Approaches To Decision Making

Approaches to Decision Making
HCA/250
March 1, 2014
DeAnna Maddox

There are two common ways to make decisions regarding changes in an organization,
especially when others are involved in the end result. The two ways would be to make decisions
individually, making the decision by yourself or by creating a committee, getting others involved
in the process. Knowing that something needs to change, means that there has been a problem
identified, evaluating alternatives and then selecting the solution. Depending on the problem and
the criteria that will be evaluated in making the final decision, this will play an important factor
on whether individually making the decision is better than a group decision. When making
decisions and changes that are going to affect many, it typically is better to make group
decisions.
For larger companies, it is typical that a committee or a team would be created. Bringing
together individuals of the organization that would be effected by these changes. Having a
committee involved in the decision brings more views, thoughts, past experiences and
suggestions to the table to be evaluated for optimal solutions. Advantages of a group decision is
there are more options contributed, the better chances that decisions made would be accepted by
those involved in the decision as well. Quantities and diversity of information are greatest when
group members represent different specialties. (Robbins, DeCenzo, & Coulter, 2011, p. 71).
Finding a suitable solution is half of the battle, the next half would be implementation. By
having a group decision enforced, will increase the success of changes since they were a part of
it and will encourage change. In the example provided about budgetary concerns, it would be
suggested that a committee be created with upper management from finance, human resources,
and department managers to discuss how overhead such as employees, supplies and other capital
costs are effecting our business. Before having the initial meeting it would be suggested for each
manager to evaluate their department and be ready to give suggestion of where they would be
able to make individual changes without sacrificing the well-being of the patients care. Once all
contributions are made from each department, hearing the options of solutions would allow the
committee members to discuss the changes and place value on which options could be most
beneficial. Options like reducing employee head count or hours, re-evaluating vendors where
supplies are purchased from, eliminating overtime costs by having back up staff available or
changing processes by reducing paper trails and going electronic. Each of these will need to be
analyzed on immediate consequences or benefits and what the longer term effects will be. The
disadvantage of working with a committee is that there will prolong the process of making a
decision, more meetings, more time and there could be more resistant from individuals that will
need to be talked into this decision.
In the example about making budget cuts, one could make the decision alone and not
consult with any other departments. The individual making decisions to cut staff, supplies or
capital costs would need to have a comprehensive understanding of all costs associated with the
organization and what implications could be by reducing budgets. Even though it is just one
person making the decision, it is very important to still do a thorough evaluation of what the
problems are, evaluate multiple solutions and weigh the benefits or consequences of these
changes. It would be very important to obtaining financial monthly statements/costs that are
associated with each department. The benefit of making decisions solely is that multiple
meetings would be eliminated, do not need to sell your idea or solution to others, and a
decision could be made quicker which will save time and money for the organization. The
disadvantages of making a decision like this where it effects a group, outweigh the benefits. You
do not have access to others input and past experiences who have dealt with similar situations or
hearing what concerns your management will have. By not including others, you have a higher
chance of the decision not being welcomed by all and having resistant to the change and
implementation.

References:

Robbins, S., DeCenzo, D., & Coulter, M. (2011). Fundamentals of Management: Essential
Concepts and Applications (7th ed.).

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