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Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 1

Chapter 9

Decision Making

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Decision Making Decision Making is at the heart of organizational

effectiveness, climate, and health. Two dominant issues affect how decisions are

made in organizations; Stability (application of existing practices and maintenance of

existing performance levels) Change (environmental demands for quick response and

emerging problems that are ambiguous)

Participative decision making structures are required to effectively manage change.


Decision Making Daniel Griffith’s Theory of Leadership is About

Decision Making

Administration is a process of directing and controlling life in a social organization.

The specific function of administration is to develop and regulate the decision making process in the most effective manner.


Griffith (continued)

Griffith proposed that:

An individual's rank equals his or her degree of control of the decision-making process.

Effectiveness of the leader is inversely proportional to the number of decisions made personally.

The major differences between types of organizations are related to differences in the decision-making process.


Individual v. Organizational Decision Making What is meant by the expectation that administrators

should be “decisive”? How is this different from “organizational

decisions”? It is the responsibility of administrators to establish

decision-making processes that establish a positive culture.


Rationality in Decision Making

Herbert Simon’s three phases of decision making: Intelligence activity, Design activity, Choice activity

Peter Drucker’s rational steps in decision making: Define the Problem Analyze the Problem Develop Alternative Solutions Decide on the Best Solution Convert decisions into Effective Actions


Rational Decision-Making Models Some models add a “feedback loop” to make

successively better decisions eventually reaching “optimal” decisions.

We must recognize that we generally make decisions that are called “satisficing”, that is, they are a solution that is satisfactory, but not necessarily the optimal solution. Why?


Limits on Rationality in Decision MakingVroom and Yetton developed a taxonomy of five leadership

styles based on decision making processes: Autocratic Process:

AI. Leaders makes decision with information available. AII. Leader gets information from followers (may not tell them the

problem) and then makes decision. Consultative Process:

CI. Leader shares problem with individuals, gets suggestions, then makes decision.

CII. Leader shares problem with the group and then makes decision. Group Process:

GI. Leaders facilitates a group decision based on consensus. The leader avoids giving his/her opinion, but lets the group decide.


Vroom and Yetton (continued) Analysis of the situation depends on answers to 7 questions:

Does the problem possess a quality requirement? Does the leaders have sufficient information to make a good decision? Is the problem structured? Is it necessary for others to accept the decision in order for it to be

implemented?’ If the leaders makes the decision alone, how certain is it that others will

accept it? Do others share the organizational goals that will be attained by

solving this problem? Are the preferred solutions to the problem likely to create conflict

among others in the group?


The Nature of Managerial and Administrative WorkHenry Mintzberg’s five propositions: Administrators do a great deal of work, and do it at an

unrelenting pace. Administrators devote brief periods to many decisions that

tend to be specific, well defined issues. Administrators prefer to deal with active problems that are

well defined and non-routine. Administrators prefer verbal communications. Administrators maintain working relationships with three

principal groups: superiors, subordinates, and outsiders.


Mintzberg (continued) The work of administrators is taxing. He states: “The

quantity of work to be done . . .during the day is substantial and the pace is unrelenting.”

An “unrelenting pace” is not an unvarying pace, but that there is always more work to do, and that administrators seldom stop thinking about their work.

Mintzberg’s work has been confirmed in studies done with school administrators.


How Administrators Think Do administrators apply rational (linear) decision making

principles to decision making, and are they reflective about the decisions they make?

Perhaps, but Karl Weick believes that administrators’ thinking is woven into, and simultaneously occurs with, action.

Schön agrees, believing that decision making is an art, or trained intuition. That is, one learns through education and experience to see a complex system and to view a decision holistically.

Probable connection to left brain thinking (rational, logical, analytical) and right brain thinking (intuitive, holistic, nonlogical)


Influence of Organizational Culture on Decision Making The norms, values, traditions, and beliefs of an

organization shape decision making. Weick believes that culture helps participants ascribe

credibility to interpretations they make of their experiences.

Therefore, the culture represents significant thinking prior to action and is implicit in the decision making of administrators.


Theory of Practice The overlapping theories of many scholars provide

the basis for HRD concepts: motivation, leadership, conflict management, decision making, and change.

Some cultures are more effective in implementing HRD concepts.

Together these HRD concepts constitute a theory of decision making, the centerpiece of which is participative methods or empowerment.


Participative Decision MakingPotential benefits:

Make better decisions Enhance the growth and development of participants

Tannenbaum and Schmidt’s Model provides a range of potential decision making options for a leader and the organization. This ranges from the leader making the decision to a team making the decision within limits defined by organizational constraints.


Participative or Democratic Democratic decision making may involve a vote, with the

majority winning. Participative decision making as presented in the Vroom and

Yetton model and the Tannenbaum and Schmidt model provide the leader with a range of options, but leave the control of the decision in the leader’s domain.

As participation in decisions increases, teachers’ power and influence increase and principals’ power and influence decrease.

The leader should work with participants in the organization to establish a process for making decisions.

Participants should evaluate how the process is working and suggest changes for making the process better.


Emergent and Discrete Problems Discrete problems: elements are unambiguous, clear-cut and

quantifiable; elements are readily separable; solution requires a logical sequence of acts by one person; and the boundaries of the problem are easily discernable.

Emergent problems: ambiguous, uncertain and not easily quantifiable; elements are intertwined; solution requires coordination and interaction of many; the dimensions of the problem cannot be fully known until the process begins to unfold.

Administrators or experts can make decisions for discrete problems, while emergent problems are best made with open communication among those individuals who have information and who will be involved in implementing the decision.


Who Should Participate? Edwin Bridges suggests we involve others in decisions when two

tests are met: Test of Relevance--when they have an important personal

stake in the problem and their interest is high (Chester Barnard’s Zone of Indifference, Zone of Sensitivity, and Zone of Ambivalence).

Test of Expertise–they can contribute competently to the solution.

We add a third test: Test of Jurisdiction—if a problem is in their jurisdiction or

within their work domain allow participation, but if not, don’t allow them to decide as it may lead to frustration.


Team Administration Five techniques of team administration:

Discussion Information seeking Democratic-centralist Parliamentarian Participant-determining

Participation, however, requires a high level of skills, in particular training in the group process.


A Paradigm for Decision Making Using the four typical steps in the rational model of

decision making, the administrator can choose to include others in any or all of the steps: Defining the problem Identifying possible alternative solutions Predicting the consequences of each alternative Choosing the alternative to follow

In other words, the administrator can make the decision alone, use their input to make the decision, or make a group decision.

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