Analysis of the FX traders’ work using the Naturalistic Decision Making framework

Motivation – The present study deals with an aspect of the Foreign Exchange traders’ work, the choice to trade directly with other traders or indirectly through electronic brokers. Research approach – Based on data obtained through systematic observations, and adopting the naturalistic decision making framework, we searched to identify persisting patterns of the context within which the execution of orders has been carried out. Findings/Design – The results show that direct trading is preferred within contexts different from those of indirect trading. Originality/Value – Apart from the confirmation of the central hypothesis of the NDM according to which experienced decision makers prefer the pattern matching than the analytic evaluation of alternatives, these findings have also implications for both the theory of FX trading and the design of decision support tools for this complex cognitive task.