Decision making

Question 1

Describe strategic decisions

Answer 1

Long term decisions
made by senior managers
outline the objectives
e.g cut costs

Question 2

Describe tactical decisions

Answer 2

Medium term decisions
made by middle managers
help achieve strategic decisions
involves the movement of resources
e.g to find a cheaper supplier

Question 3

Describe operational decisions

Answer 3

short term day to day decisions
made by staff or department managers
e.g to organise cover for absentee staff

Question 4

Describe the purpose of SWOT

Answer 4

A structure to gather information
proactive rather than reactive
build on strenghts
fix weaknesses
grasp opportunities
avoid/ limit the impact of threats

Question 5

What are examples of strengths/weaknesses

Answer 5

Corporate culture
HRM
finance
marketing
sales
structure
product/product range
management
ICT

Question 6

What are examples of opportunities/ threats

Answer 6

Political
economic
social
environemnt
competition
suppliers

Question 7

Describe internal constraints on decision making

Answer 7

Lack of finance
management
lack of technology
policies and procedures used in the business
information available( quantity and quality
employees ( abillity, amount, training requires, resistance to change )

Question 8

Describe the benefits of using SWOT

Answer 8

Time is taken to gather and analyse the info. This means no snap judgements can be made
Forces the decision maker to consider every element . This means decisions are likely to be of higher quality
decisions made are evaluated. This means the problem must be solved

Question 9

Describe the costs of using SWOT

Answer 9

The time scale required
the ability to collect all information- time consuming and expensive
lack fo creativity/ no gut reactions
results of solution is not seen until the process is finished

Question 10

Describe evaluating a decision

Answer 10

Have objectives been acheived?
has employee absence/ attendance improved?
has the level of employee motivation increased?
ask customers their opinion ( questionnaire)
has quantative information ( numbers) improved?
- production levels
sales/ profit figures

Question 11

Describe how ICT can be used to assist DM

Answer 11

Research information to make a decision
- competitors pricing/ products
- consumer reaction to a post online
communicate the decision
- facebook/ twitter
- company website

Question 12

Describe how Emails can be used to assist DM

Answer 12

Decisions can be communicated easily
- smart phone
- tablet/ laptop

Question 13

Describe how word can be used ot assist DM

Answer 13

Letters can communicate decisions

Question 14

Describe how spreadsheet can be used to assist DM

Answer 14

Graphs to compare alternative solutions
create”what if “ scenarios
prepare forecasts to estimate the impact of a decision

Question 15

Describe how database can be used to assist DM

Answer 15

Linked with word to create letters to send to inform of the final decisions

Question 16

Describe how powerpoint can be used to assist DM

Answer 16

Communicate final decision to a large group of people at a meeting
produce handouts of info communicated for people to read and reference at a later date before making a decision

Question 17

Describe how video conferencing/ skype can be used to assist DM

Answer 17

Meetings can take place worldwide between branches to
- consult on decisions
- inform of decisions made