BUS 311 Week 4 Discussion

BUS 311 Week 4 Discussion | Assignment Help |  Excelsior College

M4.3 Decision-making in Organizations Discussion

Decision Making in Organizations

Most discussions of decision making assume that only senior executives make decisions or that only senior executives’ decisions matter. This is a dangerous mistake. — Peter Drucker

It is often assumed that only leaders can and should make decisions within organizations. In truth, decisions are made regularly by people at all levels of the organization. Even though strategic decisions are often made by leaders, the voices and input of people throughout the organization are critical in making these decisions. In addition, many leadership models acknowledge the importance of empowering the voices of managers and front-line employees to enhance employee engagement and receive the most accurate information to make informed, rational decisions, rather than making intuitive decisions with less information.

There are many variables in decision making in organizations. Use the identified questions as a framework to structure your post for this discussion. Your task is to analyze decision-making structures in your organization by answering four key questions. To be fully prepared, make sure to read what is expected in the ‘reply’ post so that you are aware of how your peers will use the information you provide to respond to you. 

Scenario

During your weekly meeting, your supervisor discusses some recent operational decisions as well as the strategic and tactical rationales behind them. She is puzzled about the weak reception by front-line employees that she believes has resulted in outcomes that are far less impactful than predicted. Because of the updates you provide about all that you are learning in this course, she asks you to provide a profile of decision-making processes in your organization.

Scenario Questions

The following questions provide you with a framework to structure your response to the scenario. No doubt there are many variables that will influence this decision, but your task is to primarily focus on using the cultural context of your organization and the external environment in which it operates to frame a brief response to the following question as part of your initial response post. Also, make sure to read what is expected in the ‘reply’ post so that you are aware that your peers will be using the information you provide to post a response.

Initial Post: Strategic, tactical, and operational decisions are addressed on page 3.3 of your webtext. From the point of view of an employee, offer the following response to your supervisor’s request.

1.    How are strategic, tactical, and operational decisions made in your organization? Make sure to address all three facets while responding to the following questions:

o    Who is involved in the process?

o    Who makes the final decision?

o    How are these decisions connected to or evidence of the organization’s culture?

o    What has been the result of these decision-making structures within your organization?

Note: Please continue to maintain the anonymity of your organization by not disclosing information identifying it. It is ok to share organizational purpose and departmental composition. If you are not currently in the workplace, you may provide answers based on previous employment experiences.

Reply Post: From the point of view of a hiring consultant, provide advice to two of your peers.

Your supervisor forwarded your report to organizational leadership. The team is interested in attempting to strengthen and improve the decision-making process and outcomes for the change they intended. They hire you as an implementation consultant. Your job is to review the analyses provided by your peers in their initial posts and craft alternative approaches. Provide additional insight and facts that will help improve the decision-making processes in their organizations. It is critical that you structure an alternative architecture for the decision-making processes intended to ignite impactful change.

To ensure the utility of your recommendations, the guidance you offer should be limited to 300 – 400 words maximum.

·         A well-crafted recommendation would incorporate references to the details provided in the profiles with direct linkages to your advice.

·         To strengthen the credibility of your recommendations, cite evidence to support it.