Shedding the Light on Decision Making
1. According to Pearl, one of the most important factors in critical decision making is setting goals, both short and long term and staying focused on them. This principle applies to managing my life in that years ago I set the long term goal of becoming a CPA. Through setting short term goals of completing my Associates degree I changed my long term goal to teaching business. To do this I had to re-structure my short term goals to include taking courses that meet my degree requirements as well as my personal needs. Staying focused is key to reaching the short term goals which can be difficult when life throws hiccups in your way but maintaining sight on the long term clears the path for the short term goals to be accomplished.
2. Staying “focused on the most likely opportunities for me to make sales” is part of Pearls approach to optimizing sales. By deciding to market to high end customers he solves the problem of completing his short term goal for monthly sales. In his quest, Pearl analyzed the sales that Modern Shed had already made to determine the types of products consumers had purchased and how many of each structure style was purchased giving him an idea of how to market and where to market for optimum sales.
Figure 8.1 is a good example of how Modern Shed can apply the decisions that Pearl has made. Proper analysis of the current market conditions as well as past sales can influence how the company markets themselves and their product to the public. The different scenarios help with advertising specific styles of their product to different consumer markets hence, again, optimizing sales and reaching their sales goals.
3. The situational goal: define the minimal sale that will keep the company profitable and exceed that goal
Identify the problem: the problem is the difference between the current sales and the goal for sale that Modern Shed has set for itself
Determine the decision type: this