Judgment, Reflection-in-Action, and Decision Making in Management - Literature review Example

Judgment, Reflection-in-Action, and Decision Making Introduction Some aspects are very important in the managementand leadership especially in an organization. For instance, the three aspects namely good judgment, reflection-in-action, and effective decision making play a leading role in ensuring effectiveness in an organization.Firstly, judgment can be applied to executives to mean the power to make right decisions, and all the three forms of judgment, action, reality and value, are very essential especially to managerial work. While making good judgments, integrative thinking is appropriate because it helps in generating new solutions and studies reveal that successful leaders engage in integrative thinking as opposed to conventional thinking. In addition, courage, endurance, detachment and commitment are some of the moral qualities associated with good judgment. Secondly, reflection-in-action comes in when dealing with situations of instability, uncertainty, and uniqueness, and studies show that reflection-in-action enable individuals to acquire and refining their knowledge in action by reflecting on their action. More so, it helps practitioners are able to spontaneously apply their knowing in action to such surprising situations. Lastly, decision-making process is one of the most important processes in organizations, and so the adoption of inquiry approach and engagement in cognitive conflict is useful as it helps in making more informed decisions needed in an organization. This paper provides a very thoughtful and in-depth discussion on judgment, reflection-in-action and decision making and noting their importance and how I can work on them in future. Tabular Summary The three insights 1. Judgment Action Reality Value 2. Reflection-in-action 3. Decision making The Three Insights Judgment In the management, judgment is a very significant quality that managers need to possess. The term judgment can be applied to various fields including business executives where it can be used to refer to the power to make or reach right decisions. Judgment has been identified as one of the universal requirement for all work worldwide but most importantly managerial work. Arguably, the distribution of resources and role allocation in an organization requires good judgment. As David Bell put it, theories of judgment include subjectivity, objectivity, reflexivity and rationality (Bell 1987, p.222). According to Vickers (1991, p.178), there are three broad forms of judgment namely the action judgment, the reality judgment and the value judgment. Arguably, the action judgment responds to certain questions, which have been defined by judgments of reality and value, and the maker of action judgment is an agent. The reality judgment involves repeated analysis and synthesis, and it requires handling, dissociating as well as re-associating ideas or concepts. More so, just like the action judgment, it also has the scope of ingenuity. Ideally, those who make reality judgment need to be aware of where to stop and should be able to sense the point beyond which the decision is not worth making. Arguably, the makers of reality judgment are observers and so they need to objectivity, balance and a vivid head to follow the permutations of the possible and practicable. They need to have a ready sense for the aspects of the situation, which are considered most significant. Furthermore, action judgment makers need to be persistent and bold, honest, clear-sighted and brave among others (Vickers 1991, p.187). Accordingly, the value judgment raises problems far more obscure and this form of judgment is very important since in all complex decisions, reconciling the conflicting values involved is the sole aim but this is difficult. The value judgment defines the kind of solutions that are acceptable and so the consideration of values is very important when making any major decision. Normally, business executives find appropriate standards of value when approaching decisions. The maker of the value judgment is an agent and so does not require so much detachment though in every value judgment there is a creative process (Vickers 1991, p.188). Most people believe that managers are rational, purposeful, and decisive and that have to think critically and analyse the situation before deciding on what to do. Isenberg posits that successful senior managers have general concerns and think quite often about how to do things as opposed to how to accomplish them. They rely on their ability to analyse while responding to a particular problem (Isenberg 1984, p.81), much more, senior executives think on how to develop effective organizational processes and how to deal with the overriding concerns or general goals (Isenberg 1984, p.82). Moreover, while making their daily decisions, senior managers tend to depend on thought processes like dealing with ambiguity, using intuition, novelty, surprise, and inconsistency among others (Isenberg 1984, p.85). In the process of responding to certain problems, some leaders tend to be conventional thinkers as they seek simplicity thereby coming up with shallow and inappropriate solutions. Conventional thinkers develop a narrow and simplistic perception of causality (Martin 2009, p.45). On the contrary, others who are integrative thinkers do not really mind messy problems, they seek complexity, and this enables them to develop innovative solutions (Martin 2007, p.5). Leaders who are integrative thinkers have a broader view of a salient idea or situation (Martin 2009, p.41). In the end, integrative thinking generates options as well as new solutions, and develops a sense of limitless possibilities whereas conventional thinking enhances the illusion that creative solutions do not exist (Martin 2007, p.8). Therefore, business executives need to be integrative thinkers since successful leaders engage in integrative thinking since good judgement is very important in management. Personally, judgment is very important to enhance the ability to engage in integrative and critical thinking while making decisions and solving problems, and by embracing integrative thinking and other valuable managerial qualities, I will be able to work on good judgmentas this is very important in managerial work. In addition, I have realized that integrative thinking can help in having a broader view of a situation and come up with an informed and fair judgment. Moreover, I have learnt that courage, commitment and endurance help in making good judgment. Reaching good judgment and right decision is very demanding and frustrating and may leave a person helpless. Therefore, courage, endurance, and detachment and commitment are some of the moral qualities linked with good judgment. Accordingly, I have learnt realized that good judgment depends on an individual’s ability to control or manage the stress of the office in which the judgment process is to take place as well as the stress of the judgment itself. Reflection-in-Action In most cases, reflection-in-action surfaces when dealing with situations of indecision, unpredictability, exceptionality and value conflict, and this concept was first articulated by a scholar called Schon and has been developed to be important for management and organization learning (Yanow and Tsoukas, 2009, p.1341). Reflection-in-action can either be verbal and non-verbal and it is very essential to artistry of competent practitioners like musicians, athletes, physicians among others (Schon 1992, p.125). Individuals demonstrate what they know via spontaneous and unthinking actions in their daily lives, and this makes Schon to conclude that people’s knowing is in their action. Societal members usually consult professionals to help them define and finding possible solutions to their problems (Schon 1983, p.4). According to Schon, making decisions about what actions to take based on the knowledge we have represents knowing-in-action. However, when decision-making involves a more conscious approach to what individuals do, that shows reflection-in-action. Normally, competent practitioners know more than they can say and they show this in practice, more so, they show a capacity for reflection on their knowing in the course of the action and they occasionally use this capability when dealing with distinctive, indeterminate, and contradictory situations. This is so since most professionals face increasing situations of uncertainty, uniqueness, value of conflict and others (Schmidt 2000, p.269). The professions contribute significantly in the well-being of our society especially in running of various business activities and organizations (Schon 1983, p.3). Schon argues that it is necessary for individuals to know more that they can say, in that, people may be unable to articulate why they do or think about something, but they just know. This has been identified by Schon to serve as knowing-in-action and according to Schon, reflection-in-action can be described as thinking while on fee, and it incorporates reviewing experiences and assumptions to formulate new ways of understanding and acting within a situation (Vince and Reynolds n.d, p.4). Arguably, there are certain actions, recognitions or judgments which people know how to do without necessarily thinking about them before or during performance, and in most cases, individuals are not able to determine the knowing that their actions reveal. In some cases, the concept knowing-in-action is synonymously used with intuition, instinct or motor skills (Schon 1992, p.124). According to Michael Polanyi, much of individual’s knowing-in-action is tacit, that is, people cannot say what they already know how to do (Schon 1992, p.124). Reflection in action may involve varying, combining and recombining various issues that give coherence to the performance and a practitioner’s reflection can act as a corrective to over learning and through reflection. Practitioners are able to presents, criticize the tacit understandings, and can as well make new sense of the conditions of doubt or uniqueness and this may allow them to practice. Studies reveal that most competent practitioners learn from reflecting on practice (Schmidt 2000, p.270), and they allow themselves to experience surprise, puzzlement or confusion especially in a situation that are uncertain or unique. In addition, they carry out an experiment to generate new understandings of a situation as well as possible changes in the situation. Ideally, when individuals reflect on the action, they become researchers in the practice context, shun away from being dependent on established theory or technique, and develop a new theory of the unique case. Therefore, according to Schon, reflection-in-action can easily proceed since it does depend on the dichotomies of technical rationality. Schon provides an illustration of children balancing tasks to serve as an example of reflection-in-action. Arguably, reflection-in-action can take place very quickly or over a prolonged period. More so, it can be on various aspects of practice and it is believed to help practitioners cope up with troublesome divergent situations of practice, and a reflective practitioner is expected to make sense of a given situation in various ways (Vince and Reynolds n.d, p.4). Individuals acquire and refine their knowledge in action simply by reflecting on their action, and most people also learn on the job by reflecting in practice and this improves the effectiveness of an organization (Schmidt 2000, p.270). Schon proposed reflection-in-action as a more realistic and useful and it helps practitioners spontaneously to apply their knowing-in-action to surprising situations they are facing (Yanow and Tsoukas 2009, p.1343). Reflection-in-action is an important aspect in management and so people need to use necessary skills in dealing with such difficult situations to ensure effectiveness in the organization. In my opinion, reflection-in-action is very important as it plays a very significant role in assisting executives to cope up with the troubling situations that they are facing during their daily operations. In such situations, the practitioners will have to act experimentally to be able to solve the problem. For instance, they reflect on the situation before them and on the prior understandings that have been revealed in their behaviours. Thereafter, they conduct an experiment that serves to generate new understandings and any change in the situation. More so, it helps in acquiring and refining knowledge in action by just reflecting on the action and assists individuals to undertake their jobs effectively by reflecting in practice. In the future, I might act on reflection-in-action by coming up with possible ways to deal with situations of uncertainty, uniqueness, and instability as well as the value of conflict and try to be a competent practitioner. Decision Making Undeniably, we all have to make decisions in our lives and most people find it hard to make effective decisions. Decision-making can be defined as the act of choosing between two or more opposing ideas or courses of action, and decision making is one of the most important skills in business and generally in life. Decisions made to respond to unique and unstructured situations are referred to as non-programmed decisions whereas programmed decisions are made when responding to a recurring situation (Lewis 2007, p.165). Truly, making decision is a very crucial endeavour in our daily lives and so it is necessary to make effective decisions which are required in almost all aspects of our lives including the management of various businesses and organizations, but decision making is particularly important for management and leadership. In most cases, decisions are made using either intuition or reasoning or both. Literally, the decision making process involve defining and clarifying the issue, gather all the possible facts to understand causes, brainstorm possible options and solutions, considering and comparing each option, selecting the best option, and lastly explain the decision to those involved and follow up for effective implementation. Brainstorming promotes creativity and allows participants to generate new ideas or solutions (Lewis 2007, p.164). Studies reveal that there are some leaders who make good and effective decisions while there are others who make bad decisions. According to research findings, leaders making effective decisions acknowledge all decisions as processes and respond to them as such but leaders making bad decisions perceive decisions as events which they control themselves. Arguably, not all decisions are effective especially in the extent to which they allow individuals to identify and consider a wide range of ideas. However, there are two broad approaches of decision making, that is, inquiry and advocacy. Inquiry approach is an open process that is meant to generate multiple alternatives, encourage exchange of ideas, and produce an effective solution. On the contrary, advocacy is where a group of individuals are charged with the responsibility of making decisions and coming up with what they believe is the best available solution. The outcome of the two approaches are very distinct, for instance, the outcome of inquiry is collective ownership while winners and losers for advocacy (Garvin and Roberto 2001, p.110). Notably, a process that is characterized by inquiry tends to produce high quality decisions that helps in advancing the organization’s objectives and implemented effectively and in time. This has forced many organization leaders to push for inquiry approach as opposed to advocacy approach. Effective decision-making involves three elements, that is, constructive conflict, consideration, and closure. Primarily, critical thinking and aggressive debate causes conflict but this conflict brings ideas into focus enabling involved leaders to make more informed and effective choices. However, some conflicts can interfere with the decision making process. Conflict may be cognitive or affective, for instance, cognitive conflict relates to work at hand and it consists of disagreements over ideas, differing individuals’ opinions as well as assumptions. It originates from differences in judgments on how to meet common goals (Rabinand Miller 2000, p.171). This form of conflict is healthy in an organization and it is also important to effective inquiry. Cognitive conflict enhances decision quality and outcome consensus (Cropanzano 2001, p.215). In contrast, affective conflict is emotional and it involves personal frictions and clashing personalities and it results to individuals’ loss of interest in participating in the implementation process making the decision making process to be ineffective (Garvin and Roberto 2001, p.111). Scholars reveal that cognitive conflict promotes decision making whereas affective conflict just diminishes the process (Rabin and Miller 2000, p.171). Therefore, leaders need to engage more in cognitive conflict as compared to affective conflict in order to make an effective decision and improve the operation of the organization. Consideration appears once the decision has been made and the alternatives dismissed in that, individuals participating in the process must be convinced that their views have been valued and considered. Every participant need to be convinced that they have influenced the final decision because the participants will be encouraged when they believe that the process was fair.Organizational justice is all about the fairness in the decision making process (Cropanzano2001, p.216). Actually, when the manager’s ability to make good decisions is not trustworthy, the employees’motivation is highly compromised (Chan and Mauborgne 2003, p.2). Therefore, it is necessary for leaders to demonstrate consideration throughout the decision-making process and listen to every participant’s views without being bias. It is important for leaders to reveal how each participant’s ideas affected the final decision.Accordingly, the closure of the decision making process can also be hectic since deciding too early or too late can negatively affect the process. Both deciding too early or too late are problems that result from unchecked advocacy (Garvin and Roberto 2001, p.115). Notably, the fair process when making decision incorporates three principles namely engagement, explanation and expectation clarity (Chan and Mauborgne 2003, p.6). Therefore, leaders and participants need to become more comfortable with ambiguity and be willing to make quick decisions. Management is essentially a decision-making process, therefore, effective decision making process is important since leads to better utilisation of resources, helps in facing problems and challenges, increase efficiency, and motivate employees among others. Managers wishing to build trust and rapport with the employees need to establish effective decision making skills since making fair and sound decisions and judgments will increase their effectiveness and credibility which very important in management. Personally, decision-making is very important to me since effective decision-making process helps in making good decisions in the end and enforces participants or employees to build their trust on their leader. More so, I have realized that superior decision making and successful outcomes are very difficult but scholars have proposed some of the process traits that are associated with superior outcomes and they include having multiple alternatives, testing assumptions, developing well-defined criteria, dissent and debate, and lastly the perceived fairness (Garvin and Roberto 2001, p.116). I plan to engage in cognitive and constructive conflict, as it is very healthy and useful when it comes to effectiveness in an organization. More so, by adopting the inquiry approach of decision making process will help in considering all the necessary issues in the process including the participants’ views, and this is very important. Conclusion Good judgment, reflection-in-action and effective decision making are very important in managerial work. Judgment has been considered one of the major requirements in all works including managerial work and it helps business executives to make right decisions during their operations. I have realized that integrative thinking is very important as it helps in developing a broader perspective of a given situation and come up with an informed and fair judgement in the end. Accordingly, I have learnt that courage, commitment and endurance assist in making good judgment. In addition, reflection-in-action enables practitioners to cope up with extreme situations of uncertainty, value of conflict, uniqueness as well as instability. I have realized that reflection-in-action helps in dealing with difficult situations, and it also helps in acquiring and refining knowledge in action by reflecting on the action. More so, I have become aware that reflection-in-action enables individuals to do their jobs effectively by reflecting in practice. Effective decision making can be very hectic and so adopting the inquiry approach and engaging in cognitive conflict as opposed to advocacy approach and affective conflict can help in leaders to make more informed choices during the decision making process. Personally, I have learnt that effective decision-making process helps in making good decisions in the end and enforces participants or employees to build their trust on their leader. References Bell, D. 1987, The Art of Judgment, Oxford University Press, Vol. 96, No. 382, pp. 221-244. Chan, K., and Mauborgne, R. 2003, Fair Process, Harvard Business Process, July-August. 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Schon, D. 1992, The Theory of Inquiry: Dewey’s Legacy to Education, Curriculum Inquiry, Vol. 22, No. 2 (Summer, 1992), pp. 119-139. Vickers, G. 1991, Judgement. Ch.14 in Creative Management, Edited by J. Henry, Sage. Vince, R., and Reynolds, M., n.d.Organizing Reflective Practice, pp. 1-16. Yanow, D., and Tsoukas, H. 2009, What is Reflection-in-Action? A Phenomenological Account, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 46, 8, pp. 1339-1364. Read More