Problem Formulation and Identification Paper

One of the most important parts of a manager’s job is to make decisions. Even more important for the organization is the manager’s ability to recognize and choose the correct decision-making style for the problem or situation to have a positive outcome. According to Robbins, “Decision-making style refers to the habitual patterns we tend to fall back on when faced with a decision situation” (2004, p. 21). The four main styles of decision making include: democratic, autocratic, collective-participative, and consensus. The members of team “C” attending University of Phoenix course MGT-350 have identified and analyzed how their organizations make decisions. There are inherent strengths and weaknesses each style poses and management needs to be sensitive to the perspectives of the stakeholders because they can be impacted by the organization’s decisions.
Compare and Contrast
The organization Judy works for is the Federal Government. Judy believes her organization is autocratic in its decision making style. Decisions are made by hierarchy in headquarters located in Washington, D.C. The leaders maintain total control and ownership for their decisions. They collect information for their decisions but do not request ideas or suggestions from others for their decision.
Jon’s organization is a large architecture firm in Los Angeles. Jon believes his organization’s decision making style is autocratic and collective – participative. The managers of his organization keep detailed lists and charts for projects, which show how the projects are to be completed. Managers have the responsibility to ensure projects are kept within budget and meet state and local building codes. Often changes have to be made to ensure the project follows building codes and is within budget. When managers use a collective – participative decision making style they consider input from stakeholders and others to make decisions. Times may arise when managers will pursue an autocratic decision making...