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ION Management Science Lab × SDA Bocconi

Strategic Decision-Making in an Algo World

Apply the scientific method to strategic decisions. Build theories, test hypotheses, and increase the probability of better outcomes under uncertainty.

Methodology

Decision-Making Under Uncertainty

Leaders face decisions with no historical precedent. We apply the scientific method—thinking causally and probabilistically instead of in absolute terms.

The Challenge

No Historical Precedent

Leaders face strategic decisions for which there is no past data to guide them.

Inadequate Frameworks

Existing frameworks focus on data-driven decisions but lack microfoundations for high-impact choices.

No Structured Thinking

Without historical foundations, leaders lack systems for scientific first-principle reasoning.

Limited Exploration

Traditional tools don't accommodate different lenses, counterfactuals, or causal thinking.

Our Approach
01

Frame

Clarify the decision space by effectively framing strategic problems.

02

Theorize

Think causally and probabilistically — build causal theories of value.

03

Explore

Explore counterfactuals and alternative strategic paths.

04

Experiment

Test beliefs through experimentation to validate theories.

05

Decide

Systematically quantify intuition and make informed decisions.

Research

The Science Behind Our Work

31+ papers in pipeline, 9 published in top management journals.

Published
Strategy Science

2024

Theory-driven strategic management decisions

Strategic decisions should be grounded in explicit theories that can be tested through experimentation—not intuition or past data alone.

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Published
Strategic Management Journal

2024

A scientific approach to entrepreneurial decision‐making: Large‐scale replication and extension

Entrepreneurs trained in scientific approaches make fewer pivots but achieve higher performance—methodic doubt dominates efficient search.

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Published
MIT Press

2025

Bayesian Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurs form heterogeneous priors about opportunities and update beliefs through carefully designed experiments—the definitive framework.

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Understand the Theory-Based Approach

Our researchers explain the framework in these presentations.