STEPS IN DECISION MAKING

1. Defining a problem

The decision making process begins with existence of a problem or, more specifically, a discrepancy between and existing and a desired state of affairs.

The most significant step in any decision making process is describing why a decision is called for and identifying the most desired outcome(s) of the decision making process.

This careful attention to definition in terms of outcomes allows one to clearly state the problem. This is a critical consideration because how one defines a problem determines how one defines causes and where one searches for solutions.

Managers have to be cautious not to confuse problems with the symptoms of the problem. Also, problem identification is subjective. What one manager considers a problem might not be considered a problem by another manager. In addition, a manager who mistakenly resolves the wrong problem perfectly is likely to perform just as poorly as the manager who does not identify the right problem and does nothing.

As it can be seen, effectively identifying problems is not simple or trivial. Managers can be better at it if they understand the three characteristics of problems: being aware of them, being under pressure to act and having the resources needed to take action.

Managers become aware of a problem by looking at actual conditions and at the conditions that that are required or desired. If the conditions are not what they should be or what manager would like them to be, then a problem (discrepancy) exist. But that is not enough to make it a problem.

A problem without pressure to act is a problem that can be postponed. To trigger the decision process, the problem must put pressure on the manager to act. Pressure might come from deadlines, competitor actions, organizational policies etc…