Business Research & Decision Making: Pre-Mortem Analysis Journal

This assignment is a reflective journal entry applying the pre-mortem analysis technique to a personal career decision. The student details the process of considering a career change from academia to medicine, outlining potential pitfalls and reasons for failure. The pre-mortem involves imagining the project failing and identifying the factors contributing to this failure, such as fear of blood, inability to work under pressure, and misconceptions about different professions. The student consolidates these reasons, revisits the plan, and reconsiders the initial decision, ultimately deciding to stick with the original career choice. The assignment concludes with lessons learned, emphasizing the importance of pre-mortem analysis in making informed decisions, and the student's commitment to using this method and sharing it with others. The assignment is supported by a bibliography of relevant academic sources on decision-making and strategy.

Running head: RUNNING HEAD
Business Research & Decision Making
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Meaningful Future
Decision making process is one of the most difficult things in life. It is the decisions
that we take in life which takes us to the good or the bad outcomes. Thus it is really very
essential to take the decisions properly so that there are no regrets or any kinds of co fusions
on the part of the people later. As the very name suggest pre mortem is the process of
understanding the drawbacks that can be caused due to the emergencies or the errors that can
be caused in the path of the decisions making process. However it must be made sure the
people who are taking the decision must be able to recognize the different reason so that can
be responsible for the project to go wrong.
I have taken up method of conducting a pre mortem when I was about to make a leap
from one career to the other. I wanted to become a teacher from my childhood. On the other
hand, suddenly I realized that it is good to become a doctor as those would fetch me more
money and fame. Therefore I decided to leave my Master preparation half way and joining the
medical college for becoming a doctor.

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Pre Mortem on the decision
There are several pitfalls or errors of judgement that might crop up in the course of
taking the decision or the future project. It is due to these errors in the decision making that
this decision might fail as well. I will be narrating this by the means of the following steps
Preparation
I started thinking that I am going to change my career and this would naturally help me
to get a good academic career in future life. I thought of shifting from the career of an
academician or a teacher to the profession of becoming a doctor.
Imagining a fiasco
The fiasco is the danger for the major issue that can crop up in future refers to any kind
of embarrassing situation. As per my imagination the fiasco is the mistake that I might make
in the course of the medical course or during the treatment of any patient in general and
surgery in particular.
Generate Reasons for Failure:
The reasons that are mainly responsible for the failures in this aspect are as follows-
I am afraid of blood and I cannot really with waistband people seeing injured. However I
could realize this that I have to be string towards the sight of bleeding and also the injuries
that people often suffer from.
The other reason is that I am not very good in working under pressure. Though I realized that
this would have been a problem equally, even in the teaching profession, I feel that. I feel that

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I will forget that I have to maintain a proper decorum over myself while conducting any
treatment or any kind of O.T or the operation theatre.
Consolidating the lists
The reasons that I have collected will be very essential in order to carry on the pre mortem in
a proper manner. The consolidation or the collection of the lists will be very helpful in
understanding about the different methods that must be undertaken by the decision makers.
This will help the decision maker in developing a well defined and clarified notion about the
different measures so that they can take the right decision.
Revisiting the plan
The plan must be revised so that the plans can be re read again each time before they
are actually being implemented. As a result of this the plans will be helping in understanding
the twists and turn that might actually crop up in the near future. Revisiting the plan is very
essential for all the decision makers who are revising these issues so that they can or event
themselves from the imaginary or the forth coming disasters that might develop from their
incorrect decision makings like career change, relocation, dismissal, promotion and others
Pitfalls
The misleading suggestions and wrong information has been very bad in leading me
towards the wring decisions. I am also of the opinion that the inappropriate opinions have
been very bad for me. This is because initially I really respected the decision of becoming a
teacher however later I realized that I am being attracted towards the profession of a doctor as
that will be helping me in getting the prestige and the money that is needed to stay as a

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responsible person in the society. However I thought that being a doctor is much more
honourable than being a teacher.
I was an average student in my class and I was often scolded by my teachers. This was
really a misleading experience. I thought that the profession of a teacher is really very
unkind and it is not helping the society in any way. Therefore, I wanted to become a doctor. I
thought that all the teachers are bad and if I become a teacher all my students will disliking
me just as I disliked some of my teachers in my school. However this is a misconception. I
forgot totally about those instances where some of my teachers helped me and also made me
think about the confidence and the talents that are actually present in me.
Re considering the important position
Thus, I have realized that the profession of a doctor is not right for me. I do not have a
very strong mindset and I am often emotionally moved. Thus I must no change over to other
career decisions so often. I will have to stick to the original career decision that I took. This
will be good for me as it will help me in making my dreams come true and also in making
myself a recognized individual. Thus I have thought that I will rethink several times before
taking this decision. I will not be giving any heed to the misleading experiences but I will stay
connected to those sources that always help me to gain a good self confidence and help me to
select that profession that are actually good for me and will help me to get a good financial
position in future.

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Lessons learnt from the assignment
I have learned that pre mortem of the decisions before actually taking them is one of
them most essential approaches that the individuals must take up. This will enable them to
always take the right decision and make sure that they are not being taken onto any wring
areas. Thus I will always try to use this method so that I can be confirmed about the after
effects of the decisions that will be undertaken by me in future. Apart from this, I will always
help my colleagues and my friends in using this method so that they can take up the right
decisions before it is too late. I have learnt that decision making is one of the most important
traits that must be present in any individual. Therefore I will be focusing on this trait so that I
can grow up and become an ideal teacher in future. I will have to teach my students how to
regain their lost confidence and make sure that they are not getting demotivated. Therefore I
will be able to utilize this decision making method at all instances so that I can take the right
kinds of decisions. I have learned that using this method will be protecting me from taking
many wrong decisions in life

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Bibliography
Dalal, R. S., Bolunmez, B., Tomassetti, A. J., & Sheng, Z. (2016). Escalation: An Understudied
Team Decision-Making Structure. In Psychosocial Dynamics of Cyber Security (pp. 104-
121). Routledge.
Lovallo, D., & Sibony, O. (2018). Broadening the frame: How behavioral strategy redefines
strategic decisions. Strategy Science, 3(4), 658-667.
Dalal, R. S., & Bolunmez, B. (2016). Evidence-based strategies to improve workplace decisions:
Small steps, big effects. SHRM-SIOP Science of HR Series, 1-22.
Waldron, N., Johnson, C. E., Saul, P., Waldron, H., Chong, J. C., Hill, A. M., & Hayes, B.
(2016). Development of a video-based education and process change intervention to
improve advance cardiopulmonary resuscitation decision-making. BMC health services
research, 16(1), 555.
Garg, H. (2018). Linguistic Pythagorean fuzzy sets and its applications in multiattribute
decision‐making process. International Journal of Intelligent Systems, 33(6), 1234-1263.
Bernardino, A. (2017). Telecommuting: Modelling the Employer's and the Employee's Decision-
Making Process. Routledge.
Bernardino, A. (2017). Telecommuting: Modelling the Employer's and the Employee's Decision-
Making Process. Routledge.

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Romiszowski, A. J. (2016). Designing instructional systems: Decision making in course
planning and curriculum design. Routledge.
Thokala, P., Devlin, N., Marsh, K., Baltussen, R., Boysen, M., Kalo, Z., ... & 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), 1-13.