What is decision-making Explain its various phases Is decision-making a rational process?

Answer 1

A good place to start is with some standard definitions of decision making. 1. Decision making is the study of identifying and choosing alternatives based on the values and preferences of the decision maker. Making a decision implies that there are alternative choices to be considered, and in such a case we want not only to identify as many of these alternatives as possible but to choose the one that (1) has the highest probability of success or effectiveness and (2) best fits with our goals, desires, lifestyle, values, and so on. 2. Decision making is the process of sufficiently reducing uncertainty and doubt about alternatives to allow a reasonable choice to be made from among them. This definition stresses the information-gathering function of decision making. It should be noted here that uncertainty is reducedrather than eliminated. Very few decisions are made with absolute certainty because complete knowledge about all the alternatives is seldom possible. Thus, every decision involves a certain amount of risk. This study investigates the moderating roles of environmental munificence and dynamism in the relationship between process rationality and organizational performance. Based on a sample of 62 manufacturing firms, the study found that environmental munificence and dynamism moderate the relationship between rationality and performance. Further, the study found that rationality is strongly associated with performance in environments high in munificence and dynamism.