Decision Making
Decision Making
Managers are constantly called upon to make decisions in order to solve problems. Decision making and problem solving are ongoing processes of evaluating situations or problems, considering alternatives, making choices, and following them up with the necessary actions.
Sometimes the decision-making process is extremely short, and mental reflection is essentially instantaneous. In other situations, the process can drag on for weeks or even months. The entire decision-making process is dependent upon the right information being available to the right people at the right times.
The decision-making process involves the following steps: 1. Identifying the problems 2. Identify decision criteria 3. Allocating weights to criteria 4. Develop alternatives. 5. Analyze the alternatives. 6. Select the best alternative. 7. Implement the decision. 8. Establish a control and evaluation system. 1. Identifying the problems
In this step, the problem is thoroughly analysed. There are a couple of questions one should ask when it comes to identifying the purpose of the decision. * What exactly is the problem? * Why the problem should be solved? * Who are the affected parties of the problem? * Does the problem have a deadline or a specific time-line? 2. Identifying decision criteria
The most obviously troubling situations found in an organization can usually be identified as decision crietria of underlying problems (Table 1). These citeria all indicate that something is wrong with an organization, but they don't identify root causes. A successful manager doesn't just attack the decision criteria but he works to uncover the factors that cause.
TABLE 1 | Identifying Decision Criteria | Criteria | Underlying Problem | Low profits and/or declining sales | Poor market research | High costs | Poor design process; poorly trained employees | Low morale | Lack of communication between management and
Managers are constantly called upon to make decisions in order to solve problems. Decision making and problem solving are ongoing processes of evaluating situations or problems, considering alternatives, making choices, and following them up with the necessary actions.
Sometimes the decision-making process is extremely short, and mental reflection is essentially instantaneous. In other situations, the process can drag on for weeks or even months. The entire decision-making process is dependent upon the right information being available to the right people at the right times.
The decision-making process involves the following steps: 1. Identifying the problems 2. Identify decision criteria 3. Allocating weights to criteria 4. Develop alternatives. 5. Analyze the alternatives. 6. Select the best alternative. 7. Implement the decision. 8. Establish a control and evaluation system. 1. Identifying the problems
In this step, the problem is thoroughly analysed. There are a couple of questions one should ask when it comes to identifying the purpose of the decision. * What exactly is the problem? * Why the problem should be solved? * Who are the affected parties of the problem? * Does the problem have a deadline or a specific time-line? 2. Identifying decision criteria
The most obviously troubling situations found in an organization can usually be identified as decision crietria of underlying problems (Table 1). These citeria all indicate that something is wrong with an organization, but they don't identify root causes. A successful manager doesn't just attack the decision criteria but he works to uncover the factors that cause.
TABLE 1 | Identifying Decision Criteria | Criteria | Underlying Problem | Low profits and/or declining sales | Poor market research | High costs | Poor design process; poorly trained employees | Low morale | Lack of communication between management and