Category: Decision Making

Decision making is a critical part of the smooth functioning, successes and failures of any organisation; however, the process of arriving at a decision must be precise, so that it will yield the best results (Quain & Seidel 2019). According to Kreitner (1966) “Decision making is a process of identifying and choosing an alternative course of action in a manner appropriate to the demand of the situation”. Unfortunately, in the process of decision making it is very difficult for managers and decision-makers to have information on all possible alternatives and or options to make the best decisions all the time, as each situation is different and or unique in its own rights (Campbell et al. 2009). Moreover, the processes employed in decision making may vary from logical to intuitive depending on the nature of the situation, heuristics, politics, ethics and social pressures in making operative, tactical, strategic and policy decisions (Simon 1956; Flin1996; Johnson-Laird 1983; Tversky & Kahneman 1974). As a result, managers tend to make decisions based on the available information (Simon 1947). Organisational leaders are constantly plagued to make different types of decisions everyday, which beg the questions; Are there too many or too little persons involved in the decision making? and are the persons involved in the decision-making qualified and competent to make the best decisions despite limitations? (Badaracco 2016). Decision making can burden many leaders since there is always the possibility that a well-crafted decision with full analysis can be futile but making no decision in itself is a decision ( Scholz 2018). Furthermore, the leadership styles employed or adapted by managers and the culture of an organisation can drastically affect how, when and why decisions are made a particular way. This paper seeks to explain the relationship between a decision-making theory and a decision-making model, focusing on the recognition-primed decision making model when making decisions in schools, its limitations and how these limitations could be mitigated.

The relationship between decision making theories and models hinges on the leadership styles employed by any organisation’s leader and information processing activities that occur during the decision making process which is determined by the leader (Surucu & Yesilada 2017; Vroom & Jago 1974). Decision making is perceived as a key process or activity in organizations and what leaders ‘do’. Johnson and Kruse (2009). Gigerenezer, 2001; Hansson, 2005; Oliveira, 2007 classified the decision making theories as rational and non-rational theories. Within the non-rational theories leaders are inclined to value intuition, imitation emotions and social norms, together with non-optimization, descriptive, search, ecological rationality (Gigerenezer, 2001). One of the models under the non-rational theory is Satisficing proposed by Herbert Simon. Simon (1956) states “Satisficing is a combination of the words “suffice” and “satisfy”; individuals do not attain the best possible solutions to problems; instead, they function within what he has called “bounded rationality” where, time, cognitive limitations, and control over the situation play a factor in decision making. Leaders operating under the non-rational theory of decision making do not follow the steps proposed by the rational theory where the alternatives are proposed and the best is selected as a solution and thorough analysis of the entire situation and options; instead the leader used their intuition, emotions and what works in making a decision on an issue at the time in question. With the help of intuition, we can very quickly discover that a problem exists, as compared with traditional analysis (Isenberg, 1991).

Leaders inspire and set the foundation for creating new cultures. According to Selart (2015) “If an organization’s culture is authoritarian and conformist, this implies that it is often tied to a bureaucracy. This generally results in limitations when it comes to making dynamic decisions. When the organization’s own culture is innovative and progressive, this normally implies that leaders are expected to be more adventurous and make decisions based on their own initiative”. Leadership is defined “as the ability to present a vision so that others want to achieve it; it requires skill in building relationships with other people and organizing resources effectively” O’Connor (1997). Profit and non-profit organisations use a variety of leadership styles, to ensure that the organisation is operating effectively and efficiently. Within any organisation decisions must be made and in some instances without delay and can have broad far-reaching consequences (Scholz 2018). Therefore, leaders must should be diplomatic in assessing current and future situations, utilizing the best decision making theories and models that is applicable in the decision making process within various situations Ejimabo (2015).

The intricacies of decision-making can determine the successes and failures of the businesses/schools. Depending on the circumstances some leaders adopt and or confine themselves to a specific type of leadership based on their experiences within their businesses and the cultural values that are maintained. According to Cowen(2018) There are various types of leadership styles are; Laissez Faire leadership- this is where the leaders are not directly involved in the decision making process, Pace-setter leadership- the leaders set high expectations and expect the tasks to be completely and right, Autocratic leadership- one person makes the decisions with little or no input from other employees, Democratic leadership- this leader encourages the input of other employees in the decision making before final decisions are made, Servant leadership-the leader is second to the employee the leader highlights the individual or the team as opposed to him or herself, Transformational leadership-leaders share their vision with their employees and want everyone to succeed and accomplish in that shared vision, Transactional leadership- is a reward and punishment type of style where employees are rewarded because of increased productivity and punished on decrease or lack of productivity and Charismatic leadership-this is where the leader possess a personality that everyone loves.

Within a school environment best practices need to be consistently executed by administrators and teachers because they have a direct effect on student achievements, failures and other important experiences in the teaching and learning process (Tucker & Stronge 2005). Every year, there is a unique batch of students entering schools who possess have different cognitive abilities, different learning styles and idiosyncrasies. With the influx of these new students present new challenges and decision making is compulsory. As a result, the management team and teachers of any educational institution should make decisions that will yield the best results for each student in any given situation as much as possible. There should be no “one size fit all approach” (Kohn 2001). The teaching and learning process is a constant work-in-progress and dynamic; with the advent of new information, modalities, technologies and challenges. Consequently, management teams and teachers should not confine and employ only the traditional/limited methods of executing their duties and decision making (Piaget 1980 & Vygotsky1962). In the school and classrooms based on the observation of the management team and teachers immediate decisions have to be made in the teaching and learning process for smooth transitioning and to prevent disequilibrium.

When working within an educational institution one must be cognizant about the students learning styles and learning abilities, cognitive levels, any physical dysfunction that may inhibit students from conducting certain activities, parents and modalities used in the teaching and learning process to ensure student achievement. In order to make decisions that are best for the institution’s students and other stakeholders the Recognition Primed Decision model should be used. Klein’s (1989) Recognition Primed Decision-making model (RPD) embraces expertise, supplemented by consideration of intuitive and analytical processing of information to come to a decision. According to Klein, Calderwood, & Clinton-Cirocco, (1986) “The recognition-primed decision (RPD) model describes how people use their experience in the form of a repertoire of patterns”. The process of the Recognition Primed-Decision making model is described by Klein (2003), the process involves a decision-maker noticing situation-generated cues, recognising patterns formed by the cues based on experience, focussing on a potential solution or ‘action script,’ and imagining potential outcomes of action implementation. The recognition primed decision making model is suitable for making decisions in schools because it is versatile and adaptive, it involves analytical processing of information to finalise a decision(Klein 1989). Additionally, in the recognition primed model teachers and school administrators need to be able to recognise ‘teachable moments’ and impromptu situations occur when decisions are made based on the skilled intuition judgements (recognition) which is a consequence experiences of the teacher, administrator or management team (Kahneman & Klein 2009). Klein’s model has four main features: situational recognition, situational understanding, mental simulation and serial evaluation. In situational recognition a problem is identified and is then classified as typical or familiar to a previous problem and is matched to a repertoire of memory patterns Klein (2008). This leads to situational understanding where the decision-maker recognises four types of information; Plausible goals relate to specific achievable outcomes ,Relevant cues is the recognition of vital information available and what it represents. Mental stimulation alerts the decision maker to important dynamics and thereby modify the situation assessment (Klein, 2008). Serial evaluation is where the adequacy of the options are tested to identify weaknesses and create ways of how to mitigate these issues Klein &Crandall (1990) . Only if a problem is detected with the selection then another option will be considered; often the first choice is the only one considered. This enables rapid decision making in times of need.

The limitations of Recognition Primed Model in decision making are; Employees with little or no experience will encounter challenges in making decision because they do not have a knowledge as to what they are required to do, rendering employees incompetent in that regard. This lack of experience may inhibit their ability to effectively identify the most efficient course of action in given situations to solve its problem or make a decision. Furthermore, this lack of experience will also prevent employees thoroughly evaluating options for their flaws and may not know what is the best decision for a particular situation (Klein (1989). There will be no form of a repertoire of patterns primary causal factors operating in the situation. (Klein, Calderwood, & Clinton-Cirocco, 1986).

Within the recognition primed decision making model stressful situations may interrupt the decision maker from making optimal decisions. Stress and stressful situations can cause a degeneration the mental stimulation process through misinterpretation of information making it dysfunctional. As a result, the process of recognition primed decision making model will be disrupted (Klein &Crandall 1996)

There will be an increase possibility of errors if decision makers do not have adequate experience in the given fields. These errors could be a consequence of lack of experience, failure to anticipate negative consequences of actions, lack of critical information to be thorough in the decision making process (Klein & Crandall 1996)

These limitations of the Recognition-Primed Decision can be mitigated by employing personnel who has the same or similar experience in making decisions in schools so that decision makers can recognise salient features of a problem and make a decision that is the same or similar because they have been exposed to the same or similar circumstances and conditions which results experiences. In order to do this personnel should train and practice together to establish relationships and a good foundation in making decisions surrounding the same issues to increase the possibility of personnel generating the same or similar decisions.

References

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Introduction

The purpose of this essay is to reflect on my own decision-making style, my strengths and weaknesses, the causes and consequences of the decisions. I will be using secondary data like the readings, theories, concepts and applications discussed in class for the analysis. The scope of the essay covers three past critical incidents in my various workplaces with a conclusion to wrap up the main learning points.

Critical Incident 1

The first critical incident would be my internship for my student internship program in polytechnic. I was working as a Customer Service Executive in an office space rental agency. One day, a client sent an email regarding renting the building’s rooftop space for an event and so, he was enquiring about the rates. At the start of my internship, my supervisor verbally told me about the rental rates and I would convey those rates to clients who have enquired about it.

Using my intuition (system 1), I was about to reply to the email when my thought process got interrupted and the reasoning approach (system 2) got engaged. Hence, I went over to my supervisor to inform him about the email received. He told me to reply to the client about the rate and that was when I realised that my intuition was wrong. Since the nature of this event and client was different from the nature of the other events and clients, whom have previously enquired about the rooftop space, the rate was actually different. My supervisor then showed me the pricing schemes which was on a hardcopy list, that I was unaware of, and explained the differences in the prices. Thereafter, I replied to the email stating the correct rate suited to the client and his event.

This incident showed that I utilised intuition-as-expertise and so, the element of pattern recognition comes in since I had prior experiences with many other clients enquiring about the rooftop space rental. However, I learnt that I should verify and confirm the information before quoting data to clients. This is in order to effectively minimise the allowance for errors. The usage of intuition and reasoning is known as quasi-rationality and it is the most common way to make a judgement.

Critical Incident 2

The second critical incident would be my internship for SMU credits and graduation requirement. I worked as a HR Intern for a media and entertainment company. The organisation was expanding and every few days, a job ad would be posted, thus there were a lot of recruitment to work on in that period. I was assigned to shortlist candidates for the various roles advertised on job portals over the course of three months that I interned in the company.

When shortlisting, I would go through the applicants’ qualifications and skills that matched the job requirements but there were only a handful resumes that I could select to pass on to the hiring manager. Therefore, I had to decide on the differentiating factor. At that point of time, if the applicant graduated from a reputable and recognised university or had experience in a well-known organisation, I would put them as the top priority to be shortlisted. For example, if I see NUS, NTU and SMU on the applicant’s resume or organisations such as The Walt Disney Company or Twenty-First Century Fox, I would prioritise it.

From this incident, I realised that I was committing the cognitive bias of halo effect. This occurs when the recruiter forgoes proper investigation of a candidate’s background, choosing instead to focus too heavily on one positive aspect of a candidate, like where they went to school, or what sports they do, and rely on that one thing when making decisions. We zero in and let that golden halo guide us and our opinion of the candidate. Forsaking all other information about them, we are blindsided by this one thing about them, the thing we believe makes them so great.

Thus, I feel that I could have dug deeper by looking through other aspects of the resume such as their activities and achievements at their current and previous workplaces. Since I intend to continue into the HR field once I graduate and also foresee myself working in the recruitment function, learning about my hiring biases has benefitted me as I am now be able to avoid this incident from occurring again.

Critical Incident 3

The third critical incident would be my most recent internship as a part-time HR intern. The Head of HR had some projects for me to work on where I had to conduct internet research so as to be able to come up with a few good HR practices to implement into the organisation.

I went onto google and searched for the related HR content. I would click on few links that popped up and copy-paste the relevant information from the webpage into a word document that was in a shared drive for the Head of HR to browse through. Since these first few links gave me information that seemed to be enough to use for the new HR practices, I stopped researching after finding those links.

I thought that I was being a satisficer as my goal was to satisfice rather than to maximise in this situation. To satisfice, people need only to be able to place goods on some scale in terms of the degree of satisfaction they will afford, and to have a threshold of acceptability. A satisficer simply encounters and evaluates goods until one is encountered that exceeds the acceptability threshold. That good is chosen. To satisfice is to pursue not the best option, but a good enough option.

If I had taken the time and searched for case studies/ research papers/ scholar papers, I would have been able to gather more complete information as well as information that could not have been found in those links. However, at the same time, I feel that by doing so, there would be an overload of information and I would have faced the paradox of choice, where people were found to be less satisfied with the choices they make if selected from a larger set of options. Therefore, I ended up satisficing as I was afraid of regretting my decision.

Conclusion

To summarise, I addressed the aspects of system 1 and system 2, awareness of biases, and maximising versus satisficing. From the critical incidents, it can be inferred that I optimise both system 1 and system 2 to make decisions at the workplace and it is not necessarily one or the other. Moreover, when it comes to hiring, I tend to commit the bias of halo effect but I will work on reducing that effect from now on. Lastly, I am a satisficer as I feel that being a maximiser would cause me to be unsatisfied with my decision.

When making decisions in personal and professional lives, one must identify and compare opportunity costs. When comparing options, it is important to analyze every cost and other opportunities that one must give up. Choosing between taking an absence from work, moving out of town and pursuing a MBA degree full time or maintaining one’s current job while enrolled in a local MBA program has many opportunity costs for each. Focusing first on taking an absence from work, moving out of town and pursuing a MBA degree full time, there are many hidden costs. By taking an absence from work, one must adjust to saving money and taking time to find a part time job in a new town. If the individual earned an average of twenty dollars an hour, and eight hundred a week, they have to identify the cost of living in the new area and live within the means to pay the bills. Looking for a part time job requires a great deal of time and money as well. Taking the time to search for possible jobs on the Internet, newspapers, and also using gasoline to drive to interviews is a cost that one wouldn’t normally consider. Moving out of town requires the selling of one’s current house and buying or renting a new place with deposits and downpayments. Also, hiring movers, or renting trucks for moving day is very expensive. Since gas prices are constantly increasing, relocating costs are very high and time consuming.

Although beginning a new education program is exciting it is very expensive. Average classes are approximately fourteen hundred dollars not including books. Since this will be a new town, this individual will have to pay out of state educational fees. Also, since he/she does not have a full-time job, there is no opportunity for educational assistance through work. Some companies offer one hundred percent reimbursement, and others offer certain percentages based on the grade earned. However, since this individual will be attending full-time, they will earn their degree in two years as opposed to three or four while attending part-time. This will ensure a bigger pay-off in a shorter amount of time.

The second option of maintaining one’s job while enrolled in a local university also has opportunity costs that need addressed. Keeping a full-time job will ensure the same income level and they won’t have to spend time and money searching for a new job. Relocation costs are expensive and my attending a local university he/she will save money on gas and out-of-state education fees. Also, the corporation may offer educational assistance to help pay for the credits earned. By attending a local university and maintaining the current job, this individual will not have to adjust being away from friends and family. However, this individual will have to attend the program longer since it will not be full-time. This payoff will happen at a later time, but the costs saved up front are much cheaper and more convenient for daily living.

Although many of the costs and time constraints are similar, the second option of maintaining the full-time job and attending a local university seems like a more logical choice for myself. Either way, one has to pay for the gas to attend school, application fees, take the time to study and meet with groups, and pay for some of the education costs. Depending on the person and the lifestyle they lead and values they desire, these options both have a positive outcome.

This essay will critically evaluate whether jurors can be relied upon to reach a fair verdict, by highlighting potential issues that could affect the jury making decision. One of the major threats to fair, logical, and rational jury decision-making is psychological bias, this essay will explore this in further detail by focusing on racial bias, the appearance of the victim defendant, and the CSI effect.

The jury system is a system where the verdict for a criminal case is decided by a jury. A jury is a group of people who work together to conclude a guilty or not guilty verdict, whilst following a set of rules on how they should collaborate to reach this decision. The jury is made up of 12 ordinary individuals who are between 18-75 years old and registered to vote; the individuals are randomly selected. The exclusion criteria include individuals who have criminal convictions or serious mental health issues.

It is important to research juries and the factors that could impact their decision making as the jury system is viewed as a key aspect of the legal system which allows for a fair trial and reflects the attitudes and beliefs of the general public. The jury system is utilized in serious cases and is highly valued in the Western world, therefore researching the factors that affect jury decision-making and trying to find ways to improve the accuracy of these decisions is vital. Jury decision-making is subject to many biases which can greatly impact the verdict.

Racial Bias

Racial bias can impact the decision of jurors and can lead to an unfair verdict. Although the death penalty does not exist, it is still used as a punishment in 27 states in the US. Many studies have found that jurors have a racial bias when sentencing black people as one study found that white male jurors were more likely to give black defendants the death penalty compared to their female or non-white counterparts (Lynch and Haney, 2011), racial bias allows for individuals to view certain groups as being inherently bad and therefore, to them, it is justifiable to harshly punish them.

However, racial bias is not just exhibited by white jurors, both black and white jurors are likely to show racial bias towards someone who is not the same race as them (Ugwuegbu, 1979). Whilst black jurors, as well as other ethnic minorities, can show the same racial bias as white jurors, the impact is not the same. Not only is there racial bias in jury members themselves, but also in jury selection. In American juries, black people are underrepresented as attorneys have the power to remove a member of the jury without providing a reason, this means that there will be more white jurors. There are also trial consultants whose aim is to select a jury that will favor their client. This is a significant issue as racial bias impacts both black defendants and black victims, an all-white jury is more likely to give a black defendant a guilty verdict and a non-guilty verdict if the victim is black. The effect of racial bias on black ethnic minorities compared to white defendant victims is disproportionate.

On the other hand, it could be argued that whilst racial bias is a thing and allows people to play into harmful stereotypes, it might not have as big of an impact as thought, as some studies found that racial bias can be moderated depending on the context and details of the situation. Furthermore, it cannot be said conclusively that racial bias impacts every case as it is a very hard concept to measure.

Several researchers have tried to find ways to reduce racial bias in jurors to improve jury decision-making, one of the suggested solutions was making race salient. Race salience is drawing attention to race rather than ignoring it. Many studies have investigated the effect of race salience on racial bias and have found that it has aided in reducing racial bias.

Appearance of victim defendant

A lot of individuals have a stereotypical view of what a victim or criminal should look like, and this can influence jury decision-making. Jurors find victims that fit the ‘true victim’ stereotype to be believable and those who do not fit this image are deemed as less trustworthy, this is known as confirmation bias. Additionally, attractiveness also plays a part in influencing jury decision-making, attractive victims are seen as believable, and attractive defendants are perceived as less guilty and are less likely to be sentenced to death. Stereotypes allow individuals to comfortably process and understand information as it positively correlates with what they already believe, and these stereotypes can be so powerful that jurors will search for pieces of evidence during the trial that fit this confirmation bias rather than listening to both sides objectively. This is harmful to the deliverance of justice and affects the fairness of the verdict. A jury that judges and makes decisions based on appearance is not fit to provide a fair verdict.

CSI Effect

The CSI effect refers to the view that jurors are being significantly impacted by forensic crime shows as they are using the knowledge they have gained from these shows to deliberate whether the forensic evidence presented in a case is acceptable. This leads to a very out-of-touch perspective as jurors demand more forensic evidence than reasonable and, In some cases, deliver a not guilty verdict despite forensic evidence existing, this is because they felt that there should be more evidence present; evidence that they have seen In crime shows and expect to be present in every case. This naive outlook is not only frustrating for those involved in collecting evidence and building a case, but also for the victim who may be made to feel as though they are unworthy of justice as their crime did not occur ‘properly’ according to these jurors

Despite the belief that a CSI effect exists, there is very little empirical evidence of its existence (Podlas, 2017). The popularity of the CSI effect is mostly the effect of prosecutors and judges believing that media can strongly impact the perception and beliefs of jurors. It can be assumed that a juror would be able to differentiate between a television show and a real-life scenario which drastically impacts the individuals involved.

References

1. Ugwuegbu, D., 1979. Racial and evidential factors in juror attribution of legal responsibility. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 15(2), pp.133-146.
2. Lynch, M. and Haney, C., 2011. Mapping the Racial Bias of the White Male Capital Juror: Jury Composition and the ‘Empathic Divide’. Law

The human need from Maslow’s hierarchy of needs of love and belonging refers to the particular human experiences of living in a community or society. A large focus is placed on the shared beliefs of groups of individuals as they attempt to navigate through the systems and customs of where they live. This brings light to the social construct of morality and ethics. Several texts challenge individual’s beliefs through storytelling as they manipulate the conventions of form. Both Lucy Walker’s documentary and Shinichi Hoshi’s short story are texts of social denunciation that explore particular human experiences and challenge the beliefs of a modern audience.

Shinichi Hoshi’s short story “He-y Come On Out!” is a text of social criticism that comments on significant ecological concerns in society. The text uses an ingenious allegory to represent the modern era as we shove garbage into landfills without any repercussions and disregard the severe damage this is having on the planet. After the typhoon in the text, the shrine was swept away by a landslide. Shinici’s use of symbolism here, represents the fading of old traditions and religions as the newer generations of a community stop believing in their values of them. This is directly related to the recent ethical changes of individuals as they make moral decisions surrounding the use of technological advancements in Western society. The author represents the human experience of decision-making through the characterization of the mayor and concessionaire. The concessionaire is represented in the text as money-oriented as he serves as a symbol for advertisement and business and the characterization of the mayor displays him as a symbol of individuals who benefit themselves before considering the consequences of their actions. This is shown when he dismisses the impact of using the hole for the disposal of unwanted materials as the concessionaire promises to “build for them a new shrine with an attached meeting hall nearer the village.” This use of characterization shows the author exploring the inconsistencies of human behavior as she critiques the societal moral dilemmas of decision making which may have large impacts on the future generations in society. These morality concerns bring to light the theme of consequence as the characters dispose of nuclear reactors, garbage, and material evidence with the absence of restraint; “We’ve got a fabulously deep hole! Scientists say it’s at least five thousand meters deep! Perfect for disposal.” Shinici Hoshi ends the story with a pebble falling from the sky ironically past a construction worker showing the continuing urbanisation of a modern society. The workman paid no notice to this pebble as he was “gazing in idle at the city’s skyline growing evermore beautiful” although through the use of dramatic irony, the audience is aware that this small thing will trigger an enormous train of events. This causes the audience to question their practices surrounding the discarding of materials and its effect on both the environment and future generations. It questions the morality and ethics of the characters and audience during the decision-making process and causes questioning of the inconsistencies in their human behavior which may negatively impact on humanity. Decision-making plays an important role in the human experience of individuals and groups living by their community’s norms and values. This text explores individuals in a single community making an unethical decision that may negatively impact the future. This poorly made decision alters the audience’s perspectives through the use of symbolism and characterization incorporated into an allegorical narrative and criticizes the overindulgence and disposable culture of the upper classes in a society.

The concept of one small thing causing an enormous train of events relates directly to the documentary Wasteland, composed by Lucy Walker as the motif of the documentary shows the contrast between being far away and close up, allowing people to understand, unlike worlds in different ways. This shows the changing perspectives between the population of Rio de Janeiro and the working categories at Jardim Gramacho. This intent is shown through the use of the carnival scene. This assisted Lucy Walker in challenging assumptions about Brazilian culture. It shows the careless throwing away of garbage as the event is followed by moving shots of men tossing the discarded props and costumes into a garbage truck. This relates directly to “Hey Come On Out!” as both texts manipulate the conventions of form to make the reader or audience question their morals and ethics surrounding the disposal and recycling of materials. Valter dos Santos is a character who shifts society’s views toward the lack of attention to where their rubbish ends up. This character is an older picker who has worked at Jardim Gramacho for 26 years and is proud of what he does. His short, truncated catchphrase “99 is not 100” refers to the positive difference that just one individual recycled item can make. He also comments on the importance of morals and how they must be upheld even when faced with extreme adversities. This is shown through the use of a juxtaposition as he states “It’s bad to live in the height of fame with your morals a dirty shame.” The film shows the inconsistencies of human behavior as Lucy Walker uses visual images to juxtapose the morality of the upper and lower classes of Rio de Janeiro. Vik explores the notion of classism in Brazil where upper-class individuals “really believe they are better than other people”. Lucy Walker uses overhead panning shots of Rio de Janeiro, showing the large amounts of urbanization developed before cutting to shots of the consequence of consumerism- the waste. This footage, like “Hey Come On Ou-t!” brings to light the theme of consequence. Juxtaposition is also used to reinforce the idea of classism and consequences after Vik and Tiao sell the artwork in an upper-class society. After the footage of Tiao crying and stating that he “feels like a pop star”, the film cuts to the reality of life in the slums at Jardim Gramacho with the use of melancholy, non-diegetic music assisting the juxtaposition. This filming technique provides insight into the confronting impact of overconsumption and shows Lucy Walker manipulating the conventions of form to portray the human experience of decision-making for the future.

Both of the texts, Wasteland and “He-y Come On Out!” Delve into differing societies and communities in a modern world. It uses the character’s beliefs and practices to explore human behavior whilst decision-making. This helps to alter the reader or audience’s perspective as both texts manipulate the conventions of form to encourage the questioning of individual ethics and morality in contemporary society.

Abstract:

Women are most powerful consumers in the world, as they control almost 80 percent of the household spending. No doubt when it comes to individual buying, women are the sole decision makers. But they also act as great influencers, when it comes to buying decision of the family. Economic dependence, improvement in education and awareness, work oriented lifestyles, changing social norms, increased participation in the workforce and society have led to an enhancement in the role of women in the family purchase decision making process. John Gray’s 1992 book “Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus” confirmed what men and women have always known: The two sexes differ in their perspectives, motives, rationales, and actions. The objective of this research is to explore the role of females in the family purchase decision making process. In this paper, an attempt is made to understand the differences in the opinion between male and female, when it comes to make purchase decision for family.

Introduction

India is a diverse country with different cultures, cast and creed. Therefore, the choice is also differ from person to person. Today, the consumption is no more a process due to the need of consumers but, in accordance with the wishes of consumers it has became an evolving process. Therefore in marketing, consumer behavior plays a very important role. Woman being the key household figure in the Indian society forces the researcher to study the role of women in purchase decision making process in a family. Family members may have different roles to play in making decisions within the family. They may initiate demand or contribute information, and they may decide on where to buy, when to buy, what to buy, which brand and style to buy, how to pay for the product, how to consume the product and how to act in maintaining the product. Marketers examine the attitude and behaviour of the member of the family whom they believe in to be the major decision maker. Today women are more autonomous in their judgment. Today Women become decision makers because they have gained the economic and emotional freedom. Now a day’s both husband and wife are working which increases their income and discretionary income too (Arora, 1995). As such role of women doesn’t remain same as it was earlier. Today the women take active part in the family buying decision. She is the key aspect in all purchase decisions of the family. She has turned out to be active participant in family buying decision. She has acquired a place in the society by virtue of her education and employment (Webster, 1995) Indian manufacturers realized the need of her support and hence communicate with her and try to convince her through every possible media. They plan the marketing strategy to attract this segment, satisfy their needs and requirement and try to retain them by every possible means.

Objectives of the study:

1. To find out the role of women in purchase decision making.
2. To study the influence of women socio-economic factor in the purchase decision.

Review of literature:

According to Simonson et al (2001), one of the most essential and influential areas within consumer buying behavior is the consumer decision making process.

Kulkarni and Murali (1996)33 in the study on purchasing practices of consumers of Parbhani town observed that majority of the household’s purchases were done by the husband and wife jointly. Most of the consumers preferred quality of the goods, while purchasing on cash payment method; and brought the goods from retail outlets.

Skinner (1990)34 notes that when a consumer purchases an unfamiliar expensive product he/she uses a large number of criteria to evaluate alternative brands and spends a great deal of time seeking information and deciding on the purchase. The type of decision making used varied from person to person and from product to product.

Research methodology:

Descriptive in nature based on secondary data, has been collected from various websites, books, research articles.

Women consumer:

In earlier times, women possessed no right in any field. Only men made decisions. Women were treated as having no right, but now the scenario has changed. Along with men, women are also stepping out on equal footing. About more than 75% of purchases of a family is being made by women. Their position and status have come up, and are still coming up. Women consumers while shopping, wander from shop to shop. They are keen in style, colour, beauty and economy in purchasing. They look and compare the products with other products. They always compare the quality and the price of similar products. They take time in inspecting the products and in making a decision whether to buy or not. They are conservative. They expect more products for less money. They may go even for comparison, after the purchase is made. They try to find difference in products purchased comparing them with the products purchased by a neighboring woman. They want a superior position

Buying behaviour of women:

The profile and role of the woman has been undergoing significant changes. Today, she is educated and in many cases she is employed too. The percentage of working woman has actually been growing steady pace. Their purchasing power has increased: thus the demand for product categories like cosmetics, package foods, beverage, two-wheelers, holiday packages etc. are of great appeal to them. In urban parts, the middle class woman is an active partner in the family. She is no longer confined to the four walls of the kitchen. She has acquired a place in society by virtue of her education and employment. She is a major factor in all purchase decisions of the family. She is practically the sole decision maker. Her role is main in purchasing-decisions. She is the cashier and budgeter. For several products, she is the ‘gate-keeper’. New items cannot an entry into the house without her consent and clearance. Purchases meant for children too are mostly decided by her. Whether she works at corporate sector in city or self employed in village, women are becoming independent. So it becomes very important for marketers to study buying behavior of women consumer.

Characteristics of women consumer:

• Cautious buyer:

The women are generally a cautious buyer. She is willing to try new things. She is not opposed to change. But she does not adopt any product instantly. She may do a sample purchase: she enquires with somebody who has known the product: she may listen to advertisements of the product: she decides to purchase only if she is fully satisfied. The women are quality conscious as well as cost conscious buyer. She has often crosschecks the price details with other stores. She bargains, she compares one brand with another on price and quality.

• Follow specific budget

She has a tight family budget to follow and within this budget, she develops her own preferences whether it is baby; food, cooking medium, tea or coffee, cosmetics or readymade garments etc.

• Sense of beauty:

Generally women are fashion lover. She finds out what product or brand will suit her grooming needs. While choosing products like soap, shampoo, face cream or moisturizer, perfumes, hair oil, she pays due attention towards her beauty. She is greatly influenced by the products appeal to her sense of grooming.

• Information Seeker:

Women generally seek information about the products which she is likely to purchase.

She finds out what product or brand her neighbour or friend is using. She always gets direct information from an existing ‘user’ about the product.

• Give preference to durable goods:

Time saving appliances hold out great charm to her. She prefers for gadgets like electric grinders, washing machine, dish-washers, pressure-cookers, microwave ovens, vacuum cleaner etc. As they reduce her workload and save her time to a great extent.

Behaviour of women as a spouse in purchase decision

A family is considered to be the basic decision making unit as regards purchases. The decision to purchase a commodity or service is generally combined but every family member is going to influence the decision most. The behaviour of spouse has multidimensional , because it highly depends upon the size of the family unit, age gap between them, social background of the spouse, working designation, the risk associated with the particular decision and above all the mindset of the family towards the traditional role of women.

Behaviour of women at an educational level in purchase decision

Education sharpens the mind and shapes the personality of an individual. It also creates awareness and helps to take right decisions. Education level of females has a significant influence in their purchase decision. As the education level of females increases so does their ability to take decisions on their own.

Behaviour of women as an entrepreneur in purchase decision:

Women have owned and operated businesses for decades, but they were not always recognized or given credit for their efforts. Often women entrepreneurs were ‘invisible’ as they worked side by side with their husbands, and many only stepped into visible leadership positions. Female entrepreneurs are said to encompass approximately 1/3 of all entrepreneurs worldwide. In India, women hold 25% of the white-collar jobs in sectors like IT, ITES, Pharmaceutical, biotechnology, market research, financial services, advertising, marketing and media. increasing financial power, has a greater discretionary income and utilizes it to satisfy wants that have gone beyond these two to include holidays abroad, personal vehicles, electronic goods etc. her criteria for family purchases have been modified by her increased exposure to various new ideas and information, and by her new role as a facilitator.

Behaviour of women and religion in purchase decision:

Religious differences may influence customers in terms of their seasonality of purchases guided by their festival dates, which is a visible manifestation of influence on items of purchase and gifts. Women belonging from different religion play a great role in buying decision. Their buying pattern differ from religion to religion.

Explanation

It can be identified that the women who are ‘self confident’ take final decision of purchasing as it scores the highest. Second rank is scored by the factor ‘independence’ in taking decisions. The women having ‘good knowledge’ about the product and if they are ‘educated’ they have the highest score for taking purchase decision as it scores the third and fourth rank respectively. Similarly, if women have ‘economic freedom’ they get the scope of taking final purchase decision.

Conclusion:-

Women are vital part of buying behaviour. It has been found that women are more involved with the purchasing activities. They are more price conscious, beauty admirer, initiator, influencer, etc. So the marketers need to give due attention to the buying habits of women. They may initiate demand of various products. Their buying pattern can affect the demand of various goods and services.

References:-

1. Girl power: A marketing Blog
2. Harvard Business Review
3. Magazine: The female economy, By Harvard Business school
4. Indian Journal of Commerce and Management studies.
5. British Journal of Marketing Studies Vol.5, No.9, pp. 1-12, November 2017-Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK
6. International Journal of Management and Social Science Research, Volume 1
7. Various websites

In S.E Hinton’s The outsider’s and William Golding’s lord of the flies’ violent decision making results in chaos. In Both Novels ferocious acts results in isolation, loss of innocence and Loyalty. The widening isolation is shown in the outsider’s when pony boys parents die and his left home alone with his brothers and is always isolated and goes out alone. And in Lord of the flies when the plane crashes and only young kids and teenagers survive they are left alone on a desert island trying to survive. Loyalty is demonstrated in the outsiders by being loyal to your gang and have each other back for the Socs. And in Lord of the flies Piggy is Loyal to ralph by being the only person not to join Jack and the Hunters. The Authors both highlight the key similarities those demonstrated by conflict/violence, love/loyalty to your group or gang, and toughness {being outside your comfort zone}. All of these themes during the novel to an extent forms the foundation of most characters’ personal identity.

Violent decision Making resulting in chaos is evident in William Golding’s Lord of the flies published in [1954} and S.E Hinton’s The Outsiders published in {1984}. In the novel ‘Lord of the Flies’, Golding uses the theme of violence surfacing throughout the text. … However dark traits of the island start to become prominent which begins to open Golding’s theme of violence. The main astonishing key moments of violence in Lord of the flies Where the Death of Simon and Piggy they where some of the main key moments in the Novel. The Murder of Simon “Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! “The blue-white scar was constant, the noise unendurable. Simon was crying out something about a dead man on a hill. He Ran down to the Beach in agony where all the other boys where. They viscously scampered towards Simon calling him ‘the Beast’ as he got brutally and heartlessly Murdered. After The Death of Simon, it become real to the boys that people can die on this island as piggy was a great example of another ruthless manslaughter. Piggy’s Natural leadership and general knowledge is threatened by the savagery of the hunters who steal his glasses and make him feel less of himself and self conscious about sharing his often good opinions. When Jack and Ralph go to find piggy’s glasses. Roger releases the boulder with ‘delirious abandonment’ and it strikes Piggy, hurling him downward to death, symbolizing the end of all rationality and civilized behaviour on the Island. In Both novels violence is the main asset. The outsiders display great examples of violence examples being the greasers and the socs when Johnny in self defence killed Bob. Pony boy and Johnny where in the park Alone when ‘the socs’ got out of their mustang and destructively approached the boys after exchanging a few insults, one of the Socs grabs Pony boy and clenches his head under water in a fountain until he passes out. Pony boy and Johnny both thought Pony boy was going to drown that night. When Pony boy regains consciousness, Bob is dead. Johnny stabbed him in self-defence. These are all examples of violent decision making resulting in chaos in Lord of the flies and the outsiders.

In Lord of the flies and the outsider’s ferocious acts results in Loss on innocence. Both Author’s S.E Hinton and William Golding illustrate the theme of Loss of innocence with many illustrations. In Lord of the flies before the plane crashed they where Posh civilised English school kids who lived regular lives. The boys on the island where the only survivor’s and where all very young. Without any real Adult steady leadership their behaviour and innocence transformed into a group of uncivilized beats on a island. Ultimately, Jack has descended so far away from innocence that he actually hunts Ralph, intending to kill him like a pig and impale his head on the stick they have sharpened at both ends. Finally, the deaths Piggy and Simon that occur on the island show the fall from innocence. In the outsiders the characters Pony boy and loose their innocence from being regular high school kids and having a good education. To end up dropping out and having their parents die tragically in a car crash and live home alone with their brother. Johnny killed Bob an arch enemy in self defence and going into hideout with pony boy hiding from the police provides examples of ferocious acts and loss of innocence.

In lord of the flies and the Outsiders loyalty and isolation are the result of violent decision making. The state of Isolation can also result in violent decision making. In both novels being Loyal to your mates, gang or group is crucial in staying alive and safe. In lord of the flies’ examples of loyalty are piggy and Ralph stayed loyal to each other by not joining Jack and the hunters where everyone was going but instead they stood up for what they believed in. Piggy is loyal to Ralph and believes in him. He stands up for Ralph when Jack challenges Ralph’s leadership, and he encourages the others to stay true their elected leader. ‘Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy.’ In the outsiders Loyalty is demonstrated through pony boy’s words “Loyalty is the thread that holds his gang together. It cuts across their differences. They’re loyal to each other because they know each other well, have grown up together, and have faced hard times together.” And loyalty to each other helps keep them protected and out of suffering/trouble. Pony boys older brother Darry shows loyalty to pony boy and sodapop through unconditional love and always having their backs through thick and thin no matter what happens. In Lord of the flies’ isolation is a common theme that happened to all the boys on the island. All of them are isolated from their regular egalitarian society and are forced to create a life and build a foundation from a desert island by making their own rules. Ralph a main leader on the island finds himself isolated as jack threatens his leadership and persuades everyone to come join him and the hunters. After Piggy’s tragic death, Ralph was well and truly isolated from the rest of society and was threatened to be killed. In the outsider’s isolation is also a mutual theme with Johnny often being isolated from his non-loving and welcoming family who aren’t nice and kick him out of the house. Johnny is often sleeping in the park at night all alone if he’s not with his best mate Pony boy. Pony Boy and Johnny where isolated from civilization when Johnny killed bob. They fled the city and lived in a church for a week all alone hiding from the authorities.

Overall In S.E Hinton’s The outsider’s and William Golding’s lord of the flies’ violent decision making results in chaos. In Both Novels ferocious acts results in isolation, loss of innocence and Loyalty. Both the Outsiders and Lord of the flies share very common themes and traits.

A Paramedic’s job revolves around making informed decisions to deliver the most effective care for patients. The prehospital environments are called to have unpredictable and dynamic features which require paramedics to use a flexible and creative approach to decision-making. (Reay, 2018) . The paramedic role is also a forever changing and evolving one to adapt to the new and growing pressures put on the NHS. This progression in their role brings about an increased need for Paramedics to have exceptional decision-making skills. Responsibilities such as independent prescribing, while carrying out a response to an emergency call, is a perfect example of the need to be able to make judgments, while taking into account several factors, including published standards and regulations set by professional bodies such as the Health and Care Professional Council (HCPC), ethical considerations and patient-focused principles (Collen, 2017). This essay aims to explore and assess these factors and how they influence a paramedic in practice.

Protocols and guidelines are designed to inform paramedic interventions that influence every stage of care delivery. (Thompson, 2013) The HCPC provides Paramedics with regulations to assure the public of a level of competence from individual clinicians (Eaton, 2019). They have published standards that give vital information about the requirements of healthcare professionals. This includes standards of proficiency, conduct, performance, and continuing professional development. (HCPC)These regulations are there, not to be approached with fear of the regulator but instead, the published standards should be used to guide you alongside your values, morals, and standards. This factors directly into a paramedic’s decision-making process as they use this as a baseline and work up from here. It also ensures standardization in practice from different ambulance services across the country. Care provided is done so, directly and indirectly, in line with published standards, ethical considerations, laws and legislation, best practice guidance, and patient-focused principles. (Collen, 2017) The nature of a paramedic’s job is constantly changing, meaning the HCPC has molded its Standards of Proficiency around this. Section 3.3 states a paramedic must keep your knowledge and skills up to date and relevant to your scope of practice through continuing professional development (CPD) (Health and Care Professional Council, 2016). CPD allows confidence in practice to grow over time but also diminishes risks of poor outcomes as reflection is carried out, so the same mistake isn’t made twice. (Collen, 2017) Reflection involves a conscious process in response to a negative feeling. Reflexivity can influence the process of decision-making. (Bellot, 2006). This is mirrored in the ‘novice to expert’ model which shows the progression from a novice in healthcare practice, through certain levels of competence and eventually being an expert in that field (Appendix A). Dreyfus and Dreyfus concluded that reflection and deliberation should certainly be sought whenever there is time and serious consequences are involved therefore emphasising reflection and CPD allows for the aforementioned advancement in practice. (Stuart E. Dreyfus and Hubert L. Dreyfus)

Human error can lead to catastrophic consequences. The Joint Royal Colleges Ambulance Liaison Committee (JRCALC) provides a pocketbook resource that can be used to back up decision-making in practice. For example, stressful situations can cause judgment to be clouded and human errors to be made. The use of the JRCALC pocketbook allows a clear, direct path to dosage as it includes an extensive medicines formulary and Page for Age tables, which make medicines administration safer (Amazon). This allows factors that can impact decision-making, such as stress and panic to be avoided, and effective treatment plans to be made in crises, lowering the risk of mistakes.

A paramedic responds to an emergency as part of a larger group of healthcare and emergency responders. There is a level of teamwork required in these situations which allows effective decisions to be made for the whole thing to run as smoothly as possible as it reduces uncertainty and anxiety surrounding work demand (Lemieux-Charles et al, 2002). In the NHS practitioners are told to follow the core values, which include ‘working together for patients’ (NHS, 2021). This allows all healthcare professionals to have the same baseline morals and ethics, allowing decision-making to be made easier as they have shared values. However, there can be certain barriers that are encountered in practice that make clinical decision-making difficult. These barriers include time, incomplete facts, stress, or seniority barriers. (JRCALC, 2019) Working in a team allows for these barriers and challenges to be overcome, for example, stress can be decreased when working together as a team as tasks can be delegated and questions can be asked to allow for the most effective treatment plan to be formed. Error can also be avoided if double checking of each other’s work occurs. During the issuing of drugs, a good practice is to pass the intended drug to a team member and get them to check. There is insufficient evidence that double versus single checking of medication administration is associated with reduced harm (Koyama, Alain K et.al ). This can therefore avoid errors such as wrong dosage.

As well as working as a team, Paramedics work with other healthcare professionals, such as doctors, to provide the best level of care they can. South Central Ambulance Service supports the call that if you decide that a patient with a non-life threatening presentation requires further medical level interventions or diagnostics, then consulting with a GP or OOH provider, before the conveyance decision is made, can help to determine where the most appropriate patient care is delivered and by who (SCAS)

Knowing ethical principles and legal concepts helps clinicians to decide which path is the better option during a difficult decision. Understanding how to navigate such concepts and principles is key to personal and professional development, as well as the continued growth of the paramedic profession as a whole. (Eaton, 2019) Across medical disciplines, professionals are expected to put the needs of their service users first, even if it involves self-sacrifice. (Downie, 1988) This aligns with beneficence, which is the principle that focuses on medical professionals doing good for their patients. Non-maleficence is another principle that influences the ethics of a paramedic’s decision-making, with the focus that a medical practitioner must do no harm or allow harm to be caused to a patient through neglect. (The Medical Portal) Having these key principles at the forefront of a paramedic’s thinking allows them to make informed decisions while being confident in their judgments.

Being ethical means that a paramedic must be able to respond and adapt to conflicting values. Difficult situations can arise when a patient’s wishes do not align with a paramedic’s judgment. If a patient refuses treatment, the decision must be respected, even if it’s thought that this refusal could result in serious harm. (NHS) The paramedic must respect and adapt, bearing in mind the concept of consent and person-centered values to act in the patient’s best interests.

Communication is a vital part of a paramedic’s role. The process in which a person can convey their ailment relies on how effective the actual communication is. If it’s poor the treatment could be wrong for the patient, ending in a bad outcome.

To summarise a paramedic comes in contact with many challenges that can affect and cause their decision-making judgements to be altered. They are provided with skills, knowledge, and resources that allow them to overcome these challenges and enable them to respond in an appropriate and worthwhile manner.

In the market economy, how a company is managed and developed is extremely important, because every wrong or misleading decision comes at a high price. Therefore each decision that management makes should be based on precise, qualitative, timely, and unambiguous information. To serve its purpose, after information is collected they are processed, classified, and stored within the company. For effective and efficient information processing it is necessary to have an integrated set of components, called an information system. Undoubtedly, a significant role in information processing for effective decision-making belongs to accounting information systems. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to analyze the situation in the Rwandan industrial sector related to the use and adoption of accounting information systems and their impact on the financial decision-making process.

Background to the Study

Elvisa and Erkan (2015) argue that for any organization of any type, be it small, medium, or large, service or manufacturing, to survive in this dynamic and global world, there is a need for proper management of information. Therefore, information is the backbone of any business. However, there is a need for information to be well processed, and the means to process information is through an integrated set of components called an information system. Thus, an information system is the combination of different components to perform a specific function and basically, it can be sourced from both internal and external.

The most important part of a management information system is the one that is concerned with data processing, known as the Accounting Information System (AIS). AIS involves identifying, recording, analyzing, summarizing, and communicating economic information to its end user for decision-making.

Decision-making has been described as a purposeful choosing, from several alternative causes of action. AIS provides managers with the necessary information they need. Management decisions are one of the most important facets that pervade all organizations and constitute their progress or failure in the actualization of pre-determined goals and objectives (Clinton, Matuszewski & Tidrick, 2011). Interestingly, both financial and non-financial information are used by Management accounting and are generally intended for the use of internal users who use the information to make decisions that help achieve the goals and objectives of the organization. Financial information used by management accountants includes sale growth, profits, return on capital employed, and market shares, non-financial information includes customer satisfaction level, production quality, performance of competing products, and customer loyalty. Jeovita (2013) opined that management uses both financial and non-financial information to aid business decision-making, in other words, business decision-making is predicated on AIS.

According to Gacheru (2015), AIS is a set-up, or system that is primarily concerned with financial data gathering from internal and external sources, analyzing, processing, interpreting, and communicating the result (information) for use within the organization so that management can make more effective and efficient plan, decisions, and control operations.

Planning, decision-making, and control operations are challenges constantly confronted by management in running the affairs of the organization, especially knowing that resources are relatively scarce and limited. So, the need for good AIS must be made available for proper and accurate decision-making (Priyia & Longnathan,2016). In making a sound decision, the management needs valuable and accurate information from its accountant. The accountant is at the service of the management by providing them with the necessary information they need for decision-making.

Harendra (2017) opined that there is evidence that reveals the influence of accounting information in the financial decision-making process. It emphasizes the importance of a holistic context which, led to the integration of other institutional influences and multiple logics.

The Rwandan industry sector is still small but growing as it contributed about 17 % to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019. The sector is characterized by gradual diversification from basic manufacturing to more value-adding activities in other sub-sectors. Although Rwanda’s liberalized economy has exposed locally manufactured products to stiff competition from imports, compliance with required international standards gives them an upper hand (Irakiza & Ngamije, 2019).

As the essence of using AIS is to enable managers to make wise financial decisions, and AIS is also used to set up a system of internal control to prevent fraud and increase efficiency, it would be an effective tool for enhancing the financial performance of Rwandan industries. AIS aids in profit making, budgeting, and cost control what the sector lacks (Irakiza & Ngamije, 2019). Additionally, reliable accounting serves a practical function for the firms themselves. Beyond the regulatory and compliance hurdles that financial accounting helps clear, financial accounting also helps managers create budgets, understand public perception, track efficiency, analyze performance, and develop short- and long-term strategies (Mbonigaba, 2019). In a company, the management accountant must see that his company keeps good records and prepares proper financial regulations. Management accountants also need to keep up with the latest developments in the use of computers and computer system design. Accountants provide many special reports for management’s decision-making. This function requires the gathering of both historical and projected data.

Limited numbers of studies avails in Rwanda have focused on the role AIS plays in the holistic context of financial decision-making strategies, processes, and preferences of the industrial sector in Rwanda. The available studies focused mainly on the performance of the sector (Irakiza & Ngamije, 2019) or in another business sector (Mbonigaba, 2019), but little was undertaken on the decision-making within the industrial sector. Based on the above, the researchers felt the need to assess the contribution of the Accounting information system in the financial decision-making in the industrial sector in Rwanda, taking evidence from Master Steel Company Ltd, which is an owned Rwandan industry founded in 2005 and moved in to fill the gap required for steel construction materials.

Statement of the Problem

According to Jeovita (2013), business decision-making process, different qualitative and quantitative information that is available from all organizational units, including, available the accounting systems, are necessary.

Every investor or other business decision-maker, and especially, every manager, to make a valid decision, has to have a clear perception of accounting terms and concepts. Today’s organization’s managers have the duty of planning, organizing, directing, and controlling which aids them in quick financial decision-making. Financial decision-making is one of the problems facing the management of every company, big or small which enables it to formulate policies, implement, and control results (Gacheru, 2015). The decisions brought by financial management are often future-oriented and therefore those decisions carry a high level of risk about the outcomes.

To make effective financial decisions, Master Steel Ltd needs to have information on human resource costs, marketing and promotional costs, raw materials costs, infrastructural costs, etc. However, an extensive review of literature in Rwanda indicates that there is a dearth of research on the use of accounting information systems as a tool in financial decision-making in the Rwandan business landscape. Rwandan Researchers have tried to find out how managerial decision-making has been influenced using accounting information systems, with regards that, firstly, many business failures continue to occur despite engaging top-flight accounting firms (Mbonigaba, 2019), lack of skilled professionals for the preparation and presentation of accounting reports to management through a proper system of technology (Irakiza & Ngamije, 2019), and published financial statements do not reflect a true and fair view of the company assets and liabilities owing to lack of efficiency (Irakiza & Ngamije, 2019).

Based on the issues stated above, the researchers were interested in conducting a study on the contribution of Accounting Information Systems on financial decision-making within the Rwandan industrial sector, using Master Steel Ltd as a case study.

Research Questions

• What are the perceptions of respondents on the Accounting information system used in Master Steel Ltd?
• What are the perceptions of respondents on the financial decision-making within Master Steel Ltd due to the use of the accounting information system?
• Is there a significant contribution of the accounting information system to the financial decision-making within Master Steel Ltd?

Objective of the study

• To determine the perceptions of respondents on the Accounting information system used in Master Steel Ltd.
• To evaluate the perceptions of respondents on the financial decision-making within Master Steel Ltd due to the use of the accounting information system.
• To verify if there is a significant contribution of the accounting information system to the financial decision-making within Master Steel Ltd.

Hypothesis of the Study

According to Bewick (2017), the hypothesis is like any affirmation that can be shown, confirmed, or modified. It is a logically speculated relationship between two or more variables and lends itself to being tested through statistical analysis. To reach the objectives of this study and give solutions to the problems; the following hypothesis is formulated.

There is a significant contribution of accounting information systems to financial decision-making in the Rwandan industrial sector particularly in Master Steel.

Significance of the Study

To the researcher: This study will be beneficial to the researcher, especially in gaining knowledge and skills about the contribution of accounting information systems on financial decision-making in the industrial sector in Rwanda.

To AUCA: the research will be significant to AUCA because copies of this study will be submitted to the library of AUCA so that students will benefit from it as material for reference and a guide for further research.

To other researchers: The results of this research will add to the available literature on the accounting information system and its contribution to the financial decision-making of Rwandan industries. Future Scholars would gain the opportunity to refer to this study in their research.

To Master Steel Ltd: this study will be significant to Master Steel Ltd in particular, and the industrial sector in general, as it will give management an insight into the contribution of the AIS implemented within the industry, and its contribution to the decision-making process. At the end of this research, recommendations will be given, which the company will follow to enhance its AIS.

Justification of the Study

Several studies in different domains have been conducted on the performance of manufacturing companies and many recommendations suggest that manufacturing companies should adopt a quality computerized system by using any updated accounting software to get accurate information which helps in decision making; hence the financial performance becomes high.

The use of an accounting information system is critical for effective strategic decision-making. According to Irakiza and Ngamije (2019), the Rwandan manufacturing sector still suffers from inaccurate information due to omission errors sometimes the information is hacked by outsiders and it becomes hard for the industries to make decisions with that inaccurate information, then there is an interest to find out the root cause of this. Furthermore, looking at how the accounting software is updated in Rwanda, how training is given to the users, and if the information given is accurate to help in managerial decisions to increase the industrial performance in Rwanda.

Theoretical and Conceptual Framework

Theoretical Framework

Some scholarly works that have been done on AIS and organization decision-making were based, on establishing the theoretical framework of the present study.

An accounting information system (AIS) is a structure that a business uses to collect, store, manage, process, retrieve, and report its financial data so it can be used by accountants, consultants, business analysts, managers, chief financial officers (CFOs), auditors, regulators, and tax agencies (Harendra, 2017).

Elvisa and Erkan (2015) thought that the role of AIS is crucial in managing an organization to implement an effective and efficient internal control system within the organization to achieve organizational financial goals. It is the impetus to quarry the importance of AIS in management decision-making concerning the fit of AIS with organizational requirements for information communication and control.

According to Jeovita (2013), accounting tools are information provider that guides decisions. They further said that accounting is a measurement and communication system to provide economic and social information about an identifiable entity to permit users to make informed judgments and decisions leading to an optimum allocation of resources and the accomplishment of the organization’s objectives.

Hafij, Jamil, and Syeda (2014) affirmed that there is a significant relationship between AIS and strategic decision-making. Elvisa and Erkan (2015) concluded that AIS systems play a very significant role in the process of decision-making, especially today when technology is constantly changing. When the information provided by AIS serves widely the requirements of the system users then the AIS system can be said to be effective.

Conceptual Framework

According to Kothari and Garg (2014), a framework can help us to explain why we are doing a project in a particular way, it can also help us to understand and use the ideas of others who have done similar things. The following conceptual framework represents the relationship between independent variables and dependent variables. In this case, the independent variable is the Accounting information system while the dependent variable is Financial decision making as shown in the figure below. Source: Researchers’ compilation (2021)

Delimitation of the Study

This study will be looking at three dimensions:

• Time delimitation: In terms of time scope, the researcher will use 2021, to correct the data and interpret them.
• Geographical delimitation: The study will be carried out in Master Steel Industry, located in Kigali city, precisely on KK 15 road, Gahanga Sector, Kicukiro District, Kigali City.
• Social delimitation: This study will focus on the contribution of accounting information systems to financial decision-making in the Master Steel Industry. The information needed for this study will be collected from employees of the company as respondents.

There are many different models for decision making pertaining to classical and behavioral like satisficing. Satisficing refers to the satisfaction of how you do something or the outcome of it. When you are looking at the satisficing of something you are giving your best effort in completing that task effectively. There are perspective theories which talks about how someone says they are going to do an idea but in the end they it turns out to be the opposite sometimes. There are also other types of models for decision making like descriptive theories. Descriptive theories explain the ways certain things work like how they are going to do and what tools they are going to end up using. Another type of classical and behavior models for decision making is optimizing decision making which is where you you observe the different types of ideas you have and choose the one that best fits you and your needs.

The examples that were made using satisficing in regards to my real life situations would be that they used prescriptive theory in which they provided certain rules that we need to use for gathering information together to use when the time is needed. The also used what is called descriptive theory which helps people make the right choices they need. The garbage can model used in this case is where they provide example pertaining to my real life situations. The garbage can model shows the way problems can be solved. Along the way there can be some complications but with this model it demonstrates how things can be solved through those complications.

The examples use when it comes to optimizing decision making are writing down multiple ideas that I have when it comes to deciding for my business. I think of things I would like to create. For example, a clothing business wanted different kind of fabric and designs. I would have to pick the best choice that fits the company and people’s interests. I would make a chart of the different types of styles for clothing. I would also use what’s called a model which will show some of the designs I am focusing on creating. I also use a paper and ask people what they would prefer then write them down. I would also use an example of optimization models which will help me figure out where I want to start my business and what partnerships if any. Lastly, another example I have used is a chart for my financial statements to keep track of everything.

References

1. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/satisficing.asp
2. https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-garbage-can-model-of-decision-making.html