CHAPTER 2 Decision Making
CHAPTER 2 Decision Making
DECISION
MAKING
DECISIONS WE MAKE…
DECISIONS WE MAKE…
DECISIONS WE MAKE…
DECISIONS WE MAKE…
DECISIONS WE MAKE…
DECISIONS WE MAKE…
DEFINITION
Decision-making is the action of selecting one
alternative from a set of several alternatives.
3 Identify alternatives
4 Evaluate alternatives
• Is it LEGAL? Managers must first be sure that an alternative is legal both in this
country and abroad for exports.
1. BEING INTUITIVE - simplest, and the one of the most common ways to take a decision. Though
it is not always the best.
Intuitive decision making includes that you have to rely on the decision that you feel
appropriate, without much thinking about the logic that makes you take the choice
3. BEING WELL-INFORMED - more than finding the fact and logic of a decision, getting a
personal opinion also impacts your decision-making by giving you the confidence
and assurance that you’re taking the right decision.
4. SATISFICING - accepting the one which is satisfactory for the benefit of the
company. A nonworkplace example is deciding that you need coffee, and then visiting the
nearest coffee shop even though it’s not the best. Simply because you need it. This says you might
miss upon the best options.
• The rationality of decision makers is restricted by the actual information they have, the
cognitive biases of their psyches, and the limited time they have to decide.
• Decisions are rational only within the boundaries of the decision maker’s mental ability, values,
perceptions and skills.
• A manager accepts the first alternative that is “good enough” in order to save effort and time.
BEHAVIORAL ASPECTS OF DECISIONMAKING
• Intuition is a cognitive means of decision making that relies on the decision maker’s
instinct, experience, and knowledge.
• When making a decision, intuitive managers tend to screen the decision situation to
identify mental patterns.
• These mental patterns are usually a result of knowledge, practice, and familiarity,and
allows managers to know the potential outcomes of their decision.
BEHAVIORAL ASPECTS OF DECISIONMAKING
• Managers with low risk propensity are more cautious and conservative
when making decisions, and so are likely to avoid mistakes that result in
huge losses.
• Managers with high risk propensity are more aggressive and hasty in their
decision making, relying heavily on intuition to make decisions that may
involve big investments.
ETHICS AND DECISION MAKING
• Ethical decision making issues emerge when decision alternatives include
conflicting moral or ethicalconsiderations.
• Managers must be able to thoroughly and sensibly consider the outcomes and ethical
ramifications of an alternative before implementing itasadecision.
CHALLENGES IN DECISION MAKING
Overconfidence • Decision makers overestimate their capability to foresee future events.
Bias • Can lead to risky behavior and faulty decision making.
• Individuals look back and view events as more predictable than they reallyare.
Hindsight Bias
• Managers may project this bias onto others when somethinggoes wrong.
• The tendency for decision makers to rely too much on one piece of information.
Anchoring
• May result in lost opportunities or faulty decisions
• The way a situation is presented has a strong influence on decision makers.
Framing Bias
• May lead topoor decisions simply based on how a problem is framed.
Escalation of • People proceed on a failing course of action because they already invested in it.
Commitment • Managers fear admitting their mistake or believe they can recover their losses.
• Members of a group put pressure on each other to conform and reach consensus,
Groupthink thereby increasing the risk of flaweddecisions.
• Reduces mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment in makingdecisions.
THANK YOU!