Management Essay Example: Effective Decision Making

Decisions made in an organization, like anywhere else, have consequences. However simple it may seem, businesses have real trouble making sound decisions or even contemplating the potential effects of certain choices (McConalogue 39). Recently, a company was caught between a rock and a hard place when it was accused of interfering with an election process of a certain country. As a result, the political party which felt aggrieved, and which seemed to have a more significant following opted to boycott the product of that company. The decision let to an acute decline in the companys income. Consequently, there was a need to lay off some workers. The top leadership of the company wanted to lay off the workers who belong to specific ethnic groups perceived to be loyal to the opposition leader. The administration did not involve other stakeholders in making the decision. If it had, there would be better resolutions that would not hurt anybody.

While collaborative decision making takes a long time, it creates great success when done in the right manner. In the case of that particular company, the management called a meeting with the stakeholders to discuss the situation and the way forward. Collaboration helped in the situation because with the significant number, the problem at hand was defined objectively and accurately. Earlier on, the management saw the case from one angle claiming that the political party was malicious in its attack on the company and that the boycott was not warranted. In the meeting, however, the problem was discerned from all angles including from the political partys perspective. At the start of the boycott, the management decided to rebrand the company products to somehow confuse customers allied to the opposition. This was a decision that was made hurriedly without discerning the situation objectively. After the meeting, particular potential solutions were brought to the fore. It was resolved that the company would come out clean on all the accusations and even seek a meeting with the top leadership of the political party. Until this point, collaboration had resulted in a more logical approach to the problem at hand.

A team leader should consider as many aspects of a decision as they can if the success of decision making is anything to come by. In an organization, there is usually a group that would agree with anything that the team leader brings up (Curran 64). This is where a team leader needs to be careful. Bringing individuals with varied information and perspectives is critical in balancing out biases. Challenging the team to come up with multiple sound alternatives is a good idea too. After the team has made the decision, the leader should evaluate it for feasibility, desirability, and acceptability to know the best alternative to the options. Also, it may be prudent to seek another opinion from another party regarding the decision made. Understanding the risk that a decision brings in an organization is very important (Dworking and Rodger 17). After comprehensively grasping the relevant information and potential risks, a manager can then pick a decision or a combination of alternatives provided by the group then executing it in the most effective manner.

Works cited

McConalogue, Tom. Making an Effective Manger, management decision 26.3(2014): 32-35.

Curran, Mary T. Effective Decision Making, AORN journal 10.4 (2012): 153.

Dworking, Rodger B. Limits. Bloomington, Ind,: Indiana University Press, 2016.