Decision Making

Introduction To Management

Sharon Toney

SUNY Empire State College

Whenever one talks about decision making it’s hard not to think about how people and organizations deals with lost and tragic life circumstances. Anyone who practices management knows that decision making is part of the job. They also know that not all decisions are going to be easy ones and that some will have to be made under tough conditions. From that point on, however, only you can determine whether you step forward and make the best decisions even in very difficult circumstances, or collapse under pressure.

Information technology is breaking barriers within and between organizations to speed work flow and cut costs. Organizations are changing as continuing developments in information technology exert their influence. Management information systems collect, organize, store, and distribute data to meet the information needs of mangers. Data are raw facts and figures; information is data made useful for decision making. Managers serve as information nerve centers in the process of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling activities in organizations. Managers need good information, and they need all the time. Information that is truly useful meets the test of these five criteria: timely, high quality, complete, relevant, and understandable. The most threatening type of problem is the crisis, which occurs unexpectedly and can lead to disaster if not handled quickly and properly. Crisis management programs are designed to help mangers and others prepare for unexpected high-impact events that threaten an organization’s health and well-being. Anticipation is one aspect of crisis management, while preparation is another. People can be assigned ahead of time to crisis management teams, and crisis management plans can be developed to deal with various contingencies. The rules still stand for crisis management: figure out what is going on, remember that speed matters, remember that slow...