In fact, thatвЂ™s why we say that decision-making is the essence of management. As Exhibit 6-5 shows, itвЂ™s part of all four managerial functions. Although everyone in an organization makes decisions, decision-making is particularly important to managers.Was the problem incorrectly defined? Were errors made when evaluating alternatives? Was the right alternative selected but poorly implemented? The answers might lead you to redo an earlier step or might even require starting the whole process over. If the evaluation shows that the problem still exists, then the manager needs to assess what went wrong. The last step in the decision-making process involves evaluating the outcome or result of the decision to see whether the problem was resolved.Are the criteria, alternatives, and choice still the best ones, or has the environment changed in such a way that we need to reevaluate? Another thing managers may need to do during implementation is reassess the environment for any changes, especially if itвЂ™s a long-term decision. We know that if the people who must implement a decision participate in the process, theyвЂ™re more likely to support it than if you just tell them what to do. In Step 7 in the decision-making process, you put the decision into action by conveying it to those affected and getting their commitment to it.In our example (Exhibit 2-4), Amanda would choose the Dell Inspiron because it scored higher than all other alternatives (249 total). The sixth step in the decision-making process is choosing the best alternative or the one that generated the highest total in Step 5.(Look again at Exhibit 2-3.) For example, the score for the HP ProBook would be 36, and the score for the Sony NW would be 35. Or if the weights were all equal, you could evaluate an alternative merely by summing up the assessed values for each one. If one alternative scores highest on every criterion, you wouldnвЂ™t need to consider the weights because that alternative would already be the top choice. Sometimes a decision maker might be able to skip this step. The total score for each alternative, then, is the sum of its weighted criteria. When you multiply each alternative by the assigned weight, you get the weighted alternatives as shown in Exhibit 2-4. Keep in mind that this data represents an assessment of the eight alternatives using the decision criteria, but not the weighting. Exhibit 2-3 shows the assessed values that Amanda gave each alternative after doing some research on them. How? By using the criteria established in Step 2. Once alternatives have been identified, a decision maker must evaluate each one.Our sales manager, Amanda, identifies eight laptops as possible choices. In this step, a decision maker needs to be creative, and the alternatives are only listed-not evaluated-just yet. The fourth step in the decision-making process requires the decision maker to list viable alternatives that could resolve the problem.The weighted criteria for our example is shown in Exhibit 2-2. Of course, you could use any number as the highest weight. How? A simple way is to give the most important criterion a weight of 10 and then assign weights to the rest using that standard. If the relevant criteria arenвЂ™t equally important, the decision maker must weight the items in order to give them the correct priority in the decision.In our example, Amanda decides after careful consideration that memory and storage capabilities, display quality, battery life, warranty, and carrying weight are the relevant criteria in her decision. Every decision maker has criteria guiding his or her decisions even if theyвЂ™re not explicitly stated. Once a manager has identified a problem, he or she must identify the decision criteria important or relevant to resolving the problem.Now we have a problem-a disparity between the sales repsвЂ™ current computers (existing condition) and their need to have more efficient ones (desired condition). To make it simple, assume itвЂ™s not economical to add memory to the old computers and itвЂ™s the companyвЂ™s policy to purchase, not lease. For our example, Amanda is a sales manager whose reps need new laptops because their old ones are outdated and inadequate for doing their job. Every decision starts with a problem, a discrepancy between an existing and a desired condition.Why? Because decision-making is (and should be) a process, not just a simple act of choosing among alternatives. Although decision-making is typically described as choosing among alternatives, this view is too simplistic. Managers at all levels and in all areas of organizations make decisions.

Management stephen robbins