© 2010 Cengage/South-Western. All rights reserved. Chapter 5: SOLVING PROBLEMS: DECISION MAKING AND THE SUPERVISOR Leonard: Supervision 11e

© 2010 Cengage/South-Western. All rights reserved. 5–2 AFTER STUDYING THIS CHAPTER, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO: 1.Explain the importance of problem-solving and decision-making skills. 2.Describe the types of decisions made in organizations. 3.Describe and apply the basic steps of the decision- making process. 4.Identify and describe various decision-making styles. 5.Explain why a supervisor should not make hasty decisions.

© 2010 Cengage/South-Western. All rights reserved. 5–3 The Importance of Decision-Making Skills Decision MakingDecision Making  Is defining problems and choosing a course of action from among alternatives.  Helps supervisors find solutions for problems that result from changing situations and unusual circumstances.  Can significantly affect departmental results. Appreciative Inquiry (AI)Appreciative Inquiry (AI)  The cooperative search for the best in people, organizations, and the world around them.  At the heart of AI is asking questions.

© 2010 Cengage/South-Western. All rights reserved. 5–4 Types of Decisions Programmed DecisionsProgrammed Decisions  Are solutions to repetitive and routine problems provided by policies, procedures, or rules.  Example: Starting your car. Nonprogrammed DecisionsNonprogrammed Decisions  Are solutions to unique problems that require judgment, intuition, and creativity.  Example: Deciding which color to paint your car.

© 2010 Cengage/South-Western. All rights reserved. 5–5 FIGURE 5.2 Effective supervisors follow the decision-making process.

© 2010 Cengage/South-Western. All rights reserved. 5–6 FIGURE 5.5 Sample fishbone (cause-and-effect) diagram. Fishbone technique (cause-and-effect diagram): Cause-and-effect approach to consider the potential interrelatedness of problem causes in decision making.

© 2010 Cengage/South-Western. All rights reserved. 5–7 FIGURE 5.6 Sample decision criteria. THE SOLUTION TO A PROBLEM Should result in the work assignments being completed on time. Should incur no financial cost. Must not impede quality of service to the customer. Should put no employee’s job in jeopardy. Should allow differentiation of product or service in the marketplace. Should have no negative impact on employees. Must alleviate the problem within one week. Decision criteria: Standards or measures to use in evaluating alternatives.

© 2010 Cengage/South-Western. All rights reserved. 5–8 The Decision-Making Process: Developing Alternatives BrainstormingBrainstorming  Is the free flow of ideas in a group, while suspending judgment, aimed at developing many alternative solutions to a problem. Guidelines for Brainstorming:Guidelines for Brainstorming:  Defer all judgment of ideas.  Seek many ideas.  Encourage “free wheeling.”  “Hitchhike” on existing ideas.

© 2010 Cengage/South-Western. All rights reserved. 5–9 The Decision-Making Process: Developing Alternatives (cont’d) Nominal Group Technique (NGT)Nominal Group Technique (NGT)  A group brainstorming and decision-making process by which individual members first identify alternative solutions privately and then share, evaluate, and decide on an approach as a group.

© 2010 Cengage/South-Western. All rights reserved. 5–10 The Decision-Making Process: Developing Alternatives (cont’d) Ethical ConsiderationsEthical Considerations  Ethical “tests”: considerations or guidelines to be addressed in developing and evaluating ethical aspects of decision alternatives.  Legal/Compliance test  Public-knowledge test  Long-term-consequences test  Examine-your-motives test  Inner-voice test  Fairness test

© 2010 Cengage/South-Western. All rights reserved. 5–11 Ethical Considerations It cannot be stressed enough that when supervisors believe an alternative is questionable or might be unacceptable within the firm’s ethical policies, they should consult their managers, the human resources department, or other staff specialists who can provide guidance in how to proceed.

© 2010 Cengage/South-Western. All rights reserved. 5–12 The Decision-Making Process: Selecting the Best Alternative (cont’d) OptimizingOptimizing  Selecting the best alternative.  Example: finding the filling station selling the cheapest gas SatisficingSatisficing  Selecting the alternative that meets the minimal decision criteria.  Example: Buying gas at the first filling station you come to after running out of gas on the highway.

© 2010 Cengage/South-Western. All rights reserved. 5–13 Bases for Choosing the Best Alternative ExperienceExperience IntuitionIntuition Advice from Others ExperimentationExperimentation QuantitativeQuantitative

© 2010 Cengage/South-Western. All rights reserved. 5–14 The Decision-Making Process: Selecting the Best Alternative (cont’d) Guidelines to decide whether groups should be included in the decision-making process:Guidelines to decide whether groups should be included in the decision-making process:  If additional information would increase the quality of the decision, involve those who can provide that information.  If acceptance of the decision is critical, involve those whose acceptance is important.  If people’s skills can be developed through participation, involve those who need the development opportunity.  If the situation is not life-threatening and does not require immediate action, involve others in the process.

© 2010 Cengage/South-Western. All rights reserved. 5–15 Decision-Making Styles To understanding your decision-making style, analyze a recent decision from the following perspective:To understanding your decision-making style, analyze a recent decision from the following perspective:  What worked?  What actually happened as a result of the decision?  What feedback did you receive about the success of a decision?  What style did you use to make the successful decision?  What didn’t work?  Why didn’t it work?  What caused the differences between the intended outcome and what actually occurred?  What kind of feedback did you receive about a “failed” decision?  What decision-making style did you use to make the “failed” decision?

© 2010 Cengage/South-Western. All rights reserved. 5–16 FIGURE 5.7 What is your decision-making style? Source: Source: Reprinted from Training Clips: 150 Reproducible Handouts, Discussion Starters, and Job Aids, by Mike Lynch and Harvey Lifton, copyright © Reprinted by permission of the publisher: HRD Press, Amherst, MA ( ),

© 2010 Cengage/South-Western. All rights reserved. 5–17 Time Impacts the Decision-Making Process Most problems do not require immediate answers.Most problems do not require immediate answers.  Applying participative supervision to a problem request:  How extensive is the problem?  Does the situation need an immediate response?  Who else (the stakeholders) is affected by the problem?  Should they (the stakeholders) be involved in this discussion?  Ask if the employee has thought through the problem, and does the employee have an idea of what the end result should be?  What does the employee recommend? Why?

© 2010 Cengage/South-Western. All rights reserved. 5–18 KEY TERMS Appreciative Inquiry (AI)Appreciative Inquiry (AI) BrainstormingBrainstorming Decision criteriaDecision criteria Decision makingDecision making Decision-making processDecision-making process Ethical “tests”Ethical “tests” Fishbone technique (cause-and-effect diagram)Fishbone technique (cause-and-effect diagram) Nominal group technique (NGT)Nominal group technique (NGT) Nonprogrammed decisionsNonprogrammed decisions OptimizingOptimizing Programmed decisionsProgrammed decisions SatisficingSatisficing