Decision-making in teaching hospitals: between formalism and intuitive synthesis

Abstract This multiple-case study analyzes how middle managers (MM), from their strategic roles, associate rational and intuitive decisions in the strategic decision-making process (SDM) in public teaching hospitals (PTH). Data was collected through interview and document analysis. Data analysis occurred through constitutive elements of analysis: rationality, intuitive synthesis, and middle managers. The research found that, when articulating with the organization’s upper management, the MM takes the roles of synthesizing information and championing alternatives, emphasizing rational decisions. When articulating with the lower-level management, the MM plays the roles of facilitating and implementing deliberate strategy, emphasizing intuitive decisions. As a contribution to the field, the study presents the objective and inter-subjective dimensions in the SDM process, evidencing the complexity of the strategic roles of the MM in deliberate and emergent situations in PTH.