| Abstract: | Many managers and human resource professionals view the law increasingly as an overly restrictive influence on their ability to manage employees effectively. This article is intended to alert HR professionals to the risk that they are unnecessarily contributing to the impact that legal considerations have on the management of employees as a result of “legal‐centric decision making.” We introduce the construct of legal‐ centric decision making, present a model of the primary factors contributing to legal‐centric decision making, provide support for the model from diverse literatures (e.g., behavioral decision making, management, and law), and identify several keys to avoiding legal‐ centric decision making. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. |
