Decision Making, writing assignment help

Get perfect grades by consistently using www.essayjunction.com. Place your order and get a quality paper today. Take advantage of our current 20% discount by using the coupon code GET20


Order a Similar Paper Order a Different Paper

Save your time - order a paper!

Get your paper written from scratch within the tight deadline. Our service is a reliable solution to all your troubles. Place an order on any task and we will take care of it. You won’t have to worry about the quality and deadlines

Order Paper Now

Individual Decision Making

Theme #1:  Decision Making Skills and Styles

There are many levels of decision making and the level of decision making determines the approach and implementation of the decision making process. This week will discuss some of the considerations that focus on the individual decision maker in a business setting. The first them for this week focuses on how decision making style affects the decision making process.

Read:


The importance of having a decision making style

Take the following quiz and determine what your decision making style is and describe it to the class. Then using the reading from this week comment on ways that you might improve and perhaps even change your decision making style to create one which would improve your performance as both a leader and a manager. Make sure to describe the difference between the two styles of a leader and manager when discussing the changes as well as how the job might affect your style. Finally comment on whether your style should be changed depending upon the job or task that requires the decision or if you can suggest that it remain constant instead.

Finding your decision making style quiz:

Discover Your Decision Making Style

Theme Two: Considerations for the Leader and Manager in Decision Making

Read:

To make good decisions these days, leaders and managers must collect extensive and disparate information, balance potentially conflicting needs and goals, gather a team with diverse expertise, and then make decisions in an ever-changing landscape with an unpredictable future.”

Dr. Jim Taylor.

Using the readings for this week, explain the quote and what it means for today’s leaders and managers.

Group Decision Making

Theme #3:  Group Decision Making

Are Groups Better and More Capable of Making Critical Decisions than Individuals?   When and how do we use group decision making?

Read: 

  • Are Two Heads Better Than One
  • Are Decisions Made in Groups Better Than Decisions Made Alone?
  • Why do Groups Cooperate More than Individuals to Reduce Risks
  • Group Vs. Individual Decision Making for a Business

  • When and where are groups better than individuals to make a decision? Discussion is the greatest difference between the group decision making process and an individual process.

    Advantages and Disadvantages of Group Decision Making

    After reading the material for this week review the following fact pattern and discuss the implications of individual and group decision making in this instance. Consider in the discussion who makes better decisions – individuals or groups! Does it make a difference as to what the subject matter of the decision is as to who would be a better fit to make the decision -an individual or the group? (E.g. would launching a new product be a time where group work might be more effective than individual?)

    Address the pros and cons of individual vs. group decision making as exemplified by the fact pattern.Had Garrow been noted for making good decisions rather than no decision would your ideas on individual vs. group decision making be different?Be sure to relate the material to the facts of the case and to reference with in-page citations your remarks.

    Fancy Food Products

    Josh Johnson was delighted to accept a job in the Fancy Food Products, Inc., a multinational consumer food products corporation. Two months later, Josh was miserable. The problem was Gabriel Jones, the general manager in charge of the Ohio branch, to whom Johnson reported.

    Jones had worked his way into the general manager’s position by “keeping his nose clean” and not making mistakes, which he accomplished by avoiding controversial and risky decisions. As Johnson complained to his wife, “Any time I ask him to make a decision, he just wants us to dig deeper and provide 30 more pages of data, most of which are irrelevant. I can’t get any improvements started.”

    Jones seemed terrified of departing from the status quo, but Johnson was planning changes to the line of frozen breakfast foods he was in charge of and needed Jones support. While competitors were introducing new frozen breakfast products, Johnson clung to what was familiar—a 1990s package design and breakfast foods that were laden with fat and sodium. Sales were stagnating and grocers were giving shelf space to more successful products. Running out of patience and struggling to stay motivated, Johnson decided to make one last attempt to persuade Jones to revamp the frozen breakfast line. However, fate stepped in to help him along. Division head came to Jones and told him that they had three weeks to develop a new breakfast line or they would lose the whole project and there department would be cut.

    Jones called Johnson in and told him that he had two weeks to make his case for a new line. If they could persuade him of their new ideas he would make the decision in their favor. If not he would make the decision and report it to the decision head.

    Johnson and his team went to work, scrambling to pull together the extensive data he knew would be required to make Jones feel comfortable rolling out a new line of frozen breakfast foods for the health-conscious consumer.

    For the next week and half, Johnson and two product managers worked extensive overtime, gathering data and developing a plan. They studied competitors, researched consumer breakfast habits, and hired a Chicago design firm to mock up a new package design. They even met with a dietician to analyze the fat and sugar content of the most popular breakfast foods and develop healthier options. Believing he had a solid plan, Johnson then held focus groups to fine-tune the final details of the plan. The team decided the following products would be the best course of action for the short turnaround time needed to produce the products: a low-fat, low-sugar frozen breakfast items: a home-style, organic wheat waffle and a breakfast sandwich made of low-fat yogurt and whole wheat cereal wafers.

    Jones made his made the presentation of his ideas to Johnson, he replied “You know, this is a huge investment, Josh. Is your team sure of the choices. I have researched this a little but have not run the data like you but I think that a low-carb option or something that the teenagers might like would be a different approach. You didn’t mention them in your presentation. They don’t even eat breakfast, do they? Can you get me some answers to these questions? I know we only have a few days left before I make my decision but this needs to be done right.”







  • Theme #4: Group Decision Making – Synergy and Groupthink

The process steps stay the same in group decision making it is only the way they are executed that is different. Group Decision Making Models and Problems Synergy and Groupthink 

Read:

Just as individuals have bias to making decisions so do groups. Two of the biggest problems with group decision-making are groupthink and lack of synergy in a group.

Read the following articles

Avoiding Groupthink

Groupthink

Groupthink: A Common Contributor to Team Failure

Groupthink is one of the most prevalent of the hidden traps in the business world. View the following videos (spoofs) and then answer the following questions based on the reading material for this week. What symptoms of groupthink do you see?Identify the conditions in the facts that led to the groupthink taking over the decision process.

Groupthink

 The Process (Designing the Stop Sign)

Theme #5

The Leader and Managers group decision making fashion

Go back to Fancy Food Products Inc.,  and leave Mr. Jones out of the equation and suppose instead that you are Johnson and you are charged with setting up a decision making team for the new breakfast line.  Focus on putting together a team that would handle the decision making process. Who might you pick to be on the team, how would they go about making the decision, would you take a leadership role or would you be a facil itator?  What decision making process would you choose to use and why? Address some of the problems that might arise in the group process and how to counteract them. Set up the best team and the best circumstances to make the team succeed. Finally, comment on whether you see any differences in the process between a leader and managers perspective.

Writerbay.net

We offer the best essay writing services to students who value great quality at a fair price. Let us exceed your expectations if you need help with this or a different assignment. Get your paper completed by a writing expert today. Nice to meet you! Want 15% OFF your first order? Use Promo Code: FIRST15. Place your order in a few easy steps. It will take you less than 5 minutes. Click one of the buttons below.


Order a Similar Paper Order a Different Paper