PROBLEM SOLVING AND DECISION MAKING

PROBLEM SOLVING AND DECISION MAKING

1. PROBLEM SOLVING

   • Involves making a series of decision
     • Deciding that something is wrong
     • Deciding what the problem is
     • Deciding how to solve it.

2. DECISION MAKING

   • Supervisor's job
   • 7 step
     • 1. Identify the problem
     • 2. collect relevant information
     • 3. develop alternatives
     • 4. evaluate each alternative
     • 5. select the best alternative
     • 6. Implement the decision
     • 7. Follow up and evaluate
   • Conditions
     • certainty
     • Risk
     • Uncertainty
   • Tools
     • Marginal analysis
       • optimize returns or minimize cost
       • Deals with additional cost rather than average cost.
     • Decision tree
       • pobability to possible outcome and calculate payoff for decision
     • Expected value analysis
       • Permint to place monetary value on likely consequences
   • Common errors
     • Availability heuristic
       • Judgement based on readily available information
     • Representative heuristic
       • Matching with something familiar
     • Escalation of commitment
       • Increase commitment to a decision despite negative information
   • Advantages of group decision
     • Provide more complete information
     • Generate more alternative
     • Increase solution acceptance
     • Increase legitimacy
   • Disadvantages of group decision
     • Time-consuming
     • Minority domination
     • Pressure to conform
     • Ambigous responsiblity
   • IImproving group decision
     • Brainstorming
     • Norminal group technique
     • Electronic meetings

3. Three views of Ethics

   • The utilitarian view
     • made decision solely on the basis of outcomes
     • goals- provide greatest good for greatest number
     • tend to dominate business decision making
   • The right view
     • consistenly decision make by individual with fundamental liberties
     • concern with respecting and protecting the basic right of individual
     • Protect employee who report unethical
     • Protect individual from injury
   • The justice view
     • require individual to impose rules fairly
     • paying people at the same wage for a given job.
     • protect the interest of the underrepresented and less powerful

4. Creativity

   • become more creative
     • think of as many alternatives as you can
     • jot them down
     • do not evaluate them until finished the list
   • Five techniques generate idea
     • 1. Gather the raw material by learning about the problem
       • constant expand experianc
     • 2. Work over those materials in mind.
       • jot down
       • leave it for a while if stuck on a problem
     • 3. Incubate
       • let subcon do the work
       • stimulate imagination
     • 4. Identify Idea
       • idea pop up unexpected
     • 5. Shape and develop idea to make it practical
       • seek out constructive criticism.