Decision Making - Brainstorming, Delphi Technique, Rationality or Behaviourism - Research Paper Example

Introduction: The process of decision-making is one of the most crucial steps in management. The success and failure of the organisation is governedby sound decisions and good techniques in dealing with certain situation. The effectiveness of different approaches in making decision, however, varies with different situation. There is no secret formula in decision-making, but under extreme conditions and amidst a lot of possible options, the best tools a manager could use are a critical mind and common sense in a great deal of flexibility (Harris, 2002). Speaking of critical mind therefore requires every individual's capability to decide. And the best collective decisions emanates from the best individual judgement. Decision-making is both a science and art and depend so much on the learning and experiences of the one tasked to do it. The capacity to decide is bound into the person's independence whether physical or emotional. Freedom and rights to make your own decisions will destroy a person unless it is recognized that these ideals are privileges and not necessities and therefore they are accompanied by responsibilities (Arsham, 1994). As a person becomes part of a community or an organisation his decision making capabilities becomes limited and is governed by acceptable norms, roles, policies, and other guiding principles. As social arrangements become complex making decisions will also be complex that guidelines are necessary whether individual or a group must decide for any particular situations. In the process the capability of the individual to decide is hampered by systems imposed and adopted in groups. Relevant studies have shown that the capability of a person to decide is enhanced when he is to do it alone. Since systems are used in group techniques, the flexibility of the individual is limited and he is bound to follow the roles even if it contradicts to his norms, behaviours, and beliefs. Individual or group decisions There are opposing claims that individual techniques or group techniques are better than the other. In reality both can be effective, but each has its own domains, which they can be most effective, and they have limitations. Let us revisit what the experts and literatures told us about their differences. Individual decision-making is a better way of arriving at an answer if it requires personal decisions. In the other hand group decisions are needed if it requires collective actions. But in most organizations you cannot separate the two since for every corporate decision a point exist along the line that requires both individual and group decisions. To illustrate the point, a manager would decide for himself to select the best applicant from among the three finalist collectively endorsed by a promotion and selection board. In rating those applicants, every member of the board decides singly on rating the candidate. Individualism or collectivism approaches in arriving at a consensus also varies with the size and complexity and of the type, whether public or government organizations. Government offices mostly use group decision making in planning and identifying programs. Sample (1984) considered group techniques are common in extension programs where clients are involved in making solutions to problems. The small enterprises, in the other hand, rely on individual approaches as compared to large corporations, which are governed by a body that approves policies and other decision-making jobs. Managers who are to select between individual or group decision must be guided by the following ideas: In establishing objectives, a group is better than individuals because of the greater amount of knowledge available among members of the groups. In identifying alternatives, the individual efforts of group members encourage a broad search in various functional areas of the organization. In evaluating alternatives, the collective judgment of the group is again superior due to wide scope of knowledge. In implementing a decision, whether or not a group made it, individual managers is more effective While many mangers recognize the effectiveness of group decision techniques it is accepted facts that the individuals involved in the process take the roles of deciding. Let us consider the needs for individuality is common group techniques. Among the most common group techniques widely used are the brainstorming, the nominal group, and the Delphi technique. Brainstorming Brainstorming is a process of generating unlimited ideas to the open while the coordinator records them and synthesize them later. The process does not limit the thinking of the participants and ideas are not opposed. The process can be applied for group or individual. A study showed that individuals brainstorming alone could generate more good ideas than working in a group (Sample, 1984). A possible explanation is that people fear they'll look foolish or stupid, and, therefore censor themselves. This hesitation could still exist even if the participants were advised not to provide oppositions or criticisms. This tells us that in the brainstorming process, the information are derived from individuals. The process even limits the participants' potential. Although wide options and information are obtained due to presence of many alternatives, the success of the process is still attached to individual's performance. Nominal group technique Nominal group technique uses a small group of individuals, who are meant to come up with decisions or goals. Each individual in a group are required to jot down their ideas or write all possible ideas in small sheets of papers. Common ideas are grouped together. The ideas are ranked according to the number of points or votes based on the grouping. This will to the identification of priority solutions. Sample (1984) stated, "Some of the obvious advantages are that voting is anonymous, there are opportunities for equal participation of group members and distractions inherent in other group methods are minimized. As to disadvantages, opinions may not converge in the voting process, cross-fertilization, of ideas may be constrained, and the process may appear to be too mechanical." The individual is still the actor in the process. Just like the brainstorming, inputs are also based on individual decisions but are grouped together. Delphi technique Delphi technique is to elicit information and judgments from participants to facilitate problem solving, planning, and decision-making. It does so without physically assembling the contributors. Instead, information is exchanged via mail, FAX, or email (Dunham, 1996). The technique is most acceptable in the current settings and is limited to areas where information and communication networks are advanced. Since the group is physically separated the liability on the decisions are limited. But the merits of the decisions are enhanced since conflicting ideas as controlled without the use of argumentations. Rationality or behaviourism Rational thinking and decision making follows a systematic way of arriving at an idea or solution. Harris (2002) clearly defines the major steps in rational thinking and it follows from defining the problem, putting assumptions, finding solutions by examining alternatives. In other words, the decision is arrived after a tedious evaluation and analysis. Mellers, Schwartz, and Cooke, (1998) stated that in studies of rationality it is expressed that a rational choice is a single correct decision shared by experimenters and subjects that satisfies internal coherence within a set of preferences and beliefs. However, It was shown that many decisions appear to be irrational, as if decision-makers were indifferent to the consequences of their decisions (Baron, 1994). For many decades, research in judgment and decision-making has examined behavioral violations of rational choice theory . In behavioural frameworks decisions as more reasonable and adaptive than previously thought. There are instances when efforts provide satisfying solutions that are good enough, though not necessarily the best. "When rules are ambiguous, people look for reasons to guide their decisions. They may also let their emotions take charge" Mellers, et al., 1998). Since we believe that individual decisions are more important, putting a limit to our capability to decide by establishing some roles will make us less effective. The concept of rationality is one of these processes that limits our flexibility and hinders us from deciding based on our feeling. Since most common group techniques definitely follow rational approach, the soundness of the output could be limited. It could have been enhanced if participants just like the Delphi technique work independently among each other. Conclusion The effectiveness of decisions is governed by the experience and capability of individuals involved in the process. Whether we like it on not, it is the individual that is most important in every decision-making jobs. Whether we use brainstorming, Nominal Group Technique, or Delphi technique the behaviour of the individuals involved, his emotion, his feelings are crucial factors in producing good decision. References Arsham, Hossein. 1994. Making Good Strategic Decisions. Applied Management Science Retrieved 7 February2008 from http://home.ubalt.edu/ntsbarsh/opre640/ opre640.htm Baron J 1994. :Nonconsequentialist decisions. Behavioural Brain Science 17:1-42. Dunham, Randall B.1996. The Delphi Technique. Retrieved on 7 February 2008 from http://www.medsch.wisc.edu/adminmed/2002/orgbehav/delphi.pdf Harris, Robert. 2002. Problem Solving Techniques. Virtual Salt. Retrieved 7 February 2008 from http://www.virtualsalt.com/crebook4.htm Sample, John. A. 1984. Nominal Group Technique and Alternative to Brainstorming. Journal of Extension 22:2 Retrieved 7 February 2008 from http://www.joe.org/joe/1984march/iw2.html Read More