The Process of Decision-Making - Essay Example

Part 1 Introduction Decision making has its importance in any field and area and the importance of decision making increases in a corporation. The decisions made by the management at different levels have a different impact on the different stakeholders and requires that the decisions which are taken creates a positive impact on the organization. This essay looks to evaluate a decision which was taken by the top management and impacted different stakeholders at different levels in different ways. The process of decision making was complicated and conflicted different decision making bodies thereby resulting in confusion and dismay and panic among the stakeholders. This will thereby help to understand the negative impact which was created due to improper decision making which used different forms of communication. Decision Making An incident which shows the manner in which the organization is looking to pass on its decision and develop a process so that better effectiveness can be gained is as. The organization was aiming to move its production from one location to another so that they could save on the cost of transportation of resources used in production. The organization was doing so as it would help them to improve production. This was backed by the fact that the organization produces goods which is for the masses and requires it to be cheap. Having a production unit at the same location where the raw materials would be available would help to reduce cost. The other objective was the availability of fresh and better products which would help to improve the quality of the product and would help to multiply customer satisfaction. Moving to a new location would have an impact on the business as the organization would have to deal with cultural issues and also have to handle their present workforce. This could result in certain redundancies and job losses. Further, the organization decision would have an impact on different section of the society and stakeholders in a different way. This will require that employees don’t resist change and are willing to accept the different rules and regulations which is passed on to them (Brooks, 2009). The impact would be thereby be different on different stakeholders and the process of communication have to be wisely selected because it could lead towards resistance from different section of the society. The organization had taken a decision which would help them over a longer period of time and has to be communicated to all employees even at the lowest level so that appropriate strategies can be made. The different stakeholders who will be impacted by the decisions are employees, suppliers, government bodies, society, creditors, lenders and others who are associated with the business. The impact would be different as moving to a different location would mean job losses for the employees, loss of customer for the suppliers, government would lose on taxes and revenues, the society would gain from better products at cheaper rates and so on (Prasad and Prasad, 2000). This makes it necessary that the manner in which the decision is passed is wisely selected so that minimum resistance takes place. Shareholders The organization has to look towards taking the help of the formal channel of communication so that complete information is passed on and resistance within the stakeholders is reduced. The problem would compound as the presence of an informal communication structure would use the grapevine and other structures which will create gap between what is communicated and what the stakeholders perceive. This creates a gap between employees and understanding becomes a problem. This problems even leads to a situation where having the best employees doesn’t provides the same rewards as the management expects because the difference in opinion and the communication gap which is present complicates the entire matter (Aswathappa 2005). Organizations need to find ways through which the gap pertaining to communication can be reduce. This can be reduced to a large extent by taking the help of the formal structure and ensuring that the gaps which are present in the structure are removed. This helps to facilitate the process of communication as it helps to develop the required process through which better responsibility can be shouldered (Margaryan, Milligan & Littlejohn, 2013). To gain maximum effectiveness from the communication style a formal structure was used so that complete and adequate information is passed on to the stakeholders. This helps to reduce the chances of errors and provides an opportunity where the different stakeholders are able to understand the different needs and requirements of the decision making process. Identifying the different needs and working towards designing a program which will look to remove the differences will act as a step through which business effectiveness will be gained and the business will be able to remove the differences for the betterment and growth of the organization (Leest & Bohrer, 2003). Using a formal chain and not using the grapevine helps to develop the required process through which effective communication takes place and the business is able to pass correct and complete information to all its stakeholders. Conclusion The process of decision making thereby impacted the stakeholders differently and had a role in affecting the entire decision making process. This requires that the process of decision making looks at developing a process which looks at the different needs and requirements of the business so that based on it a formal and informal process which will ensure that the stakeholders are provided with correct information is developed. This will reduce the gaps and errors that will arise due to miscommunication and will help to improve the overall process of decision making. Part B Introduction The process of decision making requires that the decision should be rational and should use the different models of decision making so that the impact it has on the different stakeholders can be positive. This aspect aims and helps to develop the basic necessities through which better use of resources and effectiveness in decision making can be made. This will thereby help to create a positive impact and will bring about the required change through which overall process of decision making is gained. Models for Decision Making The rational model of decision making looks at the problems, evaluates different alternatives and selects the best one out of them. This model is being used successfully as the incident highlights that moving to a new location where the resources are easily available will help to gain the business from economies of scale. The decision to move production to one of the required destination ensures that the impact will be positive on the stakeholders after a certain period of time and is the best alternative that has to be selected (Pye, 2005). This will also bring about a change in the use of resources and will help to provide the required basic structure through which maximum gains will be generated in the business. The use of the five step decision making process also shows a similar result as it will ensure that the stakeholders are benefitted over a longer period of time. The decision at this juncture looks like one which goes against the stakeholders but over a longer period of time it will help to develop a process of sense making and will help to bring about the required changes in the use of resources. The use of the garbage can model shows the interrelation between the decisions and the different objectives and areas based on which decisions are taken. The model shows interrelation and the manner in which decision have an impact on the overall productivity. The decisions thereby seem rational and correct as it will help the stakeholders to gain over a longer period of time by having improvements in the productivity and will ensure better gains for the business. The lack of expertise in understanding creates communication barrier. The lack of understanding has complicated the matter for manager as it becomes difficult to deal with the different issues (Smith, Ulhoi & Kesting, 2012). The overall complexities for business maximizes as the business is unable to use the different opportunities and are not in a place through which they will be able to bring the required transformation in carrying out the different activities. This will require developing a process which will facilitate the mechanism to communicate and remove the barriers which are present. This reduces the wastage and provides the required dimensions based on which the organization is able to divide their resources and will help to understand the working needs of the business (Zavyalova, Kosheleva & Ardichvili, 2011). This will give a sense of direction and helps the employees to understand the manner in which they need to work. The model helps to reflect the positive manner in which the organization will be able to gain the required effectiveness and will bring about a change in business process. Identifying the different needs and working towards designing a program which will look to remove the differences will act as a step through which business effectiveness will be gained and the business will be able to remove the differences for the betterment and growth of the organization (Leest & Bohrer, 2003). This has impacted the different stakeholders differently and has impacted employees and managers at all levels. The process has further complicated the process of decision making as the different barriers results in widening the gap and makes it difficult for the organization to ensure effective decision making. Inconsistencies The aspect also showed certain inconsistencies with the decision making process and highlighted the different gaps which are present in the decision making system. The major inconsistency was seen in the manner in which formal and informal process of communication results in creating gap between the manner decisions are made. The inconsistency was seen as decision making models states that the use of informal process of communication ensures better satisfaction and message being passed on but instead it resulted in complicating the decision making system. This resulted in widening the gap which was present in the communication mechanism and made it difficult for the business to ensure that the decisions which were gained were inconsistent and were not correct for each and every individual person. The other inconsistency which was highlighted was the manner in which it impacted different stakeholders. It was identified that the top and middle level managers had complete and correct information which ensured that they were able to understand the needs and requirements of the business. The employees at the lowest level were impacted differently as they didn’t have complete information which made it difficult for them to ensure proper strategies which could be used by them. Further the discrepancies were seen in association with the external stakeholders like customers and suppliers who had different information. This shows inconsistency as the decisions which were made had different impacts and was primarily due to the presence of different chain of communication. This clearly brings forward the fact that the process of communication was unclear and resulted in creating a gap through which inconsistencies were noticed in the communication mechanism. The human resource manager while looking to select communication process to be used while taking a decision needs to weigh the positives and negatives and based on it need to select the appropriate method so that maximum productivity can be generated. The manager has to look into different process while selecting one so that the different skills gets tested and the organization is able to gain maximum productivity in their decision making system (Louw, 2013). This will help to bring a change in behavior and will ensure that employees and others can be treated in a manner which will help them to sharpen their skills and bring about a change in productivity and satisfaction level of the employees. This will thereby ensure that positive results will be garnered and the process will help to bring the required change in the manner activities are carried out. Conclusion The situation also highlighted the gap which was present in passing of decisions. The formal structure looked at following the pattern which was defined from the organization and based on it passed on the information. This delayed the process as obtaining the necessary permission and then following a pattern consumed time. The positive aspect was that the entire message was clear and communicated correctly with no areas missing or being omitted. This ensured that the formal process passed on the correct and complete information. The informal structure which took the shape of grapevine was instead complicated and resulted in communication being passed to the lower employees even faster. The use of grapevine ensured that people were informed but there was gap as the correct information was not passed on and there were areas which lacked or had missing information. This created doubts and made the employees act differently which thereby widened the gap and made it difficult for the organization to deliver superior decision making. References Aswathappa, K. 2005. Human Resource And Personnel Management. Tata McGraw-Hill Education, 2005 Brooks, I. (2009) Organisational behaviour: individuals, groups and organisation. 4th ed. Harlow, UK: Pearson, Chapter 3, ‘Perspectives on individual behaviour’, pp.65-69 Leest, P. & Bohrer, A. 2003. Work values of autochthons and expatriates in Belgium and the Netherlands. International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management, 3 (4), 329 – 337. Louw, G. 2013. Exploring recruitment and selection trends in the Eastern Cape. SA Journal of Human Resource Management, 11 (1), 1-10. Margaryan, A., Milligan, C. & Littlejohn, A. 2013. Managers as workplace learning facilitators. International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management, 13 (2/3), 206 – 223. Prasad, P. and Prasad, A. (2000) ‘Stretching the iron cage: the constitution and implications of routine workplace resistance’, Organization Science, 11 (4), pp.387–403. Available from: http://sfxhosted.exlibrisgroup.com.ezproxy.liv.ac.uk/lpu?title=Organization+Science&volume=11&issue=4&spage=387&date=2000 Pye, A. (2005). ʻLeadership and organizing: sensemaking in actionʼ, Leadership, 1 (1), pp. 31–49. Available from: http://lea.sagepub.com.ezproxy.liv.ac.uk/content/1/1/31.full.pdf+html Smith, P., Ulhoi, J. & Kesting, P. 2012. Mapping key antecedents of employee-driven innovations. International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management, 12 (3), 224 – 236. Zavyalova, E., Kosheleva, S. & Ardichvili, A. 2011. Human resource management and development practices in indigenous Russian companies and foreign MNCs: a comparative analysis. International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management, 11 (2/3/4), 179 – 193. Read More