Decision making: types and process
Decision making is choosing one course of action from several alternatives. It is the heart of management, present at every step.
The decision-making process
Evaluation makes the next decision better. In a family, involve the members who will be affected.
Types of decisions
| Type | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Individual | Made by one person for herself | A student choosing her elective |
| Group (family) | Made jointly by members after discussion | Choosing where to go for the family holiday |
| Central | A major decision on which many others depend | Buying a house |
| Satellite | Smaller decisions that revolve around a central decision | Choosing the loan, the locality and the furniture for the new house |
| Chain | A series of linked decisions, each settled before the next can follow | A wedding: fix the date, then the hall, then the caterer, then the invitations |
| Habitual (routine) | Repeated so often that they become automatic | Making coffee first thing every morning |
| Social | Rest on values and affect relationships and way of life | Whether to live in a joint family |
| Economic | Allot scarce resources among competing wants | Spending the bonus on a refrigerator or saving it |
| Technical | Choose the best means to a fixed goal | Pressure cooking or open-pan cooking for dal |
Why decision making matters
- It is the core of every step of management: planning, organizing, controlling and evaluating all need choices.
- It helps use limited resources to the best advantage.
- It moves the family towards its goals and saves time lost in indecision.
- Shared decisions build cooperation and reduce family conflict.
- Good decisions bring security and satisfaction; poor ones, such as an unwise loan, can cost the family for years.
- Practice builds confidence and judgement in every member.
A dietitian makes chain decisions every day: assess the patient, choose the diet type, then the menu, then the recipes. Choosing to leach vegetables for a kidney patient to cut potassium is a technical decision; choosing between costly and cheaper protein foods is an economic decision.
2 marks: “What are central and satellite decisions?” A central decision is a major one on which others depend (buying a house); satellite decisions revolve around it (the loan, locality and furniture).
5 marks: “Explain the types of decisions with examples.” Cover individual and group, central and satellite, chain, habitual, and social, economic and technical decisions, each with one home example.
10 marks: “Explain the steps in the decision-making process with an example.” Draw the flow, explain each of the six steps and carry one example (choosing a cooking stove) through all of them.
Six steps, six questions: What is the problem? What are my options? What will each lead to? Which is best? How do I carry it out? Did it work?