Intuitive Expertise and Financial Decision-Making

This book provides insights into the hidden role of intuitive expertise in financial decision-making. The authors show and discuss how expertise combined with intuitive judgments positively affect decision-making outcomes. The book builds on the latest academic studies in this emergent field. In combination with the academic perspective, the authors provide a field study that they conducted in the context of mergers and acquisitions (M&As), a common and critical strategic investment for companies. The interviews were carried out with experts and decision-makers in large and successful international companies (i.e., M&A experts, CEOs, CFOs, and board members). The book provides a solid theoretical and empirically based grounding of the topic. In addition, it offers suggestions to practitioners on how they can develop and nurture intuitive expertise in strategic investment decision-making. The report of the field study provides examples and quotes from interviews to visualize findings, thus helping practitioners gain understanding and insights from the text. The authors also discuss the downsides of intuitive expertise, such as biases and flawed decision-making. For scholars, students, and professionals, the book offers a concise and up-to-date summary of an emergent stream of research, exploring how cognition and judgment affect financial decision-making.

Michael Grant earned his PhD at Uppsala University and the Department of Business Studies, where he holds the position as Senior Lecturer. In his research, he focuses on expertise and experts’ use of intuition in complex tasks, such as strategic decision-making. Furthermore, he has a broad research interest in M&As. In addition, he has more than 20 years of extensive experience working internationally with M&As. Michael has published his research in book chapters (Routledge, Edward Elgar) and the British Accounting Review. He is an executive board member of the Swedish Academy of Auditing.

Fredrik Nilsson has been Professor of Business Studies, specializing in Accounting at Uppsala University since 2010. Previously he was Professor of Economic Information Systems at Linköping University. In his research, he focuses on how different information systems (e.g., related to financial accounting, management control, and risk management) are designed and used in formulating and implementing strategies. Fredrik has published his research in books (e.g., Routledge and Springer) and in scientific journals (e.g., Accounting & Finance, the British Accounting Review, British Journal of Management, European Management Journal, Management Accounting Research, and Scandinavian Journal of Management). He is Chairman of the Swedish Academy of Auditing and Chairman of the Swedish Research School of Management and Information Technology.