It is defined as a section of a course of action from among the many. Decision making is an important element in the planning process. It helps in directing where the resources should be allocated and whether they have been used well as intended.
CHARACTERISTICS OF DECISION MAKING
- It is always purposed to realize a particular goal or goals.
- It is a continuous process which cannot be done once ands stopped but is continually carried out
- It comes into picture only when there are many alternatives and therefore only a few alternatives are to be chosen
- It is an intellectual process that is guided by reasoning and analytical thinking
- It is carried out by all Managers irrespective of their levels
TYPES OF DECISIONS
1. OPERATIONAL AND STRATEGIC DECISIONS
Operational decisions are those made by the departmental heads and affects the day to day running of the departments. They are derived from the organizational decisions made at the top level. On the other hand the strategic decisions are made by the top level
managers and affect the entire organization. They relate to the issues of rules, procedures By the end of the topic you should be able:
- To state the types of decisions
- To discuss the steps of decision making
- Highlight the characteristics of decision making
- To identify the barriers to decision making
2. PROGRAMMED AND NON PROGRAMMED DECISIONS
These are the decisions that are made on a repetitive nature. They are always made in consultation with the company’s rules, procedures and policies to ensure that there is no violation of any kind
3. INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP DECISIONS
In a company setting managers make decisions in their capacity but others they make them as a group of managers for instance departmental decisions are an example of individual decision while the strategic decisions affecting the entire organizations are
made many mangers at the top level
4 MINOR DECISIONS AND MAJOR DECISIONS
Minor decisions are undertaken by managers but do not have fur reaching implications and do not commit much of the company’s resources while the major decisions are those made by managers and they cost an organization dearly. They include starting up projects for the organization
STEPS IN THE DECISION MAKING PROCESS
1. DEFINING THE PROBLEM
The problem must be understood well in order to plan a way out. This helps by avoiding jumping to conclusions based on symptoms instead the true causes be identified and understood.
2. ANALYSE THE PROBLEM
In the analysis of the problem, the factors that contributed to the problem must be sorted out, also understand the present situations and their effects in the future. An analysis must be in line with the objective as far as possible in order to make decision which are
relevant. Personal prejudices and biases should be avoided to make the process more credit
3. DEVELOP ALTERNATIVES
These are options or courses of action. A better decision stems from many alternatives generated as solutions. Better decisions are caused by the managers creativity and imagination
4. EVALUATE ALTERNATIVES
This is where the alternatives are evaluated to find out whether they help solve the existing problems. Evaluation is done in order to come out with the ones that achievable, practicable, most fruitful and less risk ones. The evaluation is meant to prepare a ranking of the alternatives from the one favoured to the least favoured.
5 SELECT AND IMPLEMENT THE DECISION
This is where the option that best sloves the problem is indeed put into action inorder to alleviate the problem or problems.
BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE DECISION MAKING
- The mangers evaluating the problem from a stereo type or pre conceived portion
- The tendency to avoid creativity and new ideas
- Responding to situations with solutions without proper information and knowledge
- Fights and conflicts between the various departmental managers
- Lack of the right skills and experience in those to carry out decision making
HOW TO AVOID THE DECISION MAKING PROBLEMS
- Avoid premature evaluations
- Encourage for creativity and analytical thinking
- Encourage groups to work as teams and compare their work for learning purposes
- Evaluators should do a way with bias
- Let there be free flow of information to guide the decision making process
