...Running head: Improving Decision Making Skills Improving Decision Making Skills Effective Organizations: Theory and Practice Improving My Decision Making Skills This week’s assignment required students to complete a test to gauge decision making skills. I scored a 69 which suggests that I have an excellent approach to decision making. This score implies that I have the ability to start the process of decision making and have the ability to solicit a variety of solutions to resolve the problem. This score also says that I analyze the available options with great detail and attempt to make the best decision with the information presented to me. An area where I could improve was identified as following up with my decision and putting a plan into action after a decision has been made. I agree with the findings of this test due to me preferring to make informed decisions. I would rather have all possible information that could affect the outcome before coming to a conclusion. In general, decision making is a daily part of life. For example, most people decide what to wear each day, what to eat for breakfast and which route to take to work. These may appear to be simple decisions to make, simply because they only affect the person making the decision. On a larger scale, major decisions have to be made in the workplace. These decisions are important because they can affect many different aspects of a business. Decision making in the workplace can...
Words: 672 - Pages: 3
...Week Three: Decision Making Details Objectives 3.1 Describe tools and/or techniques used in decision making. 3.2 Examine decision-making models and influences. 3.3 Apply a decision-making technique to a situation. Readings Read Ch. 14 of Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Learning and Your Life. Read Ch. 1–3 of Smart Things to Know About Decision Making. Read Ch. 4, 12–26 of Decide & Conquer: Make Winning Decisions and Take Control of Your Life. Read this week’s Electronic Reserve Readings. Participate in class discussion. Respond to weekly discussion questions. W3 8 2% Participation Discussion Questions Nongraded Activities and Preparation Decisions in Paradise Business Scenario For Weeks Three through Five, you will work individually using the Decisions in Paradise Business Scenario located on your student website as the basis for these three assignments. In this scenario, you will play the role of Nik, and your current employer is the organization represented by Alex, Nik, and Chris. You will also use the mission of your current organization to assist you in decision making in discussing this business scenario. There are three phases to this assignment which will be cumulative, meaning that each part will build upon the next. You will use this paper and feedback from your instructor as input to improve your Week Four and Week Five assignments. The three deliverables for this project are: Week Three: Decisions in Paradise Paper, Part I Week Four:...
Words: 2050 - Pages: 9
...Research Methods for Strategic Managers to Aid in Decision Making Abstract [P1] Managers can be trained to make better decisions. They also need a supportive environment where they won’t be unfairly criticised for making wrong decisions and will receive proper support from their colleague and superiors. A climate of criticism and fear stifles risk-taking and creativity; managers will respond by ‘playing it safe’ to minimise the risk of criticism which diminishes the business’ effectiveness in responding to market changes. It may also mean managers spend too much time trying to pass the blame around rather than getting on with running the business. The study is based on all-embracing research to assemble information from a variety of sources such as internet, interview and books. The research was conducting on the decision making in the different economic scenario data was collected and results were evaluated. Introduction [P1] [1.1] Some decisions are difficult because of the need to take into account how other people in the situation will respond to the decision that is taken. The analysis of such social decisions is more often treated under the label of game theory, rather than decision theory, though it involves the same mathematical methods. From the standpoint of game theory most of the problems treated in decision theory are one-player games (or the one player is viewed as playing against an impersonal background situation). In the emerging socio-cognitive engineering...
Words: 3053 - Pages: 13
...Decision In Paradise Emmanuel Brew Riverson MGT 350 Critical Thinking: Strategies In Decision Making Kevin McPhee May 5,2012 Decisions in Paradise – Part II Most business decisions are taken by senior executives based on assessments that will determine in advance what will happen if the business takes the expected direction. Financial tools (i.e. cost benefit analysis) are truly helpful during the decision-making process; however, they should never be confused with the decision as the outcome of the decision-making process (Langdon, 2001). In “Decision in Paradise – Part 2”, Joey will utilize a decision-making technique that is suitable for this scenario as well provide a step-by-step analysis while utilizing the technique. Finally, he will discuss the decision-making model he selected and how the model selected influences his proposed solutions. Cost Benefit Analysis The decision-making technique that Joey selected for his business study at Kabo is the cost benefit analysis. The cost benefit analysis is completed in order to determine how well or poor a plan will turn out. Cost benefit analysis is also known as “running the numbers” as it relies on adding positive factors and subtracting the negative ones in order to determine a net result. The difference that is found between benefits and costs will advise if the plan is feasible. The cost benefit analysis must include all the costs, all the benefits and properly quantify them in order to get accurate analysis. Although...
Words: 1020 - Pages: 5
...Decisions in Paradise Part - II Decisions in Paradise Business Scenario, Part II. Introduction: As it was discussed in the previous paper, “Decisions in paradise: Part I”, our company was looking at establishing a greater presence in Kava which is small island country in the South Pacific. Kava has been plagued with unfortunate circumstances that have brought about one disaster after another. , The problems facing the Arcadia Child and Youth Corporation were discussed. The problems were as follow: Organizational and Environmental Obstacles Construction, Resources and Actions Required, Ethical Implications, Factors Affecting Implementation has been evaluated. Everything is in order and we have other matters to consider now. We will start with the decision making technique from the University of Phoenix Model the 9 –step technique to complete this expansion in Kava. 1) Justify the use of decision-making models. 2) Analyze the elements of decision-making models. 3) Perform a situation analysis. 4) Differentiate between symptoms and problems. 5) Develop alternative solutions. 6) Evaluate alternative solutions. 7) Describe how personal, cultural, and organizational values impact ethical decision-making. 8) Select the best possible solution. Proposal Feedback from The Arcadia Child and Youth Corporation executive’s Team This paper, Decisions in Paradise Part II will provides information regarding the proposal to build a Child and Youth center on the South Pacific island...
Words: 916 - Pages: 4
...Decision-Making Process Paper Matthew Walker MGT/230 08/04/14 Tyler Allen Decision-Making Process Paper The process of making decisions can be broken down into various stages. These stages allow the decision maker to follow guidelines in making a sound decision. I can recall a big decision that I had to make in regards to transitioning our base of field operations to a separate city from where our corporate office was held. The process that I followed was a basic approach to making a business decision that best suited the business and would put the company in a position to maximize earning potential. I first identified the problem with running auto transport trucks out of a city where there wasn’t an abundance of loads to book from with even a smaller market for qualified auto transport drivers to operate our trucks. The company had taken part in a temporary contract shuttling vehicles out of Detroit where there was an overabundance of vehicles in need of transporting. I had previously identified another city, Chicago that was a healthy candidate to run the trucks out of. Both cities were within 3 to 5 hours of our corporate office in Indianapolis and had a significantly higher volume of loads to book from. I had to look at both cities and plan out how and where we could set up a terminal at. I identified locations and contacts in both metro areas and was prepared to make a move. The first city that I was leaning toward was Chicago. However when the...
Words: 802 - Pages: 4
...Ethics Development The way that individuals act or make decisions is often times realted to how a person has been raised or trained. These decisions many time can cause ethical dilemmas, make a person decide what is right or wrong, and can make a significant difference in people’s lives. Ethical decisions have become a very important part of the professional workplace and also in an individual’s personal development and how they decide what to do in everyday life. For most individuals ethical decision making is a process that is started when you are young and is at time developed through a series of right and wrong decisions, a process of learning on the go. There are many people that are involved in the teaching of ethics, a person’s parents, life experiences, and professional training. There is also an ethical system that affects how people learn ethics; relativistic would be the system that I personally would follow. The ethical decisions that are made will affect personal performance and potentially the future path that is taken; this will be personally and in the workplace. Finally, ethics have become a very important part of the professional workplace, typically through training. Ethics help companies meet and achieve goals and hopefully keep them on the right path. With proper ethics training a company can help with the decision making process and influence an individual’s own ethical decision making. The relativistic ethical system is defined as, “Relativism...
Words: 1343 - Pages: 6
...anyone has ever written. Drucker states that “the manager is the dynamic, life-giving element in every business. Without his leadership the “resources of production” remain resources and never become production”. To me this sums up what being a manager is all about. Later in the chapter he says “from the peak there is only one easy way to go: downwards. It always requires twice as much effort and skill to stay up as it did to climb up”. A powerful statement, that many do not realize. The second chapter, titled “The Jobs of Management”, Drucker talks about how the jobs of management are usually not known by people within the company. People know who the managers are but aren’t quite sure what they do. He breaks down what a managers’ job involves into a couple of key areas. The first of which is “economic performance”. With this Drucker say that management must always put economic performance first in every decision and action they make because this will justify their existence. Other areas of this chapter focus on management functions which include: their first job is managing a business, managing managers and managing both worker and work. The third chapter is called “The Challenge to Management”. This chapter focuses a lot on automation. Since this book was written in 1954, automation was new and opinions varied greatly on the impact it would have on the American business. Part one feature chapters’ four thru nine and includes the first of three stories that Drucker tells about...
Words: 2971 - Pages: 12
...Choices in Decision Making Nicole Shafer University of the Potomac Negotiations Management (MGMT424) Sunday, February 21, 2016 (Tuesday, February 23, 2016) Will Walker Abstract Part one talks about the instructions of the exercise and my opinion towards it. The reason for choosing the answers that I did for each choice set. Part two talks about the scoring and categorizing myself under the individualistic column and why. The agreement with the scoring placement and what individualistic and individualism is. The third part talks about the management style of individualistic and the perspective of the employee and the manager. Exercise 1.1 Personal Choices in Decision Making Part 1 Making Personal Choices In the first part of the exercise you are given nine choices and you are to pick from A, B, or C options. The points represent something of value to you – each point is valuable to you, and so, the more points you accumulate the better for you. The same holds true for the other person: the more points the other person accumulates, the better for him or her. The other person would be considered an opponent but you have control over the amount of points the opponent receives and the amount you receive. I felt the exercise was strange because I had the influence over the amount of points I would receive and the amount of points the opponent would receive. I chose a lot of the choices in my favor because in the end I had the ultimate decision. The more points I had means...
Words: 761 - Pages: 4
...Introduction to Business Information Systems Assignment 1 Table of Contents Part A 1. Describe the information age and the differences between data, information, business intelligence and knowledge…………………. Page 1 2. Explain systems thinking and how management information systems (MIS) enable business communications…………………………….. Page 2 3. Describe three Business 2.0 tools for collaborating………………... Page 2 4. Characterise and explain the importance of decision-making for managers at each of the three primary organisation levels……….. Page 3 5. Describe business process management and its value to an organization…………………………………………………………... Page 4 Part B 1. Describe the concept of business process modeling………………... Page 4 2. Identify the key processes involved in the new Qantas check-in system…………………………………………………………………. Page 5 3. Provide two (2) process models……………………………………… Page 6 * Pre new check-in model………………………………………….. Page 6 * As-Is new check in model………………………………………... Page 7 4. References…………………………………………………………….. Page 8 PART A 1. Describe the information age and the differences between data, information, business intelligence and knowledge. Compared to the past, the age we live in today is called the information age, where an infinite number of facts are broadly accessible to anyone who has the capability of using a computer (Baltzan, Lynch & Blakey, 2013, p. 9). Stair et al (2008, p....
Words: 1856 - Pages: 8
...means we should measure the business with more data at first, and then involve the knowledge to improve our decision, which I do agree with. Big data gives traditional businesses chances to transform their old way to newer, profitable way, like on-line business, which is much more powerful than the past. And analyzing of big data will also change long-standing ideas about the value of experience, the nature of expertise, and the practice of management, which is very meaningful for developing business in the future---the high technology world. What’s more, the article points out that there are three major differences between analytics and Big data. Firstly, Big data’s volume is much bigger than analytics, which will give companies information about the decision. Secondly, the speed of spreading of data in these days is a more important criterion for a company to be much more agile than its competitors. Finally, Big data could spread through a lot different ways, such as social networks, sensors, and even cell phones. All the data in each way will update every second to everywhere. In sum, these differences make big data become a huge, fast and variety resource for business, even everyday life. So we should take big data seriously. This article also figures out that the importance to be a data-driven company, which will perform better on objective measures of financial and operational results, especially leading to accurate predictions and better decisions. But we should consider...
Words: 911 - Pages: 4
...INTRODUCTION The link between Utilitarianism Theory and the James Hardie Industries – ‘asbestos’ case has helped me to develop a deeper understanding of the difficult ethical questions asked in business and how corporations respond to those questions using moral philosophies. From the time when the short summary written in regards to the meaning and importance of the term ’responsible business’ in week 2, till today, I have explored various historical, moral, governance and economic aspects of business both domestically and internationally, proliferating my knowledge in regards to responsible commerce. I have come to understand the moral landscape or commercial enterprises which have helped me to appreciate the social and ethical dimensions of the business culture. The analysis of the James Hardie case and the Utilitarianism Theory depicts my knowledge growth. In doing so, I am able to now make more informed business decisions for the benefit of both myself and the wider society. JAMES HARDIE The history of asbestos in Australia and around the world is a history of cover up with companies choosing to ignore the dangers for as long as possible. Asbestos causes significant health problems, most notably lung cancer and mesothelioma, a type of cancer that affects the lining of the heart and lungs. Exposure to the fibres over a prolonged period – such as in the workplace – increases health risks significantly. The mining process was just the first stage of damaging contact...
Words: 1576 - Pages: 7
...Individuals find the need to make decisions in every aspect of their lives. When individuals use critical thinking to make a decision, the result is usually a success. This essay will provide a better understanding of critical thinking. It will describe critical thinking and share how it relates to decision-making in a work-related application. I will share a personal experience of when I applied critical thinking to a work-related decision. The essay will further discuss the importance and benefits of critical thinking in the decision-making process. Critical Thinking and Decision Making in a Work-Related Application When making work-related decisions, critical thinking is an important aspect. Critical thinking is identifying and evaluation evidence to assist in decision making (“What Is Critical Thinking”, 2011). Decision making is the thought process used when making a logical decision using the options available (BusinessDictionary.com”, 2011). When reviewing the definitions of critical thinking and decision making, one will find that individuals who make decisions must use critical thinking to determine the best solution for their problem. For example, if an individual at work has to make a decision, he or she will use critical thinking to determine what is best for the organization. If not, he or she may make a decision that harms the organization. Without using critical thinking, an individual may miss a detail of a solution; therefore, he or she may overlook the...
Words: 848 - Pages: 4
...Decisions In Paradise, Part II Betty A. Brown University of Phoenix Critical Thinking: Strategies In Decision Making Willetra Brittain November 9, 2011 Paradise Decision Part II The mission statement of Wilsons Leather is “to run a successful business while successfully assisting the community”. While the success of any business is important for the C.E.O and management of the business, the company should also be involved in the community events and be accountable for social responsibility. As Kava is a small island in which tourism and young high school to college students account for its population (University of Phoenix, 2011). Some changes to the company would be beneficial. For example, having a Decision-Maker thinker in the group is a good starting point. Some of the attributes of a decision maker are the thinking styles critical thinker might poses are: collective, democratic Autocratic or concessions. In addition, risk management/risk rating system (RSS) is an important attribute to have in a company, especially when the business is being based at an area where some of the business threads are diseases such as HIV/AIDS. Being able to identify the interference and assumptions (Elder & Paul, 2002) of this location is key to implement the appropiate decision-making technique. Although all of the decision-making techniques are functional and produce a significant turnaround for the business, the technique most appropriate would be the collective...
Words: 931 - Pages: 4
...Director of Group Operations, Ryanair. Based on Southwest Airlines and Ryanair’s business model, AirAsia offer “No frills” airlines with a catchy tagline of “Now Everybody Can Fly’’. Within 2 years Air Asia posted a net income of 18.8 million and broke the 100 million net income barriers in 2005. Since then nothing has stopped AirAsia from moving forward and setting milestones, notably the first Asian Airlines to go ticketless in 2002, first multi lingual Asian airlines website in 2003 and the world’s first airline to launch a mobile site. All these are aligned with Air Asia’s philosophy to make flying affordable, easy and convenient. Having flown 100 million’s guests Air Asia has been in the spotlights for all the rights reason, for aggressive marketing, for awards and achievements. Air Asia is one of the award winning and largest low fare airlines in the Asia expanding rapidly since 2001. With a fleet of 72 aircrafts, Air Asia flies to over 61 domestic and international destinations with 108 routes, and operates over 400 flights daily from hubs located in Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. Today, Air Asia has flown over 55 million guests across the region and continues to create more extensive route network through its associate companies. Air Asia believes in the no-frills, hassle-free, low fare business concept and feels that keeping costs low requires high efficiency in every part of the business. Through the corporate philosophy of “Now Everyone Can Fly”, Air Asia...
Words: 4095 - Pages: 17
