Decision making processes and frameworks

Decisions in Paradise

Defining the issues that appear in this business scenario

My company is a non-profit television business that would like to establish a greater presence in Kava, but I realize that I don't fully understand Kava or its people and problems. When initially speaking to Alex, I should have been less negative regarding the disasters that have happened in the past and listened more attentively to Alex to discover what had actually happened. What I do know is that the founder of my company is committed to the Kava project and has a strong sense of ethics for doing what is right. Further, the government and other organizations in Kava are asking my company to bring our business culture to Kava. According to Alex, our company is seen as an organization that is very competent in managing organizational structure and processes. Kava goods and services impact our company, our country, and people around the world, so this is an important issue for Chris who believes "economics drives everything." Now, I am responsible for the plan to establish a greater presence in Kava that should at least encompass organizational processes, human resources and ethics.

Discussing the forces that are involved in formulation of the problem

After reading Langdon (2001), I know the formulation of the problem is really a process. Defining the purpose must include financial considerations and include the various stakeholders. Also, according to Langdon (2001), I will need to define clear goals and create and evaluate many options, fully accounting for all risks of moving forward. Robbins (2004) makes it clear that there is such a thing as a "good enough" decision. but, he does acknowledge that the number and diversity of options I can come up with will increase my chances of developing a good plan. Robbins also provides useful advise for eliminating my own personal biases by seeking out information that disconfirms my own beliefs and I know that where the plans goes is largely dependent on where I start. This is why I want to be more positive than I initially was on my ability to come up with viable solutions for establishing a presence in Kava.

Using problem formulation tools and techniques, describe the organizational and environmental obstacles in a way that considers various key stakeholders that will be impacted by decisions

The people of Kava are very diverse with different ethnicities, religions and language; therefore it will be very challenging to develop a plan to meet their needs. These differences will impact they way they perceive organizational processes, human resources and ethics. Likewise, the economy is diverse, ranging from agriculture, tourism, natural gas, and petroleum. It will be difficult to develop a single plan that is suited to all industries, so there may be the need to initially select a specific target industry. If so, which industry receives priority will be an area of contention. To make matters more complicated, the plan may need to consider the broad range of disaster threats in Kava and focus on those that may be more relevant to some groups than to others.

We will need the assistance and support of as many helping organizations as possible such as government services, community-based organizations, faith-based groups and businesses. Just like the people of Kava, these groups are likely to have different priorities and agendas regarding industry focus and disaster threats and how to deal with the issues facing Kava. Further, these groups may even have opposing views to those of the people of Kava. Clearly, I will need to better understand the social, economic and political dynamics of Kava.

And, as a rookie, I will need to impress Alex and Chris to get the go ahead for my plan. Although these two at least appear to have similar aspirations for helping Kava, their thoughts on what the problems are and how to actually approach them may be radically different.

Apply critical thinking in the decision-making process have learned a great deal from reading Paul and Elder (2001) about how to apply critical thinking in the decision making process. I will need to figure out exact what I am trying to achieve and avoid the tendency to stray from my objectives. My goals will need to be realistic and have an achievable scope, especially since my plan must cover organizational processes, human resources and ethics.