III

• BRAINSTORMING “common technique”

  • stimulates thinking and allows the group to work together in generating ideas. 
  • no restrictions to the flow of ideas and every member is encouraged to give their thoughts regarding the plan.
  • free flow of ideas makes this technique more informal and unstructured.
• NOMINAL GROUP TECHNIQUE “highly structured”

  • allows members to give their own inputs based on the agenda. 
  • Its structured and formal nature restricts personal discussion among group members and minimizes conflict during discussions. 
  • risk of one member dominating the planning is also limited, since all opinions in this method are considered to be equally important.
• DELPHI TECHNIQUE 

  • means of formulating courses of action.
  • group leader distributes questionnaires to collect and assimilate their ideas. 
  • Through this, the participants can avoid personality conflict and groupthink or the tendency of the group to conform to the prevailing opinions of the group. 
• DECISION TREE “weighing different alternatives”

  • graph showing potential and alternative decision paths for the proposed plan. 
  • succession of small decisions. 
  • All alternatives, from the most likely to the most unlikely one, are given equal weight. 
  • Possible consequences for each proposed path are analyzed.
• PAYBACK METHOD 

  • evaluating alternatives in purchasing equipment. 
  • Length of use
  • Warranties
  • sales generated for a specific period before actually buying the product. 
• RATIONAL OR DECISION MODEL 

  • logical step-by-step analysis of several possible contributing factors.
• Bounded Rationality 

  • human mind has its limits in gathering and proceesing information needed to solve complex problems.
  • a manager may not be able to solve complex problems in a logical manner
• Decision heuristics “rules of thumb”.

  • 80% of the consequences of a phenomenon is rooted from 20% percent of the causes.
• Intuitive Decision Model “gut feeling and instincts”

  • most suited for managers with several years of managerial experience, they rely on their experiences and knowledge gained from previously encountered scenarios. 
  • high rate of success, especially if done by experienced managers. 
  • often does not lead to the most ideal decision but to imperfect plans and strategies instead.
• Predisposed Decision Model “weakest”

  • weakest since the manager makes a unilateral, snap decision. 
  • Once they decide on a solution, they will no longer look for other alternative solutions. 
  • The chosen solution is considered the most acceptable and effective. 
  • tendency for the manager who makes the decision to collect data that supports his decision, ignoring all other contrary data.