Decision-making is an integral part of modern management. Essentially, Rational or sound decision making is taken as primary function of management. Every manager takes hundreds and hundreds of decisions subconsciously or consciously making it as the key component in the role of a manager.  Decisions  play  important  roles  as  they  determine  both  organizational  and  managerial  activities. A decision can be defined as a course of action purposely chosen from a set of alternatives to achieve organizational objectives or goals.  Decision making process is continuous and indispensable component of managing any organization or business activities. Decisions are made to sustain the activities of all business activities and organizational functioning.

 

Decisions are made at every level of management to ensure organizational or business goals are achieved. Further, the decisions make up one of core functional values that every organization adopts and implements to ensure optimum growth and drivability in terms of services and or products offered.

 

 

There are no universally accepted technique of decision making except that the problem should be carefully analyzed, studied and investigated before taking a decision on it. In fact, decision making is a practical experience and can be learnt actually taking to it. One cannot learn music by reading literature or music alone. He has to take to practice on the instruments before he/she is able to produce the melodious notes. Similarly the techniques of decision making cannot be learnt by reading literature on the subject alone; It has to be practiced. Terry lays down the following sequence of step to facilitate decision making:

 

1) Acquire general background information and different viewpoints about the problem. 2) State what appears to be the best course of action.

 

3) Investigate the proposition and tentative) decision.

 

4) Evaluate the tentative decision.

 

5) Make the decision and put it into effect.

 

6) Institute follow up and if necessary modified decision in the light of results obtained.

 

7) Determine problems.

 

Griffiths observes that decision are totally pragmatic in nature that is their value is dependent  upon  the  success  of  the  action  which  follows.  A decision brilliantly conceived maybe worthless without effective implementation.

 

✡ In the 1980s, psychologist Leon Mann and colleagues developed a decision-making process called GOFER. GOFER is an acronym for five decision-making steps:

 

1.      Goals: Survey values and objectives.

 

2.      Options: Consider a wide range of alternative actions.

 

3.      Facts: Search for information.

 

4.      Effects: Weigh the positive and negative consequences of the options.

 

5.      Review: Plan how to implement the options.

 

✡ In 2008, Kristina Guo published the DECIDE model of decision-making, which has six parts:

 

1.      Define the problem.

 

2.      Establish or enumerate all the criteria (constraints).

 

3.      Consider or Collect all the alternatives.

 

4.      Identify the best alternative.

 

5.      Develop and implement a plan of action.

 

6.      Evaluate and monitor the solution and examine feedback when necessary.