Decision making is an integral part of every aspect of life. This also applies to organizations. It is one of the key factors that pave the way for its success or failure. Every manager is required to execute decisions at various levels of the management cycle beginning from planning to control. It is the effectiveness and quality of those decisions that determine how successful a manager is.
Without decision making, different managerial functions such as planning, organizing, directing, controlling, and staffing cannot be conducted. Decision making is a cumulative and consultative process, and should support organizational growth.
The main function of every management is making the right decisions and seeing them through to their logical end through execution. Every management decision also affects employee morale and performance, ultimately influencing the overall business performance. The importance of decision making in management is immense, as the business policy and strategies adopted ultimately affects the company's output and performance.
Decision making is the coherent and rational process of identifying a set of feasible alternatives and choosing a course of action from them.
Types of Decisions
Decision making and problem solving is a continuous process of analyzing and considering various alternatives in various situations, choosing the most appropriate course of action and following them up with the necessary actions.
There are two basic types of decisions −
- Programmed Decisions
- Non-programmed Decisions
Programmed Decisions
Programmed decisions are those that are made using standard operating procedures or other well-defined methods. They are situations that are routine and occur frequently.
Organizations come up with specific ways to handle them. Programmed decisions are effective for day-to-day issues such as requests for leave or permissions by employees. Once the decision is taken, the program specifies processes or procedures to be followed when similar situation arises. Creating such programed routines lead to the formulation of rules, procedures and policies, which becomes a standard in the organization.
Non-programmed Decisions
Non-programmed decisions are unique and one-shot decisions. They are not as structured as programmed decisions and are usually tackled through judgment and creativity.
They are innovative in essence, as newly created or unexpected problems are settled through unconventional and novel solutions.
Advertisem*nts
