Step-by-Step Process of Decision Making

Discuss about the Fundamentals of Management for Constitutionalism and Democracy.

Decision making is the process of deciding about something that is important with a group of people or in an organization and is the most important aspect in the modern management[1]. It would be unethical to provide the health care service the experimental vaccine to treat the people of West Africa. This is because providing the vaccine to the healthcare providers will be going against the design of the health authorities of Australia and will cause biasness towards the health care provider. This might hamper the health of the West Africans as the vaccine has not been tested on humans. The following paragraphs of the essay will discuss about the steps of decision making and the need to apply ethics in the decision making process. 

Decision making is the process of making choices after identifying the problem, gathering information and assessing alternative solutions[2]. Adopting the step-by-step decision making process is helpful in making more purposeful and precise decisions along with proper organization of the authentic information and the alternatives to the solution. The process of effective decision making involves an eight step process. The step-by step process of decision making is as follows; 

The first step involves through analysis of the problem. Certain strategic or critical factors should be considered while defining the problem. These factors create obstacles in the way while finding proper solutions and are hence called the limiting factors[3]. For instance, if a machine has stopped working due to the lack or non-availability of screws, the screw is the limiting factor in this case. While selecting the alternative solution to the problem, the more the critical factors are considered, the better and effective the solutions are. After the problem has been defined, the second step is to gather the relevant and authentic information regarding the problem. Effective decisions are made when proper information has been gathered.

The third step involves the setting up of the baseline criteria for choosing the alternatives to the problem. All the organizational as well as the cultural goals are considered while defining the criteria.  After the development of various alternatives, the best alternative has to be considered. The four main points that should be considered prior to the selection of the alternatives includes

The risk element that is involved has to be taken into account which is involved in each course of action prior to the actual profit. The cost of the effort that is involved which involves securing the desired results giving the least effort. The decision and the action must be completed in a stipulated span of time. The limited resources that are available affect the final selection of the decisions[4]. 

Identification and Analysis of Problem

At the fifth point of time, the selected decision is put for action. The most important things that should be considered for in order to deliver the proper and effective problem includes the selected decisions should be properly communicated to the subordinates or to the other members of the group. The decision that is delivered has to be presented in a clear and in an understandable manner. The decision must be accepted by the subordinates. Group participation and involvement of the other employees facilitates execution of the decisions smoothly. The plan should be executed at the right time so that there are minimum chances of the change in the plan.

The achievement of the objectives is ensured by a follow up system that is exercised through control. The follow up is done to check that the decision has been implemented properly. Follow up should be done so that the decisions can be modified and improved at the earliest[5].  The seventh step involves the decisions to put into the action in order to solve the problem. The final step in the decision making process. This step involves analyzing the results of the decision that has been taken into action in order to solve the problem. Evaluation of the results is important as it helps to learn the outcomes and the mistakes done in taking the decision and to correct the same while future decisions are taken.

In order to make effective decisions, ethics is the most important aspect. All the decisions that are implemented should be ethical in nature. Ethics determines what is right and what is wrong while performing any action[6]. Ethics are the basic concepts and the fundamental principles of human conduct which includes the study of certain values such as equality, human rights, obedience and safety[7]. Without ethics, the course of the actions of humans would become random and totally aimless and there will not be any way so that humans can work towards and achieve the desired goals as there will be no means to select between the limitless numbers of goals. Would there have been no ethics, achieving the goals with success would have been the most difficult. While analyzing and evaluating the problem, the rights, equality of the individual and group along with the steps taken as a remedy to the issue is considered upon which the decision depends[8]. 

Ehical decision making is mainly based upon the theories of ethics. There are four classes of ethical theories- (1) consequentialism; (2) Kantian deontologism; (3) natural law and (4) virtue ethics[9].

Gathering Information

The theory of consequentialism states that the rightness or wrongness of any action is determined in terms of the outcomes of the action. This approach in general can be applied at different levels and to different properties of different kinds of things. According to this theory the outcomes of the action has be good[10]. Even if an action is performed with some bad intensions but has a good outcome, the action is granted as good. The theory of deontology was proposed by a German philosopher, Immanuel Kant. According to this theory, the rightness or wrongness of some actions are dependent on the action itself and is completely independent on the consequences of the action[11]. The theory of natural law proposes that one may discover the principles of good and bad by means of the rational reflections of the human nature. The reflections of the human nature should guide the actions in such a way so that the actions move towards fulfilment of the human nature[12].

Virtue ethics comprises of two approaches which are completely different from each other and therefore it is confusing to understand this theory.  The first approach states that there are certain characteristics which are very complex which are equally appropriate and praiseworthy both in general and in a particular role[13]. The second approach to the theory not only identifies the virtues involved in the actions but also focuses on the integration of those virtues into “practical wisdom” or “right reason”. The term “practical wisdom” is used to describe the ability of a person to choose the patterns of actions that are desirable which are informed by the method of reasoning[14].  

An ethical dilemma is a problem in decision making that arises between two possible moral directives neither of which can be truly acceptable or preferable[15]. It is sometimes termed as ethical paradoxes. There are various dilemmas that arise while taking decisions such as confidentiality, self-determination, receiving gifts, biasness, moral beliefs, breaching of laws, dual relationships, obligations of minors and the like[16].

In this case, if the manger is giving the experimental c=vaccine to the health care provider, the manager would not be taking an ethical decision. This is because; the health authorities of the country of Australia are against the use of the vaccine on the humans at the present moment. They are of the view that the vaccine can be used on humans for the treatment of the virus not before the trials on humans are conducted. The trials would be responding and would be considered not in less than ten years. By giving off the vaccine to the health care provider, the manger of the pharmaceutical company will be breaking the laws of the country.    

Criteria for Choosing Alternatives

The manger fails to follow the process of effective decision making. The process of effective decision making involves the participation of the group and organization as well. Here, the manager lacks ethics and fails to involve the subordinates and his team members. The manager does not feel the need to take the decisions of the experts or the team who have prepared the vaccine successfully and tested the same on the chimpanzees. According to the process of effective decision making, the manager does not have the sole right to take decisions, but to involve the subordinates or the team members or the experts who have prepared the vaccine before giving it to the health care provider. According to the Kantian deontological theory of ethics, the action of the manager is not ethical, hence it is assumed that the consequences can be fatal. This action of the manager also shows that the manger has adopted biasness towards the healthcare provider, which is an ethical dilemma. 

Though the consequential theory of ethics state that if the consequences or outcomes of an action is for good, the intentions are not assessed. This means that an action that might be performed with good or bad intensions, if the outcomes bring happiness and benefits majority of the population, the action is deemed to be good. Considering this, if the manger would have given the experimental vaccine to the health care provider for the treatment of the people in West Africa, the people would have been benefitted with it and the manger would have taken the right decision.  Considering the other way, the vaccine might have had the opposite reaction on the people who are treated with it. It might have caused death to a large number of people who have been treated or might have been infected with some incurable diseases.

It can be concluded that decisions are one of the most important activities performed by humans in their day to day life, both in personal aspects and in organizations. The process of decision making is a long process that starts with the identification of the problem and end with the evaluation of the results. The process o decision making is a complex process as it involves the participation of the subordinates and other members of a group or a team or an organization. Most of the decisions making process in the organizations involve ethical considerations, which when not followed leads to fatal conditions. Various theories of ethics have different In the case of the manger giving the experimental vaccine to the health care provider; the manger did not take the decision ethically. The manager also did not follow the process of effective and ethical decision making as the subordinates or the experts who invented the vaccine did not participate while the decision was taken. 

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