What is the process of selecting or choosing a particular course of action from two or more alternative course of action?

Decision-making is an integral part of modern management. Essentially, Rational or sound decision making is taken as primary function of management. Every manager takes hundreds and hundreds of decisions subconsciously or consciously making it as the key component in the role of a manager.

Decisions play important roles as they determine both organizational and managerial activities.

A decision can be defined as a course of action purposely chosen from a set of alternatives to achieve organizational or managerial objectives or goals. Decision making process is continuous and indispensable component of managing any organization or business activities. Decisions are made to sustain the activities of all business activities and organizational functioning.

Decisions are made at every level of management to ensure organizational or business goals are achieved. Further, the decisions make up one of core functional values that every organization adopts and implements to ensure optimum growth and drivability in terms of services and or products offered.

As such, decision making process can be further exemplified in the backdrop of the following definitions.

Definition of Decision Making

According to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary the term decision making means - the process of deciding about something important, especially in a group of people or in an organization.

Trewatha & Newport defines decision making process as follows:, “Decision-making involves the selection of a course of action from among two or more possible alternatives in order to arrive at a solution for a given problem”.

As evidenced by the foregone definitions, decision making process is a consultative affair done by a comity of professionals to drive better functioning of any organization. Thereby, it is a continuous and dynamic activity that pervades all other activities pertaining to the organization.

Since it is an ongoing activity, decision making process plays vital importance in the functioning of an organization. Since intellectual minds are involved in the process of decision making, it requires solid scientific knowledge coupled with skills and experience in addition to mental maturity.

Further, decision making process can be regarded as check and balance system that keeps the organisation growing both in vertical and linear directions. It means that decision making process seeks a goal. The goals are pre-set business objectives, company missions and its vision. To achieve these goals, company may face lot of obstacles in administrative, operational, marketing wings and operational domains. Such problems are sorted out through comprehensive decision making process. No decision comes as end in itself, since it may evolve new problems to solve. When one problem is solved another arises and so on, such that decision making process, as said earlier, is a continuous and dynamic.

A lot of time is consumed while decisions are taken. In a management setting, decision cannot be taken abruptly. It should follow the steps such as

1. Defining the problem
2. Gathering information and collecting data
3. Developing and weighing the options
4. Choosing best possible option
5. Plan and execute
6. Take follow up action

Since decision making process follows the above sequential steps, a lot of time is spent in this process. This is the case with every decision taken to solve management and administrative problems in a business setting. Though the whole process is time consuming, the result of such process in a professional organization is magnanimous.

Authorship/Referencing - About the Author(s)

The article is Written By “Prachi Juneja” and Reviewed By Management Study Guide Content Team. MSG Content Team comprises experienced Faculty Member, Professionals and Subject Matter Experts. We are a ISO 2001:2015 Certified Education Provider. To Know more, click on About Us. The use of this material is free for learning and education purpose. Please reference authorship of content used, including link(s) to ManagementStudyGuide.com and the content page url.

Published: April 14, 2016

A decision is the selection of a course of action (or decision) out of many available alternatives. The marketing manager may be arrived to a particular decision by analyzing, evaluating and carefully planning.

The decision making is the basic and fundamental key of all managerial activities. It is the study of identifying and choosing best possible choice (or option) based on the values and preferences of the business organization.

• Haynes and Massie: “Decision-Making is a process of selection from a set of alternative courses of action which is thoughtful to fulfill the objective of the decision problem more satisfactorily than others.”
• Philip Kotler: “A decision may be defined as a conscious choice among alternative courses of action.”
• Peter F. Ducker: “Whatever a manager does he does through making decisions.”
• E. Mc. Farland: “A decision is an act of choice wherein an executive forms a conclusion about what must be done in a given situation. A decision represents a behavior chosen from a noumber of possible alternatives.”
• George R. Terry: “Decision making is the selection based on some criteria from two or more possible alternatives.”
• Koontz & O’Donnel: “Decision is the selection from among alternatives of a course of actions.”
• Franklin G. Moore: “Decision making is the blend of thinking, deciding and acting.”
• Ernest Dale: “Marketing decisions are those decisions which are always made in the course of one of true management activities, planning, organizing, staffing, directing, controlling, innovation and representation.”
• Mary Cushing Nites: “Decision making takes place in adopting objectives and choosing the means, and again when a change in the situation creates a necessity for adjustments.”

Thus, the marketing decision making refers to decisions about marketing instruments that affect marketing activities like planning, organizing, directing, controlling, staffing, etc.

Characteristics/ Nature of Decision-Making

The process of decision making is to recognize and define the nature of a decision situation and select the best possible alternative from among the available alternatives and put it into practice Usually, a decision is expressed as a policy or as a rule or as an order or as a directive of the business enterprise. The elements of decision making can be expressed as follows:

Selective Process

Decision making is the selective process in which the best possible alternative is chosen out of many alternatives available. The best choice can be made only by evaluation of alternatives.  If there is only one way of doing a particular act, there is no need of taking selective decision.

Human and rational process

The decision-making is a human and rational process that involves the application of intellectual abilities like deep thinking and foreseeing things.

Dynamic Process

The decision-making is a dynamic process. It involves time dimension and time lag. Depending upon the situation, a particular problem may have different decisions at different time intervals.

Continuous Process

Decision making is a continuous process which goes on through the life of an organization. It is a process of taking a decision, implementing it, following the variations and taking the actions to remove these variations. In other words, it is a never ending activity in business management.

Environment

There must be healthy atmosphere to achieve the corporate goals of the business enterprise. Thus, to implement the decisions regarding to it, the proper communication between the employee and employer is necessary.

Goal oriented process

Decision-making aims at providing a solution to a given problem before a business enterprise. It is a goal-oriented process and provides solutions to problems faced by a business unit.

Effective communication

After a particular decision has been taken by the marketing manager, it should be communicated to his sub-ordinates in time in a gracious language, so that the quick implementation of task takes place. Thus, implementation of decisions can be ensured only when these are timely, clearly and properly communicated.

Timing

For effective decision making, timing plays an important role. If the marketing manager takes decisions at right time and sets deadline for it to complete the task, then it be helpful in achieving the pre-determined goals of the business enterprise.

Pervasive process

Decision-making process is pervasive in nature. It means managers working at all levels have to take decisions on matters within their jurisdiction.

Psychological Factors

The decisions must be taken after a careful consideration of the psychological factors, situation and information. The habits, temperament, social environment, domestic life, personal likings and disliking of the marketing manager have impact on the decisions taken by them. Thus, experts and specialists must be consulted before making a particular decision, if necessary.

Which is the process of choosing a course of action from two or more alternative?

What is this term that involves the selection of a course of action from among two or more possible alternatives in order to arrive at a solution for a given problem?

What is the process of identifying and selecting a course of action?

Is a process of choosing among two or more alternative courses of action for the purpose of attaining one or more goals?