Rvw Decision Making and the Implication of

¶ … Rvw Decision Making and the Implication of Change This paper will briefly identify, summarize and evaluate the ideas presented by Alfred D. Chandler Jr. He presents a solid analysis and in-depth look at the elements of modern decision-making and how change has influenced this practice over time. He shares his own personal experiences as an historian and analyzes how history has affected his choices in life. Chandler spends a great deal of time looking at the history of American Economics.

He does not really say how the past will predict the future of the business world but he does reflect on what will influence change. He focuses more how if one looks at economic history, one can see an evolution or progression toward modern business practices. This paper discusses the factor of change and its role in decision-making. In many ways, at the business level, decision-making is much like strategy as it can be complex.

One must weigh out different factors and assess risk in order to have a fair idea if a decision is worth making. Chandler presents a strong argument that the evolution of economic decision-making is important for historical documentation purposes but he does not elaborate on other aspects. Review and Analysis He explains clearly how the Industrial Revolution spawned today's modern globalized market and corporate America's need for highly structurized organizations.

I agree, today's business practices did not emerge overnight and it is clear the act of decision-making has played an enormous role in this shift. However, I believe his viewpoint is male gender-centric and dated. He does discuss the idea of a manager playing a greater role in decision-making but he centers his thinking on men being in these powerful positions. In this day and age, we know this to simply not be true.

I believe one reason the way of doing business has changed is because of women having influence over certain decisions within a company. It is a shame he fails to mention this factor but then again, this article reflects the time in which it was written. It would be interesting to know how he sees the role of women today in the modern economy. The element of change has played a far greater role than expected.

I believe this shift will continue and not focus so much on corporate America but on smaller, independent firms and also contractor/freelance demographics. These segments will explode over the next ten years as more employees become disillusioned by American corporate culture. Today's small businessperson carries a greater amount of responsibility on their shoulders but due to recent poor business practices, one cannot help but sense an air of distrust for corporate America. One wants the control of taking care of one's own businesses.

The possibilities for these segments are endless due to new technologies in telecommunications like video conferencing and the role of globalization within the market. It is a smart strategy for businesses to take advantage of the changing times. The paragraph below will look at a few of Chandler's points and look to new ideas for fuller analysis. Chandler does discuss many factor of change such as technology's affect on mass marketing, production and the velocity at which larger companies fulfill.

He comments, "the expanded speed of transportation and communications quickly brought the large scale enterprise into the distribution of goods. In the marketing of agricultural commodities and manufactured products the factor and the commission merchant were replaced quickly by brand new marketing institutions."1 Yes, big business does exist and the advent of machines has vastly improved production rates and the introduction of new products to the market. This been extremely significant to the economic history but it is not the full story.

He admits that the smaller sector is not dead but that the focus has changed from an agrarian way of life to an urban fast paced way of doing business.

He expresses, this replacement of "small personal enterprises by large managerial ones in many industries radically altered the nature of the decision-making unit, the process of decision-making and the types of decisions made within the unit."1 Is it possible this aspect of his evolution theory had an influence on the emergence of small business today? I believe this is an idea he did not explore completely. Chandler does reflect, "Fundamental changes have occurred since 1850 in the process of economic decision-making and in the type of men who make them.

Few would seriously argue that major economic decisions in industrialized, technologically advanced countries are still made by individuals'1 and it is this focus on the individual rather than the group that facilitates change for the small business owner. It is not only men making decisions now but also women that change the atmosphere of the economy. I do not think Chandler saw the full implication of the role of change or understood the power of individual ideas. Still this is not entirely his fault.

He admits the focus is narrow but in retrospect now, one can see it is very much dated. Conclusion This paper briefly identified, summarized and evaluated the ideas presented by Alfred D. Chandler Jr. He.