Chapter 8: Decision-Making Processes

This week’s lecture focused on the models of decision making process in organisations and small groups. Further reading of the chapter was done to improve my comprehension of the models.

Discussion on Decision Making Processes

Nutt’s Normative Model comprises of five stages:

1. Formulation: management team identifies the varying wants and needs of the organisational members
2. Development: alternative solutions for the problem are generated by the team
3. Detailing: Subgroups may be formed to ‘get more detail on the pros and cons’ Miller (2008, p.140) of the suggested solutions and tests its functionality
4. Evaluation: information and suggested options are scrutinized in order to weigh the benefits and losses’
5. Implementation: the evaluated decision is implemented into the organisation

Fisher’s Model for Small-group Decision Making

This model consists of four phases. In the ‘orientation’ phase, the group will identify the crisis at hand. Next, the ‘conflict’ phase where ideas are debated amongst group members, Third, the ‘emergence’ phase is where group members exchange ideas to ‘arrive at some level of consensus’ Miller (2008, p.143) Finally, the ‘reinforcement’ phase is when group member have collectively agreed upon a solution and seeks reinforcement to support the

If these guidelines are not applied in the decision making process, it may disrupt effective communication and lead to problematic decisions that lead to fruitless results.

References:

Miller, K 2008, Organizational Communication: approaches and processes, 5th edn, Wadsworth Cengage Learning, Boston, MA