Decision-making is usually defined as a process or sequence of activities involving stages of problem recognition, search for information, definition of alternatives and the selection of the best possible and feasible solution two or more alternatives consistent with the ranked preferences.
An important characteristic of decision-making is that it is never the product of a single man. It does not originate from a single brain; it is always the product of several men or brains who work together. In any governmental organization several bureaucrats or officers work together and after considering all the aspects a decision is taken. Different elements such as human beings, economic factors, political phenomena, government departments, different institutions, organizations, groups etc. are actively or inactively involved in the social activities. But for a comprehensive social management a composite decision must be made and this cannot be done with the formulation of decision. Situations, factors, elements, processes, persons all are to be brought under an umbrella and this is decision.
Characteristics of decision-making
- Objectives must first be established and classified and placed in order of importance.
- Alternative actions must be developed and the alternatives must be evaluated against all the objectives.
- The alternative that is able to achieve all the objectives is the tentative decisions and is evaluated for more possible consequences.
- The decisive actions are taken, and additional actions are taken to prevent any adverse consequences from becoming problems and starting both systems (problem analysis and decision-making) all over again.
Taking of a decision is not all it is to be properly formulated. Then the issues of implementation and evaluation arise. Researchers have divided all these into four different categories which are: Policy initiation, policy formulation, policy implementation and policy evaluation. AHP, ANP, TOPSIS, DEMATEL, DELPHI METHOD, ELECTRE, Fuzzy etc. are few Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) Techniques which are widely used for decision analysis.
Written By:- Shashikant, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, FET, MRIIRS
Manav Rachna Educational Institutions 