Management Decision Making - Case Study Example

Management decision makingIn arriving at a decision, the team applies cause and effect diagram, which investigates business systems for possible problems which cause inefficiencies. A decision making chain slows down due to lack of harmony among team members tasked with that responsibility. In the same way, a processing machine slows down hindering continuous flow of goods in the conveyor belt. The team given this mandate uses cause and effect diagrams to come up with overall facts about the system.

The process starts by investigations which look into possible reasons for a particular effect. In this case, the team investigates the Executive Information System (EIS) and finds out that major problems lie in the implementation. This is because the management is not equipped with the right skills required to run the system during implementation stage. Cause and effect diagrams lists from the biggest cause for the problem to the least, to guide the team in prioritising courses for action (Sproull, 2001).

A Pareto chart is a combination of a line and bar graph, used to bring out the differences in data validity, and highlights the most useful ones. This helps quality assurance managers in testing the system for any faults which affecting business process. For instance, when investigating why ATM cards are taking too long to process at a bank, all ATM application issues are listed in order of frequency to establish where the gap is mostly concentrated. This is where problem solving commences when addressing system issues.

The team used a combination of these tools to come up with the recommendations, which excluded software and hardware components from the EIS implementation issues. In establishing the cause, right decisions are made in singling out the two issues. This two tier approach is ideal in bringing out the most valid reasons for low uptake of the system. The only problem with this approach is that minor issues might be overlooked with has a potential of causing hitches later on in the system.ReferencesSproull, R. (2001). Process problem solving: a guide for maintenance and operations teams.

Portland, or: Productivity Press.