Excellent Decision Making Skills - Essay Example

Decision making models Name Institution Abstract Decision making is a very crucial element in day to day human life. All persons make decisions although they varying depending on their needs and situations, thus saying that decision making can be quite a difficult act may look so eccentric and incredible. However, a lot of practical studies have revealed that many people in organizations are very poor at making decision hence emphasis on the need for understanding for the betterment of their decision making skills. This paper discusses different models upon which one can structure their decision making. Introduction Decision making is among the most essential processes in institutions and a fundamental management tool at all stages. Decision making is a course of action of identifying a crisis, evaluating option, and picking one option. People will be making the superlative choice from the several options available basing on the present state of affairs during the decision making process. This is according to Cole (2004:151). Adding on that, Rollinson (2002) well thought-out that decision making is the process of fabricating a solution to a known crisis or problem. There are three central actions involved in the element of decision making. These activities are: design activity, intelligence activity, and choice activity. Even if all decisions are made basing on these three core activities, all decisions are not alike. While some are somewhat easy, others involve obscured range of considerations. As a result of this, persons need an approach that will help them to understand decisions making process. Excellent decision making skills are very vital in making careers successful universally and particularly for effectual management and leadership. Below are the discussions of decision models. (KING & ROWE 2012) Classical Decisions Theory Classical Decision Model is also referred to as the rational economic model and is the basis of the customary approach towards understanding personal decision making processes according to (Huczynski & Buchanan, 2001). This model or theory of decision making has constantly incorporated the idea of rationality and rational decisions in the entire course of discussions and recommendations. It is derived from several assumptions. The advantage of this model is that it points out a rational approach which can be applied to business in an organization in decisions making process. It is derived from a number of hypotheses that are all not reality in this contemporary information era. Herbert (1981) Decision Analysis This refers to a test that assesses the aptitude to make a decision in uncertain situations. It calls for candidates to make conversant judgments with complex incomplete and ambiguous information. By use of a decipherer situation, the test requires a move from reasoning in a logical manner to decisions that require increasing extent of judgment. For instance, basing on the classical model of decision making, People in the first step have to identify the problem they encounter or deal with. This model presumes that all problems are simple to be defined and revealed. This ends up categorizing problems into two: bounded problems, which means ‘problems that can easily be defined and taken as entities in the context in which they exist” (Rollinson, 2002:254) and unbounded problems which are “vague problems that are harder in terms of definition and cannot be easily estranged from the situation in which they occur” (Rollinson, 2002:254). It is during analysis of a decision that one can be able to tell its nature i.e. whether it is a hard decision or a simple one. And this is one of the advantages of decision analysis. Behavioral Decision Theory This decision making model discussed here. It has two interconnected aspects: the normative and the descriptive. The normative aspect deal with stipulating causes of events that conform most closely to the beliefs and values of the decision maker. The descriptive aspect on the other hand is charged with the responsibility of describing these beliefs and values and the way in which individuals incorporates them into their decision making processes. ( SANDERSON)2006Additionally, the normative model is based on the notion of decision making as an activity of information-processing, frequently one that takes place in the case of a single manager. Both the normative and descriptive sets of model ought to look into the set of other decisions or problem solution from which the preference is or has to be made. In behavioral decision making , the whole decision making process is studied in relation to organization or individuals behaviors to determine their influence in decision making hence understanding the decision making process can be basic to understanding the behavior of an individual or organization and vice versa (Sanderson, 2006). Dynamic and Naturalistic Decision Making Naturalistic decision making is an effort to understand how humans essentially make decisions in complex real-world settings, such as fire fighting that are familiar to them. Research shows that it has five essential characteristics (Ranyard, Crozier & Svenson, 2013). These are: context-bound informal modeling, proficient decision makers, empirical-based prescription, situation action matching rules of a decision, and process orientation. It looks into the dynamic and persistently changing state of affairs, real-time reactions to these changes, ill-defined tasks, time pressure, significant personal consequences for mistakes, and experienced decision makers. These task circumstances exist in operational setting related to crew systems and so it is indispensable to determine how people deal with these conditions (Ranyard, Crozier & Svenson, 2013). Group Decision Making Group decision making is a kind of participatory process where multiple individual’s acts communally, analyze problems or circumstances, reflect on and assess alternative courses of issues or actions, and one solution among the available alternatives. There is always a variation in the count of persons involved in decision making but often ranges from 2-7. Decision-making groups may be informal in nature, or formally established for a specific goal. The decision making process may be structured or unstructured (Ranyard, Crozier & Svenson, 2013). The functioning of these groups is to some extent affected by their composition and nature in terms of their size, structure, demographic makeup and purpose. The unforeseen external events faced by groups’ impact their growth and efficiency of decision-making. Summary Conclusions Decision making is a concept whose diversity cannot be understood at a glance. Due to its large scope and growing application in day-day human life, research continues for its better understanding hence perfections on decision making skills. As more and more research is conducted on it, new models will be invented and the existing ones innovated to fit in the prevailing situation. References KING, J. L., & ROWE, A. J. (2012). Decision making models. Calling the Shots. Pasadena, Calif, INTELECOM. http://uproxy.library.dc- uoit.ca/login?url=http://searchcenter.intelecomonline.net/marc.aspx?clip=IN T_TTL_05K_002 RANYARD, R., CROZIER, W. R., & SVENSON, O. (2013). Decision making cognitive models and explanations. London, Routledge. http://public.eblib.com/EBLPublic/PublicView.do?ptiID=180169. SANDERSON, C. J. (2006). Analytical models for decision making. Maidenhead, Open University Press. http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=295465 ROLLINSON, D., & BROADFIELD, A. (2002). Organizational behavior and analysis: an integrated approach. New York, Prentice Hall Financial Times Read More