Week 10 Tutorial

The topic discussed in this week’s tutorial was on Decision-making processes, particularly on Rational Models of Decision Making and Alternatives to Rational Models. As my tutor Arna explained, the Rational Approach is the most commonly used in organizations today, as it is the most effective. Thus, it is important for it to be intensely discussed. One of the examples given by Arna regarded the way a kid asked her mother about how she cooks her chicken, why she always cuts it into half before putting it in the oven. The mother explained that this was due to what her mother had taught her, leading her to go back to ask her grandmother the same question in order to find out the answer. In other words, what Arna tried to explain was that things change every now and then, and we should always keep asking questions to get to the root of it, in order to obtain the best and most accurate result.

From this example given, I learnt that this gives everyone a chance in participating in the decision making process where everyone contributes by voicing out their questions and opinions. This clearly shows an advantage of participation. On the contrary, if only one person is allowed to have their say rather than everyone, the disadvantage of participation will lead to conflict in an organization. As I have learnt, in order to solve a problem, the essential characteristics that should not be missed include identifying the characteristics of a solution, and solving them with choices and taking all opinions in to consideration. Then with the closest opinions provided, finalizing the best choices by selecting the closest ones that match the characteristics that suit and benefit the organization. Another example Arna explained was about group thinking, about how some individuals may not voice their opinions as they felt pressured by other group members who dominated the group. This is when the participatory system comes into the picture, as the group will be guided where everyone stands a chance in voicing out their opinions.

The group work given in this tutorial was a preparation on a presentation where group members would have to discuss and decide on the assessment. In this group exercise, I experienced the decision making process, where each of my group members and I had a chance in voicing out our opinions and they were taken in to consideration fairly. There are 3 different stages in the decision-making process, and the example above shows the individual and group stages. Aside from this, another exercise was given to 3 leaders from different groups and the other students had the chance to observe the leaders, where each of them represented each of their groups in voicing out the final opinions of each group. What I gained from this exercise was that we should not give up on our opinions easily or let others dominate our point of view, as everyone stands a chance to fight for our own views. Besides, the leaders demonstrated the importance of discussing the topic thoroughly and settling with a more relevant points. The leaders also constantly checked the characteristics with each other throughout the meeting. One small issue that occurred in the middle of the discussion was where a misunderstanding took place. This slowed down the discussion process. Those involved should have figured out a system used in discussion beforehand and others should have guided the meeting and gathered all the views, in order to speed up the discussion process without going through miscommunication.