Improving Decision-Making at a Local Manufacturing Company

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Suggestions
Evaluation of Suggestions
Summary and Conclusion
Reference List

Introduction

Managers spend a lot of time making decisions about the operational performance of their companies. In psychology, the concept of decision-making refers to the process of understanding all cognitive processes that lead a person to select a specific course of action among a list of others (Newell, Lagnado & Shanks 2015; Betsch & Haberstroh 2014). The process is complex because it is based on a review of a person’s values, beliefs or preferences. This poster proposes ways to improve decision-making processes at a local manufacturing company.

Suggestions

Stay Open to all Alternatives
Create Rules

Evaluation of Suggestions

Option 1 (Staying Open to All Alternatives)

Often, quick thinking behaviours have made it difficult for managers to evaluate all relevant options when making important decisions in the workplace (Newell, Lagnado & Shanks 2015). Consequently, the motivation to be open to suggestions is informed by the need to evaluate all options before making a final decision. This way, the choice or course of action taken would be made from a point of knowledge. This recommendation stems from the field of cognitive psychology, which seeks to understand human thought processes in group settings (Airenti 2019). However, this approach to evaluating decision-making processes is contrary to the principles of behaviourism because proponents of the latter argue that it is difficult to understand internal thought processes because they are unseen and subjective (Xiong & Proctor 2018; Reese 2014).

Option 2 (Creating Rules)

According to Fedyk (2017), McLeod, Lawler and Schwalbe (2014), rules provide predictability and consistency in decision-making processes.

Rules should be instituted by the manufacturing company to guide future decision-making processes because the first suggestion highlighted above (staying open to alternatives) is a volatile concept that may not yield the desired outcomes if there are no rules to govern discussions (Nuzzolilli & Diller 2014). This suggestion was developed through an acknowledgement that different issues affect production outcomes, while the acceptability of these outcomes depends on their appeal to people (Nuzzolilli & Diller 2014).

This recommendation stems from the behaviourism theory highlighted by Malone (2014), which suggests that people’s behaviours and decisions are often influenced by external stimuli or internal factors that potentially stem from childhood. The efficacy of this theory in explaining the psychology of decision-making has been proven in organisational behaviour management studies (Nuzzolilli & Diller 2014).

Summary and Conclusion

Improving the quality of decisions made in a company is arguably the fastest way to initiate progress in it. However, the process of often marred by the influence of several internal and external factors affecting decision-makers. Consequently, it is difficult to make the right decision when there are several such variables. Nonetheless, it is recommended that managers should be open to all decision alternatives and take their time before choosing one. Furthermore, it is recommended that a set of rules should be created to guide the decision-making process. These recommendations are based on the ideals of the behaviourist and cognitive theories of psychology.

Reference List

Airenti, G 2019, ‘The place of development in the history of psychology and cognitive science’, Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 1, no. 10, pp. 895-902.

Betsch, T & Haberstroh, S (eds) 2014, The routines of decision making, Psychology Press, New York, NY.

Fedyk, M 2017, The social turn in moral psychology, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.

Malone JC 2014, ‘Did John B. Watson really “found” behaviorism?’, The Behavior Analyst, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 1-12.

McLeod, JD, Lawler, EJ & Schwalbe, M 2014, Handbook of the social psychology of inequality, Springer, New York, NY.

Newell, BR, Lagnado, DA & Shanks, DR 2015, Straight choices: the psychology of decision making, 2nd edn, Psychology Press, New York, NY.

Nuzzolilli, AE & Diller, JW 2014, ‘How Hume’s philosophy informed radical behaviorism’, The Behavior Analyst, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 115-125.

Open University 2015, Investigating psychology 2, Book 1, Business Development Unit, Milton Keynes.

Reese HW 2014, ‘Commentary on Malone: who founded behaviorism?’, The Behavior Analyst, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 109-114.

Xiong, A & Proctor, RW 2018, ‘Information processing: the language and analytical tools for cognitive psychology in the information age’, Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 1270-1298.

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