Group Vs. Individual Decision Making

Managers within organizations are faced with the challenges daily of making excellent decisions. In everyday life we are challenged in making sound decision, decision that will last for a life time. Folk often wonder after making a decision if it was the right choice, will it affect the people around me, was this a good choice for my family, and will the decision affect them. In order to be an effective manager you have to possess the skill of outstanding decision making skills. In order for one to be successful within their personal life they may also need to possess an understanding of effective decision making. The decision- making process should be one that makes a positive change. Can the decision making process work

Decision-making in the workforce is a process of responsibilities used by upper management to implement, enforce rules, regulations, and maintain a successful environment. Decision-making implemented more effectively by making a plan, thinking it through, accepting more than one opinion and determining what is best. However, decision-making often utilized more effectively by opening doors of opportunities for a suggestion, question, discussion, and feedback. Although, more involvement helps improve understanding, utilize behavior skills and present opportunities for better communication. Everyday life consists of decision-making, the right decision may not always be applied, but ensure room for improvement and opportunity. Individuals approached decision-making in many different ways. As stated by (Jones, Graham, & Bateman, 2006) decision making is a procedure used to recognize a problem, weigh the alternatives and evaluate a solution in which, certain situations will require different approaches to become effective.

Dearlove, D. 1998. Key management decisions: tools and techniques of the executive decision-maker. London: Pitman publishing.

When reviewing the concepts of groupthink, it is important for one to realize that not all group based decisions are necessarily bad decisions. The concept of groupthink and the negative results that arise are based on the reality that group decisions are made without regard to alternative measures, validity of information, or risks and consequences associated with such decisions. Groupthink seems to dispatch the critical thinking skills of the individuals in the process and decisions made can have disastrous results. The following essay will discuss the results of groupthink decisions made by the United States government that lead to Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, as well as critical errors made by US command that greatly increased the impact

Decision-making is critical to a business helping mitigate risk and requires good judgment, considering social, humans, and ethical values before final decisions are made. Additionally, making good decisions enables organizations to identify and resolve problems, also providing organizations with the ability to identify and exploit opportunities.

Groupthink plays a huge role throughout his presidency because he was challenged to make critical, constructive decisions for his foreign policy. Before he made the decision to invade Cuba it created a conflict of interest, he was not alone in the decision, there were other groups of men who also have the same similarities of both backgrounds and personality. People are afraid to express their views on reality and how one person can dominate the discussion and impose their point of view that an individual can feel powerful and be effective on their own decision making processes. Janis describes what happens when a group of bad decisions come into play they feel too over confident that they lose contact with reality and have others feel excluded.

Making a decision is one of the main activities of a leader. Wren and Voich (Wren and Voich, 1994) believe that decision making is mandatory for successful execution of any managerial function.

When making decisions, we all must be careful not to fall into traps that can mess with our thought process. When we understand the different types of traps we are less likely to be caught up when trying to make decisions. Having the right amount of knowledge will allow for us to be able to analyze the traps so we are not influenced during the decision process. It can also help us to improve our decision making skills.

The following is my example of the intellectual skill of Comprehension, which includes the combined skills of Translation, Interpretation, and Extrapolation. I have read the following communication on “How Are Decisions Actually Made in Organizations?” Now I shall use the skill of Comprehension to obtain the meaning of the case study titled “Split

As we make decision throughout our day, for most of us we make a lot of decisions within the workplace. Those who are in leadership roles make decisions within the organization such as determining organizational goals, missions, visions, and other decisions that can greatly affect the organization either in a positive or negative way. According to Robins and Judge everyone play in the role of decision making in the workplace. “Non-managerial employees also make decisions that affect their jobs and the organizations for which they work. They decide whether to come to work on any given day, how much effort to put forth at work, and whether to comply with a request made by the boss” (Robins & Judge 2009, p. 147). These particular decisions that non-managerial employees make can affect the workplace in numerous of ways such as impacting views and decisions of other employees, impacted the set atmosphere in the workplace as well as impacting

From this week’s readings, I appreciated how Schien (2006), demonstrated the importance of selecting a decision making method that appropriately fits “the time available, the past history of the group, the task being worked on, and climate” (p.297). Despite using purposeful selection, it is important to note that each method can prompt a unique set of challenges for group members. For instance, silence is often inappropriately interpreted as consent in “decision by lack of response” and “decision by self-authorization or minority” (Schien, 2006, p.299). Conversely, “decision by formal authority” can be ineffective if the leader/chair does not pursue decision that align with the perspectives of group members. Within the readings, I feel that

I do not think a leader can maintain a personal friendship with some member of his or her group or team without creating the perception of an in-group. By creating a personal friendship, the leader will get to spend time with this person outside work; by doing so, they leader gets to know this member at a much deeper level than the other member. They get to know how they think, how they act and behave. In addition, the member becomes more trustworthy of the leader, including their judgment. In-group members are invited to participate in decision making and giving more responsibilities, whereas out-group member are managed according to the requirements of the contract that was signed. In-groups also more often achieve higher performance, commitment and job satisfaction that out-groups.

It is easier for humans to harm others when the they or the enemy is grouped because a group can be considered for its ideals and goals alone. Grouping removes individualism, and thus removes the identity of those involved. Someone might hate a group, but concede that they do not particularly hate any one person within it, even though by hating the group they are projecting that feeling toward its members. Grouping can give someone the feeling that they are free to act as they please, simply because the other members of their group can support them, no matter how wrong or immoral that action may be. When a group of likeminded people surrounds someone and backs that person up no matter what, that person can consider morals in the perspective of those around him, instead of the way that society governs it. Grouping also intoxicates its members with the idea that they can reflect

Thinking critically and making decisions are important parts of today’s business environment. It is important to understand how the decision making process works and the steps involved. The nine steps of the decision making process are: identifying the problem, defining criteria, setting goals and objectives, evaluating the effect of the problem, identifying the causes of the problem, framing alternatives, evaluating impacts of the alternatives, making the decision, implementing the decision, and measuring the impacts. (Decision, 2007.) By using various methods and tools to assist in making important business decisions an individual can ensure the decisions they make will be as successful as possible. In this paper it

The overall purpose of this research paper is to define and assess decision making in management as well as the need for alternatives to use in the decision making processes. Management is concerned with combining all of the inputs of production. Managers decide what to make and how to make it. They chose from the available inputs and work out the right mix. Management must organize production to meet the goals of the company, which normally include keeping manufacturing costs low and producing a profit. The first industrial managers were men like Richard Arkwright and Thomas Edison, both inventors and businessmen. They own their companies and made all the management decisions. As the scale of production increased in the 19th century,