Decision Making Processes Analysis

This assignment delves into the complexities of decision-making processes by analyzing a range of academic papers spanning diverse fields. It explores classical decision theory's limitations in practical contexts, investigates multi-criteria decision-making techniques for complex scenarios (like green supplier evaluation), and examines how decision-making unfolds in healthcare, social networks, and even orthodontics. The assignment highlights the influence of factors like thinking styles, organizational politics, and shared decision-making models on the process.

Running Head: Fundamentals of Management
Fundamentals of Management

Fundamentals of Management 1
A manager is a person who actively takes a corrective decision in all types of situations and
supports the management with their decision made. In the Australian Pharmaceutical
Corporation, the company invented vaccines for the virus rapidly spreading in West Africa. Till
date, the vaccine is tried and tested on chimpanzees on which positive results appeared in their
state. After using this vaccine, the chimpanzees infected with this virus showed improvement in
their health which acted as a positive sign for the team (Goetsch, and Davis 2014). Further the
West African requests to provide such vaccine to them with the aid of which they can treat
thousands of people infected with this virus. But the Australian heath authorities believe that this
vaccine will take a time of ten years to make it usable by human cure their virus.
Being a manager at Australian Pharmaceutical Corporation, I believe that it is my duty to create
vaccines for the betterment of people. And I believe that selling the vaccine to West African
organization can help the country to stop infecting more people from the virus and cure them.
The essay includes eight step of decision-making process with the help of which I arrived at the
adequate decision to support the people of West Africa (Anderson, et. al., 2015).
A manager is the only person who is responsible for the growth of the organization as they act as
a leader for the management of the organization. They creatively take decision on the basis of
which the lower level employees of the company work to sustain the growth in the global
environment. In the following the method in which the manager took the decision of sharing the
vaccine is discussed below:
The initial step the decision making process is identification of problem, under which the
manager identifies the problem attracted with the organization. It is the most crucial step of the
decision making the process as it helps the manager to evaluate the actual problems attracted

Fundamentals of Management 2
with the business process (Kaner 2014). In the current scenario, the main problem for the
management is to take the decision whether to supply the vaccine to West Africa organization or
not. Evaluating a couple of questions, the facts that came into existence is that, the people of
West Africa are in actual need of this vaccine apart from that the Australian organization says
that the vaccine needs time of ten years to apply itself on human body. Being a manager the fact
which I analyzed with this effect is that the vaccine is already tested on chimpanzees out of
which positive result appeared. Also, it shall be noted that chimpanzees and humans have similar
body working due to which a positive remark shall be noted that it can effectively work on the
human body as well. So in this process, the problem was defined that whether to provide vaccine
to West Africa organization or not. Another purpose was also determined which stated the
people affected by the decision, deadline of the decision or outcomes of the decision (Wheelen,
and Hunger 2017).
The second step of the ethical decision making process stated the determination the requirement
with the aid of which problems shall be sought. This process initiated the determination of
requirement which shall be fulfilled with the solution provided by the manager. The main
purpose of this step is to analyze that whether the solution is given adequately fulfill the entire
requirements prescribed earlier (Govindan, et. al., 2015). In the given case it shall be noted that it
is the belief of the team and management that the vaccine produced will definitely assist the
West African organization to cure the virus with which they are infected. But there is a scope of
failure of the solution as well, because the vaccine is still not tested on the human body, so it
effects on human can be adverse as well. Considering to this, it shall also be noted that the West
Africa organization will also the test the vaccine and then only apply it on the people wide, so if
they will see it's positively result then they will apply the vaccine otherwise not. Summarizing

Fundamentals of Management 3
the facts, this step of decision making process state that the solution provided by the manager
shall aptly satisfy all the requirement of the problem and solve it efficiently (Nguyen, and Proffit
2016).
Following to the third step of decision making process, it states that the manager shall review
relevant theories and ethical guidelines which shall clearly state the requirement and initiate that
the solution will comply with guidelines mentioned. Further, this step includes guidelines on the
basis of which the manager shall compare or judge the decision taken by them. The guidelines
provide the criteria for judging the result sought by the management. Further, it acts as a
parameter under which the solute shall surely come (Thokala, et. al., 2016). This step of decision
making provides a broad statement like goal and objectives of the company which the company
shall apply and all the activities of the company shall reflect the objective of the company. In the
following, this step was applied by the management in such a way that, the decision taken shall
not harm the reputation of the company in the global market. Apart from financial objective, the
company focuses on the ethical code of procedure of the organization. So, the management shall
take care that this decision shall not adversely affect any person or community; also they shall
not hide any information with people which shall be shared with them. Considering this aspect,
Australian pharmaceutical shall share the statement provided by the health authorities of
Australia. Also, they shall take permission of the higher authorities and work under their
surveillance only. So if any problem occurs when the higher authority can assist them to work
properly. Summarizing, this step states that the decision made by the manager shall adequately
fit and assist the ethical code of conduct of the organization (Sadovykh, and Sundaram 2017).
The fourth step of the decision making process is related to the process of identification of
alternatives which can be helpful in solving the problem. It is the duty of the manager to find the

Fundamentals of Management 4
best decision which can positively affect the growth of the organization. Further, this step
includes finding alternative which can be used by the management of the company so that an
objective of the company is achieved. In the given case of Australian pharmaceutical, the
management needs to look for another alternative which can act as a backup plan if the vaccine
provided to the West African association does not work well (Biswas, Pramanik, and Giri 2016).
So, they need to look for the solution if the vaccine negatively affects the growth of people, apart
from that it is mandatory for the management evaluate the outcomes with the consumption of
this vaccine. If the outcomes are positive then their decision would be effective but if the
opposite situation occurs when the management needs to find out an alternative to respond to the
situation. Comprising, this step includes the alternatives which the management shall formulate
if their implemented decision fails (Phillips., et. al., 2016).
(Source: http://www.clear-decisions.com/2012/01/eight-step-decision-making-process.html)

Fundamentals of Management 5
The next step of the decision making process is a crucial part which involves the development of
evaluation criteria based on the goals of the organization. The fact is known to all that a business
process only work efficiently if it fulfills all the legal and ethical obligation of the company and
satisfies its customers. For the fulfillment of such obligations, the management of the company
needs to take actions accordingly on the basis of which lower level management will work. Thus,
in the decision making process evaluation criteria is very important as it tells the accountability
of the work which is done by them (Westphal and Sohal 2016). Evaluation criteria also help the
management to evaluate all the aspects related to the decision making process and then come up
with the best outcome which will provide benefit to all. In the case of Australian
pharmaceuticals, the management needs to evaluate all the aspects related to the vaccines and
geographic, demographics etc. conditions of West Africa and then only choice for the best
alternative which will assist both the parties connected with the transaction. Being the manager
of the company, it is my duty to look for all the possible aspects related to the use of vaccines
and its alternatives and then only take the decision for the benefit of all. Also, this decision shall
comply with all the ethical procedures of the company (Wolf, and Floyd 2017).
The next step of the decision making phase includes the process of selection of the best
alternative suitable for both the parties. While considering all the alternatives of the decision
making process, the management shall firstly look for the aspect which has greater degree of
chances to succeed. Further as stated earlier this decision shall comply with the goals and
objectives of the organization. Apart from that the management shall also have a backup plan if
the implemented decision fails to act according to the expectation, then only an adequate
decision shall be selected with the approval of higher authorities (Beach, and Lipshitz 2017). So,
in this case, the manager just need to evaluate all the facts related to the vaccines and party

Fundamentals of Management 6
which is requesting to buy the vaccine and then take the corrective decision to sell the vaccine to
them or not. From the above-mentioned analysis, the management will easily get to know about
the outcomes of selling or not selling the vaccine to West African association. The decision
which they believe in best suited for the people infected with the virus shall be taken accordingly
(Elwyn, et. al., 2014).
The second last step of the eight-step decision making process comprises of the process of
executing the chosen decision in their organization. Like, if the management believes that not
sending the vaccine to West Africa is the best choice for the company and the people of West
Africa then they shall not sell it to them. But if the look at the positive outcomes of the
transaction and believe that the product will show positive response if imposed o infected people,
then they shall send the vaccine to West Africa association. So, whatever decision the company
might, under this process they need to initiate the implementation plan formulate the expected
goal. However being a manager I believe that selling the vaccine to West African association is
the best decision for the company and people of West Africa (Anderson, et. al., 2015). So, the
management shall implement plan and then perform activity to execute the plan so that the
decision was taken or the objectives prepared for the company are achieved.
The final step of the eight step decision making process includes process of validation of solution
against the problem statement. This aspect of the model says that the management needs to look
back towards the performance of their taken decision and compare it with the goals set for the
company. In the flowing cans of Australian Pharmaceutical, the management needs to check for
the implementation and use of the vaccines in the country. They need to evaluate the outcomes
of the vaccines when it is imposed on the West African people. Then initiate the future actions
accordingly (Pettigrew 2014).

Fundamentals of Management 7
Thus, in the limelight of above mentioned events, the fact that shall be noted is that it is very
important for the manager to take the decision and implement them adequately in the
organization otherwise it will negatively affect the growth of the company. Apart from that, the
eight step model explains the way in which the manager shall actively participate in the decision
making process by looking at all the important aspects of the organization. thus, by looking all
the aspects of the scenario it shall be taken into account that the company shall send the vaccine
to them West Africa, because it is once tried and tested in Australia, secondly there is a ratio of
people prevailing in Africa who are infected with this virus, thirdly there is no other option
except this vaccine which can use to cure the virus. Thus, the manager shall sell the vaccine to
the West African association.

Fundamentals of Management 8
References
Anderson, D.R., Sweeney, D.J., Williams, T.A., Camm, J.D. and Cochran, J.J., 2015. An
introduction to management science: quantitative approaches to decision making.
Cengage learning.
Anderson, D.R., Sweeney, D.J., Williams, T.A., Camm, J.D. and Cochran, J.J., 2015. An
introduction to management science: quantitative approaches to decision making.
Cengage learning.
Beach, L.R. and Lipshitz, R., 2017. Why classical decision theory is an inappropriate standard
for evaluating and aiding most human decision making. Decision Making in Aviation,
p.85.
Biswas, P., Pramanik, S. and Giri, B.C., 2016. TOPSIS method for multi-attribute group
decision-making under single-valued neutrosophic environment. Neural computing and
Applications, 27(3), pp.727-737.
Elwyn, G., Dehlendorf, C., Epstein, R.M., Marrin, K., White, J. and Frosch, D.L., 2014. Shared
decision making and motivational interviewing: achieving patient-centered care across
the spectrum of health care problems. The Annals of Family Medicine, 12(3), pp.270-275.
Goetsch, D.L. and Davis, S.B., 2014. Quality management for organizational excellence. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: pearson.
Govindan, K., Rajendran, S., Sarkis, J. and Murugesan, P., 2015. Multi criteria decision making
approaches for green supplier evaluation and selection: a literature review. Journal of
Cleaner Production, 98, pp.66-83.

Fundamentals of Management 9
Kaner, S., 2014. Facilitator's guide to participatory decision-making. John Wiley & Sons.
Nguyen, T. and Proffit, W., 2016. The Decision-Making Process in Orthodontics. Orthodontics-
E-Book: Current Principles and Techniques, p.208.
Pettigrew, A.M., 2014. The politics of organizational decision-making. Routledge.
Phillips, W.J., Fletcher, J.M., Marks, A.D. and Hine, D.W., 2016. Thinking styles and decision
making: A meta-analysis.
Sadovykh, V. and Sundaram, D., 2017, January. Decision Making Processes in Online Social
Networks: A Comparative Analysis of Health and Financial Online Social Networks. In
Proceedings of the 50th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.
Thokala, P., Devlin, N., Marsh, K., Baltussen, R., Boysen, M., Kalo, Z., Longrenn, T., Mussen,
F., Peacock, S., Watkins, J. and Ijzerman, M., 2016. Multiple criteria decision analysis
for health care decision making—an introduction: report 1 of the ISPOR MCDA
Emerging Good Practices Task Force. Value in health, 19(1), pp.1-13.
Westphal, P. and Sohal, A., 2016. Outsourcing decision-making: does the process matter?.
Production Planning & Control, 27(11), pp.894-908.
Wheelen, T.L. and Hunger, J.D., 2017. Strategic management and business policy. pearson.
Wolf, C. and Floyd, S.W., 2017. Strategic planning research: Toward a theory-driven agenda.
Journal of Management, 43(6), pp.1754-1788.