DECISION MAKING PROCESS IN MANAGEMENT

Diversity in counsel, unity in obedience to command

The most important task of management is decision-making. As it is known, organizations are faced with the need to make decisions to solve the various problems they face from the day of their formation. Decisions made by organizations to solve their problems are called management decisions. Effective organizations outperform their competitors in terms of decision-making in 3 ways:

- they make correct and reasoned decisions;

- they make decisions faster;

- they implement the adopted decisions more quickly and successfully.

As can be seen, the decision-making process is considered very important in terms of the effectiveness and competitiveness of organizations and constitutes the core of the management process.

The decision-making process in management is the selection of the best among the alternatives for the organization or individual individuals to achieve their goals within the scope of their duties and powers. The most important quality of any manager is his willingness to make important and difficult decisions and the competence to make those decisions. The manager's performance is related to the effectiveness of his decisions. The decision-making process gives the leader the right to make a decision freely by thoroughly analyzing and evaluating the situation. Since the leader makes the decision himself, he is also responsible for its implementation.

As mentioned, effective, consistent decision-making is of great importance in the management system. When the organizational decision-making process is weak, the results produced by the general management functions are also unsatisfactory. From this point of view, the management decisions should be of the same quality as the information. For this purpose, the following basic requirements are imposed on management decisions:

- Having a purposeful tendency, direction

- Systematic, complex justification

- Hierarchical subordination

- Being specifically addressed

- Directiveness

- Provision of appropriate resources

That is, to put it in a short form, management should be given purposefully and should solve a specific problem. The decision should not be made intuitively and thoughtlessly, but should be fully justified. It is necessary to determine who will execute the given decisions in the organizational hierarchy, what resources are required to implement that decision, and justify whether those resources are available or not.

In practice, the following factors are used in the process of making management decisions:

- management hierarchy;

- cross-functional purpose groups;

- formal plan, rules and methods;

- horizontal relations in management

The use of the principle of hierarchy in the decision-making process is carried out in order to coordinate management activities and further strengthen centralization in management. The main goal here is to prevent the interference of different level functions in management, to expect the ring principle in management, and to ensure that each level has a direct relationship with the level that is only one link below it.

In the practice of using cross-functional groups in decision-making, highly qualified specialists in the relevant field are supposed to group together and apply their knowledge and skills in making complex decisions in the relevant direction. Focus groups are mainly involved in making complex management decisions, such as creating new products and implementing innovations. Such groups are usually created on an ad hoc basis and are disbanded after the problem is resolved.

The effective use of formal plans, rules and methods in the decision-making process is of great importance in coordinating the activities of the employees of the administrative apparatus. It is necessary to implement a number of administrative measures for the process of development of management decisions. In order to comprehensively approach the solution of the existing problem, certain procedures for the development of management decision options should be defined. The use of plans in making management decisions is aimed at coordinating the activities of the organization as a whole. Plans are aimed at ensuring that the interests and goals of different levels of management serve a single criterion. Through plans, the manager can control and intervene in the activities of all departments of the organization and evaluate the results of the activities depending on their implementation.

In the decision-making process, the direct use of the existing horizontal relationships in the management apparatus enables managers to make decisions freely in a short time, without referring to the top management, and to further increase their responsibility for the implementation of the adopted decision.

The management decision-making process consists of 5 stages. If we want the decisions we make to be effective, each of these stages must be fully followed when making a decision:

Collection, systematization and analysis of information.

At this stage, possible statistical current and prospective information about the problem to be decided is collected, systematized and processed in a related manner. This includes information in the internal reporting system, current external information (target markets, marketing channels, competitors, communication audiences, macro-environmental factors), threats and opportunities related to the implementation of the decision. Based on this information, the conditions of the problem are revealed and their structures are determined.

The problem setting stage.

Here, as a result of the analysis, taking into account all the opportunities of the organization and possible obstacles, the problem to be solved is determined in accordance with the goal facing the organization. Goals and tasks, conditions of their fulfillment, coordination and assessment of the sub-parts of the issue are resolved and the specific setting of the problem is agreed upon.

Development of alternative options.

At this stage, the problem solving model, search, processing and selection stages, including the problem solving algorithm, are developed, and alternative options are calculated as a result of them. Such alternative options are also prepared on the basis of the expert evaluation method, and on the basis of mutual comparison of all options, appropriate options are selected according to the selected objective function.

Decision making stage.

At this stage, a concrete decision is made. The decision can be made both for the global level and for individual local parts of the problem. The decision made is divided into sub-decisions (sub, minor) depending on the levels and sequence of solutions (according to the time factor). Dividing the overall decision into sub-decisions changes the amount of information and the proportions of controllable and uncontrollable factors. But the general scheme of decision-making remains unchanged. It is clear that the stages of the decision-making process, as seen from the diagram, have a direct and opposite relationship. For example, if it is not possible to develop an algorithm for solving the problem, the model itself needs to be revised; when a difficulty arises in the modeling itself, the setting of the problem itself is simplified, that is, a number of factors are abandoned, etc.

The stage of implementation of the adopted decisions.

At this stage, the adopted decision is specified for each executor and delivered to him, the directives are developed and given to each executor for the purpose of implementing the decision, the control function is implemented in connection with the execution of the decision, the necessary changes are made depending on the specific conditions and the level of execution, and the execution of the decision. issues such as evaluation of progress are resolved. Management decisions are made both by scientific methods - economic analysis, multivariate calculations with the application of mathematical models, selection of the optimal option based on efficiency criteria, as well as the intuitive and expert valuation method, which saves time and money, but can lead to more uncertainty and errors. can be accepted with The decision should be made taking into account all the main influencing factors as much as possible.

In addition to the stages mentioned above, there are 3 key elements to an effective decision-making process. When making a decision, these elements should also be considered:

- Quality of the decision-making process: This indicator requires a careful and comprehensive analysis of the problem and finding the optimal solution by correctly comparing the options.

- The ability to implement the decisions made: This indicator requires the reduction of obstacles in the adoption of the decision by everyone (or the majority) and therefore its implementation.

- Time for making decisions: Decisions should be made in an optimal time. Neither too early nor too late.

Based on his extensive experience, professional manager Kevin Sharer states that effective decision-making begins with building the right team and listening to them. According to him, in order to make the right decision, it is necessary to attract the best employees who are related to that decision to the meeting room and listen to them fully, comprehensively and openly. In the second stage, the options related to solving the problem are defined, the pros and cons, risks and benefits of the options are discussed in detail. The team then builds consensus around the most optimal choice that everyone will support. Then the right decision is made.

In order to determine whether decisions are effective, it is necessary to look at whether the steps and elements of the decision-making process are correctly applied, rather than its results. That is, the most important thing here is to focus on the process. In fact, nothing gives us a guarantee that decisions will always be made correctly. Or it is impossible to guarantee that the given decision will produce the best result. However, if decision-making is approached from a process approach and managed according to its stages and elements, success is more likely to be achieved in the long run.

There are 2 main types of decision-making in management practice: individual and collective. Thus, the type of decision-making is determined by the nature of the problem to be solved. Collective decisions are used when solving complex complex problems due to the influence of the human factor. Individual decisions are usually made by a single leader, while collective decisions are made in groups. Examples of these groups include:

- Directorate;

- Collegium;

- Directors meeting;

- Expert groups

As we mentioned above, there are individual and collective types of decision-making. These types have their own pros and cons. So, the positive feature of collective decision-making is the following:

- In some cases, collective decision-making is more effective than individual decision-making. Because the main goal of collective decision-making is to find new ideas and ways of implementing decisions. In this regard, collective opinions are more important than individual opinions.

- The collective decision-making method allows to identify more possible solutions to decisions. As a result, the probability of finding an optimal solution to a management decision increases.

- As we know, various management decisions have one or another level of uncertainty. Conducting collective assessments on complex problems allows to obtain results closer to the truth.

- The unity of viewpoints and ideas determined as a result of decision-making acts as a positive motivation factor for the effective work of each employee as well as the team.

- Group members and employees support and obey the decision made collectively (even if they are dissatisfied with the decision).

Along with the positive aspects of collective decision-making, there are also negative aspects. These are the following:

- When points of view and ideas do not come close to each other, there is a deadlock in making decisions.

- Tension and conflict situations may arise due to the clash of different opinions during the collective decision-making process.

- Consensus method often plays a positive role in the resolution of conflicts arising during collective decision-making, creating calmness in the work of the organization. However, as a result of using this method, unsuccessful decisions can be made.

There are 3 main methods of collective decision-making:

- Consensus method

- Devil's advocate method

- Dialectical questioning method

The most used method in collective decision-making is the "consensus" method. In the consensus method, all team members express their comfortable opinions about an issue, everyone comfortably expresses their logical arguments, ideas, suggestions and preferences and contributes to the work of the team. Arguments supported by all (or most) members of the team are selected and form a decision.

This method is easy to use and apply. Because, unequivocally, everyone agrees on the same decision, and therefore everyone supports the implementation of this decision.

In the devil's advocate method, the decision-making group is divided into two equal subgroups. While one group develops proposals for solving the problem, another group plays the role of devil's advocate and criticizes and rigorously tests the proposal. Through a systematic and consistent exchange of ideas, the group forms the final proposal.

The "dialectical questioning" method is very similar to the "devil's advocate" method. The difference with this method is that it requires more debates, disagreements and divergent thinking.

In the "dialectical questioning" method, the group is divided into two subgroups. One group prepares proposals for solving the problem and presents it to another subgroup. The second sub-group prepares alternative or counter-hypotheses and proposals and shares them with the first sub-group. Both subgroups discuss alternatives and engage in heated debate with each other to determine the final decision. The final decision may incorporate elements from the proposals and approaches of both groups, or a new idea that neither group intended and that emerges during the discussion may determine the final decision.

The main differences between dialectical questioning and devil's advocate methods are shown in the table below:

	THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE	DIALECTIC QUESTIONING
A view to decision making	Competition	Joint problem solving / cooperation
The purpose of the discussion	Persuasion and lobbying	Hypothesis testing and evaluation
The role of participants	Group spokesperson	Critical thinkers
Behaviors	Trying to influence others	Presenting balanced arguments
	Defend your position	Be open to alternative ideas
	Hiding weaknesses	Accepting constructive criticism
A view to minorities	It is discouraged and ignored	Considered and valued
The result	Winners and losers	Collective ownership of decisions

Taking into account the above, it can be concluded that in order to increase the effectiveness of the decision-making process, it is necessary to regulate 3 main issues (3C):

- Conflict (Conflict)

- Consideration

- Conclude (Closure)

According to Professor David Garvin of Harvard Business School, in order to increase the effectiveness of the decision-making process, it is necessary to balance the participation and attitudes of group members in order to attract different opinions (conflict), draw attention to all opinions and views in the group (take into account), and voluntarily complete the discussion.

In general, management decisions, their content and method largely depend on the work style, intellectual level, personal motives of the manager, as well as the nature of the problem to be solved. In short, management decisions consist of combining creative and critical thoughts and ideas and executing them within a certain discipline.

When making a decision, it is very important to determine the nature of the issue and choose the right decision-making method. History is replete with failure stories of leaders who failed to identify the right decision-making method, or success stories of leaders who made the right decisions.

I would like to complete the article with the aphorism of Cyrus the Great, the Achaemenid king who lived in the 6th century BC: "Diversity in counsel, unity in obedience to orders."