《管理学原理》英文版第三章.ppt

We assume that managers’ decision making will be rational; that is, they’ll make logical and consistent choices to maximize value. After all, managers have all sorts of tools and techniques to help them be rational decision makers A rational decision maker would be fully objective and logical. The problem faced would be clear and unambiguous, and the decision maker would have a clear and specific goal and know all possible alternatives and consequences. Finally, making decisions rationally would consistently lead to selecting the alternative that maximizes the likelihood of achieving that goal * A more realistic approach to describing how managers make decisions is the concept of bounded rationality, which says that managers make decisions rationally, but are limited (bounded) by their ability to process information.14 Because they can’t possibly analyze all information on all alternatives, managers satisfice, rather than maximize. That is, they accept solutions that are “good enough.” * Intuitive decision making can complement both bounded rationality and rational decision making. First of all, a manager who has had experience with a similar type of problem or situation often can act quickly with what appears to be limited information because of that past experience * Some problems are straightforward. The goal of the decision maker is clear, the problem familiar, and information about the problem easily defined and complete. Examples might include a supplier’s tardiness with an important delivery, a customer’s wanting to return an Internet purchase, etc. Many situations faced by managers, however, are unstructured problems. They are new or unusual. Information about such problems is ambiguous or incomplete. * Programmed, or routine, decision making is the most efficient way to handle structured problems. However, when problems are unstructured, managers must rely on nonprogrammed decision making in order to develop unique solutions. * Exhibit 3-8 describes the