Highlight The Main Advantages And Disadvantages Of Individual Versus Group Decision Making. Discuss The Main Factors Affecting Decision-making Processes In Organisations. How Can Managers Ensure Effective Decision-making?
Highlight the main advantages and disadvantages of individual versus group decision making. Discuss the main factors affecting decision-making processes in organisations. How can managers ensure effective decision-making? January 2001, Word Count: 3113.
¡§Decision making is the process of making a choice between alternatives¡¨ Rollinson (1998).
Decision-making is almost universally defined as choosing between alternatives within an organisation. It is both an objective and subjective process involving both the identification of goals and formulating an orderly process for attaining them, but also the actual decision makers¡¦ characteristics and traits may promote expendancy shortcuts and excepting less than ideal alternatives. It should further be noted that in accordance with Minzberg and his conceptualised empirically based three stage phases of decision making: identification, development and selection, he deduces that it is also a dynamic process as there are continuous ¡¥feed-back¡¦ loops in each of the phases. ¡§Feed-back loops can be caused by problems of timing, politics, disagreements among managers, inability to identify an appropriate alternative or implement the solution, turnover of managers, or the sudden appearance of a new alternative¡¨ Herbert A Simon (1955).
Decision-making is one of the foremost primary responsibilities of management and executives alike at all levels of the business organisation, and is directly related to all of the traditional management functions. Subsequently it is adhered to be one of the riskiest and toughest purposes that managers have to undertake. The quality of a managers¡¦ decisions directly effects his or her career opportunities, rewards and job satisfaction, but more prominently the resulting decisions contribute to the success or potential failure of an organisation. Bad decisions have the potential to irreparably damage a business or career. Decision-making is a sequential process rather than a series of
¡§Decision making is the process of making a choice between alternatives¡¨ Rollinson (1998).
Decision-making is almost universally defined as choosing between alternatives within an organisation. It is both an objective and subjective process involving both the identification of goals and formulating an orderly process for attaining them, but also the actual decision makers¡¦ characteristics and traits may promote expendancy shortcuts and excepting less than ideal alternatives. It should further be noted that in accordance with Minzberg and his conceptualised empirically based three stage phases of decision making: identification, development and selection, he deduces that it is also a dynamic process as there are continuous ¡¥feed-back¡¦ loops in each of the phases. ¡§Feed-back loops can be caused by problems of timing, politics, disagreements among managers, inability to identify an appropriate alternative or implement the solution, turnover of managers, or the sudden appearance of a new alternative¡¨ Herbert A Simon (1955).
Decision-making is one of the foremost primary responsibilities of management and executives alike at all levels of the business organisation, and is directly related to all of the traditional management functions. Subsequently it is adhered to be one of the riskiest and toughest purposes that managers have to undertake. The quality of a managers¡¦ decisions directly effects his or her career opportunities, rewards and job satisfaction, but more prominently the resulting decisions contribute to the success or potential failure of an organisation. Bad decisions have the potential to irreparably damage a business or career. Decision-making is a sequential process rather than a series of
Bibliography: Books: "�X Organisational Behaviour: Theory and Practice, Hodgetts. M. Richard, 1991, Macmillan Publishing Company, New York "�X Organisational Behaviour, Fred Luthans, 1995, 7th Edition, McGraw Hill Publishing, USA "�X Organisational Theory and Design, A.G. Bedeian, R.E Zammuto, 1991, The Dryder Press International Edition, Orlando "�X Management and Organisational Behaviour, Laurie J Mullins, Pitman Publishing, 1996, 4th Edition, "�X Organisational Behaviour, Hellnegel, Slocum, Woodman, 1995, 7th Edition, West Publishing Company, America "�X Organisational Behaviour, Robert Kreitner, Angelo Kinicki, 5th Edition 2000, McGraw Hill Publishing "�X People in Organisations ¡V An Introduction to Organisational Behaviour, T.R Mitchell, J.R Larson Jnr, 1987, International Edition, McGraw Hill Publishing International Photocopies / Journals: "�X Group Versus Individual Decision Making, Frederick C. Miner, 1984 (Organisational Behaviour and Human Performance) "�X The Hidden Traps in Decision Making, John S. Hammond, Ralph L. Keeney, Howard Raiffa, Harvard Business Review, September ¡V October 1998, Volume 76 World Wide Web "�X www.researchassistant.com "�X www.slu.edu/department/managemen/chapter6.htm