Organizational Decision-Making

Each and everyone of us go day in and day out making decisions. Some of these decisions that we as individuals make can impact numerous of aspects of our life. According to authors Robins and Judge (2009), “decision making occurs as a reaction to a problem” (Robins & Judge 2009, p. 147). It is important to truly understand the importance of the decisions that we make throughout our everyday life. With job rotation and the job characteristic model decision making is in the workplace is truly important.

In chapter 12, the book offered 7 strategies to improve decision making efforts. These strategies were broken in to two separate groups, the first three are broad sweeping changes, and the last four are techniques to improve decisions we are making. Managers are measured on the decisions that they are making. A good manager will know what it takes to make sound, and reasonable decisions. Decisions define who we are, and they can have profound effects on others, so we must choose wisely when it comes to the final result.

Sustaining success depends on an organization’s ability to adapt to a changing environment – whether it’s an external change, such as a transformative technology or a changing economy, or an internal one, such as a restructuring or key process overhaul. Unfortunately, 60-70% of organizational transformations fail – a dismal statistic validated by study after study. Failure rates this high demand a new mindset and new actions:

The rational decision-making model describes a series of steps that decision makers should consider if their goal is to maximize the quality of their outcome. In other words, if you want to make sure that you make the best choice, going through the formal steps of the rational decision-making model may make sense. The following are the steps taken to come to a rational decision: 1. Identify the problem, 2. Establish decision criteria, 3. Weigh decision criteria, 4. Generate alternatives, 5. Evaluate the alternative, 6. Choose the best alternative, 7. Implement the decision, 8. Evaluate the decision.

Transforming Organizations: Why Firms Fail- Research has demonstrated that significant change efforts have helped improve conditions and improve overall quality in organizations. Yet, this article discusses the many mistakes organizations make in order to improve situations in their work environment. Therefore, transforming organizations to adapt to new implementations can be extremely difficult if not everyone understands the overall vision.

Decision-making process is a six step process. The stages can be summarized as: (1) identifying and diagnosing the problem, (2) generating alternative solutions, (3) evaluating alternatives, (4) choosing the best alternative, (5) implementing the decisions, and (6) evaluating the results.

The current president of UCAR has declared the importance of external relationships with funding agents and scientific organizations and has focused on this area while the internal administrative functions have received less attention. A chief operations officer, or an executive vice president (VP) for operations could fill the current void and give the company administrative oversight and centralization while allowing the president’s focus to remain more external (Cepin, 2011). Adding this role has proven to be beneficial to many organizations like Microsoft, Comcast, and Allstate (Researchers Demystify Role Of COO In New Book, 2006). Also, it is argued that companies such as Hewlett Packard would have benefited from having this role when mergers became difficult (Researchers Demystify Role Of COO In New Book, 2006). This new position would manage the daily operations of the company, including facilities management, budget and finance, purchasing and contracts, human resources, and possibly information technology (Cepin, 2011). This individual must oversee strategic initiatives and strive to make the internal workings of the organization more efficient and productive (Cepin, 2011). This role should be a partnership with the president and there must be a great amount of trust between the two positions (Researchers Demystify Role Of COO In New Book, 2006). Overall, the VP for

There are certain personality traits that team leaders require in order to assert influence and function properly in their role. As information and knowledge are disseminated throughout a team, the intellectual capacity of both the team and the organization is increased. Such a strategy is sometimes referred to as pyramiding or pyramid learning, meaning that knowledge is spread from one team member to another before eventually spreading throughout the entire team.

This paper will illustrate how various decision making methods amongst several senior leaders in my organization has stalled progress on an enterprise level project. Some leaders are keeping their options open, while others are simply not making a decision at all. This indecisiveness has created confusion and discouragement amongst subordinate units. The two themes that I plan on expanding upon in order to show how progress can be accelerated are autonomy and task significance. The issue at hand is not a result of ignorance or lack of commitment. Past experiences from differentiating backgrounds amongst the senior leaders has manifested into group thinking and therefore inhibited their ability to make a decision moving forward. The proper application of autonomy bestowed upon the action officers working the project, and a mutually accepted baseline for the overall task significance will ensure project success. This will establish clear guidance moving forward, achievable goals and re-establish trust from the tactical level up.

Changing situations throughout the world affect all organizations in business today. Therefore, most organizations acknowledge the need to experience change and transformation in order to survive. The key challenges companies face are due to the advancements in technology, the social environment caused by globalization, the pace of competition, and the demands regarding customer expectations. It is difficult to overcome the obstacles involved with change despite all the articles, books, and publications devoted to the topic. People are naturally resistant to fundamental changes and often intimidated by the process; the old traditional patterns and methods are no longer effective.

There have to be many important decisions made in organizations these decisions could determine whether an organization is on a successful path or whether the organization is bound to fail.

A study published in the winter 1997 volume of Business Strategy Review suggests the major factor in a decisions success is the decision process itself. The study, by Paul Nutt, suggests that poor decision making

These theories highlight both the limits of rationality and the importance of context in strategic decision-making. Unlike many other decisions, strategic decisions are made in an organisational context where the reaction of the players affects the outcome.

For any business in the rapidly evolving world of business, planning and implementing successful organizational change is indispensable. Essentially, organizational change refers to a process whereby an organization strives to optimize performance in order to achieve its ideal state characterized by high performance and profitability (Côté & Mayhew, 2014). Any business would be more likely to lose its competitive edge, as well as fail to meet the demands of its loyal consumers if it doesn’t plan and implement change. Weiss (2012) emphasizes that all organizations ought to embrace change, and it’s imperative to note that successful organizational change doesn’t involve simple process of adjustments; instead it requires appropriate change management capabilities.

Making decisions is a much more complex process than just trying to figure out whether to do something or not. It often requires more than just a “Yes” or “No” answer. The right choices are crucial to an organization in order to address important issues and to produce positive outcomes. Often time’s smaller decisions help figure out the bigger picture. For instance, in the movie The Insider Wigand had to decide whether becoming a whistleblower was worth the threat to himself and his family. Ultimately by the time the movie begins, NBC producer and journalist Lowell Bergman had already made up his mind to expose Brown &Williamson. Unfortunately, even he wasn’t prepared for the consequences that followed him and Jeffrey’s decisions.