Management Decisions

Most of us make decisions automatically and without realizing that people have diverse decision-making behaviors, which they bring to management positions. Think back to how you make decisions in your personal, student, or work life, especially where other people are involved.

Managers are often referred to as decision makers, and every organization grows, prospers, or fails as a result of decisions by its managers. Many manager decisions are strategic, such as whether to build a new factory, move into a new line of business, or sell off a division. Yet managers also make decisions about every other aspect of an organization, including structure, control systems, responses to the environment, and human resources. Managers scout for problems, make decisions for solving them, and monitor the consequences to see whether additional decisions are required. Good decision-making is vital part of good management because decisions determine how the organization solves its problems, allocates resources, and accomplishes its goals.

The business world is full of evidence of both good and bad decisions. Apple, which seemed all but dead in the mid-1990s, became the world's most admired company in 2008 based on decision made by CEO Steve Jobs and other top managers. No longer just a maker of computers, Apple is now in the music player business, the cell phone business, and the retailing business, among others. Itunes is now the second-largest seller of music behind Wal-Mart. Cadillac sales made a comeback after manager's ditched stuffy golf and yachting sponsorship and instead tied in with top Hollywood movies. On the other hand, Maytag's decision to introduce the Neptune Drying Center was a complete flop. The new $1200 product was hyped as a breakthrough in laundry, but the six-foot-tall Drying Center wouldn't fit into most people existing laundry rooms. Or consider the decision of Timex managers to replace the classic tag line, "it takes a licking and keeps on ticking," with the bland "Life is ticking." The desire to modernize their company's image led Timex managers to ditch one of the most recognizable advertising slogans in the world in favor of the lame and rather depressing new one. Decision-making is not easy. It must be done amid ever-changing factors, unclear information, and conflicting points of view.

2.0 Types of Decision and Problems

A decision is a choice made from available alternatives. For examples, an accounting manager's selection among Colin, Tasha and Carlos for the position of junior auditor is a decision. Many people assume that making a choice is the major part of decision making, but it is only a part.

Decision-making is the process of identifying problems and opportunities and then resolving them. Decision-making involves effort both before and after the actual choice. Thus, the decision as to whether