Keeping a company sustainable in a competitive setting, especially in a niche market setting, requires consistency in decision-making and a clear understanding of the key external (particularly, market-related) and internal (employee- and production-oriented) factors. At Plant Fantasies, Inc., Teresa clearly prefers the Intuitive approach to decision-making since she manifests significant trust in the established team of experts, thus, focusing on behavior-related issues, while also showing high tolerance for ambiguity. The latter characteristic of Teresa can be observed when considering her remark regarding the multiple ranges of activities that are taking place at once and the associated risks that she is willing to take as long as she keeps in touch with the employees at all times.
However, Teresa appears to be influenced by the decision bias of perpetuating the status quo since she states explicitly that she is unwilling to change the established hierarchy within the company, particularly, in regard to the team of experts that has been formed. In turn, Steve Martucci demonstrates a different approach to decision-making since he is driven by rationality rather than the behavioral analysis of the company. Representing a slightly higher tolerance to ambiguity than Teresa does since he is willing to challenge the existing hierarchy and structure within the company, Steve could complement Teresa’s decision-making by introducing a force for change. In turn, Teresa’s more cautious approach could have a moderating effect on Steve’s initiative thus, minimizing the threat of a mistake. Overall, it seems that Steve’s willingness to contribute to innovation within the company is an important and quite welcome change at Plant Fantasies, Inc. However, the specified force needs to be combined with rationality, which Teresa’s decision-making style offers.