Factors Affecting Decision Making Essay
Introduction
Decision making is a vital component in an organization and on a personal level. Each day, people deal with both demanding and small decisions. Scholars have put forward many theories which are meant to help individuals make best decision out of many options. Nonetheless, some factors still limit a person’s ability to make a decision Therefore, issues such as one’s age, gender, and personality, on the one hand, and organization’s reward system and rules and regulations, on the other, need careful consideration before making a decision.
Personal Traits
One’s age is a factor that can influence his or her decision-making. Grown-ups feel they are more experienced and are at a better edge to make accurate decisions than the young people (Dietrich). Therefore, overconfidence in their ability limits them from applying decision-making approaches. Furthermore, older people consider few options rather than a wide range of choices to choose from to ensure success, which eventually may result in making poor decisions.
A person’s gender may also affect their ability to make precise decisions. Women take their time before making any decision. They usually examine all the available choices and determine each decision’s pros and cons before settling for it (Chen). On the other hand, men have a tendency to impulsively make a decision. However, an extensive analysis of the available choices automatically results in accurate decision making.
Another factor is people’s different mental capability. While some people are able to process several ideas at the same time, others can only process one idea at a time. When under pressure to come up with a decision within a limited time duration, those with a high mental skill are likely to arrive at good decisions as compared to those who can only evaluate one idea at a time.
Nature of a person may also limit decision making. For instance, a person who is narrow-minded will disregard any decisions as long as it does not agree with their view of the problem. A biased person may reject a good choice on impulse without the evaluation of its possible success. On the other hand, an open-minded person evaluates all the tabled choices with an open mind until he or she arrives at the best possible choice.
Organizational Restraints
The organizational culture and reward system directly impact the decision making. If a company is performance-oriented, then the managers see no need of generating new business ideas; rather, they strive to maintain the current performance. As long as their departments are performing well, they do not engage in risky processes, thus limiting the organization from innovation. In addition, if an organization has the tendency of immensely punishing losses and stingily rewarding profit, then the administrators will not take any risks, even those with the slightest possibility of a loss. On the same note, the previously made choices can have a great impact on current decision making (Dietrich). The management will be careful not to make the same mistake; thus, they will take time to analyze all available options and ascertain one of the choices to be the best before settling for it. Thus, such business practices limit mangers’ decision making, making them avoid taking risks at all costs.
Imposed rules in an organization may limit a stakeholder’s freedom to make a decision. For instance, several organizations have decentralized decision making, which means that a decision is made by a group. However, such an approach may hinder the decision-making process due to lack of concession from all members. Besides, most organizations give managers deadlines within which they are supposed to come up with a decision on certain matters. Therefore, to meet the deadline, the managers may fail to extensively examine the choices, hence poorly thought decisions.
Conclusion
The ultimate goal of all people involved in decision making should be to overcome both organizational and personal constraints to make the right choices. Decision makers should set their mind on the best choice of the issue at hand regardless of their age or gender and organizational culture among other factors. Thus, to successfully and effectively achieve personal and organizational goals, one should adhere to objective analytical process.
Works Cited
Chen, Leanne. “Perception and Individual Decision Making.” Prezi, 23 October 2014, prezi.com/dgwnl3lypxml/perception-and-individual-decision-making. Accessed 7 March 2019.
Dietrich, Cindy. “Decision Making: Factors that Influence Decision Making, Heuristics Used, and Decision Outcomes.” Student Pulse, vol. 2, no. 2, 2010, pdfs.semanticscholar.org/b496/716cb15fcd7193aaa7f199ed614b1d7e57fc.pdf. Accessed 7 March 2019.
