Decision Making In Administrative Behaviour 

Decision Making In Administrative Behaviour

The decision-making process represent the dynamic aspect of administration. Read on to know about all the concepts like the introduction of decision making, types of decision making, principles of decision making, etc. These can be seen in situations when the administration is in action. At any level the secretariat or the field, the administration has to deal with numerous issues and problems. Through a learning process, practices and procedures are evolved to manage the recurrent problems using decision-making skills. New problems arise which call for innovations. Within the organisation, many kinds of relationships have to be smoothly conducted to orchestrate the activities of the organisation. Similarly, external relations with clients and other organisations have to be managed. Internal activities need to be planned and controlled. The flow of information within the organisation has to be regulated to facilitate relationships and task accomplishment. So, an administrative organisation in action exhibits several salient processes. More important among these are:

1. Decision-making
2. Communication
3. Control
4. Motivation
5. Leadership.

Decision Making

Decision-making lies deeply embedded in the process of administration. It is the foremost function of the administrator. Consciously or unconsciously every administrator is engaged in decision making or deciding what is to be done, how it is to be done, who is to do it and when it is to be done.

Decision-making is a process of selection from a set of alternative courses of action which is thought to fulfil the objective of the decision problem more satisfactorily than others. It is a course of action that is consciously chosen for achieving the desired result a. It is the choice wherein a manager selects a particular course of action from the available alternatives in a given situation. Administrative decision-making involves establishing goals, defining tasks, searching for alternatives and developing plans to find the best answer to the decision problem.

Definition For Decision Making

Decision-making may be viewed as the process by which individuals select a course of action from among alternatives to produce the desired result. It is a process made up of four continuous interrelated phases; explorative (searching), speculative (analysis), evaluative (weighing) and selective (commitment).

1. Explorative:

The decision-maker must find occasions for making a decision. He must: make a realistic appraisal of where the firm is, and what are the current problems. Asking What should be done? and What are the challenges? represents searching.

2. Speculative:

The decision-maker should analyse various factors affecting a decision 23 problem’ so that an appropriate response can be obtained. How to take advantage of the challenging opportunities in the environment ?” and “How to utilize the resources to get the maximum possible benefit for the organization?” indicates analysing.

3. Evaluative :

The decision-maker is expected to make a cost-benefit analysis of various alternatives. Asking “What are the costs ?’ and “What are the potential benefits?” indicates evaluating.

4. Selective:

This is a question of choosing among alternatives that would maximize the decision maker’s total expected relative value.

In other words, decision-making is the process by which the decision-maker tries to jump over the obstacles placed between his current position and the desired future position.

Principles Of Decision Making

A manager’s effectiveness is related directly to the quality of his decision. Decision-making is the work a manager does to arrive at conclusions and judgements. In all circumstances, management decisions should follow a few basic principles which are likely to ensure its soundness.

1. Principle of Definition :

A logical decision can be made only if the real problem is defined with minute attention. But too often time and effort are wasted since we mostly try to think through what the problem is – or the objective. We fail to identify the real problem because of our inability to determine the basic factors that must be changed to arrive at a satisfactory solution.

2. Principle of Evidence :

Decisions should not be taken hastily. It must be based on evidence, meaning that adequate facts must be there to back the judgement. When the facts underlying a problem are collected and care is taken to analyse the situation the basic work in decision-making is done.

3. Principle of Identity :

From a different perspective, the same object usually appears to be different to different people. Not only that, the relative importance of the same fact differs from year to year.

It is, therefore, urged that the decision-maker should try to use different viewpoints and determine the relative significance of the period during which the event happened. In the event of decisions involving two or more persons, it is required that the view of each such person should be taken into consideration, weighed carefully and checked with other sources before a decision is taken. 

However, in a precise manner, we may add that the above basic principles provide a sound basis for management decisions.

Types Of Decisions

The quality of decision-making skills is one of the critical factors in managerial success. Managers are evaluated by the decisions they make, and, more often, by the results obtained from their decisions. So it would be useful to distinguish between decisions made by managers at different levels in the organization.

Basic and Routine Decisions

Basic decisions are decisions concerning unique problems or situations. They are one-time decisions demanding large investments. For example, decisions about launching a new production plant, or buying a more advanced computer system are non-routine decisions. They require creativeness, intuition and good Tout to judgement on the part of managers. They are strategic decisions that affect the future of an organization, “Anyone, who is a manager has to make such strategic decisions, and the higher his level in the management hierarchy, the more of them he must make”. In other words, as a manager progresses to higher levels, the number of basic decisions to be taken increases.

On the other hand, routine decisions are repetitive.  They require little deliberation and are generally concerned with short term commitments. They `tend to have only minor effects on the welfare of the organization. Generally, lower-level managers look after such mechanical or operating decisions. For example, a supervisor can decide whether an employee’s absence is excused or cannot be excused based on personnel policy guidelines. Usually, standard procedures are established to dispose of such repetitive problems quickly. 

Personal and Organizational Decisions

According to Chester Barnard decisions can be divided based on the environment in which they are made. Decisions to watch a television programme, to study, or retire early are examples of personal decisions. Such decisions pertain to managers as individuals. Such decisions indirectly affect the organization. For example, a personal decision to purchase a car, rather than a Jeep indirectly helps one firm due to the sale and hurts another because of the lost sale. The sudden decision of a popular singer to seek premature retirement may affect the film industry badly. In other words, personal decisions can have an impact beyond the immediate system on whose behalf they were made”. Organizational decisions are made by managers in their official or formal capacity as controllers and allocators of organizational resources. Unlike personal decisions, organisational decisions can be delegated. These decisions are aimed at furthering the interests of the organization.

Managers operate in an open environment. Results of their decisions are open for public view (subordinates, stockholders, customers, general public etc.) and such results are generally measured in terms of the firm’s earnings, the welfare of the employees and the economic health of the community. In other words, managerial decisions have an impact on a greater number of people. So, to survive and progress managers are forced to make professional decisions, to make decisions that are based on rationality, judgement and experience. As pointed out by Levitt, the manager is judged not for what he knows about the work that is done in his field, but by how well he does the work’. To protect the long-term interests of the organization, sometimes, a manager may be forced to adopt certain decisions which may be against his personal choices. For example, a manager who abhors unethical practices may tolerate deceptive product messages in company advertisements to ward off competitive pressures. To survive, the manager must be a professional decision-maker. He is expected to resolve the conflicts that take place between organizational and personal decisions in a smooth way.

3. Programmed and Non-programmed Decisions

Herbert Simon has provided a popular classification scheme for managerial decisions i.e. Programmed and Non-programmed. A programmed decision is routine and repetitive. Rules and policies are established well in advance to solve recurring problems quickly. Thus, a hospital establishes a procedure for admitting new patients, a supervisor administers disciplinary actions against workers reporting late for work, a store clerk knows when to requisition additional supplies as soon as the existing stock drops below a specified level. Based on a pre-established set of alternatives, programmed decisions can be made routinely. Since programmed decisions are relatively easy and simple for managers to make, they do not tax the intellectual capacities of the decision-maker. However, routine procedures leave little room for the manager to choose, Judgement cannot be used and freedom is affected. 19 Programmed decisions are usually made by lower-level personnel in organizations “in which the market and technology are relatively stable, and many routine, highly structured problems must be solved.”

For example, in banks and insurance companies, the market and technology are relatively stable and usually routine problems confront operating personnel. Decisions are highly routinized and the decision-maker simply recognizes the problem and implements the predetermined solution.

Non-programmed decisions deal with unique/unusual problems. In such cases, the decision-maker has to decide a poorly structured situations-one are no pre-existing, cut-and-dried solutions. Deciding whether to take over how to restructure an organisation to improve efficiency, where to locate a new company Warehouse, whom to promote to the vacant position of Regional Manager at one of the company’s plants are examples of non-programmed decisions. The common leisure these decisions are that they are novel and non-recurring and there are no ready-made courses of action to resort to. Because non-programmed decisions often involve broad, long-range consequences for the organization, they are made by higher-level personnel only. Managers need to be creative when solving infrequent problems, and such situations have to be treated de novo each time they occur. Non-programmed decisions are quite common in such organizations as research and development firms where situations and poorly structured and decisions being made are non-routine and complex.

The differences between Programmed and Non programmed decisions

It is interesting to note that in real-life situations the practising administrator tends to spend a relatively greater amount of time on programmed decisions than on NonProgrammed decisions. A person with responsibility for both routine activities and long term planning is likely to find the routine taking a much greater share of his time. Simon and March call this phenomenon the “Gresham’s Law of Planning”.

4. Policy and Operative Decisions

Policy decisions are taken by the top management in the organisation which determines the basic policies. The policy decisions are very important and have a long term impact. Operative decisions are related to the day-to-day operation of the business and have a short term impact.

5. Individual and Group Decisions

Individual decisions are taken by a single individual These are taken in the context of routine or programmed decisions where the analysis of various variables is simple and for which broad policies are already provided with a mi decisions are taken by a group constituted for this specific purpose or by a standing committee. Group decisions have certain positive values such as greater participation of individuals and quality in decisions, and certain negative values such as delay in the decision-making process and difficulty in fixing the responsibility of decisions

After going through the above types of classification of managerial decisions we that there is no single and satisfactory way of classifying decision situations. Moreover, the foregoing classifications have ignored two important problem-related dimensions :

1) How complex is the problem in terms of some factors associated with it? and

2) How much certainty can be placed with the outcome of a decision?

Based on these two dimensions, four kinds of decision modes can be identified: Mechanistic, Analytical, Judgmental, and Adaptive.

1. Mechanistic Decisions

A mechanistic decision is routine and repetitive. It usually occurs in a situation involving a limited number of decision variables where the outcomes of each alternative are known. For example, the manager of a bicycle shop may know from experience when and how many bicycles are to be ordered; or the decision may have been reached already, so the delivery is made routinely. Most mechanistic decision problems are solved by habitual responses, standard operating procedures, or clerical routines. To further simplify these mechanistic decisions, managers often develop charts, lists, matrices, decision trees, etc.

2. Analytical Decisions

An analytical decision involves a problem with a large number of decision variables, where the outcomes of each decision alternative can be computed. Many complex productions and engineering problems are like those. They may be complex, but solutions can be found. Management science and operations research provides a variety of computational techniques that can be used to find optimal solutions. These techniques include linear programming, network analysis, inventory reorder model, queuing theory, statistical analysis, and so forth.

3. Judgmental Decisions

A judgmental decision involves a problem with a limited number of decision variables, but the outcomes of decision alternatives are unknown. Many marketing, investment and resource allocation problems come under this category. For example, the marketing manager may have several alternative ways of promoting a product, but he or she may not be sure of their outcomes. Good judgement is needed to increase the possibility of desired outcomes and minimise the possibility of undesired outcomes.

4. Adaptive Decisions

An adaptive decision involves a problem with a large number of decision variables, where outcomes are not predictable. Because of the complexity and uncertainty of such problems, decision-makers are not able to agree on their nature or decision strategies. Such ill-structured problems usually require the contributions of many people with diverse technical backgrounds. In such a case, · decision and implementation strategies have to be frequently modified to accommodate new developments in technology and the environment.

Factors Affecting Decision Making

The function of the organization is to inculcate in its members’ certain viewpoints and loyalties. Incumbents of the different positions are expected to conduct themselves in ways appropriate to their positions. However, role ambiguities inevitably exist. In addition, role conflicts occur when the enabling legislatures authorise or even mandate administrators to attain incompatible objectives, such as promoting industrial development and the environment another type of role conflict exists when there are differing expectations within the organisation of the decisions a person should make. The influence of role perceptions is very noticeable when someone changes positions. A new position provides different perspectives. Officials do not change all their beliefs when they move into different positions. They may have internal role conflicts when expected to behave differently towards their former positions.

Outside Pressures

Some decisions are forced on administrators because of pressures from outside the organization. Since politics is largely horse-trading, and politics and administration are not separable; the chances of arriving at totally rational decisions, is all the more limited in the governmental environment.

Sunk Costs

If substantial sums have already been invested in a programme, administrators often stubbornly persist with it despite what appears to the critics to be overwhelming evidence that the original decision was wrong and should be changed.

Personality Characteristics

The kinds of decisions officials; make are determined largely by their characteristics. For example, a conservative official may take decisions that involve the minimum risk, whereas, a dynamic live-wire official might prefer to take risky decisions.

Influence of Outside Reference Groups

Another powerful force in the social environment of the decision-makers. They tend to associate with groups at their level of power and status, or above it rather than those of lower status.

Past Conditioning

Previous training and experience may influence how people make decisions. There seems to be no unanimity regarding the factors which help in decision-making. Perhaps there are no such fixed bases. A decision often depends on the criterion or basis believed to be important in a particular situation. The means of arriving at a decision may be rational, deliberate, emotional, impulsive or habitual. Intuition, facts, experience and authority are among the most common bases used in arriving at a decision. Seckler-Hudson enumerates twelve factors that must be considered in decision-making – legal limitations, budget, mores, facts, history, internal morale, future as anticipated, superior, pressure groups, staff, nature of programme and subordinates.

Steps In Decision Making

Terry lays down the following sequence of steps, which, when followed, will assist greatly in the making of a decision :

1. Determine what the problem is
2. Acquire general background information and different viewpoints about the problem.
3. State what appears to be the best course of action;
4. Investigate the proposition and tentative decisions.
5. Evaluate the tentative decisions.
6. Make the decision and put it into effect; and
7. Institute follow-up and, if necessary, modify decision in the light of results obtained.

Phases In Decision Making Process

Three relatively distinct stages in the decision-making process are :

1. The past, when the problems developed, information accumulated and the need for a decision was perceived.

2. The present in which alternatives are found and the choice is made.

3. The future in which decisions will be carried out and evaluated.

The three phases here are:

1. The Identification Phase

During this phase, the problem is recognised and a diagnosis is made.

2. The Development Phase

Here, a search for an existing standard procedure, ready-made solution or the design of a new tailor-made solution is made.

3. The Selection Phase

During this phase, the choice is made Decision-making is a highly complex dynamic process. There are many feedback loops in each of the phases. These loops can be caused by problems of timing, politics, disagreement among decision-makers, inability to identify an appropriate alternative or to implement the solution or the sudden appearance of a new alternative.

Techniques Used In Decision Making

Generating a reasonable number of good alternatives may require creativity, thought and study. Some of the means for generating alternatives are :

1. Decision Tree
2. Brainstorming
3. Synectics
4. Nominal Grouping

Decision Tree

The problems faced by a decision-maker are usually complex. Hence, decisions regarding any problem cannot be made completely at one point in time. Decisions have to be made in stages. The decision tree serves as a useful tool in the hands of the decision-maker to solve decisions at various stages. The decision tree is a technique whereby the future sequence of events are mapped out and the various possible outcomes are outlined. Whenever the decision-maker is encountered with a new problem he can use the decision tree to arrive at the right decision quickly.

Brainstorming

It involves the use of a group to develop as many potential solutions as possible. It is based on the premise that when people interact in a free and uninhibited atmosphere they will generate creative ideas. This technique was developed by Alex F.Osborn,

Synectics

Synectics developed by William J.J.Gordon is a more recent and formalized creativity technique for the generation of alternative solutions. The members of the group react by stating the problem. The problem is thoroughly reviewed and analyzed before proceeding to offer potential solutions. The leader of the group guides the discussions. In brainstorming the judgement of ideas is withheld until all ideas are generated. In synectics, judicial evaluations of member’s suggestions do take place from time to time. This technique is appropriate for complex and technical problems.

Nominal Grouping

Nominal grouping developed by Andre Dillbecq and Andren van de en does not rely on a free association of ideas, and it purposely attempts to reduce verbal inte raction. Each group member is asked to prepare a list of ideas in response to the identified problem, working silently and alone. Based on interaction, subsequently, the ideas are being modified. Group preference arrives through votes. The nominal grouping has been to be particularly effective in situations requiring a high degree of innovation and idea generation.