Principles of Management - week # 7

Chapter 8 - Decision Making And Creative Problem Solving

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On this chapter we have discussed the following issues:

- Sources of decision complexity for modern managers

- Dealing with conditions of risk

- Decision traps - such as Framing, Escalation of commitment and Overconfidence

- Programmed and Non-Programmed decisions

- Creativity in decision making

- Creative problem solving process

- Fishbone diagrams as a tool for tracking down causes of problems

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Some personal thoughts....

It was interesting to find out that so many modern managers get trapped in all kinds of situations

while trying to make business decisions. "Getting into a loop" of commitment and fearing of

failing has caused so many managers to make the wrong decisions. It seems even embaressing to me that a smart manager will fall into such a trap because it looks a little bit like an Ego problem (the fear of failure problem).

I love being creative at work, and I loved having the ability to be creative during my 8 year tourism career

in Israel. I had many opportunities to solve problems in creative ways, and it was always more challenging and interesting to me than just pick out the most ordinary-simple solution.

When a problem occurs - a manager must always identify the source, the cause of problem and actually define what the problem really is. We have learned a surprising fact that so many managers fail to identify

the problem, and instead they quickly jump into the quickest solution available, which alot of times lead to a wrong decision making.

Hope I'll never be like that and always remember to spot the problem itself and only then consider alternative ways.

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Discussion Questions and answers :

1. What is a condition of "risk" and how can today's managers deal with it?

A Condition of risk exists when a decision must be made on a basis of incomplete but reliable factual information. In order to handle risk managers can calculate probability that a given event (that is considered as risky) will actually occur, and then select a decision alternative accordingly.

3. Which steps in the four step- problem solving process is the most common difficulty in managerial problem solving?

The most difficult step in the problem solving process is actually idetifying the source of problem because managers tend to rush into selecting alternative solutions before they even understand what the real problem is.

5. Optionally, explain how the Fishbone Diagram can help you define and solve problems.

The fishbone diagram mainly assists in identifying the problem source. It states the problem and then identifies all causes separately, thus allowing a manager to see where various causes may interact. Eventually it helps starting the problem solution process.

6. Again, optionally, describe your information processing style (see Figure 8.3 ,page 253 for definitions of the styles).

I would define my personal information processing style as intuitive more than thinking, although sometimes it's a combination of both. I am a spontaneous person who believes in changes and taking risks and therefore I tend to go with my gut feelings. I tend to choose nonroutine tasks and prefer to take new assignments upon myself because I get bored with repetitiveness very quickly.

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