Essay Sample on Decision-Making Techniques

Case assignment 1 - The Brainstorming Decision-Making Technique

In this case, I will consider using the brainstorming decision-making technique, which is mainly used in creativity, innovation, and problem-solving. This technique will be effective in this case; the scenario of trying to find solutions of improving on sales considering that it is only a small group of people that will be involved whereby in this case it is only the top management. Various factor makes this decision-making technique effective for use. This includes: first, the brainstorming technique, in this case, provides an open environment that encourages the top-level managers to contribute many ideas concerning how to increase the sales freely. The opinion made by the managers does not have to be right but instead can be modified to be an effective solution.

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Secondly, this technique allows the review of the ideas given by the managers to decide conclusively on which is the appropriate decision to make to increase the number of sales. Brainstorming, in this case, allows the application of the team member's diverse experience to enhance the quality of the ideas that are introduced (Braintools, 2017). Thirdly, considering that no one among the top management knows what needs to be done or the best decision to make to increase the number of sales. The brainstorming technique encourages those involved in the discussion to avoid criticizing and rewarding ideas since one is allowed to make ideas that may seem crazy but are to be crafted into the original (Braintools, 2017). For example, if one of the team members gets stuck with a particular decision such that he or she does not explain it conclusively another member can use his creativity to take the idea to the next level.

Case assignment 2 - The Nominal Group Decision-Making Technique

In this case study, I will employ the nominal group decision-making technique, whereby I will divide team is divided into small groups so that each member can write down various ideas to solve the issue of cost overruns. The nominal techniques gather information on the appropriate decision through individuals responding to the questions posed by the moderator (CDC, 2017). This enables every participant in the group to give his or her views. For example, in this case, some of the individuals are introverts. Therefore, they may not be offered a chance by the extroverts to air their views but considering that the moderator chooses who to answer the questions posed enables everyone can participate. This will help to prevent the discussion from being dominated by a single individual and drifting of agendas to tangential subjects but instead allows all members to take part leading to a prioritized solution.

Nominal techniques will also facilitate quick decision making on how to minimize the cost overrun through ensuring that each member contributes to the final decision making. This will be achieved through the recording of the various opinions made by the members on a chat to minimize on repetition of views or ideas from other members (CDC, 2017). Standard decision-making technique also fosters individual voting to decrease on the influence of the member's decision, and this will ensure that the final decision made on how to mitigate the cost will be unique and will be a quick conclusive decision.

Case assignment 3 - The Delphi Decision-Making Technique

In this case, I will use the Delphi decision-making technique this is because considering most of the company top-level IT managers are in different locations in around the globe and they cannot manage to attend a general meeting due to various inconveniences such as time and busy schedule. The Delphi technique enables each of the managers to make his or her individual decision from wherever they are. However, no revelation is made on who explicitly made a particular opinion regarding the software update this encourages the IT managers to freely share their ideas or views and promote openness in decision machining (Haughey, 2017). It also helps in avoiding admitting previous errors through revising earlier forecast in. On the other due to the managers being in separate locations, the technique enables me to circulate the aired opinions on the software update to all the managers without revealing who in specific made a particular decision. This allows the managers to make a conclusive decision on the software update through the narrowing of opinions made by other managers. This is achieved through the managers identifying the areas of agreement and disagreement on the appropriate software to use for the update. Lastly, the decision-making technique usually involves a series of steps; therefore, it allocates relatively enough time to come for the managers to make a conclusive decision (Haughey, 2017). For example, in this case, the decision on which software to purchase may take time due to the procedure of analyzing the opinions.

Case assignment 4 - The Most Suitable Decision-Making Technique

Which of the three decisions making processes is of most use to you considering the types of the decision situations in which you are typically involved?

The decision that is most useful to me considering the situations I am involved in is brainstorming decision-making technique. This is because: first, brainstorming techniques creates an open and free environment for everyone to participate in the problem-solving process. This fosters the parties involved to give a variety of ideas that help in increasing the richness of the idea to be explored thus increasing the chances of offering better solutions to the problem (Braintools, 2017). It also helps to create the feeling that everyone in the team has contributed to the discussion, this ensures the final decision to be made will be acceptable to every member of the group.

Secondly, brainstorming is usually fun and creates rapport among employees. Therefore, it fosters bonding among the team members as they try to solve the arising problem. The bonding formed among the team members is essential in creating a good working environment since the workers can communicate and share their ideas thus ensuring the success of the business. Thirdly, in brainstorming, there are no strict rules concerning the types of decisions to make. People may come up with ideas that may at first seem crazy but can later be modified to a creative solution (Braintools 2017). For example, in case a member is stuck or does not give an idea that is not conclusive, another team member can take up the shape the idea creatively taking the concept to the next stage by ensuring that the concept makes a good solution to the arising problem.

References

Braintools (2017). Brainstorming: Generating many radical, creative ideas. Retrieved on 18 March 2017 from www.mindtools.com/brainstm.html

CDC (2017). Gaining consensus among stakeholders through the nominal group technique. Retrieved on 18 March 2018 from www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/evaluation/pdf/brief7.pdf

Haughey, D. (2017). Delphi technique: A step-by-step guide. Retrieved on 18 March 2017 from www.projectsmart.co.uk/delphi-technique-a-step-by-step-guide.php