The Five Phases Of Herbert Simon Decision Theory Model

2. Herbert Simon Decision Theory Model :
When a manager makes a decision, it is, in effect, the organisation's response to a problem. As such, a decision should be thought of as a means rather than an end. Every decision is the outcome of a dynamic, process which is influenced by multiple forces. However. what are the different stages of this process, there is no unanimity. Herbert Simon, an expert on decision making has proposed three phases of decision making intelligence, design, and choice. As against these phases, Rubenstein and Haberstroh have proposed five phases-recognition of problem or need for a decision, analysis and statement of alternatives, choice among the alternatives, communication and implementation of decision, and follow-up …show more content…
Past experience. applied in most cases of decision making, takes into account the actions taken by the decision maker in the past with obvious differences between the former challenges and the present one. The successful action of the past may become an alternative for the future. This is a very simple approach but has obvious limitations because there may be so much chances in the decision context that old action becomes totally irrelevant. Copying from the experiences of others is another way of generating alternatives. Thus, alternatives used by successful decision makers can be thought of as alternatives of decision making. This is also practiced by many organizations after making suitable amendments in the light of changed decision context. Importing of technology from foreign countries with suitable changes is good example of this type of alternatives. The third method of generating alternatives is through creative process where various exercises are taken to generate entirely new ideas.
The design phase of decision making may require more intelligence so that the manager