TECHNIQUES OF DECISION MAKING- Non-quantitative AND Quantitative

 

TECHNIQUES OF DECISION MAKING

 

There are various techniques of decision making which are grouped into two catagories-

·         Non-quantitative

·         Quantitative

Non-quantitative – it put emphasis on qualitative aspects in decision making. In application, these techniques are highly personal, widely known and considered by many as the natural way 

There are 4 non – quantitative decisions-

·         Intuition

·         Facts

·         Experience

·         Considered opinion

1.      Intuition- it is the power of mind by which it immediately perceives truth of the thing without any reasoning or analysis. Decision making based on intuition is characterized by the use of inner feelings or the gut feelings of the decision maker in making a decision. It is believed my many that the intuitive ability and is better also to anticipate the future in instances where reliable data are lacking. Managers who wish to improve their intuition may try-

·         Becoming more involved by fulfilling their minds with facts and experience in the areas where the future decision is made.

·         Practicing intuitive decision making and keeping a score and how well decision can be turned out.

·         Developing an awareness that can help in the decision making.

2.      Facts- facts are popularly regarded as an excellent basis on which decision can be made. when facts are used in decision making, the decision has its routes in the factual data which implies the premises on which the decision is based are sound, solid and intensely applicable to particular situation. With the increased capacity of data processing by computer more and more organization are using facts as the basis of decision making.

3.      Experience- a decision maker past experience improves his guidance for decision making. It helps to answer question involving what to do in a particular situation. Experience based decision have their value provided the employees is of right type and is used properly.

4.      Considered opinions- it involves considering opinions of knowledgeable persons in the field concerned. In this relevant data are collected and analyzed. The results are discussed in a group meeting opinions of various participants are sought and analyzed to arrive at a decision.

Quantitative techniques of decision making-

These are very useful in decision making involving major problem. In this, variables involved in a decision are quantified and relationships among these variables are analyzed to find out the impact of each variable. Various quantitative techniques of decision making have been developed over a period of time which have been integrated into a new discipline known as ‘operation research’. It is the application of specific quantitative tools and techniques for optimum solution to the problems. These techniques are very helpful in making decision under conditions of varying degree of uncertainty.