MGMT6002 The Organizational Growth

According to the group reflection report, they found five different decision making tools which can be used for different purposes because every decision making tools has its own pros and cons. According to the group, the decision matrix is effective when a leader has the number of alternatives or solutions for the problem in specific circumstances. This tool is effective for taking the minor decisions as this tool is more like a trial and error tool. Cost benefit analysis tools is basically a tool that used in the case of taking financial decisions in the business. As the name suggests, this tool analyzes the income and expenditures of the company and then take any financial decisions such as making any investments (Kocher, Straub, & Sutter, 2006). The group is not in favor of the decision tree as this tool is very old tool and is not that much effective in comparison to the others. SWOT analysis is the best tool for taking the decisions as it helps in evaluating the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the company to choose the best alternative among the numbers of alternatives. Furthermore, PEST analysis is used to evaluate the industry environment by focusing on all the bigger factors such as the political, economic, social and technological factors (Peniwati, 2007).

Evaluation of the benefits, weaknesses and complexities in group decision making

In the section, the main focus is given on the evaluation of the benefits, weaknesses and risks involved in the group decisions making.  First of all, the main benefits of the group decision making includes the diverse strengths and expertise of its group members.  With the help of the group decision making, it is possible that the group can generate number of ideas and alternatives in comparison to the individual decision making. Moreover, quality of the group decision making is also better which may results in the superior solutions for the problem.  This group decision making also promotes the sense of ownership of the decision (Forsyth, 2006). 

Secondly, the weak point inherent in the group decision making is that there are many members in the group who will hesitate to share their ideas just because of the reason of being judged by the others.  This group decision making is generally a slow process. To add more, it is also observed that the powerful leaders also dominates the other members of the group because of which it may results into negative consequences.

Thirdly, one of the most complex situation in the group decision making is to find out the best solution among the various number of the alternatives. Choosing the best among the best alternatives creates a difficult situation for all the group members (Mtholyoke College, 2011).  

Process of group decision making

There are two types of decision making, individual and group decision making. Individual decision making is the process of taking decisions by the single person and group decision making is the process of taking decisions by the number of individuals identified as a group.  There are many organizations which are owned by the single person and believe in the individual decision making processes. With the expansion and growth of the business, it may not possible that all the decisions will be taken by the single person because he may need the help of the other specialized people (Kroon, Hart, & Kreveld, 1991). 

Group decisions are more valuable than the individual because of the greater participation of the other people which leads to the better quality in decisions. In comparison to the individual decisions, group decisions are more effective (Tindale & Hinsz, 2004). 

It is not possible to take the decision in isolation as it is highly influenced by the past experience, present conditions and future expectations. Reverse of the decision is very difficult. A good decision maker always follows some of the steps. The process of the decision making involves the following steps: -

• Definition and identification of the problem
• Development of the goals and objectives of the decision making
• Seeking the important elements and facts of the identified problem
• Development of the model
• Evaluation of the alternatives
• Choosing the best solution
• Implementation of the decisions 

Definition and identification of the problem: - First step in the process of the group decision making is the definition and identification of the problem. It is essential to critically examine the problems because this is the starting point in the decision making. The group can only move further in the decision making process If they identify and define the problem in a correct way. The major problem that is found is that leaders in the organizations are still confused that which method or decision making tools is being used by them to achieve the level of profitability. The confusion or problem exists because of the reason that every decision making tool has its own characteristics and difficulty levels.

Development of the goals and objectives of the decision making: - After the identification of the problem, the next step is to develop the goals and objectives of the decision making process. The main purpose of setting up of the objectives is that the decision will be made then in accordance to the achievement of set goals (University of Minnesota, 2007).

Seeking the important elements and facts of the identified problem: - The third step in the decision making process is the collection of the relevant information related to that problem.  Various factors need to be analyzed such as the situation factor, people factor, place factor, causative factor and time factor. Despite of this, all the other major factors such as the political, economic, social and technological factors should be analyzed in order to collect the relevant information.

Development of the Model: - Moving to the next step, it is related to the development of the model that represents the situation in mathematical or diagrammatic form. For example, as the architectures are making models of building that represents the design of the building with the numerical data. These models are useful in understanding the different relationships. However, all the business problems can easily be recognized and determined through the construction of these models (Mtholyoke College, 2011).

Evaluation of the Alternatives: - The next step in this group decision making process is to find out the best possible alternatives and solutions to the business problem. It is very significant to make sure that all the group member has consider all the possibilities. The evaluation of every alternative is must.

Choosing the best solution: - After the evaluation of the alternatives, the next step is to choose the best alternatives among the number of solutions. A few will appear to be better than the rest if group all the proposed alternatives. It is suggested that always focus on those solutions that results in the maximum payoffs and profitability levels.  Some of the important things that must be considered by the decision maker should be the feasibility of the solution, consequences of the solutions and cause of that problem (Lunenburg, 2010).

When group decision making is chosen by the organization, then it provides the goal clarity. Coordination among the group also very effective in eliminate the misunderstandings among the group members. Group decision making also promotes the appropriate sharing and establishing the common understanding. Also, group decision making is the mechanism for the storage, sharing, summarization, retrieval and repetition of the information and establish the communication channels. Coordination of the team members helps in the achieving the better quality of the decisions as well as maintain order and resolve the emotional conflicts. Therefore, group decision making processes facilitates the various approaches having own pros and cons.

Support of the group decision making methodology

As discussed in the first assessment, there are various tools which can be used to take the decision such as the decision tree, grid matrix, SWOT and PEST analysis. These tools can be useful if the group or an individual give his full support and participate in sharing the ideas. The participation of every group individual is important. Also, there are many tools which can be used to support the decision making processes such as software tools which provide the support to the decision making by addressing the coordination needs. There are many tools and techniques that supports the group decision making and incorporates the various methods such as the Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA). 

There are many project management tools which can be used to manage the communications tasks and the other tasks facilitating within the organization. The main benefits of the group decision making methodologies are that it supports the specific method, models and frameworks and useful in: -

• Determining participation level
• Group communication facilitation
• Sharing of the information
• Combining the input of all the group members
• Management of the tasks
• Storage of the decision information
• Providing the reports on the decisions made by the group members. 

Group decisions are more valuable than the individual because of the greater participation of the other people which leads to the better quality in decisions. In comparison to the individual decisions, group decisions are more effective. It is not possible to take the decision in isolation as it is highly influenced by the past experience, present conditions and future expectations. Reverse of the decision is very difficult (Zuboy, Coughlan, & Armour, 1992). A good decision maker always follows some of the methodologies. 

Methods of the decision making

Various methods that supports the group decision making and which can easily be used by the group members in order to improve the process of the decision making and these methods are explained as below:

• Brainstorming
• Dialetical Inquiry,
• Nominal Group Technique,
• Delphi Technique. 

Brainstorming

This method involves the group of members who suggesting the ideas and alternatives for the problem though verbal words. This session of brainstorming is usually unstructured as the group member sit and share their own ideas and opinions to solve the problems. Then leaders or facilitators need to solicit these ideas from group members. All these ideas provided in this brainstorming session are duly recorded by the group leaders. Once the ideas of the group members have been shared and discussed, then they need to start the process of evaluation.  The drawback of this method is that there are many members in the group who feels hesitation in sharing their ideas because of the fear of judgment (Helsinki University, 2014).  

Dialetical Inquiry

This technique of group decision making is mainly considered all the alternatives and then dividing the groups into two opposite teams.  Both the teams then talk about the advantages and disadvantages of the alternatives and the decisions made by the group. One of the group members always presents the potential problems as well as the proposed decisions. Both the techniques are specially designed to consider all the alternatives and then find the best possible solutions..

Nominal Group Technique

This is a structured method of taking decisions as it includes the written proposals of the group members with regard to the comprehensive list of ideas or alternative. The private recording of the ideas took place in this technique. The verbal exchange of the ideas is limited in this technique. This technique also involves the criticism also.  It is not like brainstorming, because in those proposals shared by the member is no criticized and they shared their ideas freely and openly. This technique is very useful in generating the better quality alternatives in order and also in large numbers (Forsyth, 2006).

Delphi Technique

This Delphi technique is also another technique, which can be used in the case when the individual members belong to the different physical locations. The technique was developed at the Rand Corporation. Only those members are selected which have the great knowledge and skills to provide the best solutions. The independent ideas are shared by the group of members. The different ways which can be used by the group members are e-mail, fax, or online in a discussion room or electronic bulletin board.  Every idea or the alternatives will be ranked according to its importance and on the basis of some of rounds that took place in order to take the best decisions (Lopez, 2004).

Recommendations

There are some of the recommendations identified are given as below: -

• It is essential to critically examine the problems because this is the starting point in the decision making. The group can only move further in the decision making process If they identify and define the problem in a correct way.
• All these ideas provided in this brainstorming session are duly recorded by the group leaders.
• Coordination of the team members helps in the achieving the better quality of the decisions as well as maintain order and resolve the emotional conflicts
• It is very significant to make sure that all the group member has consider all the possibilities. The evaluation of every alternative is must.
• It is suggested that the group members should discuss about the groupthink and avoid the complexities or making strategies to reduce the risks. (Emory, 2013).
• Good facilitation is useful in avoiding the inadequate information. The main aim of the group facilitation is to motivate and encourage people to perform well in the team work. When group decision making is chosen by the organization, then it provides the goal clarity.
• Once the ideas of the group members have been shared and discussed, then they need to start the process of evaluation.
• It is the responsibility of the group members to encourage the members and their ideas that belongs to different cultures (Lopez, 2004).

Conclusion

Decision making is the most important aspect in the business organizations and choosing the best and right decisions for the organizations are effective for the organizational growth and achievement of the organizational objectives and goals. The main purpose of this part of the report is to evaluate the benefits, weaknesses, and difficulties involved in the group decision making and also examining the influence of the individuals on one another when taking a group decision. It is essential to critically examine the problems because this is the starting point in the decision making. The group can only move further in the decision making process If they identify and define the problem in a correct way. The major problem that is found is that leaders in the organizations are still confused that which method or decision making tools is being used by them to achieve the level of profitability.

The confusion or problem exists because of the reason that every decision making tool has its own characteristics and difficulty levels. SWOT analysis is the best tool for taking the decisions as it helps in evaluating the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the company to choose the best alternative among the numbers of alternatives. Furthermore, PEST analysis is used to evaluate the industry environment by focusing on all the bigger factors such as the political, economic, social and technological factors. The effectiveness of the outcomes of problem is highly dependent on the decision making processes. One wrong or bad decision may result into the negative consequences for the leaders as well as for the organization. Good facilitation is useful in avoiding the inadequate information. The main aim of the group facilitation is to motivate and encourage people to perform well in the team work. When group decision making is chosen by the organization, then it provides the goal clarity.

References

Davenport, T. (2012, March). Making Decisions in Groups. 

Emory, S. (2013). Table of Group Decision Making Techniques.

Forsyth, D. (2006). Effective group meetings and decision making.

Helsinki University. (2014). Group Decision Making. 

Kocher, M., Straub, S., & Sutter, M. (2006, August). Individual or team decision-making—Causes and consequences of self-selection. Games and Economic Behavior journal, 56(2), 259-270.

Kroon, M., Hart, P., & Kreveld, D. (1991). Managing group decision making processes: individual versus collective accountability and groupthink. International Journal of Conflict Management, 2(2), 91-115.

Lopez, L. (2004). Conflict resolution and group decision making. 

Lunenburg, F. (2010). Group Decision Making. National forum of teacher education journal, 20(3), 1-7.

Mtholyoke College. (2011). Skill Building – Group Decision Making. 

Peniwati, K. (2007, October). Criteria for evaluating group decision-making methods. Mathematical and Computer Modelling journal, 46(7), 935-947.

SDSMT. (2014). Group decision making.

Tindale, S., & Hinsz, V. (2004, January). Group decision making. 

University of Minnesota. (2007). Typical Methods of Group Decision making.

Zuboy, J., Coughlan, B., & Armour, C. (1992). Group Decision-making Techniques for Natural Resource Management Applications.