Decision-making refers to the process of making choices among alternative courses of action. Every day we face an array of decisions to make. This may range from simple decisions such as choosing a breakfast cereal from an entire aisle of different brands at a supermarket to more complex decisions such as launching of a new product by a company. A decision can either be programmed or non-programmed. Programmed decisions are repetitive decisions that solve straightforward and familiar problems while non-programmed decisions are unique decisions that solve new and unusual problems (Charles, 2015) . Unfortunately not all decisions yield good results. An example would be when I interned for a given company and was a group leader but I failed to heed warnings by a whistleblower .Besides, I largely disregarded the claims. The outcome was that the group task which was coming up with a new product to satisfy a particular market demand was not fully realized. We ended up dealing with conflicts that arouse as a result of the incidence for a long time other than brainstorming about the new product to be made.
The decision-making process involves several steps. If the same dilemma is encountered today, I would deal with it using different approaches. First, I would ensure that the problem in question has to be identified, the decision criteria identified and weighed, alternative solutions developed and analyzed for their effectiveness, selection of best possible alternative and its implementation and finally evaluation of the effectiveness of the decision made (Jim, 2011) . Different managers use different approaches in making decisions. I would emulate a few of them to solve the problem at hand. These approaches include the rational model, the bounded rationality and the intuitive model (Charles, 2015) . Unfortunately, decision making processes especially the intuitive process may be clouded by biases (Jim, 2011) . Such biases include overconfidence, immediate gratification, anchoring, selective perception, authority bias and self- serving bias (Charles, 2015) . To avoid the above, I would have a second eye as well as try to consider every team member’s opinion regarding different issues that affect the achievement of group’s objectives. I can also avoid such errors by increasing personal awareness, asking for guidance from external facilitators and group decision making.
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If need be, I would ensure group decision making. It can offer advantages such as more complete information, more alternatives, increased acceptance of a solution and greater legitimacy (Jim, 2011) . However, it tends to be time-consuming, dominated by the minority, creates pressures to conform and clouds responsibility.
With decisions being part of my everyday life, I have to take care and ensure I make proper decisions and implement them effectively if satisfaction is to be obtained from them.
References
Charles, H. (2015). The 25 cognitive biases: Uncovering the myth of rational thinking. Kindle.
Jim, B. (2011). Why plans fail: Cognitive biases, decision making and your business. Modulus Cooperandi Press.
