How to make important decisions.
Decision-making is an important aspect in every person’s daily life. The nature of decision a person makes, either for personal or organizational benefit will determine the future results as per the decision made. Being a firm’s senior manager can be demanding. The reason being, all other employees look up the manager’s final say.
When a manager wants to make a decision, he may follow certain criteria to determine if the decision is worth making. Before making any decision, it is vital to analyze the problem. Many people think that decision-making is similar to problem solving.The difference between the two concepts is that, problem solving critically involves identification of a problem, defining it then finally deciding on the best alternative to solve the problem (Dail. n.
d. , para. 2). On the other hand, decision making is looking for the best alternative to solve a problem.
There is always a need to make assumptions while in the process of decision-making. Assumptions help a manager to understand the implications that may be put in place in case a given decision is not proper (Good decision-making and practices, n. . , para1). For example, there are situations when the company does not meet their sales targets are required.
If a manager does not find a solution to that problem then the company may not prosper. Therefore, his decision will be made via assumptions of how the future of the company will be if sales are not increased fast enough. Before carrying out a decision, one can use the business concept of opportunity cost. This concept determines the best alternative that a person can choose following the scale of preference (Henderson, n. .
, para 1). Understanding the scope of the situation and determining the best alternative of solving the problem is very important. This step is vital as it gives the manager the opportunity to know how crucial the problem is. Understanding the scope of the problem, allows the manager to discuss the issue with other people. For example, the employees are in a better position to know the main rout of the problem. Asking them for their opinion does not mean that the manager is not smart enough to make independent decision.
However, it is more ideal to discuss ways of coming up with the best alternative in solving a problem In the end, the several ideas given will eventually make a good decision. It is necessary to understand that certain decisions may not be effective as planned. Therefore, the manager should have alternatives and backups to avoid shameful situations. For example, an airline company may face delays due to sudden power shortage. In addition, the gadgets for screening may be less effective when there is no electricity.
Therefore, the manager can opt for other screening gadgets that do not necessarily need power to perform their tasks. Finally, a proper decision-making should be well realistic. This means that the assumption of the decision should aim at organizational success rather meet personal desires. British airways initially had a problem with one of its terminal’s, a debacle led to cancellation of flights.
Initially, the airline did not need any added amenities like hotels to book in the passengers in case there was a problem.Unfortunately, a huge debacle occurred forcing the company to cancel most flights and gave the passengers 100 US dollars each to book hotels for one night. This company assumed that there could be only slight delays. In the end, this assumption led to a poor decision making.
The rise of gas did not stop SUV lovers from demanding more of the car. Reason being they price of gas would either increase or decrease depending on the country’s economy (Isidore, 2011, para. 3). Therefore, the manufacturer’s assumption of making more SUV’s was not a threat to him as he manufactured more SUV’s and made sales at the end of the day.
