The importance of analysis and analitical skills to the manager making Essay - 1

The importance of analysis and analitical skills to the manager making decisions in business - Essay Example The success of organisations heavily relies on the decision making processes undertaken by managers. Organisations are complex, and thus present complex problems or contexts in which the manager makes decisions. Monahan argues that sound decision making brings positive results while poor decision making can prove deleterious to an organisation. The author also states that although management involves a variety of functions, decision making is a central managerial function as all others entail its use. A good decision making process will result in good decisions and thus success in business, while a flawed process underlying conception of decisions will have the opposite effect.The use of these decision making approaches together will be analysed in terms of how managers apply them in an integrated manner. Managerial Decision Making, Problem Solving and the Structured Analytical Approach According to Yates, a decision refers to the act of making a commitment to undertake an action that will yield satisfactory results to the beneficiaries of that action. From this definition, it is clear that a decision has three fundamental aspects. First is the resolution to execute an action, deliberateness/intention-where the manager purposefully decides so as to achieve specific objectives, and lastly, the satisfaction of those affected by the decision-the beneficiaries. Decision making, thus, implies the process used to arrive at a decision which translates to the different approaches adopted by different business managers. Russell-Jones argues for the importance of the underlying decision making process, stating that a robust, consistent and analytical approach leverages the elements of complexity, uncertainty, objectives, trade-offs., consensus and flexibility among others. This results in the making of sound decisions that can consistently bring about business success. On a c losely related note, managers increasingly find themselves having to undertake problem solving. Hicks (2004, p. 8) details the concept of problem solving, explaining that it entails the manager seeking ways to move from a present situation to a more desirable one. A problem arises when a there is a disparity between what is and what should be. It also represents a situation in which the decision making individual- manager- has alternative courses of action, all with significantly different effects and thus accompanied by doubt about the best choice (9). A number of approaches can be adopted to make managerial decisions and/or solve problems. Monahan (2001, pp. 2-3) explains the dynamics that affect decision making processes; including availability of information, scarcity of resources, and psychological factors. The author also discusses uncertainty in the process of decision making. Deterministic models of managerial decision making activities are used in the absence of uncertainty , while probabilistic models are for cases where business decisions have to be made under uncertainty. One of the most highlighted approaches to effective decision making is the structured analytical approach. Saaty and Vargas (2006, p. 258) explain that structuring the process through analogies and attribute association helps establish a new perspective to a problem and create an environment in which controllable and distinct alternatives can be generated. Gustafson (2006, p. 12) states that an analytical approach to decision making deconstructs a problem into logical, sequential and distinctive elements which can be assessed separately before recombining the components to arrive at