Evaluation of the Decision Effectiveness - Case Study Example

Decision Making Process Decision-Making is one of the main activities of human beings and most of us are decision-makers. There are good decisions and bad decisions. For a good decision-making process it starts with a consecutive, purposeful, strategic-thinking process (Arsham n. pag 1994). According to the Wikipedia definition, decision making is the cognitive process leading to the selection of a course of action among alternatives. Every decision making process produces a final choice among the alternatives to find a solution to a problem. In other words, decision making is a reasoning process which can be rational or irrational, and can be based on explicit assumptions or tacit assumptions (Wikipedia n. pag 2007). The goal of a decision making process is to achieve some desired objective/s; and, to avoid negative, inadvertent consequences. Some of the decisions can provide all of the desired objectives and no inadvertent consequences. A good decision, however, provides the most desired objective/s with the fewest negative consequences (silvae.cfr.washington.edu n. pag). In an organisation, a good decision making processes becomes very essential for its success. This major responsibility lies in the hands of managers and leaders of that organisation. It is essential to have a good knowledge of decision making process. There are several steps that are involved in a good decision making process. This paper examines some of the steps in detail. Decision makers or the managers in an organisation, are used to depending on their past experiences, must make decisions and take actions in the rapidly changing world today. The effective management of knowledge is critical for organisations that are striving to gain or maintain a competitive advantage over the other similar organisations. Decision-making is a main component of an integrated knowledge management system. It is a major factor for growing organisational record with newly created knowledge and a broader base of perspectives to use in future decision making situations. These records through integrated knowledge management systems may be able to respond more quickly and appropriately to a rapidly changing environment (Hall et al. 2002). Managers in an organisation have to make several decisions on a daily basis. Some of these decisions are routine and inconsequential and does not require additional resources to solve the problem. However in this changing world there are several new problems faced by the organisations that makes the decision making process complicated. Besides, some of these decisions could involve financial commitments that may ultimately result in a gain or loss, or could even have an impact on the organisational objectives being achieved or not. As the days pass by the tasks of decision-makers are becoming more challenging. The decision-maker that is mostly the responsible manager is expected to react quickly to events that seem to take place at an ever-increasing pace. For complex, critical or important managerial decisions it is essential to take time to decide systematically. Being a manager it is his or her responsibility to make critical decisions that cannot go wrong in any way and must not fail in achieving its objective. Some times there are critical moments when these decisions can be difficult, confusing and intimidating. In such cases making decisions can be tough for a variety of structural, emotional, and organisational reasons (Arsham 1994). For a systematic decision making process there are several important steps to be taken at the proper time. The successful identification and structuring of each of these steps will determine the success of the manager as well as the organisation as a whole. Step No. 1: Identification of a problem The first and foremost step is the identification of the problem(s) and state it(them) clearly and concisely. In any field of life in education, industry, or government, improving individuals abilities to solve problems and make decisions is accepted as an important issue. The problem solving process begins when the manager recognizes the problem. In fact their experiences pressurize them to act on it, and they have resources to do something about it. Problem identification is not easy. The problem statement can be too broad or too narrow. In many cases a tunnel vision i.e. stating the problem too narrowly creates the major difficulty in problem identification as leads to restricting the search for alternatives (Allen 1998). Identifying the problem also means describing in detail the gap between ones perception of present circumstances and what one would like to happen. It is vital to communicate the problem identification to ones self and other group members in the organisation and focus of the problem-solving/decision-making process (Huitt 33-44). According to Arnold (1978) there are four types of gaps: 1) something is wrong and needs to be corrected; 2) something is threatening and needs to be prevented; 3) something is inviting and needs to be accepted; and 4) something is missing and needs to be provided. In the process of identification of problems the manager must solve the right problem rather than beat around the bush and ultimately end up in nothing. In order to define the problem, the manager must describe the factors that are causing the problem. These are mainly the symptoms, visible as circumstances or conditions that indicate the existence of the problem -- the difference between what is desired and what exists or the gap as discussed earlier (Allen 1998). If in case the problem is not defined properly by the manager, then this may result in not taking an action or even if action is taken since it is not focused the correct solution may not be achieved. Step No. 2: Identification of decision criteria It is the job of the manager to determine what is relevant in making a decision by isolating the facts relevant to the problem. A set of criteria must be used for the problem at hand, since for decision making process there is no single best criterion where a perfect knowledge of all the facts is present. These decision criteria identify what will guide the decision-making process and define the important facts relevant to the problem. It is most essential that the decision criteria are laid down in the initial stages of the problem solving process because if the criteria are developed as analysis of data is taking place, there are good chances that the data will determine the criteria. Therefore, setting the criteria in the beginning introduces objectivity. These facts can be tangible as well as intangible. Tangible facts might include the work assignments, the work schedules, or work orders. Intangible facts could include morale, motivation, and personal feelings and perceptions. In each case these criteria may differ and is often subjective. This is because what serves as important criteria for one manager may be less important for another (Allen 1998). For example, in a single organisations itself the decision making on hiring employees in different units may differ. In the manufacturing unit the number of employees recruited may depend on the number of manufacturing units in the company and how quickly the products need to be manufactured. On the other hand in the sales department the number of sales employees may depend on the number of outlets in a particular geographical area. Step No. 3: Allocation of weights to criteria Each of the criteria varies in its importance. Not all criteria have the similar or equal importance. In fact these criteria weights can vary among different managers in the same organisations as well. Prioritizing is an important step in a good decision making process and in this process assigning weights points out at the importance a manager places on each criterion for resolving the problem. Criteria that are extremely important can be given more weight or in other words can be priority, while those that are least important can be given less weight or least priority (Allen 1998). Step No. 4: Development of alternatives In a decision making process a manager gives importance to obtain a wide range of alternatives for several reasons. These may be to determine the compatibility of different objectives; to give the decision-makers a wide range of alternatives with different tradeoffs; and to seek alternatives that fulfil as many of the objectives as possible, while having the fewest negative consequences (silvae.cfr.washington.edu n. pag). The managers identify all workable alternative solutions for resolving the problem. Here in this statement the term workable prevents alternative solutions that are over expensive, time-consuming, or too elaborate. The best approach in determining workable solutions is to state all possible alternatives, without evaluating any of the options. This helps to ensure that a thorough list of possibilities is created. This also enables the managers to keep a track on different alternatives in case the chosen one fails. Managers need to be creative in generating alternative solutions as it requires divergent thinking. Group discussions can be used to generate alternative solutions. In several organisations brainstorming is the process of suggesting as many alternatives as possible without evaluation. The participating group is offered with a problem and asked to develop as many solutions as possible. During such sessions employees need to be given as much freedom to suggest any number of suggestions to a problem. And they may also build on suggestions made by others. At this stage none of the alternatives are evaluated until all possibilities are exhausted (Allen 1998). Step No. 5: Analysis of alternatives In this step the managers need to choose among alternatives. Once the manager has weighed all the evidence, he or she should be ready to select the alternative which seems to be best suited to solve the problem with least negative effects. The managers may also choose a combination of alternatives. It is the job of the manager to judge what would happen with each alternative and its effect on the problem. A systematic analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of each alternative are done by comparing the weights assigned and then eliminating the alternatives that are not workable. It is essential to consider the probability factors such as risk, uncertainty, and ignorance. Investigating all the possible alternatives helps to prevent eliminating the most appropriate one, because a decision is only as good as the best alternative evaluated (Allen 1998). Step No. 6: Selection of an alternative It is important that the manager make a choice among the alternatives. The alternative that rates the highest score should be the preferred solution. The decision can be assisted by the managers experience, past judgment, advice from others, or even a hunch or feeling. Timing impacts the decision and selecting the best alternative at the right time is most important. The probable outcome and its advantages versus its disadvantages are affected at any given time. The most essential character a manager needs to possess is the confidence. Taking action requires self-confidence or courage. Only an individual who is willing to take risks is able to assume responsibility for a decision involving action. The fact remains that the manager is held accountable for the outcome of the decision. Thus, he or she must be confident that the right problem has been defined and the most workable solution has been chosen. Self-confidence is the best element for a manager to possess at this stage of decision making process. It is important it remember that there is a difference between a good decision and a good outcome. Even if the manager did not reach the anticipated outcome, if the best decision was made, it will not be pointed out as a mistake by others. Step No. 7: Implementation of the alternative Once the manager chooses the solution, the decision is shared with those who will be working on the selected process. Implementation is a crucial part of the decision-making process. The manager alone cannot work on the process and hence the employees who are assigned the work need to be committed. It is important to gain their support and achieving outcomes becomes increasingly easy. And at this point of time the manager has a reasonable degree of assurance that the decision will be accepted and has the necessary support. When it comes to implementing the decision, the manager must communicate it to those directly and indirectly affected. Employees must appreciate how the decision will affect them. Communication is most valuable when it precedes action and events. The manager should be ready to answer the vital questions before they are asked. Communicating answers to these questions can conquer much of the resistance that otherwise might be encountered. Step No. 7: Evaluation of the decision effectiveness Though the decision is taken on a particular problem, it is not enough to just select the best solution. In this step the manager experiences the results of the decision and evaluate whether or not it has “solved” or helped to solve the problem. If yes, the manager may stay with the decision. If no, he or she may repeat certain steps of the process in order to make a new decision. It is the job of the managers to follow up on these processes to look into the success as well as if the process is creating other new problems. The manager must follow up and evaluate the outcomes from the decision to conclude if desired results were achieved. The main function of the follow up is to determine whether or not the problem has been resolved. If the desired results are not achieved, then the process needs to be reviewed from the beginning to determine where errors may have been made. Usually, feedback and reports are necessary to learn of the decisions outcome. Occasionally, corrections can be introduced for different steps. Other times, the entire decision-making process needs to start from the beginning (Allen 1998). Finally, it can be said that managers in an organisation play a key role in decision making. Their decisions can lead organisations through success or sometimes failures. It is important to remember that decisions are tentative and can be changed any time. Since there are a number of alternatives to solve a problem, onetime decision making may not always lead to success. Hence, a good manager need to always look for better approaches to solve a problem through several rounds of decision making process. (Word count = 2,331) Work cited Allen, G. Problem Solving and Decision Making (1998) Management modern. 24 March 2007 http://telecollege.dcccd.edu/mgmt1374/book_contents/2planning/prob_solvg/prob_solv.htm Arnold, J. (1978). The seven building blocks to better decisions. New York: AMACON. Arsham, H. Applied Management Science: Making Good Strategic Decisions (1994) 8th Edition. 24 March 2007 http://home.ubalt.edu/ntsbarsh/opre640/opre640.htm Hall, D., Guo, Y. and Davis, R.A. Developing a Value-Based Decision-Making Model for Inquiring Organizations In: Proceedings of the 36th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS’03) (2002) 24 March 2007 http://csdl2.computer.org/comp/proceedings/hicss/2003/1874/04/187440111a.pdf Huitt, W. Problem solving and decision making: Consideration of individual differences using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Journal of Psychological Type, 24, (1992). 33-44. silvae.cfr.washington.edu The Decision-making Process, 24 March 2007 http://silvae.cfr.washington.edu/ecosystem-management/Decisionmaking.html Wikipedia, Decision making (2007) Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 24 March 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decision_making Read More