Nathaniel M. Dagsa Jr.

PMG210 Section B
19-MPMG-038 Dynamics and Techniques in Decision Making

REFLECTION PAPER
CHAPTER III

TOPIC 7 – DYNAMICS AND MODELS OF DECISION MAKING

The past and the future influence the present, for decision makers are persuaded
by historical patterns and styles of decision making based on social, political, and
economic context, with an eye to planning, predicting, forecasting, in a sense, “futuring.”
From the middle to the late 20th century, four models (rational-bureaucratic,
participatory, political, and organized anarchy) embody ways of decision making that
provide an historical grounding for decision makers in the first quarter of the 21st
century. From the late 20th through the first two decades of the 21st century, decision
makers have focused on ethical decision making, social justice, and decision making
within communities. After the first two decades of the 21st century, decision making and
its associative research is about holding tensions, crossing boundaries, and
intersections. Decision makers will continually hold the tension between intuition and
evidence as drivers of decisions. Promising research possibilities may include
understanding metacognition and its role in decision making, between individual
approaches to decision making and the group dynamic, stakeholders’ engagement in
communicating and executing decisions, and studying the control of who has what
information or who should have it. Furthermore, decision making most likely will
continue to evolve towards an adaptive approach with an abundance of tools and
techniques to improve both the praxis and the practice of decision making dynamics.
Accordingly, trends in future research in decision making will span disciplines and
emphases, encompassing transdisciplinary approaches wherein investigators work
collaboratively to understand and possibly create new conceptual, theoretical, and
methodological models or ways of thinking about and making decisions.

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Nathaniel M. Dagsa Jr. PMG210 Section B
19-MPMG-038 Dynamics and Techniques in Decision Making

TOPIC 8 – DECISION MAKING TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES

Business leaders make hundreds of decisions every day, many of which

influence the success of the business as a whole. That’s why one of the top skills
sought after for managers is the ability to make efficient, informed, and effective
business decisions. One thing almost everyone has in common is that we all want to
make good decisions. There are many different tools and techniques that are used by
managers to help them choose among the alternatives and make the right decision.
Decision making tools help you to map out all the possible alternatives to your decision,
its cost, as well as chances of success or failure. Whether you manage a small team or
are at the head of a large corporation, your success and the success of your company
eventually depend on you making the right decisions — and learning from the wrong
decisions. A whole range of factors need to be put into consideration before using a
specific tool. There are instances where you will find that combining several of these
techniques would be the ideal situation.

SWOT analysis can help you identify the forces that influence a strategy, action,
or initiative. This information can then be used to guide you in the right direction and
support your business decisions. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats, which is exactly what this planning tool assesses. SWOT
analysis helps you identify the internal strengths and weaknesses of your organization
that give you an advantage over others of your kind, and reminds you to look for
external opportunities and threats at the same time. SWOT analysis is particularly
helpful with strategic planning and decision making.

A decision matrix is similar to a pros/cons list, but it allows you to place a level of
importance on each factor. That way, you can more accurately weigh the different
options against each other. With this tool, you will critically analyze all the available
options or alternatives of a particular decision. This allows you to look at all the options
and the factors that affect each.

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