Decision-making is a process whose raw materials are a problem and a set of solutions and whose finished product is a satisfactory resolution of the particular problem. It is important to clarify that for there to be a need for decision-making, it is not necessary to have a problem in the literal sense of the word. Having two very good options qualifies as a problem from the perspective of decision-making. The fact that a decision needs to be made is, therefore, the essence of the problem with arriving at the right decision being the process thereof. For an international and/or global corporation, the process of decision-making is more crucial and critical as it may have wide-ranging ramifications, some of which may not be noticeable upon casual perusal of the situation. Further, decision-making is a cognitive process thus even in entrepreneurship, psychological considerations must also be put into play. In a corporate setting, there is also the issue of company culture to consider. Most importantly, ethics must be a primary consideration whenever a decision is to be made. This makes decision-making not only a comprehensive process but also a careful balancing act for every entrepreneur, more so for global corporations such as Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.
The fact that the statement about people not planning to fail but rather failing to plan may be cliché, but it does not mean it is wrong. A single wrong decision can have massive ramifications that may be beyond rectification in future. It is, therefore, critical for any major organization to have a proper and well-organized decision-making process. The first step in a comprehensive decision-making process is the establishment and classification of the decision’s objectives. This is where a company decides what it wants to achieve and also its order of priorities. The second step is to bring together all possible alternatives and seek to understand their eventualities. This is where positive and negative attributes of every decision as well as contingencies are discussed and analyzed. The discussion and analysis will present either one or a few winning probable decisions, depending on the situation. This winner should then be the subject of much more scrutiny based on the three aforementioned criteria of positive and negative attributes as well as contingencies. In the case a conflict appears at this stage, role-playing is a good means of clearing the deadlock. The decisions may be played out virtually or figuratively to create an understanding of the best option. Finally, when a winner is picked, the final process can be dubbed as bettering the best and involves refining the decision to make it even better. The aforementioned can be a suitable decision-making process for Chipotle.
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In spite of competencies , checks, and balances, organizations including international ones like Chipotle are still run by human beings. In the process of making decisions , it is difficult to separate and compartmentalize between the professional and human elements of the mind. Therefore, decision-making will still have psychological aspects as a cognitive process and, therefore, liable to the predicaments that face humans from a psychological perspective. The process of decision-making as defined above is heavy on objectivity and designed to work based on factual issues only. Cognitive biases are human presuppositions and assumptions that stand in the way of objectivity. They create a shortcut in the decision-making process that in turn establishes a high likelihood of short-circuiting the entire process, leading to the wrong decision. Among common cognitive biases include confirmation bias where the decision-makers have already arrived at the end they want and are simply looking for evidence to support it. This causes them to ignore all evidence to the contrary and to overvalue evidence supporting the presupposition. Anchoring, on the other hand, happens when the decision-makers become pegged to the initial massive piece of evidence, making them have a poor perception of options provided after that. The halo effect is the assumption that what worked well in a past scenario will always work well in other scenarios. Finally, the overconfidence bias causes decision-makers to overvalue their competence vis-à-vis the size of the problem, causing them to take the decision casually. All these biases are a recipe for disastrous decisions as they stand in the way of a proper decision-making process.
One of the famous biblical proverbs talks of a way that seems good to men but the end thereof is terrible destruction. This proverb is extremely true of corporate ethics, which can be defined as the professional and/or applied ethics within a business environment. Corporate ethics relate to ethical principles, moral issues as well as normative ethics issues. They entail the commitment by an organization, through its leadership to always do what is right at all times, not just when it is expedient. It is always easy to make the right decision in entrepreneurship when the same does not stand in the way of profits. The situation, however, changes when the path to greater profits coincides with what is right or wrong. Many organizations have chosen to do what is expedient as opposed to what is right in the interim and eventually paid a steep price for it. An organization such as Chipotle requires so much trust from its customers that they entrust their health and even lives every time they shop at one of its thousands of outlets. This organization must, therefore, maintain a very positive organizational culture. However, an organization cannot dictate its own organizational culture, as this is based on the reputation that the external environment has about the organization. Chipotle can control its organizational behavior by always making the right decision, when right and expediency contrast. This is the main essence of ethical decision-making. Its fruits are a great organizational culture, leading to a trusting and loyal customer base. However, when a company stands justifiably accused of breaching ethics in one manner, customers may wonder in which other ways the company is cutting corners. The singular way maybe overpricing, using cheap poor raw materials or labor relations problem. The poor reputation on one aspect will lead to distrust in all aspects and erode customer loyalty, a fact that would collapse a company in a sensitive industry such as Chipotle.
With running a major company like Chipotle being a continuous process of making decisions, it is important that it is always done right. The first step in achieving this as aforesaid lies in the knowledge that there are no minor decisions, thus due process must apply to all. Understanding where you are, where you want to go and how many paths can get you there is the initial part of the process. Auditing the said paths is the second and also equally important process. The auditing part will thin out the options and leave the leadership either with one of a few prime options for more careful evaluation. Finally, the decision arrived at can never to too perfect thus it is always important to improve on it. Cognitive biases should be avoided during every decision-making process, to protect the leaders from sabotaging themselves. Finally, every decision made places the organization’s culture in jeopardy since it affects organizational behavior. An organization such as Chipotle depends a lot on its organizational culture and reputation hence the need to be extra careful when making decisions. In this regard, corporate ethics must be an essential concern in every decision-making process.
