Business Decision Making

Major focus:

1. Apply process and procedure analysis to improve performance and lower cost

2. Use business acumen financial fundamentals to build a business case

3. Understand how humans make decisions

4. Identify the scope and constraints of a decision

5. Involve the "right people" in the process

6. Identify the likely risks in the best alternatives

7. Make decisions that have positive outcomes

Whether it's a single department or an entire organization, a company's success is based on the quality of the decisions it makes. The outcome of a good decision-making approach will be reflected in the retention of customers, proper manpower allocation, the purchase of cost effective equipment, and a number of other significant bottom line issues. Good decision-making is not innate, nor does it improve with position or power. A good decision is the direct result of knowing decision making criteria, the scope of your choices, and the inherent risk of each alternative. Given the importance of making a good decision, it makes sense to have an approach that the organization understands and uses to insure that decisions are successful.

In addition, participants and the organization will experience the following benefits:

• Greater confidence in decisions that are made
• The ability to provide a rationale for a decision or recommendation
• An improvement in teamwork by using a common process that promotes
  the inclusion of all stakeholders
• The value of a systematic decision making process
• A decision making approach that creates a tendency to have positive outcomes