1. Decision Making for Today’s World
Guidelines for making effective decisions:
Know when it’s time to call it quits
Practice the five whys
Be an effective decision maker
Habits of highly reliable organizations (HROs):
Are not tricked by their success
Defer to the experts on the front line
Let unexpected circumstances provide the solution
Embrace complexity
Anticipate, but also anticipate their limits
Learning Objective #3
Chapter 5, Stephen P. Robbins, Mary Coulter, and Nancy Langton, Management, Ninth Canadian Edition
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education Canada

2. Characteristics of an Effective Decision-Making Process
Focuses on what is important
Is logical and consistent
Acknowledges both subjective and objective thinking and blends analytical with intuitive thinking
Requires only as much information and analysis as is necessary
Encourages and guides the gathering of relevant information and informed opinion
Is straightforward, reliable, easy to use, and flexible
Chapter 5, Stephen P. Robbins, Mary Coulter, and Nancy Langton, Management, Ninth Canadian Edition
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education Canada

3. Summary and Implications
What are the steps in the decision-making process?
Steps include: identifying a problem and the decision criteria, allocating weights to those criteria, developing, analyzing, and selecting an alternative that can resolve the problem, implement the alternative and evaluate the decision’s effectiveness.
Chapter 5, Stephen P. Robbins, Mary Coulter, and Nancy Langton, Management, Ninth Canadian Edition
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education Canada

4. Summary and Implications
What factors affect how decisions are made?
Not all decisions follow the rational decision making model.
How can managers make more effective decisions?
Managers need to think broadly and deeply about issues, and then know when it is time to call it quits.
Chapter 5, Stephen P. Robbins, Mary Coulter, and Nancy Langton, Management, Ninth Canadian Edition
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education Canada