Personal Analysis Reflection in the Hosfesteds - Literature review Example

Personal Case Reflection Name Date Course Executive Summary The decision that was made involved not following the order of the superior with regards to the hiring of temporary staff. This is because the number that had been recommended by the superior was less. The Hosfesteds framework explains the concepts that reflect the how the decision was arrived at. The heuristic concepts were also applied during the decision making process although the level of motivation was low. The social conformity was also affected by the decision making process as it is against the norm to ignore the orders of the superiors. The major strength in the decision making process was planning. However, there was weaknesses in terms of the time taken during the decision making process. It is essential that consultations are made before a decision is made. The ethical concepts should also be considered during the decision making process in order to avoid conflicts after the decision has been made. Introduction As a decision maker in the company, I decided to not to follow the orders of my superiors with regards to the hiring of temporary staff members. I was in charge of the process and the boss wanted me to hire only five employees to perform a huge workload. However, due to my knowledge and experience, the work could not be carried out by 5 employees and I decide to hire 10 employees. The 10 employees had the potential of carrying out the work effectively and also accomplish the task within a short period of time. My decision my influenced various factors including the nature of the work and its urgency. The work was complicated and it required a high number of employees. The decision had different outcomes with some being positive and other being negative. The work was completed on time and it was important for the organization. The work was also carried out effectively which played an essential role in promoting the brand image of the company. The community was also happy with the company for the employment opportunities as all the employees were locals. However, the boss was not happy as I had ignored his orders of hiring a few employees. The decision therefore led to a misunderstanding with the boss. The paper is thus a reflection of the decision. Analysis Hofstedes cultural dimension is one of the important frameworks that are used for the purposes of explaining the effects of the society’s culture on the values of its members. Five cultural dimensions have been put forward by the theory and it is useful in explaining the concepts of the society. Power distance is one of the cultural dimensions that seek to explain the relationship between those who are in power and those who are less powerful (Pettigrew, 2014). The situation is reflected in my situation as the power distance at the company is high. The concepts of individualism determine the level of inputs that is required of them. Unlike individualism, collectivism values the group work and consultations. However, the level of individualism is high at the common ay as there were consultations. This was also important in influencing the decision that was made. The uncertainty avoidance index is also one of the dimensions and it deals with the level of tolerance to change (March, 2013). At the company, rules and regulations have been put in place to ensure that employee resistance is minimized. However, going against the orders of the boss was a difficult decision due to the high uncertainty avoidance index. The rules and regulations at the company make it difficult to oppose the superiors. The concept of long term and short term orientation is also one of the dimensions in the framework. My decision was influenced by the long term orientation as the public image of the company would have been affected. However, the orders of the manager was based on a short term orientation and hence the need for ignoring it. The motivational perspective is one of the concepts that affects the decision making process. Social loafing is one of the aspects of motivational perspective. It involves exerting less effort for purposes of achieving a goal when working individually or in a group (Zsambok, 2014). Social loafing concepts were present in the company as the bosses wanted to apply less efforts to achieve the goals and objectives of the company. This influenced the decision as I had to take a stand which was against the orders of the managers. The existence of social loafing has the potential of affecting the relationship between the employees. The lack of motivation was also an influential factor in my decision as social loafing has negative impacts on the motivation of the individuals. The concepts of social conformity require the individuals to comply with the rules and regulations of the society. In the society, the junior employees are required to comply with the orders of their bosses. However, my decision was against this social conformity as the decision was against the orders of the boss. The decision was the made for the best interest of the company although it was against the social conformity. According to the motivational perspective, the concepts of social conformity may affect the decision making process in either a positive or negative way (Çağman, 2010). It is also important to note that the lack of motivation was also a factor that influenced any decision. The decision was made independently as it was in the best interest of the company. The concepts of heuristics are important in terms of finding a solution to a problem (Glimcher, 2013). The problems solving process is may be complicated and it may involve the use of judgment, common senses, educated guess or the use of a rule of thumb. My decision was based on the use of common sense and educated guess. According to my experience and analysis, the work could not be completed by five people on time as had been recommended by the superior. On the other hand, it is also important to note that the use of common sense was important as the work was important for then company and the members of the society. Examining the problem is an important concept of heuristics before the decision making process. The use of the heuristic concepts is important in terms of ensuring that the decision made is appropriate for the situation. There was no bias during the process of decision making and it was not aimed at causing confrontations with the superiors. According to the theory of heuristics, the solution should be able to address the problem at hand (Gigerenzer, 2011). Although the decision may not be able to provide a perfect solution, it should solve the problem. My decision was able to fully solve the problem despite the misunderstandings that it caused with the superiors. As a decision maker, it is important to ensure that the decisions that are made can address the problems as hand. According to the game theory, some of the decision a made appear to be more of a gamble. The decision makers usually gamble with the decisions made as they may not know the outcome of the decision. It is also important to note that the decision making process should be consultative. Critical Decision The decision making had some strength considering the nature of the decision that was required. On of the major strengths of the decision making was that it was well planned. The planning process was for the purposes of highlighting the benefits that the decision will have on the company as well as the members of the society. The best decision was required at the time for the purposes of solving the problem at hand and hence the importance of proper planning. According to the normative and descriptive decision theory, the concepts of planning are important when making a decision (Betsch, 2014). This is because the theory highlights that best decision should be taken when dealing with any situation. The expectations of the company as well as the members of the society were considered during the decision aiming process. This played an essential role in ensuring that the decision was successful. According to the prospect theory, risk taking is usually important during the decision making process. It was through the analysis of the expectations of the members of the community and the company that the risk was taken. It was risky to make the decision considering that it was going against the orders of the superior. This was a risk considering that the decision could have led to loosing the job. The community as well as the company benefited from the decision although it was controversial. One of the weaknesses of the decision making process is that I relied heavily on heuristics. The overreliance on heuristics during the decision making process is not advisable as it may lead to the wrong decisions being made. The overreliance on heuristics made it impossible to make consultations and instead the decision was made in a hurry for the purposes of ensuring that it is not overruled. Although there was no bias during the decision making process, the overreliance on the heuristics may easily lead to bias. According to the expected utility theory, the popular choices have the potential of contradicting the expected values (Jones, 2010). This can best explain the situation during the decision making process as it was against the popular policy. The other weakness of the decision is that it was made in a hurry and within a short period time and hence complicating the process. Since the decision was made in a hurry, it appeared more of a gamble as opposed to being a concrete solution to the problem. It therefore went against the consistency theory where the accuracy of the decisions is important. According to the theory, comfort can be achieved when there is surety regarding the decision (Ferrell, 2014). This also formed part of the criticism to the solution although it was successful. Recommendations In order to improve on my decision making, it is advisable that consultations are carried out before the decision is made. Consultations can play an important role during the process of making decisions. According to the attributional theories, the risk of self-serving bias and egocentric bias is usually high and it may contribute a wrong decision (Ferrell, 2014). However, carrying out consultations before the decision making process is important in enhancing the process of decision making. According to Gigerenzer et al. (2011), although the consultations with the superiors would not have yielded any results, consultations with the colleagues could play an important role in improving the decision. More time should have been allocated for the process of making the decision in order to ensure that it is fully acceptable by the management and the entire organization. The opinions of the other members of the organization as well as the colleagues should have been sought and overreliance on heuristics reduced in order to gain more support once the decision has been made. This is because of the negative impacts that it may have on the decision making process (Gigerenzer, et al, 2011). However, it should be used to solve the problem at hand as supported by the heuristics theory. During the decision making process, different factors should be considered including the effects that the decision will have. Any level of bias should be eliminated during the decision making process. All the advantages as well as the disadvantages as well as the disadvantages of the decision should be considered. A combination of different methods should be used during the decision making process in order to avoid any conflict. The decision made should be considerate and reasonable. It is also important to ensure that the decision made should be the bets decision depending on the situation (Felner, et al, 2011). According to Bundorf (2013), the concepts of ethics should be considered during the process of making decisions. This is important in terms of ensuring that the decisions made are fair to all the parties involved. Any indirect unethical behavior should be avoided during the process of making decisions. The concepts of virtue ethics are also important and should be applied in the decision making process. This is also for the purposes of ensuring that the decision is in accordance with expected utility theory (Bundorf, 2013). Although the decision that was made was good for the company, it also resulted into the insubordination of the superiors which may also be considered unethical. Striking a balance between ethics and doing what is best for the company is also important during the process. Risk taking should also be part of the decision making process as it may lead to better outcomes. However the risks with regards to the situation should be clearly analyzed in order to determine its severity. The level of information sharing should also be enhanced during the decision making process. Danilov (2010) points out that decisions made should add value to the organization as opposed to provoking conflicts among the members of the organization. The personality problems should also be avoided during the decision making process. It is advisable that the quality of the decision is improved through using various tools including the Johari window. Different decision making models should also be exploited in order to come up with proper decisions. Motivation during the decision making process is also important and this was lacking during the process (Danilov, 2010). It is important to ensure that the motivations factors are considered during the process. List of References Betsch, T, 2014, The routines of decision making, Psychology Press, New York. Bundorf, M, 2013, Are prescription drug insurance choices consistent with expected utility theory? Health Psychology, 32(9), 986. Çağman, N, 2010, Soft matrix theory and its decision making, Computers & Mathematics with Applications, 59 (10), 3308-3314. Danilov, V, 2010, Expected utility theory under non-classical uncertainty, Theory and decision, 68(1-2), 25-47. Felner, A, et al, 2011, Inconsistent heuristics in theory and practice, Artificial Intelligence, 175(9), 1570-1603. Ferrell, O, 2014, Business ethics: Ethical decision making & cases. Cengage Learning. Gigerenzer, G, 2011, Heuristic decision making, Annual review of psychology, 62, 451-482. Gigerenzer, G, et al, 2011, Heuristics: The foundations of adaptive behavior, Oxford University Press, Inc. Glimcher, P, 2013, Neuroeconomics: Decision making and the brain, Academic Press. Jones, G, 2010, Organizational theory, design, and change, Pearson, New York. March, J, 2013, Handbook of Organizations (RLE: Organizations) (Vol. 20), Routledge, London. Martinko, M. J., Harvey, P., & Dasborough, M. T. (2011), Attribution theory in the organizational sciences: A case of unrealized potential. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 32(1), 144-149. Pettigrew, A, 2014, The politics of organizational decision-making, Routledge, London. Zsambok, C, 2014, Naturalistic decision making, Psychology Press. Read More