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Utility Scales

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Utility Scales
Stan Heister
Argosy University
Solution-Oriented Decisions Models | B7783
Adolfo Gorriaran
May 15, 2014

Utility Scales
Introduction
Interestingly, when a person is young the number and types of jobs in which they are willing to accept seems to be quite expansive but as we age, that number narrows due to experience, education and learned preferences. Since the author has spent in excess of twenty five years in the professional workforce, the types of positions that are attractive has tapered to a fraction of the potential positions for consideration even ten years ago. Below is a list of five positions that would be acceptable. 1. University Professor 2. Product Manager 3. Chief Learning Officer 4. University Administrator 5. Restaurant/Pub Owner Operator
Objectives Contributing to the Decision
The objectives or criteria that would contribute to the decision of accepting any of the five positions listed above include: Autonomy, Intrinsic Reward Potential, Personal Contribution to the Success of the Business, Leadership Role, Income Potential, Benefits, Power, Status, Impact to Society, Company Reputation and Culture etc. For the sake of brievety in creating the scale, four of these attributes will be used including: Income Potential, Leadership and Impact to Society, Intrinsic Reward Potential.

Utility Scale
Utility, in decision making is a subjective measure of a person’s desires versus an objective number or measure – it is the personal value placed upon a criteria or requirement for a particular object (Muehlhauser, 2013). According to Muehlhauser (2013), decision tools can capture a person’s utility or subjective preferences by assigning numerical values to outcomes where higher numbers represent higher utility or personal preference. Decisions almost always involve some subjectivity so it is useful to be

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