This can be regarded as the cognitive process resulting in the selection of a belief or a course of action among several alternative possibilities.
Every decision-making process produces a final choice that may or may not prompt action. Decision-making is the study of identifying and choosing alternatives based on the values and preferences of the decision maker. Decision-making is one of the central activities of management and is a huge part of any process of implementation.
For effective decision-making
Objectives must first be established
Objectives must be classified and placed in order of importance
Alternative actions must be developed
The alternative must be evaluated against all the objectives
The alternative that is able to achieve all the objectives is the tentative decision
The tentative decision is evaluated for more possible consequences
The decisive actions are taken, and additional actions are taken to prevent any adverse consequences from becoming problems and starting both systems (problem analysis and decision-making) all over again
There are steps that are generally followed that result in a decision model that can be used to determine an optimal production plan.
In a situation featuring conflict, role-playing may be helpful for predicting decisions to be made by involved parties.
Decision-making steps
Each step in the decision-making process may include social, cognitive and cultural obstacles to successfully negotiating dilemmas. It has been suggested that becoming more aware of these obstacles allows one to better anticipate and overcome them. The Arkansas program presents eight stages of moral decision-making based on the work of James Rest:
1. Establishing community: creating and nurturing the relationships, norms, and procedures that will influence how problems are understood and communicated. This stage takes place prior to and during a moral dilemma.
2. Perception: recognizing that a problem exists.
3. Interpretation: identifying competing explanations for the problem, and evaluating the drivers behind those interpretations.
4. Judgment: sifting through various possible actions or responses and determining which is more justifiable.
5. Motivation: examining the competing commitments which may distract from a more moral course of action and then prioritizing and committing to moral values over other personal, institutional or social values.
6. Action: following through with action that supports the more justified decision. Integrity is supported by the ability to overcome distractions and obstacles, developing implementing skills, and ego strength.
7. Reflection in action.
8. Reflection on action.
There are seven steps in effective decision making.
Step 1: Identify the decision to be made. You realize that a decision must be made. You then go through an internal process of trying to define clearly the nature of the decision you must make.
This first step is a very important one.
ITQ
What is required for effective decision-making?
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For effective decision-making, it is essential that objectives must first be established. Objectives must be classified and placed in order of importance. In addition, alternative actions must be developed, and the alternative must be evaluated against all the objectives. Similarly, the alternative that is able to achieve all the objectives should be the tentative decision.
Step 2: Gather relevant information. Most decisions require collecting pertinent information. The real trick in this step is to know what information is needed, the best sources of this information, and how to go about getting it. Some information must
be sought from within you through a process of self-assessment;
other information must be sought from outside yourself-from books, people, and a variety of other sources. This step, therefore, involves both internal and external “work”.
Step 3: Identify alternatives. Through the process of collecting information you will probably identify several possible paths of action, or alternatives. You may also use your imagination and information to construct new alternatives. In this step of the decision-making process, you will list all possible and desirable alternatives.
Step 4: Weigh evidence. In this step, you draw on your information and emotions to imagine what it would be like if you carried out each of the alternatives to the end. You must evaluate whether the need identified in Step 1 would be helped or solved through the use of each alternative. In going through this difficult internal process, you begin to favor certain alternatives which appear to have higher potential for reaching your goal. Eventually you are able to place the alternatives in priority order, based upon your own value system.
Step 5: Choose among alternatives. Once you have weighed all the evidence, you are ready to select the alternative which seems to be best suited to you. You may even choose a combination of alternatives. Your choice in Step 5 may very likely be the same or similar to the alternative you placed at the top of your list at the end of Step 4.
Step 6: Take action. You now take some positive action which begins to implement the alternative you chose in Step 5.
Step 7: Review decision and consequences. In the last step you experience the results of your decision and evaluate whether or not it has “solved” the need you identified in Step 1. If it has, you may stay with this decision for some period of time. If the decision has not resolved the identified need, you may repeat certain steps of the process in order to make a new decision. You may, for example, gather more detailed or somewhat different information or discover additional alternatives on which to base your decision.
Kinds of Decisions
There are several basic kinds of decisions.
1. Decisions whether: This is the yes/no, either/or decision that must be made before we proceed with the selection of an alternative. Should I buy a new TV? Should I travel this summer? Decisions whether are made by weighing reasons
pro and con. A simple worksheet with two columns (one for Pro--reasons for, and one with Con--reasons against) can be useful for this kind of decision.
It is important to be aware of having made a decision whether, since too often we assume that decision making begins with the identification of alternatives, assuming that the decision to choose one has already been made.
2. Decisions which: These decisions involve a choice of one or more alternatives from among a set of possibilities, the choice being based on how well each alternative measures up to a set of predefined criteria.
3. Contingent decisions: These are decisions that have been made but put on hold until some condition is met. Most people carry around a set of already made, contingent decisions, just waiting for the right conditions or opportunity to arise. Time, energy, price, availability, opportunity, encouragement--all these factors can figure into the necessary conditions that need to be met before we can act on our decision. Some contingent decisions are unstated or even exist below the awareness of the decision maker. These are the types that occur when we seize opportunity. The best contingent and opportunistic decisions are made by the prepared mind--one that has thought about criteria and alternatives in the past.
4. Contingent alternatives: Similar to contingent decisions, contingent alternatives involve two or more choices of action, one of which will be taken when the appropriate trigger occurs. Often this trigger is an event or more information.
5.
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What are Contingent decisions?
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Contingent decisions are decisions that have been made but put on hold until some conditions are met. It may involve just waiting for the right conditions or opportunity to arise. Time, energy, price, availability, opportunity, encouragement are put in consideration to make contingent decisions.