Decisions

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 598.

In carrying out management functions, such as planning, organizing, motivating and controlling a manager will be continually making decisions. Decision-making is a key management responsibility. Some decisions are of the routine kind. They are decisions, which are made fairly quickly, and are based on judgment. Because a manager is experienced, he knows what to do in certain situations. He does not have to think too much before taking action. For example, a supervisor in a supermarket may decide, on the spot, to give a refund to a customer who has brought back a product. The manager does not have to gather a great deal of additional information before making the decision.

Other decisions are often intuitive ones. They are not really rational. The manager may have a hunch or a gut feeling that a certain course of action is the right one. He will follow that hunch and act accordingly. Thus, when looking for an agent in an overseas market, a sales manager may have several companies to choose from. However, he may go for one organization simply because he feels it would be the most suitable agent. He may think that the chemistry between the two firms is right. Such a decision is based on hunch, rather then rational thought.

Many decisions are more difficult to make since they involve problem-solving. Very often, they are strategic decisions involving major courses of action which will affect the future direction of the enterprise. To make good decisions, the manager should be able to select, rationally, a course of action. In practice, decisions are usually made in circumstances which are not ideal. They must be made quickly, with insufficient information. It is probably rare that a manager can make an entirely rational decision. When a complex problem arises, like where to locate a factory or which new products to-develop, the manager has to collect facts and weigh up courses of action. He must be systematic in dealing with the problem. A useful approach to this sort of decision-making is as follows; the process consists of four phases: defining the problem; analyzing and collecting information; working out options and deciding on the best solution.

TIME MANAGEMENT

In any business, it is important that managers should be effective. They must be able to achieve their objectives, and to ‘get the right things done'. For most executives, being effective is easier said than done. The problem is that there are so many pressures on managers, reducing their efficiency. For one thing, their work is fragmented. Most days, they are doing a number of tasks, some fairly trivial, others highly important. They find that they do not have enough time to devote to the really important jobs. Besides, sometimes they are under such pressure that they forget which jobs are important.

The manager also faces another difficulty. He finds that other people take up a lot of his time, so that he has little time of his own. Just as he is ready to tackle that report, a customer will ring up unexpectedly. No sooner has he hung up than Bill, from Sales, drops by his office for a chat. He works on the report for a few minutes, then the Personnel Manager calls him. Could he interview someone tomorrow afternoon and so it goes on. The manager must constantly respond to the demands that others make on his time.

Things do not get better as he climbs higher in the organisation. In fact, they get worse. The higher he goes, the more demands will be made upon his time.

Because of the nature of the manager's work, it is not easy for him to be effective. He will have difficulty distinguishing between important and less important tasks. He will often feel that he has too many demands on his precious time and at times will find it difficult to turn people away. There will always be someone - or something - to divert him from what he should really be doing.

Effective managers learn how to manage their time. They cut out unproductive activities. They never forget that time cannot be replaced.