Renewing an existing choice: what the default alone cannot justify
Retaining a supplier, leaving a schedule unchanged or replacing equipment like for like may seem not to require a new decision. Yet the management question is precise: how can we check that continuity rests on explicit reasons rather than simply on the ease of changing nothing?
What the literature establishes
William Samuelson and Richard Zeckhauser (1988, Journal of Risk and Uncertainty) show, notably in choice experiments, that an option benefits from being presented as the existing situation. Maintaining the status quo therefore does not necessarily reveal a preference independent of how the choice is organised. This does not mean that continuity is always irrational: change can also entail real costs.
A default can be read as a recommendation
Craig R. M. McKenzie, Michael J. Liersch and Stacey R. Finkelstein (2006, Psychological Science) show that a default option can convey an implicit recommendation from the person who set it. Within an organisation, a preset arrangement may therefore be interpreted as an already endorsed choice rather than a mere administrative convenience. This mechanism suggests the value of clarifying who set the default and why.
The premature conclusion
One might conclude that defaults should be removed or that change should always be required. These studies justify neither rule: a default can simplify a recurring decision and convey useful information. The aim is to make renewal justifiable, not to turn novelty into a criterion of quality. (our executive and employee training programmes)
What observed decisions cannot tell us
A high renewal rate alone cannot distinguish between satisfaction, switching costs, a perceived recommendation and inertia. Experimental findings illuminate mechanisms, but do not provide an estimate directly applicable to a company in Fribourg. Similarly, requiring a written justification does not prove that alternatives were actually examined before the decision.
A practical check in Fribourg
Within SHR's « Prise de décision » programme, one exercise would be to track a category of non-critical renewals for a month: auxiliary services in the agri-food sector, maintenance contracts in bilingual industry or information-resource subscriptions in Fribourg's university sector. Before approval, a common form, available in French and German, would record a feasible alternative, switching costs and the reason for retaining or changing the arrangement. The measure would be the proportion of renewals supported by this complete comparison before approval, verifiable against dated forms and the decision register. This indicator would document explicit examination of the default, without being presented as proof of improved outcomes. To go further: explore the Decision-making training in Fribourg, or browse our executive and employee training programmes in Switzerland.
In pictures: Decision-making in Fribourg
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