrow down the choices available to him.
C.V Raian (2010) states that decision making plays an important role in all phases of
the management, i.e. planning, organizing, directing, controlling, staffing, etc. Leaders often
find themselves facing alternative courses of action, out of which they are expected to choose
or decide upon a single course of action. The decisions they make are influenced by various
factors like past experience, the external environment, human relationship within the
organization and the cognition levels of the decision makers themselves. These decisions
made by the managers are expected to lead the organization towards the achievement of its
objectives.
Along this line, organizational structure plays an important influence on the elicitation
of the desired risk-taking behavior and decision making. Like any society, Tuguegarao City
undergoes the process of decision making through its elected officials, the city officials who
may exhibit varied risk taking behaviors.

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The city officials play important roles in ensuring that the needs of the people within
its jurisdiction are met. Much of the expansion and advancement of Tuguegaraoenos welfare
and development lies on the officials ability to take a risk as well as to decide. Issues,
problems and concerns are threshed out based on the officials ability to smoothen the rough
sailing journey of the city.
Indecisiveness will make the city officials appear not making tough choices or taking
a stand on issues that affect the society. They need not to be concerned that taking a stand on
issues will cause dislike from others because it is impossible to anyone to like them. Every
day, they need to make decisions that affect the entire organization.
Apparently, most officials would hate the idea of risk but along with decisions are
risks one has to contend with. One may spend a great deal of time and money to reduce risks
but one can never eliminate it. The reason is that some amount of uncertainty is built in to all
aspects of the world around us. One cannot predict with certainty which events will occur or
where they might occur.
Public officials leadership style would be determined based on their way of providing
directions, implementing plans, and motivating their employees which might improve their
governance and attain progress to their city.
By understanding personal decision making style, it is possible to make adjustments
according to the situation and results the city officials are working towards. Strong decision
making requires the ability to assess the situation, determine the best style of decision
making, and utilize that style to come to a positive solution. These are leadership skills that
will benefit them both personally and professionally. By consistently using the correct style
of decision making, they will prove themselves to be a valuable asset as leaders.

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Leadership can be defined as a process by which one individual influences others
toward the attainment of group or organizational goals. Three points about the definition of
leadership should be emphasized. First, leadership is a social influence process. Leadership
cannot exist without a leader and one or more followers. Second, leadership elicits voluntary
action on the part of followers. The voluntary nature of compliance separates leadership from
other types of influence based on formal authority. Finally, leadership results in followers'
behavior that is purposeful and goal-directed in some sort of organized setting. Many studies
of leadership focus on the nature of leadership in the workplace.
Leadership is probably the most frequently studied topic in the organizational
sciences. Thousands of leadership studies have been published and thousands of pages on
leadership have been written in academic books and journals, business-oriented publications,
and general-interest publications. Despite this, the precise nature of leadership and its
relationship to key criterion variables such as subordinate satisfaction, commitment, and
performance is still uncertain, to the point where Fred Luthans, in his book Organizational
Behavior (2005), said that "it [leadership] does remain pretty much of a 'black box' or
unexplainable concept."
Leadership should be distinguished from management. Management involves
planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling, and a manager is someone who
performs these functions. A manager has formal authority by virtue of his or her position or
office. Leadership, by contrast, primarily deals with influence. A manager may or may not be
an effective leader. A leader's ability to influence others may be based on a variety of factors
other than his or her formal authority or position.
(http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Int-Loc/Leadership-Theories-andStudies.html#ixzz3Ci193ugE)

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As leaders, the officials have the responsibility to make decisions to cater to the
present dilemma the city is experiencing. Thus, they play a significant role in transforming
the city based on their risk taking behaviors, decision making styles and leadership styles
which affect the processes in the organization.
It is on this context that the researchers will embark on this endeavor to look into the
risk taking behavior, decision making styles and leadership styles of City officials of
Tuguegarao.
Conceptual Framework
Organizational decision making is complex, multifaceted and multidimensional
process which is influenced by many factors. Rowe and Boulgarides (1992) explain that the
decision maker is influenced by various factors including personal needs (such as security,
structure, support, recognition, opportunity, and rewards), pre-potent needs (such as
frustration, anxiety, achievement and control), organizational forces (such as policies,
staffing, culture, productivity, and conformity), and environmental forces (such as
government, society, competition, resources, technology, clients/customers). After the
interplay of these forces the emergent behavior results in feelings, decisions and actions.
Decision-related factors can be defined broadly into two categories including
organizational factors and individual factors i.e. personal characteristics of the decision
maker. As cited by Muhammad Naveed Riaz, et al (2010), many researchers investigated that
decision making styles of managers are influenced by many factors including national origin,
type of organization, industry, education, age, socioeconomic status, organizational size and
management level in the organization.

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Further, managers make various types of decisions depending in the management
level and hierarchical position in organization. Managers may make relative minor decisions
that are primarily operational or tactical in nature. In contrast, managers may make more
strategic decisions that involve layer outlays of capital (Certo, Connelly, and Tihanyi, 2008).
Using Decision Style Inventory relationships between decision making styles and varying
management levels, Pennino (2000) found that lower level managers displayed a behavioral
decision making style (quest for support, low tolerance for ambiguity, and short term problem
solving) an the individuals in the high level of management displayed a conceptual style of
decision making (creativity, risk taking, high tolerance for ambiguity and cognitive
complexity). Researchers (Blankenship and Miles, 1999; Heller and Yuki, 2000) found that
decision making styles of managers vary across management levels.
Moreover, as cited by Muhammed Naveed Riaz, et.al (2010) women generally
thought to be more intuitive and empathetic than their male counterparts (Brenner and
Bromer, 2001), who are seen as analytical and logical problem solvers in the workplace
(Loden, 1998). Despite this, women are often under-represented in management, where the
use of intuitive decision making style is thought to be effective (Agor, 1989). Hablemitoglu
and Yildirim (2008) said female leaders were more likely opt to use avoidant decision making
style in relation to rational decision making style. On the other hand, male students were
more likely to adopt intuitive decision making style in relation to rational decision making
style.
On the other hand, Kim and Hasher (2005) investigated that older adults are more
likely to employ intuitive decision making style (involving heuristic and information
processing intuitively), while younger adults are more likely to adopt rational decision
making style (characterized processing information in an analytic and systematic manner).
The results show that older adult are less likely to change their decisions or decision making

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style because of larger past experience in decision making. The results are to some extent
consistent with the somatic marker hypothesis which illustrates that feelings and emotions
(somatic markers) becomes associated with the positive and negative outcomes of a given
response situation via lifetime experiences. Spaniol and Bayen (2005) observe tranquil
judgment in retired people, probably because of their difficulties with the working memory.
Many researchers (Charness and Bieman-Copland, 1992; Craik and Salthouse, 1992) argue
that working memory declines with age, thus limiting older peoples capacity to monitor
decision processes. On the other hand Dror, Kotana, and Mungur (1998) suggest that age
does not degrade the quality or speed of the decision. Minett, Yaman, and Denizci (2009)
discovered that older managers are less likely to be involved in rule-based decisions. (Riaz,
et.al 2010)
Experienced people are also more likely to employ intuitive decision making style
(Bergstrand, 2001; Callan and Proctor, 2000). Some decisions are made under conditions of
urgency and demand highs technical expertise. Other decisions can be the product of a more
deliberate analysis of information and data. Furthermore, many decisions are sequential or
conditional; the decision made at one point in time will affect the decisions options available
at a later time. It is typically impossible for a leader to possess all the information needed to
make an informed decision. Consequently, the ability to make obtain relevant information,
the skill to know the differential importance of the information as it related to a given
decision, and the capacity to way various decision options are all critical leadership skills.
Great leaders are skilled decision makers, or they know how to delegate the responsibility for
decision making to others within the organization (Muchinsky, 2007).
This study is based on the concept that city officials play a significant role in the
decision making process that could affect the city of Tuguegarao and its residents. It is
undeniable that the officials play a significant role in meeting the public thrusts. Therefore, as

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leaders in the organization, the officials risk taking behavior, decision making style and
leadership styles are important in ensuring that the thrusts of the city government are carried
out and met.

Profile

*Risk Taking Behavior

Age
Sex
Educational attainment
Position
Years in service
Political Function

*Decision Making Style

*Leadership Style

Figure 1. Conceptual model of the study

Figure 1 shows the paradigm of the study. It shows the Profile as the Independent
Variable and the Risk Taking Behavior, Decision Making style and Leadership style as the
Dependent Variables of the study. It will also look into the risk taking behavior, decision
making styles and leadership styles of the respondents when grouped according to their
profiles.
Statement of the Problems
This study aims to look into the risk taking behavior, decision making styles and
leadership styles of the elected officials of Tuguegarao City. Specifically, it seeks to answer
the following questions:
1. What is the profile of the respondents in terms of:
a. Age
b. Sex
c. Position
d. Years in Service
e. Educational Attainment
f. Political Function
2. What are the risk taking behaviors of the respondents?

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3. What are the decision making styles of the respondents?
4. What are the leadership styles of the respondents?
5. Is there a significant difference in the risk taking behavior of the respondents when
grouped according to profile variables?
6. Is there a significant difference in the decision making style of the respondents
when grouped according to profile variables?
7. Is there a significant difference in the leadership style of the respondents when
grouped according to profile variables?
Research Hypothesis
There is no difference in the risk taking behavior, decision making style and
leadership style of the city officials when grouped according to profile variables.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The study will investigate the risk-taking behaviors, decision making styles and
leadership styles of city officials of Tuguegarao. This chapter presents the methodology that

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will be used in the conduct of the study. It includes the research design, respondents and
sampling techniques, research instrument, data gathering procedures and data analysis.
Research Design
This study will use descriptive research design. The main goal of this type of research is to
describe the data and characteristics about what is being studied. It provides a better understanding of
a topic and explores the existing certain phenomena.

The descriptive method will look into the profiles as well as the risk taking behavior,
decision making style and leadership styles of the respondents.
Locale of the Study
The study will be conducted in Tuguegarao City.ItwoilbndecuhagTryC.
Respondents and Sampling Techniques
The respondents will be all the elected officials of the city of Tuguegarao. It will
employ purposive sampling. The respondents will be the Mayor, Vice Mayor, Councilors and
Ex-officio Councilors.
Research Instruments
The primary data will be obtained through floating of questionnaires to the city
officials.
The Decision Making Style inventory based on Pierre Casses Training for
Multicultural Managers (1982) will be used to determine the decision making styles of the
public officials. It will be consist of twenty items that will determine whether one employs
factual, intuitive, analytical or normative decision making style. Factual decision making
style reflects managers who are basically cool, patient, down-to-earth, oriented to the present,

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precise and realistic, stick to facts and content-oriented. Intuitive decision making style
reflects managers who are charismatic, imaginative, and quick to their reactions and jumps
from one idea to another. Analytical decision making style is characterized by a systematic,
logical, step-by-step way to look at things, people and ideas. Normative decision making
style is people-oriented and stresses the importance of communication, relations and
teamwork. It uses the following scale:
5 - Very Much
3 Somewhat
1 - Marginally
The Risk Taking Inventory authored by Gene Calvert of the Highwire Management
will be used to determine the risk taking behaviors of public officials. It is a fifteen item
questionnaire that determines the level of risk taking behavior of the officials. High risk
taking behaviors are characterized by officials who prefer uncertainty and stimulations over
choices where the risk is low and the certainty of the outcome is high. Low risk the officials
in the situation where they need to decide on. It is reflected by the officials ability to
maintain their comfort zones.
The Leadership Style framework developed by Kurt Lewin will be used to decide
what kind of leadership styles do public officials used and depict whether they are:
1. Autocratic leaders;
2. Democratic leaders; or
3. Laissez-faire leaders.
Autocratic leaders make decisions without consulting their team members, even if
their input would be useful. This can be appropriate when you need to make decisions
quickly, when there's no need for team input, and when team agreement isn't necessary for a

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successful outcome. However, this style can be demoralizing, and it can lead to high levels of
absenteeism and staff turnover.
Democratic leaders make the final decisions, but they include team members in the
decision-making process. They encourage creativity, and people are often highly engaged in
projects and decisions. As a result, team members tend to have high job satisfaction and high
productivity. This is not always an effective style to use, though, when you need to make a
quick decision.
Laissez-faire leaders give their team members a lot of freedom in how they do their
work, and how they set their deadlines. They provide support with resources and advices if
needed, but otherwise they don't get involved. This autonomy can lead to high job
satisfaction, but it can be damaging if team members don't manage their time well, or if they
don't have the knowledge, skills, or self-motivation to do their work effectively. (Laissezfaire leadership can also occur when leaders don't have control over their work and their
people.)
Lewin's framework is popular and useful, because it encourages managers to be less
autocratic than they might instinctively be.
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_84.htm
Collection of Data
The researchers will seek the permission from the City Mayor for the conduct of the
study. After the approval, a separate letter will be sent for the distribution of research
instruments to the public officials.
Here is the Proposed Timetable of Activities of the Researchers:

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Activities
Date
Photocopying of questionnaires for floating
August xx
Submission of letter requesting for the approval of the conduct of
August xx
the study
Floating of questionnaires to the respondents
August xx
Retrieval of questionnaires
August xx
Encoding of Data Collected
August xx
Analyzing of Data
September xx
Write the first draft of document
Sepber xx
Review & revise first draft
September xx
Write & revise additional drafts
October xx
Edit final draft
October xx
Publish & submit document
October xx
Note: Dates depend on the accomplishment of succeeding activities and agreements between
Researchers and their Professor.

Data Analysis
The data will also be collected and analyzed through descriptive statistics such as
frequency count, percentage, z test on proportions with bonferonni adjustments, Kruskal
Wallis Test and Mann Whitney U Test. Frequency count and percentage will be used for the
profile of the respondents. Z test on proportions with bonferonni adjustments will be used for
the significant difference of decision making style and leadership style of city officials based
on profile variable. Kruskal Wallis Test will be used to test the significant difference of risk
taking behavior based on profile variables with more than two groups while Mann Whitney U
test was used to test for only groups.
Republic of the Philippines
CAGAYAN STATE UNIVERSITY

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College of Business, Entrepreneurship and Accountancy
Andrews Campus

Greetings and God be with you!

This is to inform you that the 4th year Legal Management Students of Cagayan State
University will be conducting a research titled: Risk-taking Behaviors, Decision-making
Styles and Leadership Styles of City Officials of Tuguegarao.
Relevant to this, the researchers prepared a questionnaire to aid them in gathering the needed
data for the study. Your participation in this endeavor will be highly appreciated.
Yours truly,
THE RESEARCHERS

Q U E S T I O N N A I R E

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: __________________
Name: Hon.______________________________________________________________
Sex: [

] Male;

] Female

Age: _________________________

Position: _______________________________ Years in service: _______________

Instructions: Please check as spontaneously as possible the evaluation below on how you rate
yourself for each of the following questions.
Questions
1

3
4

Somewhat

Very Much

Marginally

Somewhat

Very Much

Do you enjoy working on new

problems?
Questions

Marginally

Are you good at noticing what needs

attention now in a given situation?
Are you rather unemotional person?
Are you interested in other people?

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5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20

Can you predict how other people

will react to a proposal?
Are you good at analyzing the pros
and cons of a proposal?
Do you dislike doing the same thing
over and over again?
Do you rely on past experiences to
solve new problems?
Are you good at pinpointing flaws in
a proposal?
Do you let your likes and dislikes
interfere with your decisions?
Do you perceive the unknown as
challenging?
Do you usually resent being
interrupted when working on a
project?
Do you perceive yourself as a logical
person?
Do you enjoy teamwork?
Do you have many ups and downs
when working?
Are you able to keep track of
essential details?
Do you perceive yourself as a
realistic person?
Do you put two-and-two together
very quickly?
Are you good at organizing things?
Do you enjoy Public Relations
work?

Instructions: Please put a check on the column that matches your answer.
Agree
1
2
3
4

Taking management risks makes good sense only in

the absence of acceptable alternatives.
I generally prefer stimulation over security.
I have confidence in my ability to recover from my
mistakes, no matter how big.
I would promote some with unlimited potential but
limited experience to a key position over someone
with limited potential but more experience.

Disagree

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5
6
7
8
9

10
11
12
13
14
15

Anything worth doing is worth doing less perfectly.

I believe that opportunity knocks only once.
It is better to ask for permission than to beg for
forgiveness.
Success in management is as much a matter of luck
as ability.
I would choose a three thousand pesos monthly
raise over a thirty thousand pesos bonus, when I
had about a one-in-three chance of winning the
bonus.
I can handle big losses and disappointments with
little difficulty.
If forced to choose between them, I would take
safety over achievement.
Failure is the long road to management success.
I tolerate ambiguity and unpredictability well.
I would rather feel intense disappointment than
intense regret.
When facing a decision with uncertain
consequences, my potential losses are my great
concern.

Thank you very much for the information youve provided. God bless!