The Planning and Decision Making Process
Effective planning and decision making have always been an essential part of any successful business, however, with today’s increasingly complex, globalized business environment these skills are more important than ever. All levels of management are expected to take part in the planning and decision making processes to help guide the organization in reaching its goals, vision and spelling out where it wants to be in the future. Sound decision making is also required to help carry out these plans, run the day-to-day operations, respond to problems, situations and events that were not planned for.
Steps in the Planning Process
Planning is preparing for the future. It provides direction, a unity of …show more content…
We have different personalities, intelligence, experiences, and cultural backgrounds, all of which can influence the decision making process. Schwenk (1988) says that, “within organizations, executives ' cognitive styles and personality characteristics appear to influence their organizations ' strategic decision-making processes” (as cited in Wally and Baum, 1994. P. 934). By understanding the manager’s personal attributes, we can see how it can influence their decision making abilities. Plunkett et al. (2013) suggests that not all managers approach decision making the same way and that it is critical for them to understand their tendencies and make adjustments as necessary. He goes on to list the three personal approaches to decision making as, first, the rational/logical decision model which focuses on facts and logic and minimizes intuitive judgments. Second, the intuitive decision model. In this model, the manager relies on their feelings and hunches about the situation. And lastly, predisposed decision model, which the manager decides on a solution beforehand and then gathers the information to support the decision. Decision makers should strive to use the rational/logical decision model as much as possible. Other attributes of the decision maker that will influence a decision include, the ability to set priorities, timing of decisions, tunnel vision, previous commitments, and degree of creativity (Plunkett et al. …show more content…
Shivakumar (2014) points out that many iconic businesses including Kodak, Blockbuster and Sears have faltered because they did not plan for, anticipate or respond appropriately to important technological, social, and economic changes. Kodak for example, was one of the most profitable companies in the United States that had been in existence since 1888. In 1976 it sold more cameras than any of its competitors and had a 90% market share of all film sold in the United States. However, by 2009 it posted nine quarters of losses and sought bankruptcy protection in January 2012 (Shivakumar 2014). In this case, the executive management at Kodak did not perform an effective SWOT analysis as part of their strategic planning and the decision makers obviously did not take the external environment into consideration. If they had foreseen, or at least reacted more quickly to the advent of digital cameras they would have been able to change their strategic plan and make informed decisions to respond to the threats posed by the changing
Effective planning and decision making have always been an essential part of any successful business, however, with today’s increasingly complex, globalized business environment these skills are more important than ever. All levels of management are expected to take part in the planning and decision making processes to help guide the organization in reaching its goals, vision and spelling out where it wants to be in the future. Sound decision making is also required to help carry out these plans, run the day-to-day operations, respond to problems, situations and events that were not planned for.
Steps in the Planning Process
Planning is preparing for the future. It provides direction, a unity of …show more content…
We have different personalities, intelligence, experiences, and cultural backgrounds, all of which can influence the decision making process. Schwenk (1988) says that, “within organizations, executives ' cognitive styles and personality characteristics appear to influence their organizations ' strategic decision-making processes” (as cited in Wally and Baum, 1994. P. 934). By understanding the manager’s personal attributes, we can see how it can influence their decision making abilities. Plunkett et al. (2013) suggests that not all managers approach decision making the same way and that it is critical for them to understand their tendencies and make adjustments as necessary. He goes on to list the three personal approaches to decision making as, first, the rational/logical decision model which focuses on facts and logic and minimizes intuitive judgments. Second, the intuitive decision model. In this model, the manager relies on their feelings and hunches about the situation. And lastly, predisposed decision model, which the manager decides on a solution beforehand and then gathers the information to support the decision. Decision makers should strive to use the rational/logical decision model as much as possible. Other attributes of the decision maker that will influence a decision include, the ability to set priorities, timing of decisions, tunnel vision, previous commitments, and degree of creativity (Plunkett et al. …show more content…
Shivakumar (2014) points out that many iconic businesses including Kodak, Blockbuster and Sears have faltered because they did not plan for, anticipate or respond appropriately to important technological, social, and economic changes. Kodak for example, was one of the most profitable companies in the United States that had been in existence since 1888. In 1976 it sold more cameras than any of its competitors and had a 90% market share of all film sold in the United States. However, by 2009 it posted nine quarters of losses and sought bankruptcy protection in January 2012 (Shivakumar 2014). In this case, the executive management at Kodak did not perform an effective SWOT analysis as part of their strategic planning and the decision makers obviously did not take the external environment into consideration. If they had foreseen, or at least reacted more quickly to the advent of digital cameras they would have been able to change their strategic plan and make informed decisions to respond to the threats posed by the changing