Rational Process of Decision Making

Why should there be a rational process to decision making?

Decision making should take a rational process, which means it should be consistent, value-maximizing choices and within specified constraints. To think rationally means to look at all the evidence from a viewpoint that will evaluate all the possible outcomes and choose the best possible decision. The rational process assumes that decisions making proceeds through a series of well-defined steps before making a decision.

Decisions making is a process of choosing between alternative courses of action to cope with a crisis, sole a problem or take advantage of an opportunity. The substance and focus of managerial decisions differ across level and across, organization, but the underlying process of decision making remains the same.

Decisions should be done in a rational process since it focuses on the problem. A problem exists when there is a discrepancy between an existing and desired state of affairs. Framing the problem in a new perspective helps decision-makers think unconventionally. Another issue is mistaking the symptoms to be problems and not recognizing the root cause. This hinders the problem identification stage and biases the process.

Once the problem is identified making sure that it is clear and unambiguous then set criteria should be used as guidelines. Guidelines should be clear and precise and focuses on what the ideal situation should be. With this process there is no confusion of the desired outcome, which should be communicated to all persons involved.

Developing a list of alternative actions by generating a list of choices aids solution search. Soliciting information from various sources improves the quality of alternatives generated. With the knowledge of the problem, it will be easier to identify the decision criteria, by determining what is relevant in making decisions. The interests, values, and similar preferences will be criteria. This eliminates the irrelevant...