...Rational Approach Grant Bowden BUSI 610 Liberty University Abstract This paper begins with a concise introduction on the rational approach. From there the paper moves into defining the rational approach as it relates to decision-making. Next, the paper makes mention of Benjamin Franklin utilizing “pros” and “cons” in his decision making process”. Following this, there is a quick mention on uncertainty as it relates to financial risk as well as a brief mention of a step-based rational decision-making approach. After the definition section there is an application section which deals largely with uncertainty as well as intuition of a decision maker. It is argued that the rational approach fails to address certain aspects of uncertainty but does allow for improved decision making as a whole. Finally, the paper concludes concisely noting that the rational approach is not fully achievable in the context of the real world as it is intended for an ideal state bounded by rational criterion. Rational Approach The rational approach to individual decision-making allows for managers to operate in the context of an ideal systematic method. Decision-making, particularly in the context of an organization, can be difficult with significant complexity and multi-faceted dimensions. Operating outside of a specific framework can increase the difficulty for managers to make the best possible rational solution resulting in arbitrary and sometimes non-optimal decisions. The rational...
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...MANAGEMENT 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) Empirical Approach Human Behaviour Approach Social System Approach Decision Theory Approach Mathematical Approach Socio-Technical Systems Approach Systems Approach Contingency Approach Operational Approach REASONS & PROBLEMS 1) Semantic problems in management literature. 2) Contributions from different disciplines. 3) Misunderstanding of principles. EMPIRICAL APPROACH • • • – – – – Study of managerial experiences and cases(mgt) Contributors: Earnest Dale, Mooney & Reiley, urwick. Features Study of Managerial Experiences Managerial experience passed from participationer to students for continuity in knowledge management. Study of Successful & failure cases help practicising managers. Theoretical research combined with practical experiences. • – Uses Learning through experience of others • – – Limitations No Contribution for the development of management as a discipline Situations of past not the same as present. HUMAN BEHAVIOUR APPROACH • – – Organisation as people a) Interpersonal Behaviour Approach - Individual Psychology b) Group Behaviour Approach - Organisation Behaviour • – – – – Features Draws heavily from psychology & sociology. Understand human relations. Emphasis on greater productivity through motivation & good human relations Motivation, leadership, participative management & group dynamics are core of this approach. HUMAN BEHAVIOUR APPROACH Contd.. • Uses – Demonstrates how management...
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...Critiquing Philosophical Approaches to Ethical Decision Making Get Tutorial by Clicking on the link below or Copy Paste Link in Your Browser https://hwguiders.com/downloads/acc-260-week-4-critiquing-philosophical-approaches-to-ethical-decision-making/ For More Courses and Exams use this form ( http://hwguiders.com/contact-us/ ) Feel Free to Search your Class through Our Product Categories or From Our Search Bar (http://hwguiders.com/ ) As a student we are required to evaluate the philosophical approaches for each scenario from Appendix B. Evaluating whether or not the reasoning for the course of action listed makes sense. While working on the evaluation of the philosophical approaches we will discuss if the course of action is the most ethical, the best reasons for making the choices, and the reasons for believing this alternative is ethical. Consequentialism is the intent to maximize the usefulness of a decision. For this the relevance of this act depends on its consequences. For this approach it is essential to have a good ethical decisions and perception of it. With this it is important for students to analyze a decision in how the harmful and/or the benefits. This many philosophers’ debate ht consequences should count Deontology is different because it focuses on the obligation or duty in motivating the decision or the actions of the consequences. This depends on the respect, rights, and fairness. This approach brings up issues related to duty, rights, moral...
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...related or compared to three decision-making models. Those three decision-makings models are the behavioral decision, garbage can model and the political model theories. According to the behavioral decision theory, decision makers deal with chaos and uncertainty but ultimately make their decisions on what they know. This means that based on their knowledge, beliefs, and values, decision makers incorporate these values to make appropriate decisions. The other theory described in the article is the garbage can model. This model states that a decision maker makes a decision based upon whatever problems, options and solutions are available at some point in time. This can be described as a “garbage can” because a collection of choices are mixed and then chosen to match a problem to a solution. Per the article, “The choice situation becomes a “garbage can” in which problems and solutions are dumped” (Nutt, 606). According to the political model, decision makers base decisions on personal decisions rather than organizational issues. An irrational decision is rational to them because it achieves their ultimate goal. “ This prompts decision makers to seek information that bolsters their position by maintaining images of self, attitudes and the like. Decision makers create the impression that they have arrived at an unbiased inference by making their interpretation of trends and events seem equitable to all concerned” (Nutt, 606). In conclusion, the decision-making models do relate to the information...
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...Decision Making: It’s Not What You Think Decision Making: It’s Not What You Think Henry Mintzberg, MIT Sloan Management Review (2001) This essay’s purpose is to summarize Henry Mintzberg’s and Frances Westley’s article about decision making and possible approach methods that individuals and organization can choose to be used in problem solving depending on the nature of the issue. The first part will sum up the main ideas of the article, including main theories and practical advises that the authors are recommending. The second part of the essay will present some criticism towards the article and its theoretical framework and arguments. Main ideas and a summary of the theory Decision Making is a traditional area of interest in every business school and company. How are decisions actually made? Are they rational or just products of individuals’ personal opinions? Should they even be based on what is called as rational thinking? Henry Mintzberg and Frances Westley tried to tackle this problem of how decisions should be made in their essay Decision Making: It’s Not What You Think, published in MIT Sloan Management Review (2001). They challenge the traditional approach of logical problems followed by step-by-step solutions. The researchers argue that there are a whole bunch of different types of problems in need of different approaches. The common type of decision making follows a clear pattern. First step would be defining the problem. Secondly, one needs to diagnose the...
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...Behavior Leadership Approach Each person is uniquely and individually made. With this in mind, people do not think, look or even respond alike all the time. Leadership is a skill that individuals display using different techniques. Some leaders are received better than others. There are many forms of leadership. The common key to all approaches of leading is to understand what the definition of leadership is as it relates to the organization. Trait, behavior, power-influence, situational, and integrative approach have been examined by researchers in the study of leadership. This paper will provide an overview of the behavior approach study of leadership. Leadership has been defined in terms of traits, behaviors, influence, interaction patterns, role relationships, and occupation of an administrative position (Robbins & Judge, 2011). The meaning or explanation of leadership is an area that has been debated for years. Today most definitions of leadership reflect the assumption that it involves a process whereby intentional influence is exerted over other people to guide, structure, and facilitate activities, and relationships in a group or organization (Robbins & Judge, 2011). Behavior Approach The behavior approach is the result of researcher’s inability to produce steady results connecting individual’s traits with effective leadership. The shift moved from examining leaders traits to examining leader’s behaviors, in the early 1950s. Researchers began observing managers...
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...defining ethics will be like ‘nailing jello to a wall’ there by suggesting it is virtually impossible to pin point exactly what ethics truly is. There are many factors, which distinguish what is right, and wrong however they are decided predominantly by values and decisions of individuals, in this case managers. In order to comprehend the importance of ethics one must critically take into consideration all parties involved in the process of ethics and ethical decision-making. Why ethics is important for managers? Ethics is defined by the Oxford English dictionary to be ‘morally correct’ as well as Velasquez (2001) who has a similar definition of ethics, suggesting ethics as the ‘principles of conduct governing an individual or a group, it is the study of morality’. However it is difficult to pin point the exact definition of ethics as many authors and instructors have their own distinct meaning of the term ethics, Lewis (2008). In the face of it, it would seem it is a simple problem where there is a right or wrong answer. However as ethics is nor the legal requirement and it isn’t a personal choice but rather in the middle it is subjected to the ‘grey area’, this allows a person or an organisation to make decisions from their own values. For instance an ethical situation will arise when the action of one person or an organisation will either benefit or harm others, hence the...
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... Decision making one Introduction Human action depends upon a setoff alternatives act from which to choose, belies and some representation of the values of the consequences of the act given the possible belief. In policy cycle decision making is a step that falls within policy formation and implementation (Etzion, 168, from Parsons, 1995). This is the stage in policy cycle where choices are made between alternatives. Decisions are made when it is believed that the decision to be made will produce or will lead to desired state of the world. Values and belief are put forward in decision making and the time frame to which that goal is to be achieved at is also set. Power plays a big role in decision making, techniques as well as strategies is required as to how to select an appropriate and a sound decision. There are people who are appointed as the role players in decision making those people poses power and they have authority for making decision. The issues o decision will be explored with regard to the policy context as well as the policy they impact on policy making , I will also look at how the policy analysis serve to explain or to describe how decision come to be made. Issue • The issue is about the decision analysis techniques which serves to explain how decisions are ought to be made. • The role of power in decision making. • The other issue which is very important and crucial in decision making is the use of rational approach in decision...
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...NY: Wiley. (pp. 913-915). MANAGEMENT DECISION MAKING A major concern in management has been to understand and improve decision making. Various approaches have been proposed by psychologists, most based on a “divide-and-conquer” strategy. This strategy – also labeled “problem decomposition” – involves breaking a large decision problem into smaller parts. The idea is not new: In a “Letter to Joseph Priestly,” Benjamin Franklin was one of the first to describe a decomposition strategy. The theoretical justification for this approach was outlined by Simon (1957) in his account of “bounded rationality.” This concept says that cognitive processing limitations leave humans with little option but to construct simplified mental models of the world. As Simon (p. 198) put it, a person “behaves rationally with respect to this model . . . (although) such behavior is not even approximately optimal with respect to the real world.” There have been two approaches to management decision making (Huber, 1980). The first is concerned with development and application of normative decision rules based on formal logic derived from economics or statistics. The second involves descriptive accounts of how people actually go about making judgments, decisions, and choices. NORMATIVE ANALYSES As initially outlined by von Neumann and Morgenstern (1947) in Theory of games and economic behavior, a variety of techniques have been derived for making optimal decisions. A distinction is often drawn between riskless...
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...A critique of Ford’s CEO Alan Mulally’s Approach to Decision Making. By Ally M Mukasa Executive Summary Ford Motor Company is a public company founded on June 16 th 1903 by Henry Ford. It is headquartered at Dearborn, Michigan in the United States of America. Its products are mainly automobiles but it also offers automotive finance, vehicle leasing and vehicle servicing. Ford has three divisions which include; Ford, Lincoln and Motocraft. Ford has subsidiaries all over the world. Mr Alan R. Mulally is its president and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to his appointment as CEO, Mr Mulally worked at Boeing. His journey from aerospace to automaker industry was a new challenge but an opportunity for him to prove to the sceptics that an aerospace person can run an automaker. Among the challenges he faced were; the economy in recession, soaring prices of gas, a calcified corporate culture, a general lack of transparency in decision making, fractious divisions, the penchant cycling of executives into new jobs every few years, the problem of pre-meetings that was antiethical to decision-making, and hiding problems. Mulally had to make decisions to address the challenges mentioned. His decision making style is much of directive with low tolerance for ambiguity than behavioural or people-centred. He did not involve Ford staffers below top echelon in decision-making. He downsized the company, closed down underperforming factories, stopped the cycling of executives into...
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...Commodity Approach, Institutional Approach, Functional Approach and Decision Making Approach. (1) Commodity Approach or Product Approach: This approach refers to the study of a product in detail. The marketing situation of each product chosen for study is examined from such viewpoints as sources and conditions of supply, producer marketing organisations, policies, different middlemen (wholesaler’s 6f retailers etc.) who take part in distributing the product. Problems with regard to a particular product are studied in detail under this approach. Products of any nature e.g. agricultural products wheat, rice, maize, etc., industrial products like machine tools, lathe-machines, generators, oil engines, etc., and any other products can be covered under this study. In practice, this approach tends to be repetitive and time consuming. (2) Institutional Approach: This approach relates to various marketing institutions viz., wholesalers, retailers etc., engaged in marketing. In applying this approach, a thorough study with regard to a particular middleman is undertaken. For example, in retailing, nature and significance of retailing in terms of functions and services performed and rendered by retail institutions like departmental stores, multiple shops, mail order houses etc. Besides wholesalers and retailers, other marketing institutions can be stock exchanges, produce exchanges, banks, regulated markets, etc. In short, it can be said that this approach is applicable...
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...SUMMARYiii 1. INTRODUCTION1 2. THE DECISION-MAKING FRAMEWORK AT GREENHEART1 2a. A Sociological Perspective2 2b. The Phenomenon of Conformity3 3. THE DECISION-MAKING FRAMEWORK AT GREENHEART PLUS3 3a. A Sociological Perspective4 3b. The Phenomenon of Paradox5 4. CONCLUSION5 5. RECOMMENDATIONS6 REFERENCE LIST8 Executive Summary This report employs a sociological perspective to analyse the decision-making framework of the food company Greenheart, and its subsequent entity, Greenheart Plus. At Greenheart, decisions were made essentially by one individual, whose rationality was, naturally, bounded. His decision to create an environmental investment fund and to initiate other environmentally responsible production methods ultimately threatened the economic viability of the company. From a sociological perspective, the CEO’s authoritative decision-making meant that the employees were not committed to the decisions, and therefore the decisions were not implemented successfully. The subsidiaries of the company did not share the environment objectives, and this also resulted in ineffective implementation of the objectives. A lack of conformity among employees meant a lack of co-operation in achieving the objectives. This changed with the takeover in 2001 and the creation of a new company, Greenheart Plus, which focused on increasing sales rather than pursuing environment policies. The decision-making process changed to become one of consensus...
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...emerging perspectives. Functional approach asks how messages move within organizations and for what purpose communication works. The meaning-centered approach asks what communication is or if communication is responsible for decision making, organizing, or culture. The emerging perspectives ask if communication is a part or necessary process of social construction. The underlying message is that organizational communication can be explained through these three perspectives and that the organization can be successful in its endeavors if it employs what is argued by the approaches. The afore-mentioned approaches: functional approach, meaning centered approach, and emerging perspectives are vital in solving any company's communication problems. The functional approach describes communication as an intricate organizational process that serves the function of organizing relationship, change, and relationship functions, simply put, what messages do. The way messages move in an organization is understood by describing communication channels, networks, distortion, communication load, and message directions. This theory suggests that communication is responsible for transmitting rules, information, and regulations through the organization. Therefore, this theory underlines the need to study the systems or component parts making up the organizational communication that is the related units that when taken together make up organizations. Under functional approach, one realizes that communication...
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...Decision Making in the Public Sector Power and decision-making go hand-in-hand. This is because, as our text points out, power determines who gets to decide. As there are countless strategies and structures in the power and command structure throughout organizations, so goes the multitude of decision-making models offered to those in the power to make decisions. While alike the private sector, decisions before public sector decision-makers require them to make the most appropriate decision in front of them, they uniquely have a higher demand for accountability and efficiency. The decisions to be made in the public sector generally are more complex, dynamic, and prone to interruption than their private sector counterparts. In an attempt to follow a standardized and consistent process in making decisions, public organizations follow formulated processes of making decisions. In this composition, I will offer a number of the models that can be found in utilization today when having to make a decision for a public entity. The principal backbone of making a decision is rational. When making a decision that would not question your “competence, ethics or sanity”, as the book points out, would be to use simple rational. The classic rational decision making model is focused on that the decision being made is the best one being made. Strictly rational decision making involves components including; the decision maker knows all the relevant goals, decision makers clearly know the values...
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...In the past few weeks, I worked with my group on our company’s expansion strategy into Hong Kong. From this group work experience, I was able to relate our teamwork to exiting theories on multi disciplinary decision making approach and group theory as well as other contents that I learned throughout this course such as importance of cultural distance and understanding personality in building an effective team. In this reflective essay, I will briefly explain above mentioned theories and link it to my experience in this group work and talk about how I can utilize my learnings in the future. Multi disciplinary decision making approach is one of the decision making models in which it attempts to take all role-players and stakeholders’ perspectives into account in reaching objectives. It is based on Singer and Churchman’s (1971) concept of unbounded systems thinking which assumes that any problem can cause effect to surrounding...
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