Problem solving and decision making - Term Paper Example

What Would You Do? affiliation What Would You Do? According to Harris (December 2, 2009), decision making refers to the process ofidentifying, evaluating and making choices on the available alternatives based on the values and preferences of the decision maker. In the decision making process there are many alternatives to be considered and it is the duty of the decision maker to not only identify these alternatives but to choose the best, that is, identify both the short term and long term outcomes of each alternatives.

The chosen alternative must be the one that best suit our values, desires, lifestyle and goals, and must have the highest probability of success (McNamara, 2008). According to Anderson, Sweeney, Williams and Kipp (2007), the decision making process involves five steps-identifying or defining the problem, analyzing the problem, formulating possible solutions, evaluating the possible solutions and finally choosing the right solution. In coming up with a sound decision for our case it is important to follow the five steps of decision making process.

We must first begin by identifying the problem and for our situation the main problem facing us is, whether to hire a friend of a coworker in spite of being the weakest among the candidates that were interviewed. However, although this is the only problem available in this situation other cases may have multiple problems and it is the responsibility of the decision maker to identify them and prioritize which ones should be addressed first (Harris, December 2, 2009). The second step in the decision making process is analyzing the problem.

In this situation it is important to note that a part from being the weakest, the friend of the coworker has sufficient skills and knowledge to fill the position. Therefore, the problem is not that he cannot perform but that he scored the least in the interview. The other two candidates are have scored highly in the interview and have the sufficient knowledge and skills but nobody in the organization can vouch for them, that is, nobody in the organization has recommended them for the position.

This puts them in an awkward situation because a part from what they say, no one can prove their credibility. Now that we have identified and analyzed the problem, it is important to formulate the possible solutions to the problem identified. This problem has two possible solutions, that is, we can choose to hire the friend of the coworker in spite of his poor scores in the interview or we can ignore the coworker’s friend and hire the best candidate in the interview. All these possible solutions have their advantages and disadvantages.

Therefore, before settling on either one of them it is very important to evaluate them thoroughly and identify the best lasting solution. The forth stage of the decision making process is evaluation of the possible solutions. This is the most important step of decision making because with wrong evaluation, a wrong decision is made (Anderson, Sweeney, Williams and Kipp, 2007). In our situation, the friend of the coworker may have scored low in the interview but he has all the skills and knowledge needed for the position.

His credibility is also not questioned so much because an employee in the organization has recommended him and can vouch for him. The employee (coworker) understands the goals, values, and desires of the organization thus his recommendation is very important in the decision making. In addition, the fact that he has scored low does not mean he cannot improve in future. The other two candidates have scored highly in the interview and have the sufficient skills and knowledge for the position as well.

However, nobody in the organization has recommended them and their credibility is uncertain. Also, the fact that they have scored highly in the interview does not guarantee their effectiveness in future. Therefore, in my final decision I would hire the candidate based on the recommendation from the coworker. By considering the good working record of the coworker in the organization, I believe he would recommend a person who can also match his record. Thus hiring the candidate is not only short term effective but also long term.

References Harris Robert (December 2, 2009). Introduction to Decision Making. Retrieved from http://www.virtualsalt.com/crebook5.htm McNamara Carter (2008). Guidelines to Problem Solving and Decision Making. Retrieved from http://managementhelp.org/prsn_prd/prob_slv.htm Anderson Ray David, Sweeney J. Dennis, Williams A. Thomas and Kipp R. Martin (2007). An Introduction to Management Science: Quantitative Approaches to Decision Making. Cengage Learning, Stamford.