Asia Pacific University College of Technology Innovation 2010

INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT

MODULE NAME: Organizational Decision INTAKE NUMBER: UC2F0901IBM HAND IN DATE: 11th March 2010 SUBMITTED BY: Gabidolla Kerimbaiuly TP017957

Asia Pacific University College of Technology Innovation 2010 Contents Question Introduction Pages 3 4 .. 4-5 ..5 ..5 .5-6 6 ..6-7 .7 ..7 .8 9 ..9 9 10 11

A concept of group decision-making Authoritarian method

Sub-Group Majority Consensus Advantages of Group Decision Example Disadvantages of Group Decision Example Brainstorming Nominal Group Technique The Facilitator s Role Conclusion References

Asia Pacific University College of Technology Innovation 2010

Question: Assess the advantages and disadvantages of group decision making. Give an example of: a) A situation in which you felt the advantages outweighed the disadvantages, And b) one in which you felt the opposite was true. In the later case, what could have been done to prevent the decision-making difficulty?

Asia Pacific University College of Technology Innovation 2010

Introduction The formation of groups can be quite effective in organizations. There are many situations that warrant the use of groups to achieve a desired outcome. Conversely, there are also various situations where individual decision-making would be more effective. This paper sets out to show you various examples of when and where group decision-making should be applied, and also show examples of when the need arises for an individual to make a decision on behalf of a group. A concept of group decision-making Basic problem in multi-criteria group decision-making is finding procedures needed to choose a decision that would suit the desirable solution, with the possibility of selecting (which is common) the most acceptable alternative.

Source: Rockart J.F. and Short, J.E. (1991), The Networked Organization and the Management of Interdependence, Oxford University Press. Conceptual framework of group decision-making phases is roughly divided into three parts (Phases): (1) Assessment phase (2) Assigning priority phase (3) Data analysis and concluding phase. The assessment phase comprises three basic activities: defining alternatives, defining criteria and consensus threshold between session members. The second phase, assigning priorities, comprises

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the procedures used to determine alternatives order of importance with a possibility of comparing data. And finally, the third phase is data analysis, whose aim is to identify sub-groups and eventual problem activities based on the gathered data. It should also assert the level of anticoincidence indicators in a group. Each of the aforesaid phase of group decision-making, can be observed upon applying the procedure with some of the multi-criteria group decision-making.

To better understand when it is appropriate to make a group decision or when an individual should take charge, we must examine the various styles of group decision making. Generally, there are some common group decision making methods which Ill describe in this paper. Authoritarian method The authoritarian style is like a dictatorship, in which the decision ultimately rests in the hands of one person. This style of decision-making is applicable in the presence of a powerful person who dictates the entire process of decision-making and has the final authority on the outcome. This style, although in use at various places, tends to have more disadvantages than advantages because the people whose opinions are disregarded might have negative feelings about the entire process. A variation of this method is the minority control method wherein the group discusses the issues but the power of decision-making rests not in the hands of one but a small group of people within the group. An example of this would be a judge handing down a decision in a legal case. Sub-Group A small part of the team or total group gains sufficient influence to force the Team Leader or the group to adopt a decision. An example of this in politics is when a vocal minority insists on certain rights and the majority goes along with those decisions. The Sub-Group Method can be effective if the Sub-Group approaches the task to assist the full team, and if the team requested the Sub-Group to work as such. Majority (Voting and Polling) More familiar decision-making procedures are often taken for granted as applying to any group situation because they reflect companys business system. One simple version is to poll

Asia Pacific University College of Technology Innovation 2010

everyone's opinion following some period of discussion. If the majority of participants feel the same way, it is often assumed that is the decision. The other method is the more formal one of stating a clear alternative and asking for votes in favor of it, votes against it, and abstentions. A specific weakness of majority Decision-Making is that some percentage of the group, sometimes as much as almost half, may disagree with the outcome. This means that almost half the group may be unhappy over a decision. Consensus Consensus Decision-Making is the most effective but most difficult method because every member of the group must agree to the decision before it can be adopted. In a consensus decision, the level of agreement you have is often related not so much to the fact that everyone absolutely agrees, but that they have decided through sufficient debate that they can live with the decision. If a team Member cannot live with the decision, you do not have a consensus decision. Advantages and Disadvantages of Group Decisions Like any other process, the process of taking group decisions has its own sets of advantages and disadvantages. Here are the advantages and disadvantages of group decisions:

Advantages of Group Decisions:

y

Group decisions help to combine individual strengths of the group members and hence has a set of varied skill sets applied in the decision making process.

Individual opinions can be biased or affected with pre-conceives notions are restricted perspectives, group decision help to get a broader perspective owing to differences of perception between individual in the group.

A group decision always means enhanced collective understanding of the course of action to be taken after the decision is taken.

A group decision gains greater group commitment since everyone has his/her share in the decision making.

Group decisions imbibe a strong sense of team spirit amongst the group members and helps the group to think together in terms of success as well as failure.

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Example Swatch watch was originally intended to re-capture entry level market share lost by Swiss manufacturers during the aggressive growth of Japanese companies such as Seiko in the 1960s and 1970s, and to re-popularize analog watches at the time when digital watches had achieved wide popularity. At the same time, management (including experts) came to the perfect solution of the existing problem, that there should be extension of Swiss watch and to bring new style for a lower price. The launch of the new Swatch brand in 1983 was marked by bold new styling and design. The quartz watch was redesign for manufacturing efficiency and fewer parts. This combination of marketing and manufacturing expertise restored Switzerland as the major player in the world wristwatch market

Disadvantages of Group Decisions:

y

One of the major disadvantages of group decision making is that it is more time consuming than the process of individual decision making.

Group decisions take longer to be finalized since there are many opinions to be considered and valued.

In case of authoritarian or minority group decision making, the people whose opinions are not considered tend to be left out from the decision making process and hence the team spirit ceases to grow.

The responsibility and accountability of the decisions are not equally shared in some cases which lead to a split in the group and hence hamper the overall efficiency of the group.

Example There are a number of U.S. Internet companies failed in China. Why? Within the world of technology companies, and information technology companies, there are a number of problems. If you think about it, in the last six or seven years this whole market has evolved around the world, and in China the competitors have been established for about the same time that the U.S. competitors have. So its not that the U.S. competitors necessarily have an advantage of great insight or time even in their own markets, let alone in China. And the

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companies that have been set up in Chinathe local operations that have been set up in China by U.S. corporationsalso have to deal with the fact that these companies are really located deep down in the organization chart. So to make this pretty clear, if youre running eBay China, the head of eBay China is reporting to someone who has the title of [head of] eBay International, who reports to someone who has a higher level title, who reports to the CEO And so the head of eBay China would be competing against a competitor who makes their decisions themselves. Decisions that it takes someone whose head of eBay China perhaps a week long the head of their competitor can make that same decision in 15 minutes while consulting with their general staff. And so in a market that changes as fast as it does in this industry, American companies or foreign companies in general are setting themselves up to have a very, very long group decision cycle. And its difficult when companies competing against very wellfinanced thoughtful competition that can make the decisions much faster.

While involved in a group decision making process it is always better to study the advantages and disadvantages of group decisions and hence formulate a group-decision making process that suits the group and gives the optimum results. Many groups meet to solve problems or make decisions. Here I describe how groups can effectively accomplish their task objectives. There are several approaches improving group decision making. Below are some of them. Brainstorming Another option for decision-making is brainstorming. When brainstorming, group members are encouraged to generate as many ideas about a particular topic as they can. For instance, group members may use brainstorming to generate as many solutions as they can in step four of the standard agenda. Group members should be encouraged to say anything that comes to mind when brainstorming. Every idea is written down and judgments about ideas are saved until later, when the group returns to all of the ideas and selects those that are most useful.

Nominal Group Technique

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Nominal group technique is a group decision-making tool used when the group must rank order a set of options. In order to use the nominal group technique, group members work individually to list all alternatives to a problem or issue. Sometimes, nominal group technique is used after a brainstorming session is held. Then, the group facilitator asks each group member to individually rank all of the options from lowest to highest priority. Finally, the facilitator computes an average score for each idea. The lowest score is the highest priority for the group. For example, if six group members were discussing problems on campus and they assigned parking the scores of 1,1,2,2,1,1, it would have an average score of 1.3. Another problem, lack of activities, may have received ranks of 2,2,1,1,2,3. Its score would be 1.8. Parking would be the most important priority. Nominal group technique is a good way to have all of the group members voice their opinions and discussion is not dominated by a few vocal group members. The Facilitators Role The role of the facilitator is different from that of the typical leader or chairperson who sets agendas, decides what and how things will be done, tells people they are out of order, etc. The facilitator's job is to ask questions, make suggestions, keep track of the main agenda, and determine if and when people are ready to make a decision. Generally the facilitator is there to see that all members have a say and that all ideas are listened to and considered. A facilitator tries to remain neutral and provide just enough structure so that personal interaction doesn't interfere with the topic at hand.

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Conclusion

In today's society, it is very common for decisions that influence us all to be made by a combination of interested parties, all with their own agenda. In this instance, how can we be sure that the decision is the correct one, not just decided by the group with the most political influence or most money? Such groups have now become fundamental decision-making units within and between organizations in most societies and are more often than not very complex structures. Evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of group decision-making processes is not only a critical task but also a difficult one. As a consequence, many approaches have been developed that have provided some insight without providing a comprehensive framework necessary to guide efforts to improve group performance.

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Asia Pacific University College of Technology Innovation 2010

References 1. Wright, Bradley E, Rohrbaugh, John. Winter, 1999. Evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of group decision-making processes: A competing values approach. Group Facilitation. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3954/is_199901/ai_n8830418 2. John L. Thompson. 1997. Strategic Management awareness and change third edition. International Thomson Business Press. pp 85-91. 3. Piotr Jankowski, Timothy Nyerges. 2001. GIS for Group Decision Making. Taylor & Francis Publisher, UK. http://faculty.washington.edu/nyerges/gisgdmab.pdf 4. Andrzej A. Huczynski, David A. Buchanan. 2007. Organizational Behaviour sixth edition. Prentice Hall. pp. 742-750. 5. Sehmel, Heather, Saturday, June 1 2002. Websites and advocacy campaigns: decision making, implementation and audience in an Business Communication Quarterly. http://www.allbusiness.com/human-resources/workforce-management/213771-1.html 6. September 23, 2008. Swiss Watch Manufacturers Sample Research Paper, Swatch Case Study. http://ivythesis.typepad.com/term_paper_topics/swatch_case_study/index.html 7. Kaiser Kuo. September 18, 2007. Why have U.S. Internet Companies failed in China?. China Entry, Podcasts, China News, Venture Capital. http://digitalwatch.ogilvy.com.cn/en/?p=118

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