4.15. Reread the text again and write a summary on the process of business planning. Texts for written translation Decision Making

Almost everything a manager does involves decisions. The reason for making a decision is that a problem exists. In decision making there is always some uncertainly and risk.

Decision making is the act of selecting a preferred course of action among alternatives. The act of decision making enters into almost all of a manager’s activities. Managers must reach decisions about objectives and plans for their organizational units. They must decide how to direct, how to organize, how to control.

Businesses and other organizations survive by making and implementing enough of the right decisions. They fail either because they make the right decisions but are unsuccessful in implementing them or because they make wrong decisions and succeed in implementing them. The success of business and nonprofit organizations depends on their ability to make good decisions and to implement their decisions well.

Implementation may involve the manager’s competence in working with others. Depending on the particular decision, implementation may range from very simple to impossible. New people, equipment, responsibilities, organization components and communication patterns may be necessary.

Making and implementing decisions are crucial parts of management. Management sciences attempt to improve the decision making process.

What Is Delegation?

Delegation is the granting of authority and independence to another person to complete a project. It must be understood that with the authority to do a job, comes the responsibility to get it done. A benefit of good delegation is that it gives a manager the opportunity to spend more time on important work, which cannot be delegated.

For these reasons, delegating work and responsibility can be very beneficial for the company. But to be effective, delegation must be used with some caution. Before delegating a project, you, as a manager, must first answer two questions:

1. To whom should projects be delegated?

2. What kind and how much work and responsibility can be delegated to this person?

It is important to understand that delegation involves projects, which include significant decision making. If an employee is not given the responsibility to make decisions, it is not delegation. The assigning of routine and repetitive work does not bring the benefits which delegation can.

When delegating, it is good to always remember that effective delegation of work is not giving up all your authority. The delegate should have a fair amount of freedom, but the manager must retain some control. This will insure that the project is satisfactorily completed.

How To Lead Your Employees To Top Performance

If an employee’s job satisfies his or her needs, the employee responds more favorably to the job. This may happen, for example, when an employee is given the responsibility for managing the office on his or her own, and is recognized for doing it well. Or it may occur when a sales representative is assigned full responsibility for developing new business as well as maintaining existing customers in a territory and is recognized for the accomplishment. Such employees tend to take their responsibilities seriously, act positively for the firm, and are absent from work only rarely.

The key point is that when a job satisfies needs, the employee may bring together greater commitment to the job. Some needs common to all individuals are basics like food, house and security for the future. Normally a fair wage level and a feeling of security that the job will continue satisfy these needs. Other needs must also be satisfied. Most of these are related to:

a. The firm’s personnel practices such as complaint handling or vacation scheduling

b. Working conditions

c. Discipline and the way instructions are given

d. Total compensation, including benefits practices.

Dissatisfaction will result if the employees see that what their firm provides in any of these aspects is much poorer than what other firms provide. On the other hand, improvements above an accepted level generally do not bring about greater employee commitment in the long run.

For example, total disregard for employee complaints (personnel practices) can lead to serious problems for the firm. When employee complaints are handled well, serious problems tend to be precluded from developing but there is no major gain in deep employee commitment to the job.