How to Make a Management Decision

Managerial Decision Making Judgment in Managerial Decision Making The most common model of rational decision making involves identifying the opportunity or problem, gathering information, analyzing the specific situation, developing options based on that analysis, evaluating the opportunities presented through the analysis, choosing one of those alternatives, and then acting on that decision (Robbins & Judge, 2007).

In contrast, the model created by Bazerman & Moore (2008) involves writing down the problem, writing down the goals being pursued, assigning a weight to every criterion, listing courses of action, rating each alternative action, and choosing the alternative with the highest ranking. This is not the same type of analysis, but works on a similar premise. Still, it is important to see the differences because every decision made in a managerial capacity has the ability to affect the company and a significant number of people.

The model offered by Bazerman & Moore (2008) is more quantitative in nature, because it requires that specific criteria are used and that weight is attached to those criteria in order to "add up" everything and determine which goal, opportunity, or plan is the best one. However, that is not the way life actually works, in many cases, as decisions -- even in business and management -- cannot actually be boiled down to only what seems most logical in nature.

There is also some guesswork involved, and people should be encouraged to consider that "feels" right to them and what their gut is telling them they should do when making important decisions. With that in mind, the rational decision making model is a better choice than the model presented by Bazerman & Moore, mostly because it requires an analysis of the opportunities or the problem but not in the sense that specific weight is given to different options based on a mathematical formula that has to be used.

The Bazerman & Moore (2008) model does have fewer steps, as they use six instead of seven, but a smaller number of steps is not always the best choice when making a decision. The main problem with the Bazerman & Moore model is not size or requirements for the number of steps, but the methodological, mathematical way a manager would have to go about addressing the issue.

There would be no room for actual opinion in the model, and it would come down to which option was calculated to provide the highest return. That can actually be difficult to determine mathematically, because there are so many different factors that must be taken into account and that are sometimes not addressed properly. While it is very important to make sure that each valid factor is accounted for, some will hold more weight than others.

Assigning a weight to each one is done arbitrarily, so the weights are not necessarily even, realistic, or accurate based on what the person is trying to decide. Models are important to help managers make decisions, but good managers should know that there is much more to the job than plugging in numbers or factors to get a particular outcome.

The manager who is really focused on taking good care of the company and the employees will be one who uses his or her head and heart in making decisions that will lead the company to further growth and development, and that will.