From the Mintzberg–Simon debate to prompting advantage: A new core skill in the AI era

Abstract

Herbert Simon’s scientific vision for management education and Henry Mintzberg’s subsequent critique of its analytical dominance framed a debate that remains highly relevant in the age of artificial intelligence. As AI systems increasingly generate rapid, coherent and technically accurate responses, a contemporary paradox emerges: while access to answers expands, the human capacity to formulate insightful questions becomes both more valuable and less common. This article revisits the Simon–Mintzberg tension between analytical reasoning and managerial intuition to examine its implications for human–AI interaction. It argues that competitive advantage is shifting from information processing towards question framing, problem finding and critical interrogation of assumptions. The paper introduces the concept of prompting advantage, defining it as a meta-cognitive capability that enables decision makers to engage AI systems more effectively, recognise the limits of algorithmic outputs and explore alternative problem spaces. Drawing on conceptual analysis and illustrative case material, the study positions prompting advantage as a core managerial competence for enhancing decision quality, innovation and organisational learning in the AI era.