Choosing Between Individual and Group Decision Making: A Manager’s Guide
Management Theory Project One
Colorado Technical University
Choosing Between Individual and Group Decision Making: A Manager’s Guide
The selected topic for my research is Choosing between Individual and Group Decision Making: A Manager’s Guide. This topic is quite interesting for any manager. The main role of management entails making decisions. Organizations that are quick in making decisions are usually more effective than those that are slow. Regardless, the quality of the decisions made also influence the growth and popularity of an organization. Once an organization can make good decisions in a speedy manner, not only does it become more effective but also increases productivity and innovation. However, there is always the main question that lingers in organization’s management; the team or the individual. When deciding how organizational decisions are made, it has always been a dilemma whether to adopt the team approach or to give the individual the decision-making capacity. As such, this topic is rather interesting due to the complexity of the dilemma presented when deciding how organizational decisions are to be made.
The main reason this topic was chosen is due to the influence that organizational decision making has on the overall performance of an organization. Teams are more likely to make well rounded and informed decisions, whereas individuals can make decisions much quicker. By researching this topic, one can understand the main role of decision-making in improving organizational efficiency and productivity. In the context where organizational decisions are made solely from the team’s perspective, individuals might find them rather inconsiderate, whereas making decisions from an individual perspective might lead to multiple mistakes being made. This dilemma is rather complex and one that demands that further research be done before deciding which approach to take or adopt when managing an organization.
My main interest in the topic is because management has always been my passion, and more so, I hope one day to be an entrepreneurial and start my organization in the restaurant field. With enough background information on the best approach to take in making organizational decisions, I can improve my skills as a manager, and also, further my interests in learning how to be an effective decision maker. Decisions can be tedious and rather complex and being decisive is a key trait that any good manager or organizational leader must have. Dwelling too much on one decision not only slows down organizational productivity but also leads to losses (Reis & Geller, 2010). I would like to understand the most efficient way to make organizational decisions in the future to avoid such issues. If I properly research this topic, I will have enough background information on which approach works best. Even though I hold a leadership position in the United States Army there is still a lot that I can learn on management.
Secondly, another main reason that makes this topic interesting is because as a manager, one has to know how to make rational decisions. By research the topic, one can understand how to create teams and how to manage individual decisions. Besides increasing the speed and productivity of the organization, another key way through which the organization will manage to benefit from such a research is to understand how to make rational decisions. All organizational decisions are judged on their rationality. Some individuals might make rather irrational decisions whereas some teams can equally make irrational decisions. Finding a balance between both is instrumental towards organizational decision-making efficiency. Nonetheless, exploring this topic will highlight some of the do’s and don’ts of decision-making in small and large organizations.
One problem related to organizational behavior that I would like to explore using this topic is the question of ethical decision making. As a manager, one of my main interests is to make ethical organizational decisions. Making unethical decisions is one of the quickest ways to lose the market and also lose trust in all organizational stakeholders. As the head manager, one is held responsible for all the organizational decisions that are made. As such, it is crucial to understand which approach leads to more ethical decisions being made; the individual approach or the team approach. Regardless, ethical decision making is mainly based on the culture of the organization. Regardless, evaluating which approach leads to more ethical decision making, between the individual decisions and team decisions, enables a manager or an organizational leaders understand the best approach to adopt.
In addition to evaluating the ethical decision-making paradigm within the organization, I would also want to explore which approach increases efficiency, speed and reduces bureaucracy within organizations. Most organizations that are less bureaucratic are more effective and grow much faster than the large organizations that are tied down by numerous bureaucratic procedures in decision making. Therefore, it is vital for any given organization to evaluate some of the best approaches to reduce the bureaucracy and give any organization the spirit of a startup or small organizations, especially pertaining to decision making (Badaracco, 1997). By exploring this topic, I will understand which approach is vital and instrumental in reducing the unnecessary organizational bureaucracy and making the process leaner. Besides speed and efficiency, decisions and bureaucracy can also affect the motivation levels of people. If the team approach leads to more bureaucracy, as a manager, I will ensure that individual decision-making platforms are put in place. If the vice-versa is also true, I will emphasize on team decisions as my new management approach. Therefore, this topic will shape my leadership and management approach in the future and hence it is a very important topic to my career line.
One of the main research questions that I will use when exploring this topic is; which approach leads to more effective, speedy and ethical decision-making between the two? This research question will mainly serve to evaluate the main differences between these approaches in terms of the set variables which are speed, efficiency, and ethics. With this tackled, much of the research will have been tackled. The second research questions will be “What are the pros and cons of using both decision-making approaches?” The second research question is aimed at giving all managers an overall overview of the decision-making paradigms and understanding how they are interrelated. Evaluating the role of the individual and the team, and their numerous benefits and downsides will help establish the basic overview of each decision-making approach, allowing the readers of the research establish which approach resonates more with them.
In addition to the research questions, there are several other questions that will guide my exploration of the topic. Primarily, the main question that will be instrumental in this research is; how does groupthink improve decision making within the organization? Secondly, how does individual decision-making impact organizational bureaucracy? Thirdly, how does each style affect accountability and diffusion of responsibility? Fourthly, how does each style affect communication within the organization and what are the potential negative aspects associated with each approach?
References
Badaracco, J. (1997). Defining moments: When managers must choose between right and right. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Reis, M., & Geller, J. B. (2010). A manager’s guide to human behavior. New York: American Management Association.
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