...INTRODUCTION TO DECISION MAKING Student`s Name Institutional Affiliation Introduction Decision making, in simplest terms, is the process of making a choice between two or more courses of action. We may find it hard, at some point, to pick one course of action over another. But unfortunately, we must decide all the time. Some of us avoid making decisions by procrastinating, in the guise of looking for more information or recommendations from other parties. Decision making takes many forms; ranging from intuition to reasoning. Other people may employ crude methods such as tossing a coin or taking a vote. Taking intuition and reasoning methods culminates in either programmed or non-programmed decisions; strategic or operational decisions and rational or intuitive decisions (Rao, 2010). Discussion. Programmed vs unprogrammed decisions. Where a manager makes decisions which he/she has made previously, those choices are referred to as “programmed decisions”. A programmed decision is taken over and over when a manager is faced with the same challenge since the course taken worked before. Such decisions are often guided by predetermined procedures, policies, calculations or data. With programmed decisions, a manager does not take long to conclude when confronted with a business-related involuntary decision since the test faced is not novel. Therefore, programmed decisions sanction a manager to make rationalized and dependably effective choices. For instance, one would immediately...
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...converting a plan into action and executing it. Thus implementation is the key to performance, given an appropriate strategy. In literature, implementation has been defined as “the process by which strategies and policies are put into action through the development of programs, budgets and procedures” (Wheelan and Hunger pp15). This involves the design or adjustment of the organisation through which the administration of the enterprise occurs. This includes changes to existing roles of people, their reporting relationships, their evaluation and control mechanisms and the actual flow of data and information through the communication channels which support the enterprise (Chandler 1962; Hrebiniak and Joyce 2005). Evolution The field of Strategic management has grown in the last thirty five years developing into a discipline in its own right. Borrowing extensively from Economics and Social sciences, it is still fragmented by the presence of number of distinct schools of thought, diversity in underlying theoretical dimensions and lack of disciplined methodology. The fragmentation is due to...
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... Matthew.Sonfield@ hofstra.edu (e-mail messages will receive responses much faster than voice-mail messages) HOME PAGE http://people.hofstra.edu/hu/faculty/matthew_sonfield/ GENERAL INFORMATION Location of Department Office 228A Weller Hall Telephone of Department (516) 463-5726 Department Chairperson Dr. Li-Lian Gao HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY BULLETIN DESCRIPTION OF COURSE A capstone course enabling students to integrate functional area knowledge in order to effect managerial decisions and assume leadership roles in organizations. Theory and concepts are applied using both case analysis and a computer-based business simulation. Topics include: elements of the strategic planning process, such as strategy formulation and implementation; ethics and corporate social responsibility; corporate, business, and functional-level strategy; the relationship between strategy and organizational structure; and strategic control and reward systems. PREREQUISITES OF COURSE Business majors with senior class standing and MGT 101, FIN 101 and MKT 101. (Students who have completed 88 s.h. or above may seek a...
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...Management of Strategic Alliances: Performance Evaluation Where to Link in the Value Chain? • Alliance combining same value-chain activities are to gain efficiencies, merge talents, or share risks • In operations alliances firms combine manufacturing activities to reach economies of scale • Operations/marketing alliances provide access to markets Identification of the links in VC forms the basis for performance of the SA Negotiation & Performance • The formal agreement is not as important as the ability of managers to get along • Negotiation issues • equity contributions • management structure • “prenuptial” agreements Selected Questions for a StrategicAlliance Agreement Design & Performance • Depends on the type of alliance chosen • Informal CAs often have no formal design issues • Formal CAs may require separate organization unit housed in one company • JV—Parent companies set up separate legal entity Decision-making Control • Two areas need to be considered: • Operational decisions (focus on day to day running) • Strategic decisions (focus on long term survival) • Majority ownership does not necessarily control • In JVs, strategic decision making takes place at the level of JV’s board of directors or top management. Management Structures • Dominant parent: controls or dominates strategic and operating decision making • Often has majority ownership • Treats the JV as wholly owned subsidiary • Shared management: both parent companies contribute approximately...
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...England and Wales (company number 3644723). Our registered address is AQA, Devas Street, Manchester M15 6EX. AS Business (7131) and A-level Business (7132). AS exams May/June 2016 onwards. A-level exams May/June 2017 onwards. Version 1.0 Contents 1 Introduction 5 1.1 Why choose AQA for AS and A-level Business 1.2 Support and resources to help you teach 2 Specification at a glance 2.1 Subject content 2.2 AS 2.3 A-level 5 6 8 8 8 9 3 Subject content 10 Strategic decision making (A-level only) 3.1 What is business? 3.2 Managers, leadership and decision making 3.3 Decision making to improve marketing performance 3.4 Decision making to improve operational performance 3.5 Decision making to improve financial performance 3.6 Decision making to improve human resource performance 3.7 Analysing the strategic position of a business (A-level only) 3.8 Choosing strategic direction (A-level only) 3.9 Strategic methods: how to pursue strategies...
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...The black hole of South-East Asia: strategic decision making in an informational void George T. Haley Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Business, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia Chin-Tiong Tan Associate Professor, Faculty of Business Administration, National University of Singapore, Singapore Proposes that most managers and researchers acknowledge that emerging and newly industrialized markets do not have the same quantity of secondary data as the longindustrialized economies of North America and Western Europe. Presents the results of a search of available, business-related, secondary data on South-East Asia’s rapidly growing economies; highlights how this dearth of data has resulted in an informational void that affects the practice of strategic management in the region. Also delineates how regional managers cope with and adapt to the informational void, and to the region’s fastchanging business, cultural and competitive environments, by developing their unique, highly-intuitive style of strategic management. Finally provides some suggestions to bridge this informational void for management practice and for future research. The authors thank the Guest Editor, Dr Usha C.V. Haley, two anonymous reviewers, and Comet, for their excellent comments and suggestions. Management Decision 34/9 [1996] 37–48 © MCB University Press [ISSN 0025-1747] An old adage posits that the quality of one’s decisions depends on the quality of one’s information. The more...
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...evolution of information systems, levels of management decision-making and information systems that enhance the value of information. Students are encouraged to understand the reasons for the development of an information system and its replacement; these will help you identify the benefits and limitations of each type of information system. From EDP to MIS Until the 1960s, the role of most information systems was simple. They were mainly used for electronic data processing (EDP),purposes such as transactions processing, record-keeping and accounting. EDP is often defined as the use of computers in recording, classifying, manipulating, and summarizing data. It is also called transaction processing systems (TPS), automatic data processing, or information processing. Transaction processing systems – these process data resulting from business transactions, update operational databases, and produce business documents. Examples: sales and inventory processing and accounting systems. In the 1960s, another role was added to the use of computers: the processing of data into useful informative reports. The concept of management information systems (MIS) was born. This new role focused on developing business applications that provided managerial end users with predefined management reports that would give managers the information they needed for decision-making purposes. Management information systems – provide information in the form of prespecified reports and displays to support business...
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...systems in supporting decision making process. For this purpose, role of different types of information systems such as, Management Information System (MIS), Decision Support System (DSS), Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP), Executive Information System (EIS), specifically agent-based information systems have been analysed in the different aspects of decision making process. For this purpose ten highly relevant journal articles have been selected and the body of this report is based upon the literature of those articles. From the research of this report, it is has been found out that different types of information systems facilitates managers working at different levels of organisations in making effective decision. It has been identified that organisations operate in highly vibrant and impulsive environment that changes rapidly. Based on these changes, executives and higher level managers have to make decisions accordingly. This decision making process requires a lot of subjective information about the external environment upon which decisions have to be made Annotated Bibliography 1. Ucakturk, A. & Villardb, M., 2013. The Effects of Management Information and ERP Systems on Strategic Knowledge Management and Decision-Making. Social and Behavioural Sciences, Vol 99, pp. 1035 – 1043. In this article, Ucakturk and Villardb have discussed the effects of management information and ERP systems on strategic knowledge management and decision-making processes of the organisations...
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...shareholders * Effectively incentivize executives, and in an overall sense * Maximize the firm’s ability to create value for stakeholders and especially for shareholders Summary * Corporate governance is the set of mechanisms used to manage the relationship among stakeholders and to determine and control the strategic direction and performance of organization. Effective governance that aligns managers’ decisions with shareholder’s interests can help produce a competitive advantage for the firm. * Three internal governance mechanisms (1) Ownership concentration, (2) The board of directors, (3) Executive compensation. The market of corporate control is an external governance mechanism. This market is a set of potential owners seeking to acquire undervalued firms and earn above-average returns on their investments by replacing ineffective top-level management team. * Ownership is separated from control in the modern corporation. Owners hire managers to make decisions that maximize the firm’s value. Thus, modern corporations are characterized by an agency relationship that is created when one party hires and pays another party to use its decision making skills. As risk-bearing specialists, owners diversify their risk by investing in multiple corporations with different risk profiles. * In a large number of family-owned firms, ownership and managerial control are not separated at all. Family-controlled firm face at least two problem related to corporate governance...
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...distinctions between planning strategy and crafting strategy. Planning strategies being those which are internally defined and implemented, similar to that of a blueprint (Findley, 1988). Crafting strategy is a continuous form of strategy which incorporates the learning process into the decision making. From this it is important to recognise the definition of strategy according to Mintzberg who bases his assumptions on “a pattern in a stream of decisions” (Mintzberg & Waters, 1985, p. 259). Mintzberg (1987) had found that “an organisation can have a pattern without knowing it, let alone making it explicit”. The article ‘Crafting strategy’ by Mintzberg (1988) represents the argument that strategy is deductive and not inductive, strategist recognise patterns and do not plan. To find a company strategy you can look at the interplay of the environment as well as the leadership and organisation of the company, Action leads to change and innovation, this in turn leads to strategy. Mintzberg (1987) sets out to compare the lone work of a potter to that of an organisation. Using this potter as a metaphor Mintzberg aims to demonstrate that both face the same strategic issues of being able to know their own capabilities well enough in order to formulate a ‘strategic direction’ through crafting. To integrate the article into the wider debate of Strategy we must look at the two key schools of thought, that of deliberate strategy (planning) and emergent strategy (crafting). Having already...
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...Self-reflection marking form |Student name: Le Thi Huyen Trang |ID:1204040094 |Date: 06/12/2013 | |Tutor: Nguyen Dang Hoang |Tutorial: Tut3FB12 |Word count: 1458 | |Title of report: THE IMPACTS OF MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVES ON ORGANIZATIONS | |The two primary articles: | | | |The effects of Management by objectives on performance and satisfaction in a public sector organization. | | | |The influence of Management by objectives on employee performance and organizational | |productivity. | | ...
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...Globalization is the process of closer integration and exchange between different countries and people worldwide, made possible by falling trade and investment barriers, tremendous advances in telecommunications and drastic reductions in transportation costs. Integration-Responsiveness Framework, strategy framework that juxtaposes the pressures an MNE faces for cost reductions and local responsiveness to derive four different strategies to gain and sustain competing advantage when competing globally: international strategy, localization strategy, global-standardization strategy, and transnational strategy. Local Responsiveness is the need to tailor product and service offerings to fit local consumer preferences and host-country requirements; generally entails higher cost. International Strategy is essentially a strategy in which a company sells the same products or services in both domestic and foreign markets. Localization Strategy attempt to maximize local responsiveness, hoping that local consumers will perceive them to be domestic companies. Global-Standardization Strategy attempt to reap significant economies of scale and location economies by pursuing a global division of labor based on wherever best of class capabilities reside at the lowest cost. Global Strategy is a firm’s strategy to gain and sustain a competitive advantage when competing against other foreign and domestic companies. Transnational Strategy, a strategy that attempts to combine...
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...Chapter 1—Introduction to Accounting Information Systems TRUE/FALSE 1. The three themes of the text are operating systems, e-business, and internal control. ANS: F 2. In an assurance service the accountant will provide the original information used for decision making. ANS: F 3. Financial care for the elderly has been identified by the AICPA as a potential assurance service. ANS: T 4. Wireless technologies was identified as one of the ten most important 2006 technological challenges and opportunities facing CPAs. ANS: T 5. Knowledge of Microsoft Access was identified as one of the ten most important 2006 technological challenges and opportunities facing CPAs. ANS: F 6. Enterprise systems provide complete integration of an organization’s business events and information processing systems. ANS: T 7. An information system consists of an integrated set of computer-based and manual components established to provide information to users. ANS: T 8. Internal control is a process that provides complete assurance that the organization is meeting its objectives, such as efficiency and effectiveness of operations and reliable reporting. ANS: F 9. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 has dramatically changed the daily work of financial accountants and auditors. ANS: T 10. According to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, management must identify, document, and evaluate significant internal controls. ANS: T 11. According to the...
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...to bring valuable intellectual capital to the workplace, are the ultimate foundation of organizational performance. Challenges of working in the new economy • Today, individual and organizational success must be forged within workplaces that are constantly reinventing themselves. • Themes such as empowerment, involvement, participation, self-management, and teamwork are common, as people manage careers described as flexible and entrepreneurial. • Definition and Role of an Organization • An organization is a collection of people working together to achieve a common purpose. • Organizations are open systems. They interact with their environments in the continual process of transforming resource inputs into product outputs in the form of finished goods and/or services • The External Environment of Organizations • The following factors impact the general or macro environment in which the organization operates. They are: o Political, Economic, o Social, Technological, o Legal and Environmental. (PESTLE) • Management must constantly monitor general environmental trends, and must be ready to make required adjustments in the ways their organization operate so as to gain COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE • The Specific (task) Environment • In the specific environment in which an organization operates, several stakeholder groups are linked to the input-transformation-out put process of value creation. • Managers and their Work • Every organization needs people managers who...
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...Chapter 7: * Merger: a strategy through which two firms agree to integrate their operations on a relatively co-equal basis * Acquisition: a strategy through which one firm buys a controlling, or 100% interest in another firm with the intent of making the acquired firm a subsidiary business within its portfolio. After acquisition, management of the acquired firm report s to the management of the acquiring firm * Takeover: a special type of acquisition when the target firm did not solicit the acquiring firm’s bid for outright ownership * Friendly acquisition: the management of the target firm wants the firm to be acquired * Unfriendly acquisition (hostile takeover): the management of the target firm does not want the firm to be acquired (direct negotiations with the firm’s owners; tender offer; bear hug) Explain the popularity of acquisition strategies in firms competing in the global economy * There are seven reasons why acquisitions in firms competing in the global economy work * Increased Market Power: * This is the primary reason for acquisition * If a firm achieves enough market power, it can become market leader * Example: AT&T acquisition with T-Mobile made them in the lead with market share in w-ireless service providers * Also, not only would their market share increase, but their customers would increase by 1/3 and all cell towers and wireless spectrum that t-mobile had would also turn to AT&T ...
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