Effective Decision Making Techniques And Seating Plans For Problem-Solving Groups And The Role Of Artefacts In Understanding An Organization’s Culture

Decision Making Techniques and Seating Plans for Two Different Problem-Solving Groups

1. You have been asked to recommend decision making techniques and seating plans for two different problem-solving groups. What techniques and seating plans would you recommend for each and why? What techniques and seating plans would you suggest they avoid and why? Group 1 Medium-large group, anonymity needs to be preserved, you are required to provide a clear, quantitative view of opinions, you need to avoid letting destructive minorities take over and you need to deal with several ideas. Group 2 Small-medium group of people who do not know each other, task needs creative approach in the early stages, there is a skilled leader, you need to avoid negative group pressure and give all ideas equal consideration.

2. How do artefacts give insights into an organisation’s culture? Give examples by describing the artefacts of at least two organisations and relating them to the culture. 

The decision making techniques vary with the problem that has to be dealt. Broadly there are six types of decision making techniques – Decision Matrix, T-chart, Decision Tree, Multivoting, Pareto Analysis, Cost Benefit and Conjoint Analysis (Yu 2013).

The decision making technique that needs to be applied in the first group that consists of a medium-large group size is Pareto analysis. This technique of decision making is used when a large number of factors are to be considered while forming the decision. In this technique, the decision maker needs to prioritize the factors and the options that would have the biggest impact on the decision (Yu 2013).

In the parlance of the group this technique would ensure that the identity of the group would be preserved yet the adequate solution to the problems would be extracted by analyzing all the solutions individually and prioritize the main problem and the adequate solution to the problem. The technique would help in the collection of the quantitative views of opinion from the individuals and then the evaluation could be done later by the group leader. In this group, there is a destructive minority that disrupts the formulation of the best solution, and thus, this technique would ensure that the decision making process is performed at the discretion of the team leader by the majority. This technique is helpful in dealing with the several ideas in the same time as it allows all the members to be active at the same time.

The seating arrangement that needs to be followed should be that would allow the leader to identify the minority group with the in the group that is giving trouble in the decision making process. Those trouble-making group members should be scattered in a manner that the every trouble making group member should be accompanied and surrounded by the trouble making members.

The other group that consists of the small-medium group of people needs to adopt the t-chart technique because that would ensure the group to weigh the positive and negative effect of the solution provided by the group. As the group members do not know each other, they would be unaware of the strengths and weaknesses of the group members. Thus, this technique would help the group to evaluate the solutions provided by the group member and reach a decision to an adequate solution to the problem. This technique would ensure that the group members produces the most relevant idea and work on that individually, and then the ideas would be evaluated and analyzed with the concurrence of the other members. The leadership in this group has to be definite and firm yet democratic and transformational. This technique would help the leader to lead the group as the technique would help the leader to evaluate the scenario and assess the strength and weaknesses of the group members. This would help the leader to identify the people with negative ideas that would adversely affect the decision making the process of the group. After the identification of the negative members, the leader would be able to formulate solutions on how to transform these negative opinions into the positive outlook that would help in the decision make the process of the group.

Group 1: Medium-Large Group

The seating arrangement that needs to be followed by the group has to be that would ensure that the members who have negative ideas are accompanied by a member that has a positive outlook so that the mindset of the former member could be transformed. And they should be seated nearby the leader so that he would be able to look at the performance of the member with the negative outlook. 

Artefacts are the superficial manifestation of the of the organization’s culture. These are visible in the socially weaved and physically constructed environment within the organization. There are many forms of artefacts as described by Edgar Schein- material objects, architecture, language, artistic creation, clothing styles, and myths, manners of addressing, emotional display and stories told about any organization. According to Schein, the culture is the assumption behind the actual beliefs, values, artefacts and behavior patterns rather than the actual culture of the organization. He propagated that there were three levels of the structure to explain the culture of the organization and all the three levels are reflective of the extent of the individuals and their accessibility and visibility to them ( Wild 2014).

The material objects are capable of providing an insight into the organization’s culture as they are instrumental in creating the culture. The architecture of the building of the organization creates an image about the organization and its culture. It highlights the working environment of the organization and affects the employee’s feelings and working experience and also the customer’s perspective about the company. The language was spoken, and the phrases circulated within the company are indicative of the company’s culture. The stories disseminated about the company reflect the history and procedures followed by the organization; myth, on the flip side, is the false stories circulated about the organization( Hurcombe 2014). The clothing style reflects the attitude of the company about their working attitude of the employees. All these directs to the overall assumption of the culture that is prevalent in the organization however that assumption might be wrong, and the actual culture might differ from the assumptions. The assumptions are more or less right as the all the parameters are suggestive of the culture that is prevalent in the organization. In the following examples, it is clear that the approach of the companies mentioned is quite reflective of the actual cultures that are prevalent in the organization (Guffey 2012).

Apple, for example, has some distinctive cultural artefacts that put the company apart from the other companies. The logo of the company portrays an apple that is half bitten. This logo reflects the innovative stance taken by the company in the field of technology. Everything that the company does reflect the innovative aspect of the company and indicates the dedication of the company and its employees towards the innovative approach for the development of the technology they deal (Hurcombe 2014). The new architectural design of the headquarters of the company is designed by the well known architect who has been famous for his innovative designs- Norman Foster. The headquarter is designed in such a manner that it looks like a spacecraft which signifies that out of the box thinking of the company; which is also reflective in the mission and vision statement of the company.

Samsung, on the other hand, has a logo that it is plain and simple and easy to remember and has a very deep meaning to it. The eclipse in the logo represents the universe; the blue color represents sky and ocean and the alignment of the ‘s’ and ‘g’ with the borderline suggests that the connection of Samsung with the world. But this simplicity and easy to remember logo is reflective of their approach towards innovation that the lacks in comparison to regards to the contribution to the field of technology. They have provided innovative options in their Smartphone, but the periphery is limited. The architectural design of headquarter is as simple as their logo. Headquarter of Samsung has all the modern amenities that is heard of however it lacks the innovation and awe-inspiring factor that Apple’s architectural design suggests. 

References

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Hurcombe, L., 2014. Archaeological artefacts as material culture. Routledge.

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