Identifying Possible Alternative Solutions

How to Do Identifying Possible Alternative Solutions?

 

Introduction

A manager in an organization plays an integral role towards making and implementing decisions which are followed by the subordinates. It is the job of a manager to coordinate, plan and organize for completion of tasks. The manager focuses on the systems and structure of the organization and relies upon control. It is the duty of the manager to follow the instructions of higher authority and deliver the same to the subordinates as well as accomplishing the job in provided time bound. In this assignment, the learner has precisely described the decision-making process from the point of view of the manager of the company Apple Inc. The role of intuition, as well as the reasons behind making wrong decisions, is also broadly described in the assignment.

The decision making the process from a manager’s point of view in the company Apple Inc

After the death of Steve Jobs, the company is handled by the new CEO Tim Cook and maintained the standard of the company globally. The decisions that are being made by him is done with the consideration of the managers that are handling each division of the company. The decision-making process at present in Apple Inc. is completely done by the managers and then Cook gives his approval towards its implementation. The decision-making process by the managers are done by following the five steps-

Establishing the objective

The initial phase of the basic managerial process is to set up the goal of the business endeavor for the company Apple Inc. The imperative target of the business venture is to expand profit margin. This company has various objectives but mostly are based on increasing its profit margin (Anderson et al. 2015). This, in turn, reflects the increase in profit margin.

Defining the problem

Personifying the method of matter is essential basic decision making is oblique for attaining solution for the raised issue. The managers at Apple Inc. explore the reasons for the issue of diminishing profits. For attaining the position in the market the managers analyze the reason being declining profits in terms of pricing policy, labor management relation and primarily technology used by the company (Clemen & Reilly, 2013). After the source of the issue has been found, the problem for lowering profits is identified.

Identifying Possible Alternative Solutions

When the matter has been recognized, subsequent stages that are taken by the managers are to determine optional responses for the matter. It requires evaluating the issues which impact the matter. In terms of the issues created, that is created which will wind up noticeably elective courses for solving up to the issue. For instance, in the event of the issue, it is recognized that the reason behind the failing of profitable income is sdistinctively due to the operation of lower technology features as well as the use of out-dated machinery (Dekker et al. 2013). Hence, the managers’ focuses on finding an alternative solution that will critically increase their profit margin. In cases like this, the managers decide to replace the old machinery and use the latest technological innovation that will be better accepted by the target customers.

Evaluating Alternative Courses of Action

This stage is critically assessed by the managers in business decision making. This needs the congregation and examination of pertinent evidence. Few of the material can be made available in the business organization Apple Inc. whereas the rest of the part can be acquired from the government and the business. The data and material received will be significantly utilized by considering each and every result that has been procured from each strategy (Wright & Goodwin, 2009). Strategies, for instance, differential straight programming, analytics and cost-benefit analysis are critically made of use for the basic course of use. The perfect procedure is the one which significantly acquires the desire goal and success of the organization Apple Inc. Later, the strategy which will be benefitted for the company has to be selected and might be additionally observed in terms of the perfect solution for the matter the managers might face several constraints.

The limitations might be lawful, for example, laws regarding the disposal of absconded product, financial resources, raw materials and technological limits. The critical part of a business manager is to adopt ideal solution and strategy. The managers of the company need to resolve on a choice under lawful limitations.

Implementing the Decision

When the course action has been evaluated and perfect strategy chosen, the final step is to realize the strategy that has been chosen. The usage of the choice necessitates constant evaluation for obtaining desirable results which are achieved and it’s the duty of the managers (Chai, Liu & Ngai, 2013). Perfect execution of choice is required for obtaining fruitful outcomes and restorative measures must also be taken. However, one the course of action is chosen by the managers of the company for implementation and to attain the desired objective; critical changes have to be made by them to compete in the market as well as in terms of changing the environment. This will considerably earn a profit for the company Apple Inc.

Role of intuition in decision making 

Intuition plays a huge role in the process of the decision-making process. There are critical times when managers do not find any precedent and they have to deal with conflicting, incomplete or ambiguous information. At these times, intuition takes a huge part for forming an effective decision. The reason behind the use of intuition is the problem is structured poorly which lets the managers take their decisions in an unambiguous way and also in a definite interval of time (Craft, 2013). The factors based on which the decisions has to be taken changes in a rapid manner due to which the base of the analysis for managers changes rapidly and intuition takes its place for making the decision. The rules and factors that are used for solving the problem cannot be analyzed due to less amount of time which led the manager to take decisions based on their gut feelings (Ford & Richardson, 2013). It is evident that intuition can make a person a good decision maker typically when individual deals with expedient or non-standards situations of decision making.

In the case of Apple Inc., the managers are efficient and reliable for making an effective decision during the time of crisis. Generally they do follow the steps that are required for making the decision-making process; however, during the time when a typical situation arises such as market crash down, the managers are efficient enough to make their own decision with their intuition power (Oshima Lee & Emanuel, 2013). Although, after the decision has been made it is the duty of Tim to look at the matter and he does give his approval as currently, Apple Inc. has a democratic structure and each manager are given priority. The managers of the company are skilled at a higher level and they have the experience to tackle the situation during the time of crisis.

Reasons behind wrong decisions taken by managers

The basic reasons behind the wrong decisions taken by the managers are typically due to prejudgment and low experience. Prejudgment occurs when the managers pick a strategy and overlook any guidance or data that does not cut to that foreordained way. Low experience, in the meantime, is fundamentally a critical factor that creates irrational strategies which are tragically very regular in official meeting rooms (Hasan, Shamsuddin & Aziati, 2013). It clarifies why budgetary firms like Apple Inc. got increasingly enmeshed in subprime credits and collateralized obligation commitments. It’s not only the arrogance but the lower thinking ability and over proudness. This tends companies like Apple Inc. to risk their market position at few times. Sometimes the chosen framework might come in between solving the problem which leads to failure.  Depending too much on gut feel and intuition might lead to failure due to ignoring the requirement of decision factors analysis (Levin & Nolan, 2013). Hence, it can be said that intuition does give an additional advantage in decision making but brings disadvantage too for the company. Group pressure can also fail to eliminate the obstacles in terms of appraisal of an alternative course of action. Without following the structure and depending much on talented members can also lead to bad decisions which can cause huge loss for the company.

Conclusion

In this assignment, the learner has elaborately described the various steps for decision-making process which is well maintained in the company Apple Inc. The five steps are essential for formulating an effective strategy that will benefit the company in several ways. Intuition is an essential factor in terms of decision-making process and widely used in the company Apple Inc. as there are few times when managers need to take decisions rapidly due to various external and internal factors. However, intuition does bring disadvantages too which makes managers make poor decisions that critically affect the stability of the company. Poor decisions are made due to proudness, lower experience, prejudgment, intuition as well as a poor framework.

Reference list

Books-

Anderson, D. R., Sweeney, D. J., Williams, T. A., Camm, J. D., & Cochran, J. J. (2015). An introduction to management science: quantitative approaches to decision making. Cengage learning.

Clemen, R. T., & Reilly, T. (2013). Making hard decisions with DecisionTools. Cengage Learning.

Dekker, R., Fleischmann, M., Inderfurth, K., & van Wassenhove, L. N. (Eds.). (2013). Reverse logistics: quantitative models for closed-loop supply chains. Springer Science & Business Media.

Wright, G., & Goodwin, P. (2009). Decision analysis for management judgment. John Wiley and sons.

Journals-

Chai, J., Liu, J. N., & Ngai, E. W. (2013). Application of decision-making techniques in supplier selection: A systematic review of literature. Expert Systems with Applications, 40(10), 3872-3885.

Craft, J. L. (2013). A review of the empirical ethical decision-making literature: 2004–2011. Journal of Business Ethics, 117(2), 221-259.

Ford, R. C., & Richardson, W. D. (2013). Ethical decision making: A review of the empirical literature. In Citation classics from the Journal of Business Ethics (pp. 19-44). Springer Netherlands.

Hasan, Y., Shamsuddin, A., & Aziati, N. (2013). The impact of management information systems adoption in managerial decision making: A review. The International Scientific Journal of Management Information Systems, 8(4), 010-017.

Levin, J., & Nolan, J. F. (2013). Principles of classroom management: A professional decision-making model. Pearson Higher Ed.

Oshima Lee, E., & Emanuel, E. J. (2013). Shared decision making to improve care and reduce costs. New England Journal of Medicine, 368(1), 6-8.