Introduction
The process of high-quality decision making is dependent on heuristic since it provides assumptions, integration of options, and rational control. Decision environment often experience dynamics and swings which create short and long term effect on chances of survival for two alternatives to solve a problem (Fitzgerald 24). This paper discusses personal decision making process as a dispatch supervisor in one of the local toy companies. I received a report that one of the toy shipment meant for the South American market had defects. Upon informing the general manager, I was assigned the duty of establishing the best decision to overcoming this challenge. My decision making process is discussed in subsequent sections.
Background Summary
As the dispatch supervisor in one of the local companies, I was informed of a detected defect in a batch of toys that were supposed to be shipped to South America. The batch had failed to meet the quality standards on content of lead in the product. This had the potential to escalate to serious health issues among the young users who are target customers for the toys. Therefore, I had to make a decision by reviewing three alternatives of dealing with the situation.
The first alternative was a complete recall and reproduction of the shipment that have defects. The alternative meant reproduction to meet the set quality standards to avoid possible chances of exposing children in South America to several health hazards. However, adopting this suggestion would mean incurring most costs in the reproduction and delay in product delivery into the South American market. Besides, the company was likely to face the pressure from the external market due to breach of contract from delayed delivery. Despite the extra costs, this alternative has the benefits of continued customer satisfaction through provision of quality goods. The losses the company may incur from adopting this suggestion were in the short run. Basically, the affected batch was in one ship only.
The second alterative was to ignore the quality report and dispatch a portion of the product to the market for quality measurement. There are high chances that the relevant authority would not detect the defects. Thereafter, the remaining batch would be released into the market following the quality certification. This alternative has the advantage of saving the company extra costs from reproduction. Besides, the company would not disappoint the South American market. However, it has serious threats on company market sustainability should the defects be detected after the batch has been released. As a matter of fact, the customers would lose the confidence they have towards the products of the company as standard.
The third alternative the company had was to release the whole consignment into the South American market and keep the secret of defects. This alternative is the easiest since the company would not incur any cost. Besides, the company would be within the product dispatch schedule. This alternative means that the company’s earning would not be delayed as the supply and demand functions would be operating within the expectation of the company and the market. However, adopting this alternative has the potential of attracting several ethical dilemmas. For instance, the company may face legal charges from the relevant authorities when the defects are detected. Besides, the company has the potential of losing the entire South American market as a result of lost confidence from the defective product.
Theoretical Analysis
In the business environment, ethical decisions are actions that consider the basic principles of trust, proactive customer-company relationship, and sustainable production sustainability. In order to declare a decision as ethical, the element of commitment is critical in gauging the quality of the decision, in terms of rationality (Eriksen 759).
Basically, an ethical decision can be defined as a decision with moral and legal appeal to the wider community. Since high-quality decision making process operates on the periphery of rationality parameter, the final verdict should be reliable and ethically sound (Eriksen 759). Given that different aspects of decision making such as assumptions, integration of options, and rational control are integrated, most of visible or invisible biases are dampened as the effects of social presence elevate the decision science (Wang and Ruhe 78).
High-quality decision making functions on the presence of rationality and verifiable facts, irrespective of the position or situation that the decision making agents are in. High-quality decision making incorporates a series of perspectives through which the final decision is identified via a qualitative analysis. Therefore, high-quality decision making relies heavily on the pillar of alternatives through research and knowledge of the situation or problem. Since high-quality decision making process operates on the periphery of rationality parameter, the final verdict can be described as reliable and accommodate variant views. Given that different aspects of decision making such as assumptions, integration of options, and rational control are integrated, most of visible or invisible biases are dampened as the effects of social presence elevate the decision science when the dual-pillar strategy is integrated (Fitzgerald 23).
In analysing ‘good will’, David (2012) opines that the only intrinsically and unqualifiedly good is ‘the good will’. He clarifies that this has nothing to do with happiness. Further, David is specific in asserting that wit, intelligence, and judgment are generally of good value to human life but might turn out to be timid when employed for bad rationale. Thus, David concludes that good will cannot be perverted since it is ‘intrinsically and unqualifiedly good’. From this angle, it is in order to state that the aspect of good is but just a disposition since it functions around action oriented teleological system (David 31).
In order to understand the quality of a decision, it is imperative to establish the foundation of each of premise functioning within the decision. Questioning the ‘good action’ is the first step towards understanding the significance of a decision, especially in a crisis (Fitzgerald 24). Fitzgerald (2013) further delineates virtue as readiness and the inclination to jump into action with situational excellence despite the circumstances of the time (Fitzgerald 42). Therefore, excellence in this case is the average between duo extremes; deficiency and excess. Apparently, the highest morals rest on ‘good will’ which allows mankind to undertake actions in the backdrop of peak morality or moral worth often based on origin priority. For instance, when the underlying command plans originate from the opinionated inclination of such an individual, the results would basically be aligned towards self contempt. However, when the assessment dynamics are reviewed, the final decision would be ethical and rational (Bowman 12).
From the theoretical perspective, there is a very fine line between the rationally correct, economically viable, and ethically correct decision. Therefore, decision making for the company must be based on addressing all three aspects and not only one of them. An ethically correct decision may incur short-term loss to the company but in the longer run, this would be a more profitable decision (Bustin 29).
Reflective Recommendations
Irrational decision making has structural faults which prevent the benefits of reliability and social effects since it is characterized by a context of provocative situation. Besides, unethical decision process is characterized by internal or external pressures for a consensus which may generate accord-seeking propensities. Unlike high-quality decision, irrationality creates a false illusion which is inherently dysfunctional. Thus, an individual caught up in a groupthink phenomenon is blindly loyal to a set of thoughts or actions for fear of being controversial as a result of exercising independent thinking. Based a strategic analysis, I advised the general manager to adopt the second option, which was to stop delivery and reproduce the batch with defections (Bloom 33). Fortunately, this recommendation was adopted and the company has since recovered from the losses of reproducing the toys.
Conclusion
In conclusion, when faced with a decision dilemma that requires critical assessments, I discovered that it is important to use analytical tools that ensure competitive positioning advantage. After the analysis, I recommended the alternative of recall and reproduction to ensure that the South American market is protected. Thus, the decision to cancel the contaminated batch was ethical since it considered the moral value of doing business. In fact, an otherwise decision would have betrayed the elements of trust between the company and the market.
Works Cited
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Bustin, Gerald. Take Charge: How Leaders Profit From Change. Irving, Texas: Tapestry Press, 2004. Print.
David, Fred. Strategic Management Concept and Cases, a Competitive Advantage Approach, New York, NY: Prentice Hall, 2012. Print.
Eriksen, Matthew. “Authentic Leadership: Practical Reflexivity, Self-Awareness, and Self-Authorship.” Journal of Management Education, 33.1 (2009): 747-771. Print.
Fitzgerald, Martin. Managing Under Uncertainty: A Qualitative Approach to Decision- making. Newcastle, UK: Pearson Australia, 2013. Print.
Wang, Yingxu, and Guenther Ruhe. “The Cognitive Process of Decision Making”. International Journal of Cognitive Informatics and Natural Intelligence, 1.2 (2007): 73-85. Print.