D E C I S I O N - M A K I N G

    A decision is a choice from two or more alternatives. Making good decisions is something that every manager should have. Decisions have a major influence in organizational success or failure. Top-level managers make decisions about their organization's goals, middle and lower-level managers make decisions about setting production schedules, handling problems and employee hiring and firing.

D E C I S I O N - M A K I N G P R O C E S S

    Decision making process is a set of eight steps that are following:

    STEP 1: IDENTIFYING A PROBLEM

The decision-making process begins with the existence of a problem. A problem is a discrepancy between an existing and a desired state of affairs.

    STEP 2: IDENTIFYING DECISION CRITERIA

Once a manager has identified a problem that needs attention, the decision criteria important to resolving the problem must be identified. That is, managers must determine what's relevant in making a decision.

    STEP 3: ALLOCATING WEIGHTS TO THE CRITERIA

The decision maker must weight the items in order to give them the correct priority in the decision. A simple approach of allocating weights is to give the most important criterion a weight of 10 and then assign weights to the rest against that standard.

    STEP 4: DEVELOPING ALTERNATIVES

Then the decision maker should list the variable alternatives that could resolve the problem. In this step the manager doesn't has to evaluate the alternatives. He only has to list out them.

    STEP 5: ANALYZING ALTERNATIVES

Once the alternatives have been identified, the decision maker must critically analyze each one. Each alternative is evaluated by appraising it against the criteria established. From his comparison, the strengths and weaknesses of each alternative become evident.

    STEP 6: SELECTING AN ALTERNATIVE

The sixth step is the important act of choosing the best alternative from among those considered. We have determined all the pertinent criteria in the decision, weighted them, and identified and analyzed viable alternatives. Now we merely have to choose the alternatives that generated the highest score in previous step.

    STEP 7: IMPLEMENTING THE ALTERNATIVE

Although the choice process is completed in the previous step, the decision may still fall if it isn't implemented properly.

    Implementation involves conveying the decision to those affected by it and getting their commitment to it.

    STEP 8: EVALUATING DECISION EFFECTIVENESS

The last step in decision-making process involves appraising the outcome of the decision see if the problem has been resolved. Did the alternative chosen and implemented accomplish the desired results?

If the problem still exists then the manager would need to carefully assess what went wrong. Was the problem incorrectly defined? Were errors made in the evaluation of the various alternatives? Was the right alternative selected but poorly implemented. It might even require starting the whole decision process over.

D E C I S I O N - M A K I N G S T Y L E S

    Four decision making styles are evident: directive, analytical, conceptual and behavioral.

• Directive style. People using the directive style have tolerance for ambiguity and are rational in their way of thinking. They're efficient and logical. Directive types make fast decision and focus on the short run. Their efficiency and speed in making decisions often results in their making decisions with minimal information and assessing few alternatives.
  

 

• Analytical style. Decision makers with an analytical style have much greater tolerance for ambiguity than do directive types. They want more information before making a decision and consider more alternatives than a directive-style decision maker does. Analytical decision makers are best characterized careful decision makers with the ability to adopt or cope with unique situations.
  

 

• Conceptual style. Individuals with conceptual style tend to be very broad in their outlook and will look at many alternatives. They focus on the long run and are very good at finding creative solutions to problems.
  

 

• Behavioral style. Decision makers with behavioral style work well with others. They're concerned about the achievements of subordinates and are receptive to suggestions from others. They often use meetings to communicate, although they try to avoid conflicts.