Week 3 BGT Discussion

 Due 2pm today

No Plagiarism

Reading material attached and posted below 

Learning Activity #1

Continue applying the decision process you have chosen to the fact pattern set out in Week two by applying the remaining steps discussed in the material. Post your ideas and be sure to explain how you arrived at your decision. Cite the weeks reading in your explanations of the various steps.

You are the vice-president of a growing candy company located in an area of town which is home to many Hindu and Muslim people. There are a growing number of local women being employed on the manufacturing floor of the business. Recently health and safety concerns have been raised by the company health and safety committee. They are asking the women wearing bangle bracelets, Sari’s, long veils or long covering clothes remove them and change into “safety attire” when entering the floor. The Hindu women do not want to remove their bangles as it is a mark of their marriage and the esteem to which their husbands hold the, the greater the value and quantity of the bangle the greater the esteem. The bangles however, can easily get caught in mixing machines causing injury to the wearer as evidenced by a recent accident. Veils and long clothing have similar problems with getting caught in the machines, as well as carrying dirt and food particles around the floor. In the case of clothing however, there are religious reasons for their being worn. You are concerned that any decision that you make will affect the morale of the employees and may even cause some to quit. In addition it may create problems with the community as well. Regardless health and safety concerns are critical to the business and the prospect of being shut down for health and safety reasons is out of the question. It is your decision to make.

Reading Material:

Theme #1:  Introduction to the Decision Making Process

This week students are introduced to the decision making process.  Many decision making models have five common elements.  These elements are:  

• Frame the decision statement
• Determine and list objectives
• Create and evaluate alternatives
• Weight and choose best alternative
• Implement and evaluate decisions

This week students will explore the first two steps of the process, part one of developing alternatives and the relationship between objectives and alternatives.

Step 1:  Framing the Decision 

• Beshears, J. and Gino, F. (2015, May).  Leaders as decision architects.  Harvard Business Review.  Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2015/05/leaders-as-decision-architects
• Framing Bias
• Structured Decision Context
• Structured Decision Making  
• Framing A Decision 
• Root Cause Analysis For Beginners  
• Guidance: The Five Why’s

Theme #2:  Defining the Objectives

Step 2:  Objectives

• Structured Decision Making: Objectives 
• Structured Decision Making: Brainstorming
• Structured Decision Making: Making Objectives
• Structured Decision Making: Separating Means from Ends
• Structured Decision Making: Objective Hierarchies
• Structured Decision Making: Testing Objectives
• Developing Objectives and Attributes
• Goal Setting and Decision Making

Theme #3:  Generating Alternatives/Collecting Data

The relationship between objectives and alternatives is a critical link. Formulating alternatives is about making the alternative accomplish as many of the objectives as possible.

• Generating Alternatives in the Decision Making Process

Theme #4: Stakeholders

• How Do Your Stakeholders Affect Your Decision Making?
• The Role and Influence of Stakeholders in Organizational Decision Making: A Case Study Of The “Off-Shoring” of Australian Jobs