Decision-Making: A Comprehensive Overview
What is Decision-Making?
Decision-making is the process of choosing between two or more alternatives.
Ingredients of a Decision
- Information
- Knowledge
- Insight
- Analysis
- Opinion
Types of Decisions
- Individual
- General
- Scheduled
- Unscheduled
- Decisions in conditions of certainty
- Decisions in conditions of uncertainty
Elements of Decisions
- Decision-making agents
- Goals
- Preferences
- Strategies
- Progress
- Results
Qualities of a Decision
- Experience
- Sound Opinion
- Creativity
Benefits of Decision-Making
- Saves time, effort, and energy
- Maintains harmony and coherence
Decision-Making in Administration
The Process
- Determine
- Identify
- Assign
- Develop
- Evaluate
- Select
- Obtain
Conditions
- Certainty
- Uncertainty
- Risk
Public vs. Private Companies
Public Company: Aims for the general interest of the community.
Private Company: Aims for profit maximization.
The key difference between public and private companies lies in their relationship with the government.
Advantages of Decision-Making
- More complete information and knowledge
- Enhanced legitimacy
Disadvantages of Decision-Making
- Time-consuming
- Ambiguous responsibility
Further Benefits of Decision-Making
- Increased ability and capacity
- Secure data
- Improved decision-making and actions
Limitations to Decision-Making in Organizations
- Financial
- Legal
- Market
- Human
- Organizational
Barriers to Decision-Making
- Prejudice
- Psychological control
- Illusion
Group Decision-Making
Group decision-making is a complex process achievable through various methods.
Methods for Group Decision-Making
- Authoritarian style: A dictatorship where one person makes the final decision.
- Brainstorming: Best for generating creative options.
- Voting: The option with the most votes wins.
Advantages of Group Decision-Making
- Combines individual strengths
- Facilitates group thinking in terms of success or failure
Disadvantages of Group Decision-Making
- Can be time-consuming due to varying viewpoints
- Responsibility and seriousness of decisions may not be shared equally, leading to group division
The Decision-Making Process
- Establishment of premises
- Identification of alternatives
- Evaluation of alternatives
Premises
These are assumptions or conditions that must be considered.
Classification of Premises: Internal and external.
Rationality
Rationality is the human capacity to evaluate and act according to certain principles.
Administrators often operate with bounded rationality due to limitations in data, time, and uncertainty.
Evaluating Alternatives
The goal is to find the best solution that meets safety and security needs.
The Limiting Factor
A limiting factor is something that hinders the achievement of a desired goal.
Techniques for Evaluating Alternatives
- Marginal analysis
- Cost-benefit analysis: A technique for choosing the best plan.
- Experimentation: Trying an alternative and observing the results.
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
SOPs are written instructions for specific or general operations applicable to different products or supplies.
They require manufacturing practices and international standards.
Purpose: To ensure uniformity of the product.
Uses:
- Guideline for human resource training
- Ensuring consistent task performance
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
AI is the science of designing intelligent computer systems.
Features of AI
- Language comprehension
- Learning
- Reasoning
- Problem-solving
Branches of AI
- Expert systems
- Robotics
- Intelligent agents
- Vision systems
Ways to Represent Knowledge
- Semantic networks
- Frames
- Learning