COMM1100 Business Decision Making

Week 1: The Organization and its

Decision-making Process

Josh Keller (School of Management & Governance)

General housekeeping:
• Please switch your microphone to mute to avoid disruption to the class
• If you have poor internet, turn off your video
• If you have any questions, please wait for the lecture to start
• Wait for further instructions from your lecturer
Acknowledgement of Country

“I would like to acknowledge the Bedegal people that are the

Traditional Custodians of this land. I would also like to pay my
respects to the Elders both past and present, and extend that
respect to other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders who are
present here today.”
https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/stories/eora
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC
 Josh Keller
Associate Professor
School of Management & Governance
This week:
• Introduction to course
• “Who” are organizations and why do they make decisions?
• The three approaches to business decision-making
• Stakeholder Approach
• Micro-economic Approach
• Legal Approach
This week’s to-do list:
• Read the ebook material
• Prepare for tutorial assignments
• Upcoming Assessment: Due in Week 3 on Moodle
(Based on this week’s content)
Introduction to Course
• Multiple Disciplinary Perspectives
• Stakeholder Approach
• A/Prof Tracy Wilcox (School of Management & Governance)
• Micro-economic Approach
• Aleksandra (Sasha) Balyanova (School of Economics)
• Legal Approach
• A/Prof Dale Boccabella (School of Accounting and Taxation)
• Integrating approaches
• A/Prof Josh Keller (School of Management & Governance)
• Fundamentals of Business Decision-making
• Organizational-level decisions (less emphasis on individual
problem-solving)
• Within the Australian environment (less emphasis on the global
business environment)
 Sli.do Poll

1. Open your web browser

2. Type https://app.sli.do/event/8q1r6nxj or scan

3. Answer poll questions

 The Decision-making Process

Keller, 2020.
 Sli.do Poll

1. Open your web browser

2. Type https://app.sli.do/event/8q1r6nxj or scan

3. Answer poll questions

Open-ended Question:

What decisions does UNSW make?

 Sli.do Poll

1. Open your web browser

2. Type https://app.sli.do/event/8q1r6nxj or scan

3. Answer poll questions

 UNSW Decisions…

Who? Why?
(identity) (goals)

Keller, 2020.
“Who” are organizations

and why do they make decisions?

• Why organizations aren’t people

• Why that matters for business decision-making
The identity of an organization
• Socially constructed
• Agreed upon by people throughout the organization

• Follows stakeholder, micro-economic and legal principles

• Based on sets of relationships, as organizations are defined
by their relationship to others
Three Approaches to Examining Organizational Identity

Stakeholder Micro-Economic Legal

Customers Customers Customers

Partners Suppliers Partners
Employees Competitors Government
Community
Environment
Three Approaches to Examining Organizational Goals

Stakeholder Micro-Economic Legal

Responsibility Efficiency Compliance

Breakout Room Questions:

1. Who is UNSW?
2. What are the objectives of UNSW

-- Use all three approaches (stakeholder, micro-economic, legal)

 Sli.do Poll

1. Open your web browser

2. Type https://app.sli.do/event/8q1r6nxj or scan

3. Answer poll questions

Re-cap
• Business Decision-making is best done when we can
integrate multiple perspectives
• The Decision-making process involves a who, why, how and
when decision.
• Organizations are not people, but their identities are
formed by different underlying principles involving different
types of relationships (i.e., stakeholder, market, legal)
• The objectives of an organization can also involve different
underlying principles (i.e., responsibility, efficiency,
compliance).
Next week:
• A deeper dive into the stakeholder approach
• What are the various types of stakeholders?
• What is corporate social responsibility?
• How to make responsible decisions?

• Please remember to do all readings before the tutorial!

Thank you
If you have any questions about
the lecture, please contact the
lecturer (contact details provided).

The lecture recording will be made

available in your Moodle course
site.
Contact details:
Josh Keller, Associate Professor, School of Management &
Governance
comm1100@unsw.edu.au

Course site:
https://moodle.telt.unsw.edu.au/course/view.php?id=56913