Decision Making

This document discusses the process of decision making and problem solving in organizations. It covers the importance of defining the problem, generating solutions, and implementing them effectively. The document explores tools like brainstorming and fishbone diagram. It includes a case study of Apollo Hospital and its efforts to address staff turnover.

Running head: Decision Making
Decision Making
Name of the Student:
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Author’s note

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Table of Contents
Problem Definition..........................................................................................................................2
Solution of the Problems.................................................................................................................2
Brainstorming..............................................................................................................................3
Fish-bone Diagram......................................................................................................................4
Solution Evaluation.........................................................................................................................5
Affinity Diagram.............................................................................................................................6
Solution Implementation.................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
Reference.........................................................................................................................................9

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Problem Definition
In order to get to get an effective solution of a problem it is highly important to define the
problem according to Wood in 2009 (Wood et al., 2009). It is proposed that ineffectively
defining the problem can lead to wrong solution of the problem. Therefore the main purpose of
this stage is to define the problem statement “to understand the problem in as much as is needed
to solve it effectively” (Wood et al., 2009). The organizations culture whether it possess positive
or negative is highly concerned with actions, decision and communication. This approaches are
highly reflected in, what is needed to be done, how it will be done and who is involved in doing
it.
In order to effectively carry out the problem and avoid discrepancies with complexities and
misinterpretation. For the following study the following tools are used which incorporates 5Ws’
technique or questioning and SWOT analysis.
The 5Ws’ technique is an effective tool to assess the following problems of Apollo
Hospital, the technique includes five questions that is what, where, when, who and why. This
technique would aid in clarifying and defining the exact elements of the problem. It helps in brief
understanding of problem, related issue and cause of the problem as well. This also helps to
avoid on direct judgment of the issue and directly jumping to the conclusion.
Solution of the Problems
This stage is taken into consideration after effectively defining the problem, as opined by
Wood (Wood et al, 2009) the problem solution is generated by the use of different frameworks
and approaches which gives a brief analysis and structure to the solution. The approaches helps
the organization and the management to shift from current state of affairs to desired state.

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Therefore, in order to widen and broaden the concept of this stage the solution approaches focus
on divergent thinking and the desire to be creative. The tools which are used in the following
stage is brainstorming and Fishbone diagram. These tools are based upon the divergent thinking
that would help in generating a multiple ideas significantly.
Brainstorming
Brainstorming is a group problem-solving technique which is basically a group activity
through which multiple alternatives are analyzed in order to solve the problems of the
organization. This activity is assessed by core members of the organization and the management
team and this is done by gathering list of views and ideas (Al-Samarraie & Hurmuzan, 2018).
PEOPLE ACTIVITIES ACTIONS
Role of the senior doctors Offering Flexibility Maintaining balanced and
safe environment to work
Understanding the role of
legal Legislation
Rules and regulation on
working hours
Fair work act 2009 and
Factories act
Human Resource Manager Training and Development Nurse staff training
Operational Manager Recruitment and Selection Effective recruitment and
selection and hiring the right
employee for the position.
Human resource manager Encouraging gratitude and
generosity
Motivating the employees
and influencing the staff.
Reward system Recognition and rewarding
the employees
Employee of the year,
appraisals and so on.
Compensation Monetary benefits Over-time pay, bonus, and
incentive.

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Feedback from the employees Any important changes
through feedback
Suggestion box, conference
and face to face interaction
The possible limitation of brainstorming activity is that is gives numerous ideas which
blocks the actual and beneficial point which can be assessed for the problem. It also
compromises with the quality control of the department.
Fish-bone Diagram
In order to have an alternative solution for the following issue the paper also focuses on
the Fishbone diagram technique (Rawlinson, 2017). According to Wood, the technique provides
a systematic manner of looking at the effects of the problems and the main cause of the problems
and
the
causes that create or contribute to those effects. It gives an in depth approach which helps in
exploring potential causes to the problems (Vetter et al., 2016).
Figure1: Fishbone Diagram

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Most likely the long working hours for nurses becomes the main problem is reducing the
employee turnover ratio in Apollo Hospital. Therefore, the working hours must be reduced and it
is against the law of factories act. The problem can be solved by planning and implementing shift
programs for the employees and recruiting competent nurse in the organization will balance the
nurse turnover ratio. The lack of safe and good environment is also a factor of the issue,
therefore the management needs to make effective changes in the workplace environment where
the staff can feel free and safe to work with.
Solution Evaluation
This stage helps to understand the effectiveness of the previous stage that is solution
generation, the main focus in this particular stage is to assess the different potential solutions and
find out their effectiveness with reference to long-term and short-term goals. This stage helps to
achieve the desired state from the vulnerable state (Fabian, 2018). The above stage focused upon
the divergent thinking whereas the solution evaluation is moreover concerned with the
convergent thinking in order to narrow down the solution. It is opined by Croplay, convergent
thinking we locate a problem at the ‘centre’ of our focus and then gather peripheral resources to
bear down or converge on the problem” (Wood et al., 2009). This technique therefore provides
“an effective way to identify and analyze issues that have been generated during divergent
thinking” (Wood et al., 2009).
The tools which can be used in solution evaluation stage are Pareto Principle,
Categorization, Screening Matrix, Decision Matrix, Elimination, Ranking and Affinity Diagram.
In order to proceed with solution evaluation stage the study uses Affinity Diagram (Harms,
Kennel & Reiter-Palmon, 2017). For this stage, the above information of SWOT and fishbone

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diagram are grouped, all the available solutions from the ‘opportunities’ column in Fig. 1 –
Brainstorming and Fig 3 – SWOT analysis.
Affinity Diagram
The affinity diagram is a strategic tool that gathers proper information of data which involves
ideas, believes, opinions and issues which is organized and grouped based upon the natural
relation. This is often the aftermath part of brainstorming.
Figure2: Affinity Diagram
According to the organization’s time and budget these are the best solutions in order to
respond on to the problem of staff turnover. By implementing the following action in the
HRM Policies
Fair work act and
Fcatories act followed by
the organization where all
the employees need to
follow.
Abiding with the rules
and regulation
Work Place
Remove unnecessary
bureaucracy
Make processes
democratic and transparent
Regular staff feedback
Suggestion Box
Creating safe and workable
environment
Recruitmnet
and
Selection
Effective recruitmnet
Recruitmnet of more
employees
Forming effective teams,
with shift timing

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organization and by taking proper decision for the employees the problem can be resolved and
the organization will get the best out of their employees.
Solution Implementation
This is final stage of the whole problem solving process. This stage aims at effectively
implementing the above generated solution. This is the most critical stage as generating solution
is on assumption and implementing is moreover, taking action on the assumptions. This stage
would determine and would aid the organization to achieve the targeted goal and would bring
potential change in the organization. Apollo is striving for employee turnover and therefore,
effective implementation of the solution is highly necessary (Holtzclaw, Kenner & Walden
2018). The main purpose of the steps taken in this particular phase is to plan and properly
execute the steps which is necessary to implement the solution. In order to assess he following
step it incorporates certain tools such as Force Field Analysis, What if Scenario and how-how
Diagram. For the following study, Kurt Lewin’s Force Field analysis is used. The strategic tool
is based upon the concept of two equal forces, driving force and restraining force. As opined by
Kurt Lewin “culture is not a painted picture; it is a living process, composed of countless social
interactions. Like a river whose form and velocity are determined by the balance of those forces
that tend to make the water flow faster, and the friction that tends to make the water flow more
slowly the cultural pattern of a people at a given time is maintained by a balance of counteracting
forces”.

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Figure3: Kurt Lewin’s Force Field Analysis

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The lack of proper rules and regulation for the workplace environment and the working
hours is the main reason for decreased employee turnover ratio. There the implementation of
proper acts ad obligation would aid the organization and the employees to maintain their working
hours. Moreover, the implementation of the shift timing will help the employees to work in a
scheduled manner where the employees will not find any work pressure and would motivate the
employees to sustain in the organization.
Conclusion
According to the above case study of Apollo Hospital, it can be deferred that due to the
problem–solving techniques the organization is able to find out the potential issues and problems
related to the employees. The above stages clearly defines the problem statement and the process
effectively analyze and solve the problem statement. The organization Apollo has troubles with
staff turnover, this was due to the poor management of the organization. Therefore, the following
approaches helps the organization to deal with the particular issue. In the same way other
organization take the help of the problem=solving approach and reach to their conclusions. Due
to the above measure and implementation the organization is able to maintain the nurse ratio in
their organization and the employees are highly satisfied with the above changes made in the
organization.

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Reference
Al-Samarraie, H., & Hurmuzan, S. (2018). A review of brainstorming techniques in higher
education. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 27, 78-91.
Fabian, J. (2018). Creative thinking and problem solving. CRC Press.
Harms, M., Kennel, V., & Reiter-Palmon, R. (2017). Team creativity: Cognitive processes
underlying problem solving. In Team creativity and innovation (pp. 61-86). Oxford
University Press.
Holtzclaw, B., Kenner, C., & Walden, M. (2018). Grant Writing Handbook for Nurses and
Health Professionals. Springer Publishing Company.
Rawlinson, J. G. (2017). Creative thinking and brainstorming. Routledge.
Stone, A. (2012). HRSA Administrator Talks About Importance of Nurses. ONS Connect, 27(7),
23.
Vernon, D., Hocking, I., & Tyler, T. C. (2016). An evidence-based review of creative problem
solving tools: A practitioner’s resource. Human resource development review, 15(2),
230-259.
Vetter, L., Schuepfer, G., Kuster, S. P., & Rossi, M. (2016). A Hospital-wide Outbreak of
Serratia marcescens, and Ishikawa's “Fishbone” Analysis to Support Outbreak
Control. Quality management in health care, 25(1), 1.
Wood, R., Cogin, J., & Beckmann, J. (2009). Managerial problem solving: Frameworks, tools,
techniques. Sydney: McGraw-Hill.

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