One of the most critical steps a person has to take in this life is to be ready to make a decision. In project management and business, decision-making is based on the necessity to select between several alternative courses of action and stay either rational or nonrational (Kinicki and Soignet 240). Sometimes, companies have to decide quickly without following a classic model. Leaders and managers usually spend enough time and gather resources to demonstrate how to choose the best option. Rational and non-rational decisions contribute to strategic management and the development of professional interpersonal relationships.
In the course textbook, Chapter 7 is devoted to individual and group decision-making and the way of how managers work. A decision is defined as a choice that has to be made among available options, while decision-making is a process to choose a course of action (Kinicki and Soignet 240). Rational decisions are usually logical because they correspond to the same stages in the model. First, a problem or an opportunity is identified in a situation. Second, all available alternative solutions are analyzed and discussed in a group or individually. Then, the evaluation of all alternatives is required from the point of view of its quality, cost, feasibility, and effectiveness to make a final solution and implement the idea in the environment. These steps are characterized by complete information and unemotional analysis. Still, if decision-making is risky or uncertain, intuition models can be applied to offer and justify non-rational decisions. Thus, it is normal to take a step without using a rational explanation but do something because it feels right.
I chose this topic because I should be ready to improve my cooperation and communication skills, and the awareness of rational decision-making is a helpful step. It is not enough for a successful manager or leader to identify what alternatives to use. It is more important to understand how to evaluate each aspect and use benefits. There are many small and big decisions in organizations, and the responsibility may touch upon one person or a group of people. Therefore, this process has to be thoroughly learned and applied in different spheres.
Reading this chapter allowed me to improve my knowledge about organizational processes in general and decision-making in particular. I learned that both rational and non-rational decisions could be good for a company. Besides, decision-making can be an individual or group process, with the same number of steps to be taken in a specific order. These differences should be related in terms of their strengths or weaknesses, successes or mistakes. In all cases, a decision remains a basic element in any organizational process.
The major advantage of this reading this chapter is the possibility to apply the obtained knowledge in multiple ways. For example, as a student, I will learn how to organize my education and make decisions about my homework, cooperation with people, and participation in the classroom. In daily life, I have to make many decisions about what food or clothes to buy or what direction to go, and the rationality of my decisions plays a crucial role. Finally, my future endeavors will be improved because I get myself ready for choosing between financial and personal interests or love and work.
To conclude, decision-making is an important topic for discussion in project management. My choice is explained by the intention to investigate all its aspects with time, create a unique framework, and avoid unnecessary doubts or questions. At the same time, I understand that making decisions depends on many internal and external factors that are constantly changing, which makes this theme unpredictable and always interesting to learn.
Work Cited
Kinicki, Angelo, and Denise Breaux Soignet. Management: A Practical Introduction. 10th ed. McGraw Hill Education, 2021.