Decision making

Presentated

By Mr. Hor Hen,

The Executive Director of Brain

Activation and Skills

What is Decision-Making Process?

Decisions might be work such as:

What is to be done?

Who is to do it and when?

Where and how often it will be done?

… is a process by which an

individual or organization

selects one position or course

of action from several

alternatives to arrive at a

decision

This process involves:

identifying,

analyzing, and

choosing alternatives(s)

to facilitate the achievement

of goals, objectives, desires,

etc.

Type of Decision-Making Process?

Provide a direction to an organization by

establishing its:

vision, mission, and long-term goals;

develop strategies and take into

account the resources to be allocated

in order to achieve them

High managerial competence is

essential for taking strategic decisions

- unstructured,

- un-programmed and

- most inventive

Has Long-term Impact

These decisions are taken in

order to implement and

support strategic decisions

And It must taken by the Middle-

Management Level

Tactical decisions tend to be

of medium range with respect

to time and significant

result in moderate consequences for the entire

organization

These are pre-programmed,

highly structured, everyday

decisions to support the

implementation of tactical

decision Has low impact.

The Different approaches to Decision-

Making Process

The Manager makes the

decision for the group himself

on the basis of knowledge he

can

- Announce to the group

- Less time for decision

- More time to explain to gain

acceptance

The group develops idea, shares

ideas, analyses them and agrees

upon a decision

- More time is taken to make decision

- Much lesser time is required to

communicate it and gain acceptance

for it

Consultative Approach

the manager utilizes the competencies

of His group to generate and evaluate

alternatives,

The final decision is taken by his own

judgment an thinking

Participatory Learning Approach

is controlled by the entire group. The

group leader or manager is just first

among the equals

Advantages of Group Decision-making

Can pool their experiences to define a

problem and develop better and more

creative solutions

People work harder and more

energetically to implement their own

ideas

Disadvantages of Group Decision-making

Group can take longer to make

decisions than individuals

The desire to be accepted by the

group can lead to suppression of

disagreements by individual. This can

eliminate or reduce creativity in

decision-making

Disadvantages of Group Decision-making

Dominant individuals can take control

of the group and the outcome of

planning and decision-making

Encouraging members to show

commitment for the cause of the group

can be a problem

The Decision-Making Strategies

Optimizing by

Choosing the best possible solution to a

problem

It is implemented by discovering as

many alternatives as possible and

choosing the very best

Optimizing Its implementation is dependent on:

Time that is available for solving a problem

Cost for generating different alternative

solutions

Attitude and values of the people involved

Satisfying

‘satisfactory’ and ‘sufficient’

The first satisfactory alternative is chosen as a decision

rather than identifying the best alternative

Maxi-max

‘maximize the maximums’

It focuses on evaluating and then choosing the

alternatives based on their maximum possible

payoff

In this strategy favorable outcomes and high

potentials are the areas of concern

the strategy of the optimist

Maxi-min

‘maximize the minimums’

The worst possible outcome of each decision is

considered, and the decision with the highest number of

or negative outcomes is chosen

the strategy of the pessimist

How to Make the Decision Effective

1. Augmenting knowledge

Lack of knowledge arising from inadequate

information, awareness and experience in

problem-handling can lead to ineffective

decisions

A continuous effort need to be made to equip

its managers with relevant knowledge and

skills to widen their knowledge base

2. Unbiased judgment

(Fair Judgment)

Understanding and being aware that the

possibility of biasness generally exists

Understanding how biasness can effect the

judgment and the consequent outcome

2. Unbiased judgment

(Fair Judgment)

Analyzing past decisions to determine how

biasness may have effected them

Accepting that biasness can be minimized

through diligence, if not eliminated

3. Being Creative

Creativity leads to development of

original, novel responses to a

particular situation

4. Using Intuition

Intuition does not merely mean guess

work (experiences and Knowledge)

While employing intuition, a manager

knows what needs to be done, but

cannot give a specific reason why he

thinks so

5. Right Timing

A manager needs to ensure that not

only the decision being taken is right,

but the timing of it implementation is

also appropriate

6. Critical Approach

A manager needs to develop a

competency to distance himself from

his own decision and look at it

hypercritically, as if it belongs to

someone else.

7. Alignment with Overall Goals and

Objectives

The decision taken by a manager

should contribute to the overall goal

and objectives of the group or

organization

8. Open-mindedness

One should not fall in love with one’s

decision

9. The End

10. Question