Barnard

Question 1

1. Barnard defines decisions as “acts of individuals … which are the result of deliberation, calculation, and thought … involving the ordering of means to ends:’ Comment

Answer 1

1. A. While making a decision individuals are influenced by their physical and social environment.
   B. The individual has first to decide whether he wants to be in the organization and take part in its decisions. It is a Personal decision. It depends on what he hopes to get by joining the organization. It depends on what incentives he hopes for. The individual has to decide for himself. He cannot ask some one to decide for him. This decision cannot therefore be delegated. Furthermore, personal decisions are not likely to be the product of logical thought. They depend on his likes and dislikes.
   The individual may just not like to work in the organization. You cant ask him why. It is his personal wish: subjective.

Question 2

2.Organizational decisions are not subjective. They depend on the purpose of the organization. Explain

Answer 2

2.They are arrived after a logical process of deliberation and careful analysis. Barnard argues that organizational decisions can, and should, be delegated to those competent to take them.

Question 3

3.Where are organizational decisions made?

Answer 3

3.Organizational decisions are best made at communication centers by executives who specialize in organizational decision making. They first gather the information that is required and deliberate on it. Organizational decisions, in contrast to personal decisions, are also the product of logical thought. This does not mean that organizational decisions are necessarily correct, for the facts on which the decisions are made and reasoning behind the decision may be faulty.

Question 4

4 Barnard points out that there’s is a logical processes of discrimination, analysis, and choice behind decision making. Comment

Answer 4

4.Barnard maintains that the deliberate adaptation of means to ends is the essence of decision in a formal organisation. Decisions are made after careful deliberation to achieve the ends of the organization.

Question 5

5.Organizational decisions consist of two elements Comment

Answer 5

The organization’s purpose, or the “moral” element, and the “opportunistic” element, which involves finding what circumstances are significant with reference to the organization’s purpose. Barnard takes the moral element or purpose of the organization as given at the time of the decision.

Question 6

6.What does Barnard mean by the term environment” of decision making?

Answer 6

6.The purpose of the organization is part of the “environment” of decision making, This environment is influenced by state of the world and the society we live in. They are also influenced by the circumstances of the moment. Organizational decisions enable the decision maker to discriminate between the relevant and irrelevant elements of the decision environment.