Business Decision Analytic Assignment Answer

Introduction : Business Decision Analytics: Tools and Techniques for Effective Decision-Making

Get free samples written by our Top-Notch subject experts for taking assignment help services.

Decision-making has always been a great challenge for the individuals and organisations as well. In business, a wrong decision can be very disastrous. There are various tools and techniques that are used for making decisions as an individual and group. In this report, reflection on group & individual decision-making is provided along with business analytics. In addition to this, a discussion on biases affecting the decision-making and ways to reduce them is done. Furthermore, four decision making tools have been elaborated w.r.t their application in the given scenario. Some visualisations are also presented for a better understanding.

Problem Statement

For this assessment, I am working as an IT Head at Torrens University. The senior management carried out a survey among the employees and determined that the majority of them are not carrying out their job properly. This might be due to improper guidance and clarity of work they are assigned with. To curb this problem, all the departmental heads were called in the management meeting and I was a part of it. Various solutions were proposed and after collecting data associated with each option and a decision was made. I am the one who is responsible to finalise the ultimate proposal. I agreed on the implementation of ERP systems in the University for assigning work and check the status on a regular basis.

Critical Reflection on the Key Themes

During the course, I learned about the individual as well as group decision-making. I am aware of the fact that the decision-making is not an easy task. It may get affected by various factors. Point to note here is that the factors affecting individual decision-making may or may not affect the group decisions (Litvaj& Stancekova, 2015). I am aware of this fact while deciding for a solution to the current issues Torrens University is facing. In order to make a decision regarding any of the solution, the first and foremost thing I do is the collection of information that would help me in analysing the situation, its pros and cons, and its likely impact on the University and its staff (Goetsch& Davis, 2014). The first and foremost thing I did was to gather the information about the factors affecting the productivity of the staff members.

In the meeting, many people came up with various suggestions. Choosing the right option out of them was the greatest challenge for me. I was aware of the fact that group decision making is affected by numerous factors (Ailan, et.al, 2013). Some factors are more significant for the senior management while some may not agree to them. In order to do justice with everyone as an IT head, I tried to collect information and data about the issues and suggestions made by the group. If the data is not collected properly and analysed thoroughly, then this would result in poor decision-making. I have realised with time that every person has some certain mental limitations that constraints the amount of information handling. I have seen that some senior leaders make decisions based on less information, thereby ending up in turmoil (Cameron & Green, 2015). There are certain techniques for decision-making I have employed to make up my final decisions. I personally gathered information from each department about the issues their employees face. This helped me in analyse the most common issues affecting the work motivation of the employees (Litvaj& Stancekova, 2015). There are certain decision-making techniques for analytics I employed for making decisions.

• Diagnostic Analytics:By making use of this method, I determine the reasons for the poor performance of the employees and its history. Once the reasons were identified, I made the necessary steps and asked the group members to provide their valuable solutions for the same.
• Prescriptive Analytics:The technique helped me in understanding the past as well as present issues. Based on the analysis, future trends and issues are forecasted. Future actions can be corrected by making use of these issues. Poor performance issues are existing in the University from a very long time. Understanding the issues helped me in limiting them in the future (Ailan, et.al, 2013).
• Descriptive Analytics:By making use of this technique, I was able to evaluate past events. Having a deep understanding of the past event helped me in planning for the future. I prepared a report on the issues associated with the employees and senior management. Their feedbacks were collected with the help of a questionnaire. The data collected helped me in understanding the root cause of the issues.

While working on the issues, I came across certain biases that affect decision-making issues. The first and foremost is cognitive bias. Usually, managers and heads of any institution focus only on the most important aspect. This may be due to the fact that it is most recent, consistently impacting the organisation, or might be unusual. It has also been identified that senior management usually discards the specific elements (Cameron & Green, 2015). As an IT head, it is my duty to reduce or avoid biases. This can be done by removing the biases. This can be done by establishing equality among the staff and offering equal opportunities to the employees. In addition to this, it was found that the lack of clarity of work is another issue (Chapman, 2015). Hence, the departmental heads should make use of unbiased and clear language. If the employees are provided with clear expectations and scope of the work, they would be able to carry out their work effectively and on time.

Visualisation of the Decision-Making Process & Analytics

Decision-making is a complex process and if not done according to a suitable plan, then one cannot make a wise decision. There are certain steps that one needs to follow in order to make a suitable decision.

These are defined below:-

• Issue Identification: The very basic step in dealing with a problem is to identify all of its aspects. I understand that poor communication is the major issue for the poor performance of the employees. Poor direction and leadership are other factors contributing to the problem (Chapman, 2015).
• Data Collections: Once I determine the issues, I collected the data regarding the cause of those issues. Frequently changing the leadership and leaders in each department is hindering the working of each department. I also referred to historic performance data of each employee
• Data Analysis: Once all this information is collected, I ranked those issues as per their likely impact onthe University. Analysis of the data is done in order to get the useful inference out of them. I assess differed viewpoints identified with the attainability, worthiness, and allure. This has helped me in the accomplishment of the best result. In this progression, I gauge the results in an agreement to the advantages and disadvantages (Govindan, et.al, 2015).
• Review of Alternatives: By making use of decision making tools, I ranked the alternatives and compare them based on their pros and cons. A decision matrix is used for the review of the alternatives. I tried to determine the best option based on the data analysis I carried out.
• Zeroing down on the Best Solution: As I had numerous arrangements, I chose to choose the most ideal solution for the issue. I chose to change the information passage framework in the records branch of the University. Prior information was recorded in the exceed expectations sheets by the lesser representatives which prompted different issues as left out of significant data of the significant exchange and furthermore loss of information (Litvaj& Stancekova, 2015).

Decision-Making Tools for the Case Scenario

To conduct a suitable decision in the given scenario regarding the implementation of ERP to manage the work within departments and motivate the employees. I make use of certain decision-making tools and techniques:-

• SWOT Analysis:As an IT head, I am obligated to implement the significant changes in the University to keep it going and growing. Hence, I would definitely make use of SWOT analysis. I have to determine the strengths and weaknesses of each and every alternative provided in the group meeting. In addition to this, the SWOT would also help in determining the threats and opportunities of each suggestion. This much information can be utilised in getting the right directions and support for the decisions (Sun& Lam, 2015). It can be used to recognize the top reason for the issues related to every option to address them on earlier premise. In addition to this, it supports in the examination of the hazard factors that enables the executives to concentrate on such factors that majorly affect the work tasks of Torrens University.
• Pareto Analysis:Since the aim is to determine the technique to resolve the performance issue of employees working at Torrens University, Pareto analysis could be the best option. It will help in identifying the most effective alternative for the University. Identifying the issues faced by 20% of the employees can help in making a large impact. The Pareto examination is one of the best procedure where the arrangement of the course of the activity is contending at a quick pace for consideration. This helped me in the compelling investigation and assessment of the fluctuated terms and perspectives related to every elective prompting the better and positive basic leadership (Rezaei, 2015).
• Decision Matrix:As there were many suggestions on the following case, the decision matrix is the best way to list down the benefits and limitations of each alternative. In addition to this, I was able to put the importance score on each suggestion (Kou, et.al, 2016). The concerned devices aid the recognizable proof and estimation of the qualities and shortcoming of the arrangement of the options. This likewise helped me in the assurance of the best and reasonable result (Cameron & Green, 2015). Further gave, it helped me in the better correlation of the potential approaches.This method would help anyone in determining and compare the reliability of each option provided in the group meeting.
• Feasibility Analysis:This technique is widely used for determining the soundness of the suggestion or idea. The feasibility can be accessed in terms of financial suitability, wherein the cost and benefits of the idea are analysed. If the cost of implementing the ERP exceeds its monetary and social benefits, then the idea would be discarded. The concerned instruments aid the recognizable proof and estimation of the qualities and shortcoming of the arrangement of the choices (Chapman, 2015). This what's more helped me in the assurance of the best and reasonable result. Further gave, it helped me in the better correlation of the potential approaches.

Conclusion

In this assessment, a thorough discussion is carried out in order to understand how decision-making is carried out in an organisation. A hypothetical case of Torrens University was framed and the solution was provided to resolve the issue. The whole decision-making process is elaborated here. The decision-making tools, such as SWOT, Pareto analysis, Decision matrix, and feasibility analysis. In addition to this, certain biases in the decision making were discussed in the report and some suggestions to reduce or control them were provided. It was figured out that choosing the right option out of them was the greatest challenge for me. I was aware of the fact that group decision making is affected by numerous factors.

References

• Ailan, C., Kumanan, S., Sivakumaran, N., & Edwin Raja Dhas, J. (2013). Modeling and prediction of machining quality in cnc turning process using intelligent hybrid decision making tools.  Applied Soft Computing Journal,13(3), 1543-1551. doi:10.1016/j.asoc.2012.03.071.  
• Cameron, E., & Green, M. (2015).  Making sense of change management: A complete guide to the models, tools, and techniques of organizational change. Kogan Page Publishers.
• Chapman, R., & Institute of Risk Management. (2012).  Simple tools and techniques for enterprise risk management(2nd ed.) [2nd ed.]. Chichester, England: Wiley. (2012). Retrieved July 2, 2019, from INSERT-MISSING-DATABASE-NAME.
• Goetsch, D. L., & Davis, S. (2014).  Quality management for organizational excellence: Introduction to total quality.
• Govindan, K., Rajendran, S., Sarkis, J., & Murugesan, P. (2015). Multi-criteria decision making approaches for green supplier evaluation and selection: a literature review. Journal of Cleaner Production,  98, 66-83.
• Henry (2014). A hybrid multiple criteria decision-making model for investment decision making. Journal of Business Economics and Management, 15(3), 509-529. doi:10.3846/16111699.2012.722563
• Kou, G., Ergu, D., Lin, C., & Chen, Y. (2016). Pairwise comparison matrix in multiple criteria decision making.  Technological and Economic Development of Economy,  22(5), 738-765.
• Kou, G., Ergu, D., Lin, C., & Chen, Y. (2016). Pairwise comparison matrix in multiple criteria decision making. Technological and Economic Development of Economy, 22(5), 738-765.
• Litvaj, I., & Stancekova, D. (2015). Decision-making, and their relation to knowledge management, use of knowledge management in decision-making. Procedia Economics and Finance,  23, 467-472.
• Rezaei, J. (2015). Best-worst multi-criteria decision-making method.  Omega,  53, 49-57.
• Sun, H., Ni, W., & Lam, R. (2015). A step-by-step performance assessment and improvement method for ERP implementation: Action case studies in Chinese companies.  Computers in Industry,  68, 40-52.