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Do Teams Make Better Decisions Than Individuals

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Do Teams Make Better Decisions Than Individuals
Do Teams make better decisions than Individuals?

Technology continues to bring business competitors closer together in the global market. Smart businesses are positioning themselves to take the lead by using their intellectual capital at every level of the organization. Teams of employees are crucial to the partnership of corporate leadership, managers, and employees to improve company decision making and maximize strategic business advantages. Decision making is a large part of doing business. When there is only one person affected by a decision, it is relatively easy. But when employees and coworkers are involved, the best solution could be found be involving the group or team that will be affected (Francis).
According to Carl Spetzler, chairman of Palo Alto Calif.-based Strategic Decisions Group,” Building organizational decision competence, in his long experience, is achievable. It creates a huge value opportunity with relatively little attached cost. I know of nothing else that can give you so much bang for the buck in terms of significantly increasing in the value of an organization”(qtd. in Luecke). One example from General Motors shows the power of teams at work. Vincent Barabba, the general manager of corporate strategy and knowledge development, started dialog decision process teams or DDP.
The DDP involves two teams, a decision team comprising executives with power to allocate resources and an investigative team made up of managers and employees with relevant expertise and experience. This cast of characters brings knowledgeable people with different perspectives and responsibilities to problems and opportunities. (qtd. in Luecke)
The decision team would define problems and issues from their senior leadership perspective. The investigative team would analyze the problem or issue, consider metrics effected such as cost, quality, risk, and return on investment. The team would offer solutions options or a combination of solution options to the



Cited: Davenport, Thomas H. "Make Better Decisions - Harvard Business Review." Harvard Business Review Case Studies. The Magazine, Nov. 2009. Web. 19 Nov. 2011. Fisher, Kimball. “Leading Self-directed Work Teams: a Guide to Developing New Team Leadership Skills.” New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000. 16. Print. Francis, K. A. "Group Vs Individual Decision Making for a Business." Chron.com. Demand Media. Web. 10 Nov. 2011. Johnson, David W., and Frank P. Johnson. "Individual versus Group Decision Making." Joining Together: Group Theory and Group Skills. Ninth ed. Boston: Pearson Allyn and Bacon, 2006. 270-91. Print. Kocher, Martin, and Matthias Sutter. "Teams Make Better Decisions Than Individuals." Economic Journal January (2005). Teams Make Better Decisions than Individuals. RES Media Consultant Romesh Vaitilingam, Jan. 2005. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. Luecke, Richard. "Make Better Decisions - Harvard Management Update - Best Practices - Harvard Business Review." HBR Network - Harvard Business Review. Harvard Management Update, Apr. 2006. Web. 19 Nov. 2011. Lumsden, Gay, and Donald L. Lumsden. Communicating in Groups and Teams: Sharing Leadership. 3rd ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Pub, 2000. 185 Print. Robbins, Harvey, and Michael Finley. Why Teams Don 't Work: What Went Wrong and How to Make It Right. Princeton, NJ: Peterson 's/Pacesetter, 1995. 42-5. Print. Scholtes, Peter R., Brian L. Joiner, and Barbara J. Streibel. "The Power of Teams." The Team Handbook. Third ed. Madison, WI: Oriel, 2003. 1-1. Print. "Team Decisions Better for the Weary; Group of Tired People Can Make Better Choices than a Tired Individual." Consumer Health News 22 Aug. 2011, General Reference Center GOLD sec. GALE. Web. 8 Nov. 2011.

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