Учебно-методическое пособие по развитию навыков профессионального общения. В двух частях. Ч.1: Management. Руденко Т.П - 13 стр.

           Part III. To make a decision                                     trum, we have people, who will continue calling for further facts and
                                                                            doing further investigations without reaching a decision at all. Or there
      TEXT 1                                                                are those people who keep changing their minds. I’m sure that all of us
                                                                            have worked with people who come to a conclusion one day and then
               The Decision – Making Process                                rethink the matter the following day and come to a different conclusion.
                                                                            Who is to say they are wrong? But then action, which is the lifeblood of
       The task. Imagine that you have got much money. You have to
                                                                            business, is not taken perhaps when it should be. In addition, the staff
choose: to buy a car or a house. Think a bit. Or maybe not much, but
                                                                            people who have been looking to us for a lead find it very frustrating if
some spare money. What would you choose the first? (to buy a book, to
                                                                            we keep changing our minds. If they have to adjust to new policies too
go to the cinema, to go to the restaurant).
                                                                            frequently, they will come to conclusion that perhaps we do not know
       Can you prove, that your decision is right?
                                                                            what we are doing.
       Now look through the text and think if it is easy to make any de-
                                                                                   I'm sure you will have all seen by now that decisiveness comes
cision. What of decisions are easier to make?
                                                                            with confidence, and confidence comes with knowing what we are do-
       How many groups of people can be determined? Describe them.
                                                                            ing, or at least thinking that we know what we are doing.
       All our working life we are concerned with making decisions.
                                                                                   Mechanics of decision-making consists of
Even at a very early stage we are involved in them, such as deciding
                                                                                   1) define the problem,
whether to approach the boss, whether to do A before B, whether to try
                                                                                   2) examine the facts,
to sell a customer the $100 set or the $150 set, whether to take a check
                                                                                   3) consider the alternatives,
or insist on cash. At the very top, the chairman of a large company is
                                                                                   4) include the views of others,
still making decisions, such as whether to buy another company or to
                                                                                   5) decide the course of action,
proceed into a new market, or to clinch a particular deal.
                                                                                   6) evaluate the results.
       At home again there is a series of big decision such as, should we
                                                                                   For example: it is very important for students of economics fac-
have another child, or buy a new car or a bigger house? There are also
                                                                            ulty to know English much better. What problem can you see here and
small decisions: shall we decorate the guest room this week, or shall we
                                                                            how would you consider (decide the problem).
leave it until next year? Shall we plant onions again this year when they
diet so badly last year, or shall we go for some more potatoes?
                                                                                  EXERCISES
       All these decisions have one thing in common: we are never in
possession of all facts on which to evaluate them thoroughly – in other            1. What decisions do you regularly make? List six of them, and
words, to prove the point conclusively. If we were able to do this then     describe what method you use to make them. Are any of them irrevoca-
perhaps the need for making the decision would be of a different qual-      ble decisions?
ity. However, when we are not able to prove the point but must face a              2. What was the biggest decision you have ever made? How did
decision on a balance of probabilities or estimates or guesses, then we     you make it and was it successful?
are very much dependant on another quality – decisiveness. This is the             3. List three decisions that could be made by using ranking.
capacity to make up our minds and decide to take action, and then take             4. List three decisions where simple ranking would be improved
action when we are not in possession of all the fasts.                      by weighting.
       At one end of the spectrum, we have people who will make a de-              5. List three decisions where the use of probabilities would be
cision or take action when they have no facts at all or practically no      significant.
facts. We would call these people reckless. At the other end of the spec-

                                   25                                                                          26