The Process of Decision Making There is a need to broaden our understanding about decision-making process. Decision making is not an independent entity and relies upon many other factors like precedence, social processes and random eventualities. It has three components; identification of the issue, the possible course of action and choosing the best amongst the choices of action available. The decision-making process is continuous since the business environment is dynamic and constantly poses challenges to the decision makers. Organizations are viewed as “Garbage can models” of decision making, in which actions, decisions and outcome are randomly mixed in the flow of events. With this introduction let us proceed to know more about the nature and types of decision making. NATURE OF DECISION-MAKING: 1. It is closely related to solving problems and issues 2. It is associated with all the important management functions like planning, organizing and controlling 3. Fayol and Urwick feels that decision-making is concerned only to the extent that it affects delegation and authority 4. Chester I Bernard in his “Functions of the Executive” says that the process is nothing but narrowing down of choice 5.  Herbert A Simon considers decision-making as a process of intelligence, design and choice activities 6.  According to Peter Drucker, it is a central part of the management process THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS: The following steps are involved in the process of decision-making Recognizing the problem: Think about this; if there is a decline in the sales volume of your company or say if the value of your stock decreases, you are forced to make decisions to manage the contingency. In such situations, the first step would be to recognize or identify the problem area. A problem identified is half done. In this instance, the reason might be competitor strength or lack of necessary investment in the key strategic business units. Deciding priorities among the problems: A manager need not and cannot look after all the problems prevailing in the organization. He should know how to delegate authority and the responsibility that goes along with it. Subordinates can be entrusted with the handling of small and trivial problems while the manager can handle very important ones that might affect the functioning of the firm. He should ask the following questions to diagnose the situation. 1.       What is the real problem? 2.       What are the causes and effects of the problem? 3.       Is this problem very important? 4.       Can sub-ordinates handle this problem? 5.       Which is the most pressing problem to be solved? Diagnosing the problem: Now the manager must start diagnosing the problem. Each and every individual has a different perspective and perceive the problem from a different angle. This depends upon the background orientations and training. The right way of approach for any manager would be to systematically analyze the problem for identifying the alternative courses of action. Developing alternative courses of action: This step involves creativity and innovative capabilities as the manager has to think from all possible angles and directions. Managers holding senior corporate positions are exposed to more of this kind of atmosphere where they are forced to make quick decisions in accordance with what the situation demands. Outside expert consultants are also put into use by some companies for developing choice alternatives. The following are the five PSYCHOLOGICAL STEPS for developing alternatives: 1. Saturation– A manager must be thoroughly familiar with the problem 2. Deliberation– Analyzing the problem from several points of view 3. Incubation– Temporarily switching off the conscious search to relax for the purpose of clear thinking 4. Illumination– A flash of light may occur after sometime giving him the right insights and ideas. 5. Accommodation– The ideas are made into a concrete proposal Evaluating the alternatives: The pros and cons of each and every choice is thoroughly subjected to scrutiny in terms of cost, time, risk, results expected, deviations anticipated...

Benefits of Training to Employees Why training is needed for an Employee? Increases Confidence Training creates a feeling of confidence in the minds of employees, who feel comfortable while handling newer challenges. It gives a feeling of safety and security to them at the work place. New Skills Training develops skills, which serves as a valuable personal asset of a worker. It remains permanently with the worker himself. Career advancement The managers can develop their skills to take up higher challenges and work in newer job dimensions. Such an exercise leads to the career development of the employees, who can move up the corporate hierarchy faster. Higher Earnings Higher earnings are a consequence of career development. A highly trained employee can command high salary in the job market and feel more contended. Resilience to change In the fast changing times of today, training develops adaptability among workers. The employees feel motivated to work under newer circumstances and they do not feel threatened or resist any change. Such adaptability is essential for survival and growth of an organization in the present times. Increased Safety Trained workers handle the machines safely. They also know the use of various safely devices in the factory, thus, they are less prone to accidents.   Use these popular and handy HR Quotes in your Blogs, Books, Journals, Presentations, Tweets, Facebook posts, Pinterest boards and Instagram posts. EVALUATION PHASE Training Evaluation Once you’ve implemented a training program based on careful needs analysis, how can you be sure that your training translates into real performance improvements?  Evaluation can be used to determine whether the training program achieves its objectives. Evaluation can also assess the value of training, identify improvement areas, and identify unnecessary training that can be eliminated. Need for Evaluation Many training professionals agree that evaluation is important to successful training, but few conduct complete and thorough evaluations. Evaluation can seem anti-climatic to the excitement and creativity of creating a new course. Don Kirkpatrick’s 4 Levels of Evaluation One of the most widely used model for evaluating training programs is one that was proposed in 1959 by Donald L. Kirkpatrick. The model maintains that there are four levels to meas ure the quality or effectiveness of a training course. Don Kirkpatrick’s 4 levels of evaluation is the basis of discussion on evaluation of the effectiveness of training programs.  Level 1 measures the learner’s reaction to the training program. Level 2 measures learning that has occurred. Level 3 measures changes in behavior on the job as a result of the training program. Level 4 measures the results of the training program as it affects the company’s bottom line. Each level has its advantages and disadvantages. It is important to plan the evaluation process, as the training is being planning. It is important to consider all levels at the outset, even though only one or two levels may be used ultimately. http://www.kirkpatrickpartners.com/OurPhilosophy/TheNewWorldKirkpatrickModel/tabid/303/Default.aspx   Design of a Training Programme Some of the typical steps in designing a training programme are: Identification of training needs. Setting training objectives. Organizational set-up for training. Training operations. Evaluation of...

The basic factors that influence policy formulation are 1. The objectives of a business firm 2. Its management structure 3. Economic and financial resources available to it at a particular point of time 4. Attitudes, social values and norms of the top management 5. Fiscal and monetary policies of the government 6. Policies of sister concerns and business associations 7. Government regulations and control measures 8. Public opinion and expectations from business etc. You can never evade your responsibility towards the society and your policies must incorporate statements that reflect your interest in the welfare of the society. In corporate business environment, where voluminous business activity is carried on, corporations have very well understood the fact that, acquisition and utilization of resources from the society has to be repaid in the form of contributions to societal welfare. Otherwise their image might get tarnished. Moral and ethical values of a society also influence the mind set of business persons. In countries like India, where people ardently follow traditions and customs, a business person hailing from such a family will definitely try to maintain minimum ethical standards both in personal as well as business environments. Policy Aspects: Business policies cover all the functional areas such as production, marketing, personnel and finance aspects. Major policies pertaining to overall objectives, procedures and control affect the organization as a whole. Minor policies on the other hand, cover relationship in a segment of an organization, with considerable emphasis on details and procedures. Such policies are an outgrowth of major policies and preserve their unity of purpose. They meet the day-to-day requirements of the departments and are generally decided at the sectional and departmental levels. Various Corporate Policies: Strategic business policies cover aspects such as product-mix, promotion-mix, market-mix, administrative policies etc.; HR policies cover a wide range of aspects such as pay, promotions, recruitment, selection, induction, training and development, pension, disciplinary action, quality of work life and so on. So, to attain clear-cut objectives, firms need related business policies, in the absence of which, the firm may lose grip and direction in the overall management of the...