The Bain & Company RAPID model: decision roles and an example for the board
RAPID is a model for assigning roles in decisions, developed by Bain & Company and described in the article "Who Has the D?" in Harvard Business Review (2006). The article explains the five roles, shows a pricing decision mapped out in full, how to audit decisions in a company and typical implementation mistakes.
Amounts and values in the examples are illustrative and show how the calculation works. In projects, we use the client's data.
Dominik Dębski · Lemur Media · · reading time: 4 min
Reviewed by Dominik Dębski, 1 November 2026
What is the RAPID model?
RAPID is a tool that, for every important decision, identifies who recommends, who must agree, who provides input, who decides and who carries it out. The model was developed by the consulting firm Bain & Company, and Paul Rogers and Marcia Blenko described it in the article "Who Has the D? How Clear Decision Roles Enhance Organizational Performance" in the January 2006 issue of Harvard Business Review. The order of the letters creates an easy-to-remember name and does not indicate the order of steps.
What are the roles in RAPID?
| Role | Scope | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| R: Recommend | Gathers input and data, prepares a recommendation with options | One person per decision; usually close to market or customer knowledge |
| A: Agree | Confirms compliance with requirements, e.g. legal or regulatory | Assigned sparingly; an objection requires an alternative or escalation to D |
| I: Input | Provides facts, experience, information on risks | Input is taken into account but is not binding |
| D: Decide | Makes the decision and commits the company to action | One person per decision |
| P: Perform | Carries out the decision | Named early so that execution starts on time |
Bain recommends assigning the recommend role as close as possible to where the company has the most knowledge of the topic, e.g. in a business unit or product team. Most tension arises where the A and D roles meet. The person with the A role can block a recommendation, but according to the model they should then propose an alternative, and a dispute that cannot be resolved is settled by the person with the D role. This prevents an objection from stalling a decision for weeks.
What does a mapped-out decision look like?
The example concerns a price list increase at a B2B SaaS company with 50–249 employees.
| Role | Person | Task in this decision |
|---|---|---|
| R | Head of product | Analysis of product usage, pricing options, estimate of customer churn |
| A | CFO | Review of the impact on margin and revenue and of compliance with contracts |
| I | Sales director, head of customer service, two key customers | Customer reactions, risk in ongoing negotiations |
| D | CEO | Choice of option and effective date |
| P | Sales, customer service, marketing | Communication to customers, updating contracts and the price list |
Without mapped-out roles, the same decision usually returns to the board several times, because sales treats its input as a veto and finance raises objections only after customers have been informed.
How do you audit decisions?
The audit covers 15–25 decisions from the last two quarters and checks whether each had a single decision-maker and how much time passed between recommendation and decision.
| Measure | Calculation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Decisions without a single D | 8 z 20 | 40% |
| Decisions with more than one A role | 6 z 20 | 30% |
| Average time from recommendation to decision | 360 days in total ÷ 20 decisions | 18 days |
| Decisions changed after announcement | 5 z 20 | 25% |
The audit result shows the decisions for which roles should be set first. These are usually pricing, budget and management hiring decisions, as well as decisions on product priorities.
How do you implement RAPID on the board?
Implementation covers selecting decisions, mapping out roles, a trial on current decisions and a review after one quarter. In companies with 50–249 employees it usually takes four to six weeks.
- List of decisions: 10–15 recurring or highest-value decisions, e.g. price changes, marketing budget, management hires, choice of IT suppliers, product priorities.
- Mapping out roles: for each decision one R, one D, as few A roles as possible, and a list of I and P.
- Trial: applying the roles to the next decisions and recording the time from recommendation to decision.
- Quarterly review: comparison with the baseline audit, adjustment of roles and extension of the list.
The mapped-out roles are kept together with the company's map of decision rights. When a decision affects several departments, RAPID shows who reconciles their interests, which limits situations in which each department optimises its own result.
What are the common mistakes?
- Mapping out roles for every decision in the company: the model works best for a dozen or so decisions with the greatest impact on results.
- Giving the A role to many people, which turns each of them into a person with a veto.
- Assigning the D role to a committee: according to the model's rule, one person decides.
- No P role at the decision preparation stage, so those carrying it out learn of it only after it is announced.
- Mapping out roles without recording them somewhere accessible to all managers.
- No decision deadline: mapped-out roles do not save time if the D has no date by which they must decide.