research of decision-making methods

Effective decision making is one of most crucial tasks for an organization. The decision making is needed at all levels of organization and so, the management needs to ensure that the effective decisions are being taken (Heyler et al.2016). In order to take the right decisions the management needs to follow the right methods, tools and techniques. In the current report, different methods, tools and techniques available for decision making are identified, analyzed and discussed.

Making decision becomes a difficult when it involves a group. Choice of the right decision making becomes a crucial factor in this case to enhance effectiveness of the process (Block et al.2016). Selection of the right decision making methods ensures that all the participants in the decision making process are being able to get involved completely, becomes able to share their opinions and the decision is being taken on basis of their opinion. Here, a range of different decision making methods are identified and analyzed.
Voting:
Voting is one of the easiest ways to generate decision from a group. Use of the voting technique ensures that the all the participants were able to take part and share their views. The voting process can be conducted in various ways. For example, the organization can arrange for meetings and can ask the participants to raise their hands to share the opinion (Romiszowski, 2016). On the other hand, the management can also provide the participants with different options and can ask them to provide score to all the options and the decision is taken on basis of it . the benefit of using a voting technique to take decision is, it facilitates the management to take decisions within shorter time. On the contrary, while taking decisions, it also needs to be ensured that the participants are not influenced anyway and can take decisions on basis of their own judgment only (Schapira et al.2016). In case of hand raising in a meeting or scoring, the judgment of a participant can be influenced by others and it reduces effectiveness of the decision. To avoid such risks of decision making, the organizations can opt for anonymous voting. As the participants do not get scope to know the opinions of others, they can share their views independently.
Ranking:
Although the voting method helps the organizations to take decisions faster, it does not facilitate them to reveal views of the participants completely on any issue. For effective decision making encouraging the participants to share the opinions freely is also needed. Ranking is one of the decision making methods that helps the organizations to understand how the participants are prioritizing between different options available (Snyder & Diesing, 2015). Use of such methods provides the businesses with a greater insight of the group preferences. In addition, the organization also gets idea on which factors opinion of the group members differ. Most of the meetings conducted for group decision making are time limited. Within the limited time boundary it is difficult for the management to get a deep insight on the views of the group members. However, due to use of ranking method, it becomes easier for the organization to get the actual view on the thoughts of the group members. Use of advanced tools to conduct the ranking process enables the users to make the decision making process faster. Use of such tools helps the organizations to analyze the data collected from discussions of the group members instantly and make effective decisions.
Scoring:
For effective decision-making it is necessary to determine to the extent up to which the members are showing common preferences and where their opinions differ from each other. The scoring method helps the management to identify the common preferences of the group members and to what extent the preferences match their requirements (Pettigrew, 2014). The organization can use a scale of 1-5 upon which the group members would score the different options. Analysis on the results helps the management to understand which options are being preferred by the decision makers and to what extent the decision makers are showing preference to the option.
Multiple voting rounds:
Multiple voting rounds help the organizations to incorporate a democracy based system when the people are given the chance to vote multiple times (Janeiro & Patel, 2015). It facilitates the management with the opportunity to take the decision in several rounds. After each voting round, some options available to the decision makers are reduced and so, the decision makers become able to think in depth on the available options.
Delphi technique:
In Delphi technique the group members become able to share their views with others. The distinctive feature of the Delphi technique is it provides the decision-makers with the opportunity to restructure their own opinions on basis of the opinions from others (Govindan et al.2015). The Delphi technique has a number of advantages. First of all, it enables the decision makers to take their decision after assessing the available options from different perspectives. Another advantage of the technique is , it enables the organizations to take decisions involving the global leaders. As the people do not need to meet together for meetings, it reduces cost of the decision making process also.

The decision based models provides the organizations with structured pathway to interpret the business logic and shape their activities accordingly. In other words, the decision models help the businesses to take the decisions on basis of one or more rules (Zsambok & Klein, 2014). Selection of the right decision model is crucial in this case also as upon it , an organization becomes able to incorporate its own logic while taking the decisions. There are a number of decision models available to the organization. Here, several decision making models are identified and analyzed.
Management science approach:
The management science approach of decision making mainly focuses on analyzing how a business can enhance the productivity by taking the right decisions . this model of decision making helps the businesses to take decisions on basis of the collective scientific thoughts. The management science approach helps the firms to mitigate their weakness on basis of the scientific thinking (Ghattas et al.2014). The management science approach helps the organizations to compare between the possible outcomes and so, can take the best one among all the available options.
The management science approach provides the businesses with several benefits. Firstly, it helps the organizations to evaluate the suitability of the different available options in quantitative way. Using a range of tools and techniques helps the businesses to evaluate the outcomes accurately and respond accordingly.
Bureaucratic:
The Bureaucratic model of decision making is helpful for the organizations when the business needs to take decisions in the consistent manner. The Bureaucratic model is considered as the rational logical approach using which the organization can develop its goals further. For the business owners , use of the bureaucratic model is especially helpful as it provides them with the important insights on the pitfalls of an decision (Zsambok & Klein, 2014). Because of the focus on rules and regulations , the bureaucratic model gives importance on incorporating the rules and procedures of the organization in the decision making. Use of this model is useful in case of large organizations where the management has to follow strict rules and regulations. In case of small organizations , which does follow limited formal policies and need to take highly innovative decisions, this model may not be suitable. In other words , the bureaucratic model is more useful for those cases where the organization need to maintain a departmental separation or the hierarchy based structure. In other cases, or in case of small organizations, where the business does not need to maintain a rigid structure, this method will not be effective.
Carnegie: 
The Carnegie model of decision making is helpful for the organizations where the business needs to take decisions while managing its stakeholders. The Carnegie model is considered as the stakeholder based approach using which the organization can negotiate and manage its stakeholders further. For the business owners, use of the Carnegie model is useful as it provides them with the important insights on the needs of stakeholders and manage them in the best possible way by involving them with the decision making process. Because of the focus on stakeholders, the Carnegie model gives importance on assessing the business from different perspectives and enhances the profitability by managing the stakeholders. Use of this model is useful in case of organizations where the management has to deal with many stakeholders. In case of small organizations, which does follow limited formal policies and need to take highly innovative decisions, this model may not be suitable. In other words , the Carnegie model is more useful for those cases where the organization need to maintain a positive and profitable relationship with the stakeholders. In other cases, or in case of small organizations, where the business does not need to maintain several stakeholders, this method will not be effective.
Incremental model:
The Incremental model of decision making is helpful for the organizations where the business needs to take decisions promptly on basis of the current situation. The Incremental model facilitates the businesses to take faster decisions using which the organization can meet its requirements and carry out the activities in an uninterrupted way. For the business owners, use of the Incremental model is useful as it provides them with the scope to take the right action as and when needed. Because of the focus on speedy decision making, the Incremental model gives importance on assessing the business on regular basis and solves problems of the organizations that occur frequently. Use of this model is useful in case of organizations where the management needs to make decisions very frequently, on regular basis. For the businesses, which does not have the necessity of making decisions frequently, this model is not effective. The Incremental model is more suitable for those organizations where any delay in the decision making can cause huge problem for the business. In other cases, when the business runs in a stable manner, this method cannot provide equally effective result.
Scrap Box:
The decisions taken by a business may not be able to provide the expected outcomes always. Not getting the expected result on implementation of a business can be risky for the organization. In order to avoid it, often the organizations give importance on choosing the right decision using a trial and error method. The Scrap Box model of decision making is helpful for the organizations where the business has to take accurate decision and any occurrence of unexpected results can cause serious issues. The Scrap Box model is effective for the businesses to take accurate decisions using which the organization can fulfill its needs and do not face any risk of getting affected due to improper results (Graham et al.2015). For the business owners, use of the Scrap Box model is useful as it guides them to take the decision with the best possible outcome as and when needed. Because of the focus on highly accurate decision making, the Scrap Box model gives importance on testing the decisions before implementation and evaluates the outcomes on basis of their suitability to the organization . Use of this model can be beneficial in case of the businesses where the decision should be highly accurate. For the businesses, which have the ability to implement the past experiences in the decision making process, the model can be extremely useful. The Scrap Box model is more suitable for those businesses which provide the decision makers with the scope of experimentation. In case of the businesses where the scope of experimentation is limited, implementing the model is not possible. Extensive focus on the trial and error based approach , can make the decision making process complex in s Scrap Box model and so, while implementing the decision making model, an organization needs deployin adequate resources.
Social Justice:
The decision making process does not aim at enhancing profitability of the organizations to the optimum level only. In several cases, the businesses need to take decisions for operating in a more ethical way. In such cases, where an organization has to choose the legally or a morally right acts from all the available versions. 
The decisions taken by a business may not adhere to the social norms, legal factors and the ethical values. Not adhering to the social norms, legal factors and the ethical values can be risky for the organization (Reymen et al.2017). In order to get rid of it, often the contemporary businesses give importance on choosing the right decision after assessing the ethical factors, the local regulations and the social values. The Social Justice model of decision making is helpful for the organization work under the tight rules and need to be ethical in all of their business activities. The Social Justice model is beneficial for the businesses to take accurate decisions using which the organization can fulfill its legal and ethical responsibilities and do not want to face any risk of getting affected due to violation of the norms. 
For the business owners, use of the Social Justice model is useful as it guides them to take the decision which can be accepted legally and ethically. Due to the focus on legally and morally acceptable decision making, the Social Justice model gives stress on analyzing the decisions in terms of the moral and ethical values and take the final decision on basis of the findings (Rosemann & vom Brocke, 2015) . Use of the social justice model is suitable in case of the firms which focuses on incorporating the high value of ethics in its activities. In case of the businesses, which have the ability to enhance their contribution to the community , this model can be highly useful. The Social Justice model is more suitable for those businesses which provide the decision makers with the scope of experimentation. In case of the businesses where the scope of contribution to the society is limited, implementation of the model cannot provide expected results. Extensive focus on the legal and ethical values, the businesses can face more complexity while developing the decisions.

The rational model of decision making can be one of the most widely used frameworks for making the decisions. Use of this frame work enables the users to take decisions in several steps on basis of the judgments. In case of rational model, the problem is analyzed at firs and then relevant information on the problem is collected as in put. The model also deals with processing of the inputs and obtaining the findings. In this step, the decision is taken on basis of the findings. In the current case, the rational framework of the decision making process is analyzed.

Figure 1: Rational model for decision making
( Source: Sharma et al.2014,pp-439)

Analysis on the current framework indicates that in this case, the decision is developed in a systematic way, after executing the stages. At the first stage of the rational framework, the information related to the problem is collected. In this stage, the business opportunities are identified. On basis of the problem analysis, the desired outcomes are developed. The role of decision makers is important for making the decisions. In case of the rational model, the individual who are going to be involved with the decision making process are identified and made accountable.
The second stage deals with processing of the data. This stage starts with developing the right criteria for assessing the alternatives (Hartman et al.2014). Execution of this stage is beneficial for the evaluating the alternatives in a systematic way which in turn, helps the decision makers to choose the right alternatives over all the available options. On basis of all the pre-determined criteria , the decision makers evaluate the available alternatives. Using the findings, they find out the best suited alternative.
 When the most suitable alternative is selected, the decision makers need to communicate it to the others in the organization. Upon communicating the decisions to all other stakeholders , the decision makers give importance on implementing it.
 Reviewing is an important part of the decision making process. When a decision is reviewed, the businesses become able to know whether it is being able to provide the right outcomes or not. Evaluating the decisions provide the businesses with chance to make the decisions more effective.

The decisions can be classified in several categories. The taxonomy of the decisions are described using the following decision categories. 
Intuitive decision: The intuitive decisions are taken promptly on basis of the intuition of the decision maker (Yang & Gabrielsson, 2017). In case of this type of decisions, often one single decision maker is involved with the process.
Deliberative decisions: In case of deliberative decisions, the decision makes assess a range of alternatives along with their pros and cons and find out which one is the best decision in a particular situation.
Bureaucratic decisions: In case of the bureaucratic decisions, the decision makers need to consider the organizational policies and the procedures and takes the decisions which suit with the policies and procedures to the optimum extent.
Technical decisions: Such decisions are taken on basis of a number of technical procedures (Torre?Ruiz et al.2015). To take such decisions, the decision makers carry out a number of procedures and take the decision accordingly.

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