Smart Decision Making For Ademark Business Training And Consulting

Overview of Ademark Business Training and Consulting’s Decision-Making Meetings

Questions:

Task description

• Arrange to sit in on decision making meetings at the operational and strategic management levels within your organisation.

• Note the nature of problems dealt with at each level. Are they tame or wicked?

• Note the approach to decision making for each type of problem that you have identified. In particular discuss whether the approaches are qualitative or quantitative
in nature. Are the approaches appropriate for the type of problem?

• Finally, track the decision making process. Does it comply with rational problem solving approach suggested by Williams (2002)?

• Do you have any recommendations for decision makers at various levels in your organisation based on your understanding of theory frameworks?

At Ademark Business Training and consulting, strategic and operational decision meetings are held monthly. In attendance are three non-management members who consist of the chairman, vice chairman and the secretary while management members consist of four members who are Managing Partner, Head Finance, Marketing and Operations.

The meeting is meant to address two critical issues affecting the strategic and the operational goal of the firm. On the strategic front the management is confronted with the decision of either renewing the company’s franchise with its licensee or revoking it. On the subject of franchise some favor renewing of the franchise because of the brand association attached to the franchise which is considered mileage for the company in term of marketing, and its subsequent impact on the turnover. Other group favors cancellation base on cost – benefit analysis and the implication on the company performance on the medium and long term. On the operational front, the organization has a fairly sophisticated operational planning and something more was needed because service performance and customer satisfaction are declining thus should on- line/ digital training be introduced.

The problem on the surface looks like a tame problem base on the features, according to Ritchey pg. 2 (2005) which are a relatively well-defined and stable problem statement, definite stopping point, i.e. we know when a solution is reached, solution which can be objectively evaluated as being right or wrong, belongs to a class of similar problems which can be solved in a similar manner and have solutions which can be tried and abandoned. However further debate on the subject reveal that the problem has taken a “wicked problem” dimension because of its trait which is hazy, uncertain and associated with strong professional conflict clash. These ever changing dynamic interacting issues evolving in our business setting had prevented consensus as regard problem identification not to mention proffering solution.

As company head, I approach the problem by noting all shades of opinion during discussion and introduce SMART tool to address both issues. According to Williams S.W. (2002) there are four (4) steps toward rational business decision taking which are

1. Problem identification: In order to identify the problem, properly review the organizational process and analyze the purpose of the organizational business. Based on analysis and review, problems will be identified.

2. Criteria Definition: After identify the problem, need to judge the process properly. Appropriate judgment or proper decide will be the best methodology in increasing standard of the business.

3. Alternative generation & evaluation: After identify the problems , need to generate alternative strategy that will be better in running the process as well as making appropriate decision. Evaluation of this alternative strategy helps in increasing standards.

4. Implementation: Form the committee including leaders and managers of the organization in order to implemental the alternative strategies properly within the business process.

The Complexities of the Franchise Renewal Decision

Strategic Decision on Franchise Criteria Definition & weighting

Criterion	Weight (1-10)
Price	7
Cost effectiveness	8
User friendly	10
Performance driven	10
Structural modification	8
Revenue enhancement	9

Fig- 1.1

Assessment alternative

Alternative	Price	Cost effective	User friendly	Performance driven	Structural modification	Revenue enhancement
Renewal	6	3	8	7	6	7
Internal development	2	3	8	9	6	5
Alliance/Partnership	9	2	9	9	8	7

Fig 1:2

Cumulative assessment alternative

Alternative	Price	Cost effective	User friendly	Performance driven	Structural modification	Revenue enhancement	total
Renewal	42	24	80	70	48	63	327
Internal Development	14	24	80	90	48	45	301
Alliance/Partnership	63	16	90	90	64	63	383

Fig 1:3

Operational Decision on Customer service

Criteria definition & weighting

Criterion	Weight (1-10)
Employee attitude	8
Flexibility	6
Standard delivery	7
Corporate safety	7
Revenue generation.	8

Fig 1:4

Assessment alternative

Alternative	Attitude	Flexibility	Standard Delivery	Corporate Safety	Revenue generation.
In-house training	7	5	7	8	6
On-line training	6	8	9	9	8
Out sourcing	3	6	8	5	10

Fig 1:5

Cumulative Assessment alternative

Alternative	Attitude	Flexibility	Standard Delivery	Corporate Safety	Revenue Generation	Total.
In- house training	56	30	49	56	48	239
On-line training	48	48	63	63	64	286
Out sourcing	24	36	56	35	80	231

Fig 1:6

From the above data it shows that the strategic business decision on the issue of franchise should be alliance and partnership while the operation business decision on issue of customer’s service should be on-line training base on the qualitative and quantitative cumulating value. The approaches are appropriate because it capture all relevant information both mathematical and instinctive which is critical for rational and intuitive decision making. Because of the peculiarity of the wicked problem, qualitative approach draws on experience and expertise which together groom strong business instinct concerning likelihood of success. Its approach requires experiential knowledge. In this classical case it meant to address the issue of franchise and its implication on other units, the intricate interplay of the variable in the organization, such as the inter personal network among units in the organization and the overall availability of resources for its execution. In simpler term, it has correlation with intuitive feel for how the decision will play out the organization, which can only come from direct, hand- on experience. The Quantitative Approach was adopted due to mathematical concept which brings measurability; where there is absence of direct experience it made available reasonable, logic, objective decision possible.

1. First and foremost the statement problem is a clear and unambiguous because it about the status of the franchise which require revocation or renewal at the strategic front and issue of quality customer service at the operation front. Williams (pg. 14, 2002) explained that decision ought to be under complete rationality, decision maker see problem clearly and unambiguous and they have complete information regarding the decision situation.

2. Possible solution in this classical case is structural modification in relation to strategic decision and Quality service in relation of operation decision. The compliance with Williams’s problem solving process is single, well defined goal having no conflict with other goals. The strategic goals in this case have no conflict the operational goal

3. All criteria and alternative can be identified, ranking preference is clear and unchanging and decision makers are aware of possible consequence associated with it. In this case criteria associated with strategic decisions are Franchise price, cost effectiveness, user friendliness, performance driven, standard modification, revenue generation and its alternatives are renewal, internal development, and alliance/ partnership while operation decision criteria are attitude, flexibility, standard delivery, corporate safety, revenue generation and its alternative are on-line training, in- house training and outsourcing.

4. With clarity of criteria and alternative available with its quantitative and qualitative approach, time and resource can be deplored for execution various possibilities and to contemplate various outcomes

5. The tool accommodate all professional views by capturing all decision making concern which are completeness, operationally, decomposability, absence of redundancy and minimum of size. Hence decision will be implemented willing and supported by all decision making group.

Introducing SMART Tools to Address Ademark Business Training and Consulting’s Challenges

In spite of the remarkable solution the qualitative and quantitative decision making process proffer, it does have its own limitation.

Quantitative models can fail because a manager over- or underestimates, or entirely fails to account for, an important variable. For example, overreliance on the relative profitability of various units as parameter for allot resources doesn’t account for scalability. Some of the top-producing units like finance unit might be operating at peak productivity; more resources won’t generate proportionally more profits because the employees simply can’t work any faster.

Illogic can cripple either approach, but the quantitative approach is more vulnerable because it relies so heavily on formal reasoning. For example one may be deluded base on fig 1:3 that alliance/ partnership may be the best business decision based on its cumulative value of its criteria and alternative matrix. Therefore, close monitoring of results is vital to validate the reasoning behind a quantitative decision. In contrast, managers using the qualitative approach likely have fair expectations for how their decisions will play out due to past experiences in similar situations.

The employees in the organization are equipped with different set of mentality and working behavior which can be difficult for the management to combine their effort for better organizational effectiveness. On the other hand, the employees may have grudges and hatred with some other workers which may be difficult for the manager or leader to align their activities and it can directly affect the productivity of the company (Pasulka, 2013). Therefore, management has to control the activities and behavior of the employees so that they can contribute more towards the organizational goal and bring higher earnings. Thus, if employee have negative attitudes towards the company and its people then it can be tough for the management to engage them in organizational operations.

The world of business intelligence is shifting rapidly and training business is at the core of that shift. The quality of business decision made at top management level has a multiplier effect on other units of the business. Our business entity requires change in our business decision process in order to stay competitive and the best approach must be both qualitative and quantitative combined, reason being depth of experience with keen mathematical reasoning to make tough decision offers a better chance of success than either would separately. Each element complements the other, creating maximally efficient and effective solutions to difficult problems. Pasulka pg. 2 (2013) explained in his white paper which supports three key changes enabled by mobile business intelligence: Change the way you communicate value, change the way you operate, change the way you work together, this implies need for business decision to be reasonable, logical, objective and rational in its outcome.

Reference

Williams, SW 2002, Making better Business Decisions: understanding and improving critical thinking and problem-solving skills, Thousand Oaks California; Sage Publications – Chapter 1

Pasulka, S 2013, This Changes Everything. Mobile Analytics and the Future of Business. Tableau Software, Seattle Tableau – whitepaper_this-changeseverything2. pdf

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