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The Decision-Making Process
Decision-making is a critical process is management. A manager plans, organizes, staffs, leads, and controls her team by executing decisions (Wiley, 2012). Decision-making is an analytical process that requires evaluating situations through processing of information, analysing available choices, making decisions and reviewing it. According to Robbins, DeCenzo and Wolter (2010), decision-making process is a seven-step, which are:
1. Problem identification
2. Gathering of relevant information
3. Identify available alternatives
4. Evaluate the identified alternatives
5. Choose the best alternative
6. Implementing the decision based on the chosen alternative
7. Evaluate and review the decision taken
Each of these steps is critical for the decision-making process. Identifying the problem is the most important step of decision-making because a flawed understanding of problem will lead to undesirable outcomes. The concept can be understood taking an example of high employee turnover ratio in an organisation. High turnover is only a symptom, the real problem being high level of dissatisfaction among employees.
Gathering of information that is relevant for the problem is the next step. It helps in conducting a structural analysis of the problem, its effects, and limitations and competencies of an organisation in solving the problem. In the problem of high dissatisfaction among employees, a lot of information needs to be gathered. Is employee compensation structure market competitive? Do employees have long working hours? Does the organisation help in fulfilment of their career aspiration?
Identification of alternatives involves listing down as many alternatives as possible. This step does not require analysis and allows manager to think differently. There are four possible alternatives in the case of high employee dissatisfaction can be upward revision of compensation plan, flexible working hours, career counselling and ease of work pressure.
Analysing alternatives is the next step of decision making. It involves evaluating the positives and negatives of each alternative, thus giving a comprehensive view for further action. In the case of employee dissatisfaction, alternatives need to be analysed based on cost incurred and effectiveness, removing the bias that only money is important for employees.
Choosing the best alternative is critical because the action plan is to be made based on the selected best alternative. Analysing the alternatives to counter employee dissatisfaction, flexible working hours seemed the best possible alternative. While it does not have major cost implications, it has a significant impact on the morale of employees.
Implementation is as important as planning. The choice of the best alternative is futile if there are lapses in implementing it. The flexible working hour structure needs to be implemented in an effective manner, incorporating check and balances to avoid misuse of the flexibility provided.
Evaluation is the last step of the decision-making process and reviews the entire process after implementation. It also gives pointers for existence of a fresh problem. Evaluation of the flexible working hour action plan will help in understanding if the high turnover issue still exists. If yes, a new decision-making process will began with identification of a new problem.
References
Robbins, Stephen P., DeCenzo, D.A. and Wolter, R. (2010). Supervision Today. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Wiley, John (2012). The Decision-Making Process. Retrieved from http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/The-DecisionMaking-Process.topicArticleId-8944,articleId-8863.html
