Personal Decision Making Situation - Case Study Example

PERSONAL DECISION MAKING SITUATION {Insert university’s name} {Insert instructor’s name} {Insert student’s name} April 20, 2012 PERSONAL DECISION MAKING SITUATION Introduction Decision making is an essential part that ensures successful work; nonetheless it can result into failure if there is no collaboration and teamwork. Hence in decision making, objectivity, commitment and knowledge are important. In the workplace, there are several parts to productive, efficient and successful decision in the workplace and these include: gathering of data, identity, developing a plan, evaluation, selection and knowing yourself as well as rest of the team. Consequently, it is essential to put the following into consideration to ensure a successful decision making in the workplace. Do not keep the problem personal rather ensure that it is separate from the people and focus is on the issue at hand. Additionally, it is important to focus on interest and not positions that is what you want to attain rather than how things are. Allowing for mutual gain is another essential aspect in the decision making whereby everyone can benefit as well as accepting the objective criteria. According to Beach (1996) the essential part of working in a group entails not only making positive but also productive decisions together. However, the mentioned maybe challenging if there are different individuals working in the group. For instance, at times group members may get lazy and as a result not make best decisions in improving workplace performance and solving problems. In this essay I will use appropriate academic theories, frameworks and models to identify the relevant decision making issues in the following case as well as analyze and evaluate why the issues arose. How I might have dealt with the issues will be also discussed. The case study A company that sold computer spare parts and software directly to dealers seemed to experience a minor and easy to solve problem. The sales representatives in the company reported to the company’s manager that they were having difficulty in selling the software and spare parts because the IT technicians had a number of questions that they were not in a position to answer. This is because they lacked adequate information on the products they were selling. Additionally, the sales representatives requested that all the technical information regarding the product be placed in the company’s website as well as leaflets made. The mentioned looked like a reasonable request that could solve the problem. This is because the company’s managers were familiar with the surveys that indicated that software like to search for information online not only for the latest information but also for new developments in the field. Additionally, the company’s managers checked with the sales representatives who reported that the software buyers asked a lot of technical questions about the equipment. After critically studying the issue, the company’s managers decided to redesign its website and provided the technical information on the software. Nonetheless, the implemented changes had no impact. The sales volume did not improved but rather slugged. The product buyers continued to ask the company’s sales representatives for additional technical information on the product even after checking the website. In order to get information on what was wrong, the company managers called a meeting. They met with the product buyers. Through the meetings, the managers discovered that the buyers were not satisfied during the purchasing process. Moreover, the buyers failed to ask for what they wanted. But it seemed they wanted a coach to take them through the whole process of buying and not website or a sales representative. Reasons why the issues above arose The company’s managers had the assumption that the company’s sales executive had sufficient knowledge on the products. There was no communication between the company managers and sales representatives because the managers failed to ask them if they had the knowledge on the product. Additionally, I discovered that the sales representative were not trained on the products and they were not involved in the decision making process on how the product should be sold. Hence, I can point out that the company managers did not recognize the existing assumptions in solving the problem. For instance, from the case study, I discovered that the managers did not ask the company sales representatives the extent at which they had probed into the customers’ concerns. Beach (1996) in his study pointed out some questions that managers should ask the employees in solving a certain problem. The questions should not only recognize assumptions and aim at evaluating arguments but also assist in drawing conclusions. From the analysis of the case study above, I discovered the importance of separating facts from opinion. First I had to discover the key problem which is sales representatives lacking sufficient knowledge/training and lack of participation and open communication with the managers. Additionally, I discovered the importance of appreciating the role of each stakeholder in this case, the sales representatives, the buyers and the management. I then evaluated the arguments that were given by all the parties involved before coming up with a conclusion and a solution for the problem. Furthermore, I discovered that the management did not request the employees to provide the detailed information on the actual problem they were experiencing. This is because Brezina (2008) points out that the employee leverages the RED model in order to identify any existing assumptions that exhibits the decision making process. In the following section I will outline where the company went wrong using the RED model. The RED model was developed by Pearson and it means recognizing assumptions, evaluating arguments and drawing conclusion in solving a given problem or issue (Brezina, 2008). Decision making model for the case study-RED model Recognize assumptions: I noted that the company’s managers had assumed that that the sales representatives were in a position to handle the situation well. The managers also failed to ask the representatives if they had deeply probed into customers concerns. I also noted that the company assumed that developing a good website with technical information on the product will solve the problem at hand. Evaluate the arguments: from the case study above, I recalled that the company’s managers held a meeting with the customers with an aim of solving the issue. In the meeting they recommended redesigning the website. However, I recommend that company could have considered hiring a retired software developer technician as a coach/trainer on the product. This is because the customers required more than technical information provided by the sales representatives and suggested a peer-to-peer level. This is because; they may not trust the online information unless they can verify the same with a professional in the same field. Furthermore, it is evident that the management did not confirm whether the customers like the online information. Furthermore, the sales representatives as well as the customers were not involved in redesigning the website. Hence, I will recommend that the management could have involved the customers and the sales representatives by asking the customers what they would like to know about the product and what to be included in the website (Jerry & Doris, 2000). Draw conclusion: from the case study, I can conclude that the company managers looked at the customers technical questions on face value. I this regard I could have put into consideration that people do not always ask for what they want. Therefore, in order to solve the problem, I could have recognized all the operating assumptions and hence questions the customers one by one instead of questioning them all. This could have enabled the management to evaluate all the alternatives points of view and arguments as a result I came up with the following recommendations. Recommendations I could have passionately analyzed the information from the sales representatives as well as the customers before coming up with solutions for the problem. The mentioned could have helped in not only underlying but also addressing the underlying issues. Additionally, I could have involved the entire employee. Beach (1996) in his study points out interconnected principles that result into workplace effectiveness. He mentions principles such knowledge, training, power, rewards and information sharing. Brezina (2008) identifies power as employees’ ability and entitlement to make critical decisions in relation to not only performance but also working lives quality. When the employees have power in the workplace they perform with little level of influence from the management. Hence, in order to ensure maximum employee participation the power should be given to employees who are in a position to make critical decisions. Therefore, I propose that the sales representative could have been given power by the company. Jerry & Doris (2000) employee effectiveness can be enhanced by creating forums for employee development and sharing of ideas so as to enhance the organization’s performance. Hence, apart from calling the customers alone for a meeting, I could have involved the company’s sales representatives. In solving the problem, I could have applied the approach to ensure that the best ideas from the sales representatives are utilized. This is because according Glinou (2004) through the power system; organizations are in a position various resourceful ideas. In this case, I could have put in place an effective implementation by involving the sales representative and company’s managers in assessing every suggestion and detailing all the recommendations. Brezina (2008) information is an essential principle that enhances evaluation of the organization profitability, output quality and revenues as well as with the client responses. From the case above I noted that the key problem that the managers faced was lack of information system. I recommended the creation of an information system so as to feed the employees with relevant information on the introduced product. Jerry & Doris (2000) points out that via data, organizations workers are able to manipulate their personality via expending or withholding effort. Additionally, managers should make organizations operations transparent to the whole staff so that the employees can effectively contribute to its success. According to Beach (1996) decision making is enhanced by knowledge. Therefore, I think the management should have improved the sales representative staff. The mentioned is in line with Glinou (2004) who incited the importance of training and growth. Additionally, I emphasized that the sales representatives could have been extensively trained on the product as it assists in making important decisions. For instance, I could have exposed the staff to 600 hours of orientation training. I recommend that the organization the organization put in place a wide objective emphasizing the need for each staff to receive approximately 120 hours of additional training yearly. The main reason for emphasizing training for this particular case is that the sales representatives could have used their skills and knowledge in selling the products. () points out that there should be mobilization of commitment, skills, knowledge in the workplace. Conclusion From the analysis it is evident that involving employee in the decision making is essential in increasing productivity. Effective training enables development of skills and knowledge that can be implemented in the effective decision making of the organization. There is likely to be a win- win situation for the employees and management is their comprehensive knowledge of their consequences of their actions as well as rewarding them. The mention is drawn from the perception that if there is sufficient knowledge the organizational staff are likely to continue enjoy working in an environment that is highly involving and as a result the managers will reap the results. From this report I can conclude that high employee participation need collaboration between the management and employees with an aim of coming up with best decisions geared towards improving organizational performance. Moreover, from the case study and the analysis, I can point out that it is important to educate all the employees on the importance of the critical thinking in decision making process using the RED model. However, this can only be achieved if all the components of the model are clear within the workplace environment. From the case study, the importance of reinforcing critical thinking by post training by encouraging different perceptions in the workplace in solving issues is emphasized. Lastly, bringing diverse information so as to arrive at conclusions logically is important in decision making. References Beach, L.R (1996). Decision making in the workplace: a unified perspective. London: Routledge. Brezina, C. (2008). Great Decision-Making Skills. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group. Glinou, N.M. (2004). Enhancing Negotiation-oriented Decision-making Skills for Workplace Situations in Adults with Mental Retardation. Columbia: Columbia University. Jerry R. M. & Doris D. H. (2000).Decision Making and Problem Solving. New York: South- Western Educational Publishing. Read More