Title: The Decision‐Making Process
Headings: The Decision‐Making Process
Principles of Management
The Decision‐Making Process
Define the problem

Content: Opportunities for discussion help to answer questions and reduce uncertainties for the decision makers. These points are among the disadvantages: This method can be more time‐consuming than one individual making the decision on his own. The decision reached could be a compromise rather than the optimal solution. Individuals become guilty of groupthink — the tendency of members of a group to conform to the prevailing opinions of the group. Groups may have difficulty performing tasks because the group, rather than a single individual, makes the decision, resulting in confusion when it comes time to implement and evaluate the decision. The results of dozens of individual‐versus‐group performance studies indicate that groups not only tend to make better decisions than a person acting alone, but also that groups tend to inspire star performers to even higher levels of productivity. So, are two (or more) heads better than one? The answer depends on several factors, such as the nature of the task, the abilities of the group members, and the form of interaction. Because a manager often has a choice between making a decision independently or including others in the decision making, she needs to understand the advantages and disadvantages of group decision making.