Discuss the rational decision-making model. Would this be an effective/realistic model to use in your current organization? Describe how you may use it while mitigating its weaknesses.
In an organization, decision-making is an important aspect. All the people in an organization at different levels are constantly making decisions. Decision-making is a problem-solving task. This is the process in which a course of action is selected to deal with a particular problem.
Every manager in his area of work takes a decision. The quality of a manager is a yardstick for effective decision-making. The decision should be in such a way that it is beneficial to the organization. The decisions are made not only at the time when an issue arises but also when there are good opportunities for the organization. It should be exploited by taking correct decisions at the correct time.
Decision-making is the process of selecting the best course of action between the alternatives. The decision may take place at an individual or organizational level. This process is influenced by the culture and structure of the organization.
In the rational decision making, all the decision made is rational. Rationale means reasonable and sensible with logic. It is assumed that, in rational decision-making, the manager has all the relevant information needed for the particular decision-making process. He is aware of all the possible alternatives, outcomes, and ramifications connected with that problem-solving. He decides the best solution which is beneficial to the organization. This decision-making process needs intelligence and a systematic approach to the problem.
The manager following the rational decision-making model has the evidence with him supporting the decision he has made. It is better for the manager to take this type of decision in complex situations. The quality of the decision relies on the quality of information gathered and the ability of the manager. The manager thinks reasonably and selects the best logical steps of action which maximizes the desired goal.
There are many limitations to the rational decision-making process. it is very difficult for managers to be completely rational in their decision-making since decisions are taken keeping the future in mind, and the future is very uncertain. It is time-consuming and resource-intensive, especially in fast-moving situations. As it is resource-intensive the information should be of good quality to take a quality decision. But in the case of scarce resources, decision-making is difficult. It is not always necessary that the rational decision is the right one.
In a current organization, maintaining a rational decision-making process is difficult to be realistic. The decisions made are for the future which is uncertain. The organization existing in a highly uncertain environment highlights the possibility that a rational decision may not be the right one. In such an organization, the collection of relevant information is difficult. If no better information a manager cannot take the correct decision.
But if the organizational business is less risky, it is better to choose a rational decision-making process. The managers use their intelligence for the high quality of solutions. In this approach, he systematically collects the relevant information and established alternative courses of action to achieve the end. The end is first decided and the mean is selected to reach the end. The means are the way to reach the end. The mean and end cannot be separated.
The selected alternative should be the best to maximize the desired goal. For each and every decision made by the manager, there should be a reason why he selected this course of action? Here the manager also knows why he rejected the other alternatives. That means, behind each course of action there is a reason. The manager must have the analytical skill to choose the best solution for the problem.
To make a rational decision he has to follow many steps;
- Identify the problem
- Identify the resources and constraints.
- Generating alternative solutions.
- Evaluating and selecting the best one.
- Implement the decision.
- Reviewing the decision.
But the rational decision-making is not always practical. The manager may be lacking in analytical ability. To be always rational is not realistic. Moreover,” (Checklist 015: Making Rational Decisions. 2006). The rational decision relies on the quality of information but if the information gathering is difficult the decision-making process becomes difficult. The manager takes a lot of time for gathering the information and interpreting it which is a problem in fast-moving situations.
So we can conclude, the manager dealing with high risk can face difficulties to make a rational decision. The manager can make rational decisions when the information related to the issue is available. The time constrain is not there, that is time to interpret the data is needed. As a manager to be completely rational is not possible, thus the situation decides whether to take a rational decision or non-rational.
Bibliography
Checklist 015: Making Rational Decisions. (2006). Web.