Decision Making Flashcards

1
Q

what are the 3 types of decision making?

A
  • operational
  • tactical
  • strategic
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2
Q

what are operational decisions?

A
  • short term decisions

- made on a day to day basis

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3
Q

what are operational decisions made in response to?

A

relatively small issues but sometimes important problems that arise daily or weekly. so are routine and repetitive.
e.g. customer complaints

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4
Q

who can make operational decisions?

A

all members of staff but mainly lower level managers and supervisors.

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5
Q

do operational decisions carry a low or high financial risk?

A

low

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6
Q

what are tactical decisions?

A

medium term decisions (affect the business for 6 months to 5 years)

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7
Q

who are tactical decisions made by?

A

middle managers

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8
Q

what are tactical decision made to do?

A

help to achieve strategic decisions.

e.g. new market campiagn

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9
Q

what is the financial risk of tactical decisions?

A

minimal

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10
Q

what are strategic decisions?

A

long term decisions 5 to 10+ years.

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11
Q

what do strategic decisions involve?

A

making choices about general aims and targets of a business. these decisions shape the direction of the business/

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12
Q

what are the negatives of strategic decisions?

A
  • long time to implement

- very difficult and expensive to reverse

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13
Q

what is the financial risk of strategic decisions?

A

high financial risk

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14
Q

who can make strategic decisions?

A

senior management

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15
Q

what does centralised decisions involve?

A

1 central HQ where decisions are made, which these are then filtered through all of the branches so that they are all run the same, consistent way.

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16
Q

who is responsible for centralised decisions?

A

senior management

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17
Q

what are the advantages to centralised decision making?

A
  • easier to implement - standardised across the whole business
  • economies of scale can be achieved through centralised purchasing.
  • easier to coordinate and control.
  • quicker decision making
18
Q

what are disadvantages of centralised decision making?

A
  • key decision makers have high responsibility and many reply on them.
  • managers motivation may decrease as there is a lack of authority down the line
  • lower management are more likely to know much more about customers needs and wants.
19
Q

what are de-centralised decision making?

A

structure where decision making is delegated to branches.

20
Q

who makes de-centralised decision making?

A

authority to make decisions is delegated further down the hierarchy away from the centre lower/middle management.

21
Q

what are the advantages of de-centralised decision making?

A
  • decisions are made closer to customer - local issues
  • good way of training and developing junior management.
  • improve staff motivation.
22
Q

what are the disadvantages of de-centralised decision making?

A
  • wont be consistent across locations
  • harder to achieve control - especially financial
  • inexperienced managers can harm the business.
23
Q

how can the internal factor of finance affecting decision making?

A
  • whether finance is available to address the weaknesses of for growth
  • financial pressures may mean that the best solution for the problem cannot be used.
24
Q

how can the internal factor of staff affecting decision making?

A
  • managers ability/ experience
  • how much they risk they are willing to take
  • staff resistance to change
25
Q

how can the internal factor of technology affecting decision making?

A

spreadsheets can improve accuracy

  • email can be used to communicate decisions and gather opinions on them
  • videoconferencing can reduce the need for travel allowing decision making meeting to take pace easily
26
Q

how can company measure success?

A
  • profit levels
  • sales levels
  • staff absences
  • feedback
  • review sites
27
Q

what must managers do when measuring success?

A

continually review and evaluate the decisions they make at all levels to make sure the organisational performance is always improving.

28
Q

what is the SWOT analysis?

A

the SWOT analysis looks at all internal and external factors. this involves analysing the current position of a product /department/organisation.

29
Q

SWOT analysis

what are internal factors?

A

strengths and weaknesses

30
Q

SWOT analysis

what are external factors?

A

opportunities and threats

31
Q

what is the SWOT used by managers used to do?

A
  1. build on current businesses strengths
  2. minimise risks associated with decision making
  3. gather and analyse information
  4. weakness identified
  5. capitalise on opportunities
32
Q

SWOT - S…?

A
  1. availability of finance
  2. well-known brands
  3. profitable profit
  4. asset - machines
  5. high quality staff
33
Q

SWOT - W…?

A
  1. lack of finance
  2. lack of technology
  3. poor customer service
  4. poor reputation
  5. unprofitable products
34
Q

SWOT - O?

A
  1. competitor going bust
  2. boom period in economy
  3. government introducing favourable registration
  4. advancements in technology
35
Q

SWOT - T?

A
  1. competitors actions - cheaper prices
  2. recession in the economy
  3. customer tastes changing
  4. unfavourable legislation being introduced
  5. advancements in technology
36
Q

manager make decisions and they need to plan, this includes?

A
  • looking ahead
  • seeing potential opportunities or problems and devising solutions
  • setting targets, aims and strategies
37
Q

manager make decisions and they need to organise, this includes?

A
  • arranging the resources of the organisation to be there when people need them and acquiring additional resources if required.
38
Q

manager make decisions and they need to command, this includes?

A
  • issuing instructions
  • motivating staff
  • displaying leadership
39
Q

manager make decisions and they need to control, this includes?

A
  • what has been done, checking i against what was expected and making any necessary adjustment. this is the monitoring and evaluating role.
40
Q

manager make decisions and they need to delegate, this includes?

A
  • giving subordinates the authority to carry out ideas. this reduces the manager’s workload. the overall responsibility will still lie with those who delegated he authority.
41
Q

manager make decisions and they need to motivate, this includes?

A
  • encouraged workers be helping them to enjoy their tasks through team working, participation in decision making and by giving out some responsibility.