Decision Making Process Paper

Decision-Making Process Paper MGT/230 June 26, 2011 Abstract The decision-making process has six stages. These stages consist of identifying and diagnosing the problem, generating alternative solutions, evaluating alternatives, making the choice, implementing the decision, and evaluate the decision. Choosing to go back to school and what school to attend was a problem that I had that needed to be figured out. I did not use the decision-making process; if I had I am not sure if my decision would have been the same. Deciding to go back to school was something I thought about for a few months but taking the steps to do so was something that only took an hour to do. The decision-making process has six stages but I may have only taken three of those steps in my process. The decision-making stages are to identify and diagnose the problem, generate alternative solutions, evaluate alternatives, make the choice, implement the decision, and evaluate the decision (Management, 2011). To identify and diagnose the problems means to recognize a problem or something he of she wants to do that exist and solve it. Generate alternative solutions can be divide into two categories, which are ready-made solutions and custom-made solutions. Ready made solutions are solutions you have tried before or advice from others with similar problems, and custom made solutions are solutions designed for a specific solution. Evaluate alternatives means deciding which solution will be best and which solution will fit the problem that you have. After considering all the solution, you will have to make a choice. Once you have made your choice, implement the decision. Implement the decision means to take action. Start the plan to solve your problem. The last stage is to evaluate the decision by collecting information on how well the decision is working. These are the six stages of the decision-making process. My problem was deciding ongoing back to school and which school to attend. My steps were to think about what would be best and my family in regard to me to go back to school, which school to go to, and apply to that school. My family was involved in y process because I wanted their input on everything that I did. My first step was to discuss the idea ongoing back to school, which to my family was not an issue because they believed that I had so much knowledge that I needed to do something with it, but I was hesitant because of my children. My second step was to decide which school to attend. The choice was between University of Phoenix and Gaston Community College. I choice these two schools because my stepmother goes to Phoenix and she advis ed me it would be a good opportunity. Gaston Community College was a suggestion my boyfriend had because it was close to where I lived but the only problem was my children were not in daycare, so who would be able to watch them and I was in school. Another problem was they did not offer any online programs that year in my field. My decision was easy because I thought of my children first. The last step I took was applying to University of Phoenix. I did not take the same steps as the decision-making process contains but I may have taken a few. I did identify that I had a problem, came up with solutions, make a choice and implemented my decision. The decision-making process has six steps, but I only used four of those steps in my process. If I had used the decision-making process my decision may be different. If I had thought about every detail of my life, for example, my children going to school this year, I may have chosen the community college because it would have been convenient at the time. Also if I had taken the steps to talk to daycares about putting my youngest child in one, I would not have to worry about finding a babysitter when I went to school. The decision-making process would have made me ask questions about what I wanted and what I could do. The process also would have allowed me to evaluate my decision and determine if a community college would have been right. My problem was going back to school and which school to attend. I may not have followed the decision-making process but I do believe I have made the right choice. The decision-making process has six stages: identify and diagnose the problem, generate alternative solutions, evaluate alternatives, make the choice, implement the decision, and evaluate the decision. The decision-making process can be very effective if one were to use it. Reference Bateman, T. S. , and Snell, S. A (2011). Management: Leading & Collaborating in a Competitive World (9th e. d. ). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin.