RATIONALITY OR IRRATIONALITY? DECISION TO QUIT A JOB TO START A BUSINESS

The paper discusses rationality and decision making with a critical reflection on decisions by employees to quit jobs and set up fragile, micro, and rival businesses. This is a common phenomenon in management consulting businesses in especially emerging economies, where the demand for consultancy services is ballooning. The concepts of decision making and factors that influence decision making were discussed. Rationality and irrationality within the context of economics were briefly defined and theories such as (1) The utility theory , (2) The utility maximization theory and (3)The classical decision theory were used to explain the phenomenon. It was found that reasons for quitting or staying in a management consulting job is not only motivated by preparedness or readiness, rather a complex array of factors, some of which are observable and explainable while others may be attributable to complex cognitive processes that cannot be easily observed and explained. Deciding to leave a job is a complex but intentional rational decision that is influenced by many factors, some of which are observable, environmental, and cognitive. It is in the nature of the economic man to always decide, consequences of which might be sometimes predictable or influenced by events outside of the decision-makers control.