Decision Making Flashcards
what are the 3 types of decision making?
- operational
- tactical
- strategic
what are operational decisions?
- short term decisions
- made on a day to day basis
what are operational decisions made in response to?
relatively small issues but sometimes important problems that arise daily or weekly. so are routine and repetitive.
e.g. customer complaints
who can make operational decisions?
all members of staff but mainly lower level managers and supervisors.
do operational decisions carry a low or high financial risk?
low
what are tactical decisions?
medium term decisions (affect the business for 6 months to 5 years)
who are tactical decisions made by?
middle managers
what are tactical decision made to do?
help to achieve strategic decisions.
e.g. new market campiagn
what is the financial risk of tactical decisions?
minimal
what are strategic decisions?
long term decisions 5 to 10+ years.
what do strategic decisions involve?
making choices about general aims and targets of a business. these decisions shape the direction of the business/
what are the negatives of strategic decisions?
- long time to implement
- very difficult and expensive to reverse
what is the financial risk of strategic decisions?
high financial risk
who can make strategic decisions?
senior management
what does centralised decisions involve?
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.
who is responsible for centralised decisions?
senior management
what are the advantages to centralised decision making?
- 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
what are disadvantages of centralised decision making?
- 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.
what are de-centralised decision making?
structure where decision making is delegated to branches.
who makes de-centralised decision making?
authority to make decisions is delegated further down the hierarchy away from the centre lower/middle management.
what are the advantages of de-centralised decision making?
- decisions are made closer to customer - local issues
- good way of training and developing junior management.
- improve staff motivation.
what are the disadvantages of de-centralised decision making?
- wont be consistent across locations
- harder to achieve control - especially financial
- inexperienced managers can harm the business.
how can the internal factor of finance affecting decision making?
- 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.
how can the internal factor of staff affecting decision making?
- managers ability/ experience
- how much they risk they are willing to take
- staff resistance to change
how can the internal factor of technology affecting decision making?
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
how can company measure success?
- profit levels
- sales levels
- staff absences
- feedback
- review sites
what must managers do when measuring success?
continually review and evaluate the decisions they make at all levels to make sure the organisational performance is always improving.
what is the SWOT analysis?
the SWOT analysis looks at all internal and external factors. this involves analysing the current position of a product /department/organisation.
SWOT analysis
what are internal factors?
strengths and weaknesses
SWOT analysis
what are external factors?
opportunities and threats
what is the SWOT used by managers used to do?
- build on current businesses strengths
- minimise risks associated with decision making
- gather and analyse information
- weakness identified
- capitalise on opportunities
SWOT - S…?
- availability of finance
- well-known brands
- profitable profit
- asset - machines
- high quality staff
SWOT - W…?
- lack of finance
- lack of technology
- poor customer service
- poor reputation
- unprofitable products
SWOT - O?
- competitor going bust
- boom period in economy
- government introducing favourable registration
- advancements in technology
SWOT - T?
- competitors actions - cheaper prices
- recession in the economy
- customer tastes changing
- unfavourable legislation being introduced
- advancements in technology
manager make decisions and they need to plan, this includes?
- looking ahead
- seeing potential opportunities or problems and devising solutions
- setting targets, aims and strategies
manager make decisions and they need to organise, this includes?
- arranging the resources of the organisation to be there when people need them and acquiring additional resources if required.
manager make decisions and they need to command, this includes?
- issuing instructions
- motivating staff
- displaying leadership
manager make decisions and they need to control, this includes?
- what has been done, checking i against what was expected and making any necessary adjustment. this is the monitoring and evaluating role.
manager make decisions and they need to delegate, this includes?
- 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.
manager make decisions and they need to motivate, this includes?
- encouraged workers be helping them to enjoy their tasks through team working, participation in decision making and by giving out some responsibility.
