Generally, all of us bring biases to the decisions we make. These biases draw from our experiences on the same situations and our own fears or favors on particular areas. Some of the drawbacks associated with having biases include, lack of accurate decision, as the final decision remains an outcome of individual views rather than realities. Biases usually limit the level of acceptance of new ideas and narrow the span of evaluating information thereby resulting in undesired skewed analysis that lacks applicability in many areas. A biased decision is prone to cut out information sources from people and places that would form vital bases for judgment. Thus, bias decisions are not always as effective as scientific decisions where elements of biases lack opportunities to prevail (Robbins & Coulter, 2009, p.132).
Conversely, having biases also helps in certain cases. The knowledge that a given person, place or action would not yield the result that the manager would appreciate saves the manager all the costs of falling into a trap or making serious mistakes by relying on their own knowledge to arrive at some conclusions. When the manager relies on his experiences and his perceptions to arrive at conclusive decisions, though based on true findings, his intelligence would be sufficient in aiding his decisions to arrive at some decisions with minimal influence of the external environment. Ultimately, autonomy and independence inherent in biased decisions make them easily implementable by the deciding authority unlike a prolonged consultation that results in a decision considered by the manager as ambiguous.
Managerial decision-making has an effect in every department of an organization. From staffing needs to cost of operating the organization, managerial decision-making may lead to profits or losses as they hinge on a business’ internal and external environment. Normally they reflect on the objectives for the organization and the values of the same institution. Hence, they may result into expansion, growth path with a certain model or even shrink. The most significant effect of the decision majors on the market share of the organization is primarily the interface between the manager’s efforts and his or her consumers (Robbins & Coulter, 2009, p.134).
In many cases, I find my thinking inclined towards linear thought patterns despite my attempts to think non-linearly. While in my mind decisions may seem as a series of interlocking pieces of possibilities with minimal resistances from the environment, in real life, thinks do not occur on a smooth line. Many times, we would need to factor in our decisions a number of variables representing different components of the organization. Thus, as a linear thinker, am fully aware that the presence of different factors in my scholarly and social life does not constitute a linear model of thoughts where events should follow each other as I always picture it in my ideal creations. However, since linear thinking is easy and less involving, I am generally predisposed to linear thinking because I often have to assume many issues that have little effect on my final decision. I also draw direct correlation between past events in my life as I relate them to similar situation with little attention to the slight variation in intensity of the matter at hand. Finally, these processes result into conclusions drawn from a linear mental projection (Robbins & Coulter, 2009, p.134).
Choosing a type of organisation where you want to work is of particular importance because of many reasons, thus: it gives you the insight of the amount of information you require to know and disseminate as well as the level of energy you will require to dissipate with commensurate skills to generate desired results. In addition, the knowledge of the work environment would help you know whether you are fit for working in the organisation or not. Some organizations have complex work environments with manual and automated devices all over the place. Therefore, it is important to know your organization early enough so that you start orienting yourself to the environment as you undergo your courses. Augmenting the thought process with the prior knowledge of an individual’s preferred organization provides suitability in matching competencies and skills in navigating through the work in theory and practice (Robbins & Coulter, 2009, p.136).
Clearly speaking, there are significant differences between bad and wrong decisions. While bad decisions are baseless and fail to apply in particular cases, wrong decisions are generally realistic and vigorous decisions but not suitable to the situations where a person is trying to implement them. Therefore, as bad decisions may be invalid (lack application anywhere), wrong decisions may fail to apply in one circumstance but serve very well in another instance (Robbins & Coulter, 2009, p.128).
Wrong decisions are not an attribute to any particular individual just as good decisions are not a reserve of good managers. Good managers sometimes make wrong decisions due to a couple of reasons. First, they may experience an oversight thereby making them overstate a case and in the process of developing a diagnostic approach to countering the problem, end up with a good decision but not fit for the observed problem. In another case, a good manager may overlook the severity of a problem and settle for basic solution in his/her decision. In an attempt to carry out the decision, the manager may end up with a vicious cycle of the problem, meaning the decision is wrong. When a decision is wrong the manager can do a rectification on it to answer the problem encountered, but in case of a bad decision, the decision is invalid and anew one formed. Good managers make bad decisions because they lack experience in the area of the problem (Robbins & Coulter, 2009, p.135).
Managers can therefore improve their decision making skills by consultation, wide reading and practice in order to find acquaintance with more knowledge in many areas. A manager with wide knowledge and great expertise in many fields is less likely to make wrong or bad decisions. Nonetheless, decision-making is a never-ending process. It should therefore continue in schools like in the workplaces.
Reference List
Coulter, M. & Robbins, P. (2009).Management (10th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. pp. 132-37