Classifying decision situations

Classifying decision situations

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Abstract

When in a managerial position, decision making can be the most hectic part of the job description as it involves a lot of thinking and more so, wisdom. Many managers in most cases are faced with decision making dilemma and if care is not taken, they may end up making very wrong decisions especially if compromise is depicted. Thus, several approaches should be taken in order to ensure proper decision making. This will be important in fostering the growth and development of the organization.

Introduction

Decision making in an organization is basically pictured as a rational and coherent process whereby the alternative interests as well as perspectives are taken into consideration in an orderly manner up to the selection of the best choice (Yu, 2013). Decision making in an organization ensures that the organizational vision and mission are achieved in the desired way.

Being in a managerial position, I am faced with several decision making situations on a daily basis. However, there is one time that the decision making process was a little bit challenging. I work in a beauty and cosmetics company that deals with modelling as well. One of my friends was hired as a model in the company. She was qualified for the position and was not hired because I knew her. Most of the models had more than one job and thus they had to work their own schedules out to see how they could undertake them all. The problem came in when my friend was taking most of her time on the other jobs she had and thus ignored her modelling profession abit. We gave her several warning letters but she did not change. Finally, the manager decided that she was to be fired from the job and we both had a hand in making this decision. Unfortunately, I was the one to pass this information to her. It was the hardest thing I had to do. She was my friend but I was simply doing my duties. She finally had to exit the company.

There are several decision making levels in the hierarchy of an organization. In this case, this was a tactical decision. This is because it is a decision that can be made by middle management, such as me. It helps to implement the strategy of the organization. The type of decision making environment was certainty (Bazerman, & Moore, 2012). This is because it is only one type of event that is taking place and does not have a very adverse impact on the organizational practices. The decision was made as a group since it involved the top management and the middle management as well. The approach that was needed to make a decision was the democratic-decision making approach (Yu, 2013). This is because the decision can be classified as mid-sized and may be in need of some bit of urgency. The decision has to be made and move on.

The main thing that made this decision challenging was basically the fact that the person was my friend. We had two relationships in this case. Asocial relationship and a work relationship. Making this decision would probably at some level affect our friendship but I had to do my job. What I learnt in this situation is that being a manager involves a lot of wisdom and avoidance of compromise. No situation should be compromised for the sake of the goals of an organization.

According to Buchanan & O’Connell’s book titled “A brief history of decision making”, managers have to come into terms with the constraints that are related to making decisions. Such as in my case, complex circumstance are a part of decision making. The article talks about several decision making approaches. With the approach I took, it as well pushes for a ‘first and frugal’ kind of reasoning. This enables the organization to make a decision and move on faster.

Conclusion

Decision making is thus clearly a very key factor in any organization. This is because it makes a determination as to whether the organization will be able to run efficiently or not and whether it will achieve its mission or not. Decisions in an organization vary in intensity and thus require different approaches in order for it to be handled effectively.

References

Bazerman, M., & Moore, D. A. (2012). Judgment in managerial decision making.

Yu, P. L. (2013). Multiple-criteria decision making: concepts, techniques, and extensions (Vol. 30) Springer Science & Business Media.