Decision Making Within Organizations

Decision making in organizations has been described as a process of behavior with the economic model (or total rationality) at one extreme, and with the social model (or complete irrationality) at the other extreme (Kimberly and Rottman, 1987, pp. 596619). This description implies that only irrational decision making accords human values precedence over economic values. In the organizational environments of the 1990s, leaders must find some middle ground between these extremes, for it is evident that neither set of values can be ignored. In many organizations, managers have been confronted with the tasks of making severe, undesirable, and unpleasant cuts of personnel and services in a hasty manner, because, in part, they failed to heed economic values in earlier decisions. Similarly, organizations have often been forced to retract decisions, and to act in confusing manners, in chaotic situations, because, in part, they failed to heed human values in reaching earlier decisions. A better approach to decision making

is obviously required by many organizations as they contemplate the demands of the future.

In the last quarter of the twentieth century, it is recognized that the application of specific approaches to decisionmaking must, to some extent, consider leadership styles, personalities, and organizational requirements (Lenz and Engledow, 1986, pp. 6989). First, in the context of organizational conflict which often develops at the time of change implementation

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individuals is much greater than that for a single decision maker (McGrath, 1991, pp. 363392). Additionally, group participation in the process typically results in a better understanding of the decision reached. The major disadvantage to group decision making results from the presence in an organization of social pressures (Szilagy and Wallace, 1992, p. 111). Superior/subordinate relationships within an organization, as an example, may result in no meaningful participation on the part of a subordinate. The quality of group decisions has also been questioned, because, often, consensus is viewed as a substitute for a thorough evaluation of the quality of the decision. The group decision making process may also be subverted by the dominance of a single individual, and the development of a competitive winlose culture among participants. While not being cause for the elimination of group decision making in organizational settings, the problems which may characterize group decision making must be effectively addressed within an organization, if effective decisions are expected to derive from a group decisionmaking process. TeamBased Management Teamdevelopment promotes the idea that individuals who have working relationsh

Category: Business - D