Decision Making Tools

This paper discusses the issues faced by Torrens University due to wrong decisions and explores various factors influencing decision making. It also highlights decision making tools that could have helped the university make effective decisions. The tools include SWOT analysis, T-chart, and feasibility study.

Running head: DECISION MAKING TOOLS
DECISION MAKING TOOLS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Executive summary
This paper is going to talk about the issues that Torrens University has been facing due to the
wrong decision that the University has taken. In this paper different factors that influence
decision making is going to be discussed and the decision making tools are going to be discussed
that would have helped Torrens University to make effective decisions by using those tools to
make positive impacts on the University.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Discussion........................................................................................................................................3
Factors influencing decision making...........................................................................................3
Data and analytical based approach.........................................................................................3
Predictive analysis...................................................................................................................4
Cognitive biases.......................................................................................................................4
Issue in the workplace of Torrens University..............................................................................4
Decision making tools.................................................................................................................5
SWOT Analysis.......................................................................................................................6
T-chart......................................................................................................................................7
Feasibility Study......................................................................................................................9
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
Decision making skills are one of the most important and integral part of business these
days. Companies look for employees who have the skills of taking effective and efficient
decisions these days in order to make effective changes in a company to help in the development
of the company that eventually results in the success of the company. The decision made by the
company determines the values and morals and defines the aspirations and identity of a company
or an organization (French, 2015). There are many decision making tools that help the
organizations to assess the problems and the potential problems to solve it effectively and pave
way for profits. This paper sheds light on the decision making tools and how it helps the Torrens
University to overcome the challenges that is current residing in the workplace.
Discussion
Factors influencing decision making
People or individuals make decisions about several things. The decision making process is
mostly specific and based on a particular issue or situation. There are several factors that
influence the decision making skills of a person that helps people to take efficient and effective
decisions o solve the problem or make situations better.
Data and analytical based approach
Business environment usually take decisions based on evidence based and analytical
based approach. The most significant advantage of this type of approach is that there are various
materials present in abundance that help the company to work with. Previously people and
companies did not rely on evidence based decision as it was difficult and nearly impossible to
access evidence and important information and documentation (Bower, 2018). However, today

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due to the advancement of technology and in the world of digitalization helps in acquiring and
getting hold of numerous amounts of data that is collected, organized , shared and analyzed that
later helps in making effective decisions (Hazır, 2015).
Predictive analysis
Other than data collection and analytic based approach there is another way that helps in
the decision making process of an organization or a company that is known as the predictive
analysis. Here the past events that have taken place are analyzed and understood to assess and
predict the most common outcome of future events and sets of data. In this type of approach it is
important for people to take the right predictions and guesses that need to be verified with
examples based on similar incidents that has occurred in the past. Same situations often lead to
the same consequences thus decision making on predictive analysis is an important aspect in the
decision making process (Janssen, van der Voort & Wahyudi, 2017).
Cognitive biases
Decision making is often influenced by many cognitive biases. Cognitive biases are
basically the thinking and rationale on the basis of generalizations and observations. This often
influences people by making them lend and rely more credence to the previous knowledge and
expected observations while dismissing observation and information that are mainly perceived as
uncertain (Knippenberg, Dahlander, Haas & George, 2015). However this factor sometimes
leads to poor decisions but leads to effective decision making if guided properly and with proper
assistance.
Issue in the workplace of Torrens University
Torrens University is one of the most reputated and renowned university in Australia and
has garnered a lot of appreciation from the students who have studied there and for being one of

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the top ranked universities in Sydney. However there are certain challenges that the University is
currently facing that have started impacting the university negatively.
In the age of digitalization the universities have started adopting new technologies in
classrooms and in the operations department for the betterment of the university. This has paved
way for creative learning and has helped students to learn faster. However faculties and
professors have had major difficulties in adapting to the new technologies and teaching with the
new technologies that has been introduced by the universities. Not being able to use the new
technologies has paved way for the demotivation of the professors and faculties that has resulted
in students receiving inadequate lessons.
Things are becoming expensive and so is education that has paved way for the high fees
that has become unaffordable for the students to pay for the higher education. This has resulted
in less students applying for the college and opting for other colleges in the city. This will
negatively impact the university as the university wouldn’t be able to expand and make changes
for the growth of the university in the limited budget because of less students applying and
paying for the courses.
These problems are currently residing in the Torrens University that may later negatively
impact the institution and hinder the growth of 0the university if effective decisions are not made
to tackle the situation that are cropping up in the university.
Decision making tools
There are many decision making tools that are used by employees and the management
for the success of a business or a company. Each and every organization has certain problems
that arise in an organization or any workforce that need proper assistance and implementation of

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effective strategic management that helps companies to overcome the situations and help the
company grow and develop for the betterment (Schwartz et al, 2018). The decision making tools
that need to be used to make effective changes and solve the problems of Torrens University are
the following:
SWOT Analysis
SWOT analysis is effective and helps organizations and workforce to assess the internal
factors of an organization. This is one of the most common tool for strategic planning and
decision making. This helps organizations to maximize the strengths of the company, work on
the weaknesses to turn the weakness of the company into strength. It helps the organization to
consider and look to the probable threats and assess the opportunities and work for the
betterment of the organization (Sutrisno, Kwon, Gunawan, Eldridge & Lee, 2016). This helps in
analyzing and taking effective changes that will help in the success of the company.
The problem that has been residing in the Torrens University is important and may have a
negative impact on the institution. With the help of this tool the university may understand the
internal factors of their institution and make changes according to that to solve the issues.
Strengths
 Torrens University has several
campuses in important cities of
Australia that provide both
postgraduate and undergraduate courses
in various subjects.
 Highly skilled and educated professors
teach in this university that is beneficial
Weakness
 Expensive courses unaffordable by
students
 No training for professors to adapt to
the technological changes

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for the students and for the university.
 Advanced technology present in the
classroom
Opportunities
 Diversity in the classroom for
providing opportunities to students
from abroad.
 New construction of the university for
more classrooms
 Growing demand for students with a
graduation degree or certificate
 Increase in demand for mid-career
redirection.
Threats
 New universities coming up, providing
same facilities at a lower fees structure.
 The continuous advancement of
technology that will be difficult for
universities to continuously change
with new technologies launching all the
time.
This will help the institution to assess and analyze the internal factors to make effective
decisions in order to make changes that will help the institution to overcome the problems.
SWOT analysis helps in assessing the weakness of the institution and this will help the university
to make effective changes so that they can overcome the problems.
T-chart
T-chart is an essential tool that helps an organization to make effective decisions. T-Chart
is mainly used to assess and weigh the positives and the negatives of any new strategy or option
that is being considered by a organization. This helps an organization to make the right decisions

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by measuring the options. If the options considered have negative impacts more than positives it
is important for organizations to change the options and make effective decisions that will help
the organization gain more positives than negatives (Cokely et al, 2018). This helps
organizations to consider many options and eventually make the right one for the success of the
organization.
Torrens University should implement this tool while making any decision to understand
how the institution may be effected with the decisions and the changes that are being made in the
institution.
Torrens University had made changes by implementing new technologies in the classroom for
the betterment of the university and to encourage creative ways of learning in the classroom. The
implementation of advanced technology in the classroom has both positives and negatives.
Pros Cons
 Creative and enhanced learning
 Visual learning helps students
remember lessons and keeps them
interested.
 Expensive
 Difficulties in adapting to new
technology become inconvenient for
professors to teach properly that leads
to poor results of the students.
 No in-depth learning
 Demotivation of professors

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With the help of T-Chart it can be seen that making list of the positive and negative
aspects helps organizations to make effective decisions. In the T-Chart it can be seen that the
implementation of advanced technology has more cons than pros. If the university would have
used this method before then it could make some strategic changes and make decisions that
would help in introducing technologies in a way so that it could benefit the university or make
some other decisions.
The high fee structure of Torrens University has had negative impact on the University.
With the help of T-Chart the University could assess the negatives and positives of high fee
structure before introducing it. The pros and cons of high fee structure are the following:
Pros Cons
 Development of the University that will
help students with necessary resources
 Decline in the admission rates because
of the high fee structure.
 Negative effect on the long term goals
of the University.
With the help of T-Chart it can be seen that the high fee structure has a negative impact
on the University and this can help the University to make effective changes for the success and
to meet the goals of the University.
Feasibility Study
Feasibility studies are used in strategic planning and decision making of a business. Here
the company before launching any initiative, service or product needs to assess the possibilities
whether it is going to make profits and be effective for the organization or not (Cascetta, Carteni,

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Pagliara & Montanino, 2015). This helps organizations or companies to make strategies and
helps in making decisions that will be feasible and ideal for the organization.
Before the implementation of advanced technology and making the fee structure high the
University should consider the feasibility studies to understand and assess the possibility whether
the decision taken will have any benefits that will help in the success of the University. The
University had just thought about the benefits and for the positive reputation however the
University did not conduct proper research on the initiatives and did not understand the negative
impacts that were going to affect the University. By the help of feasible study the University
could have assessed the outcomes of the initiatives taken by the University and would have made
effective changes or make efficient and effective decisions that would help and lead to the
success of the University which would result in the positive outcomes.
By using these decisions making tools the University would have made effective strategic
management that would have helped the University make effective decisions for the success and
development of the University. While using the decision making tools it has been seen that the

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tools suggest that the initiatives made by the University has more cons than pros and if the tools
would have been used earlier then the University would have made changes and come up with
different initiatives that would be beneficial for the University.
Conclusion
Decision making is a complex and an important process. The usage of decision making
tools help in improving the quality if making positive decisions. Decision making tools are used
in many organizations and companies to make decisions that are going to bring positive impacts
on the organization. Decision making tools not only help in making decisions for a company but
also help in solving issues in the company to pave way for the success of the company. Torrens
University would not have to deal with the existing issues that are residing in the University if
they would have used decision making tools in order to make the decisions. With the help of
decision making tools the University would have been able to assess the issues before hand and
would have made decisions that would have had a positive impact on the University.

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