Name MBA522 Discussion – Unit 1 Page: 1

The decision making process is important because it sets a good foundation and a path to
consistency. Decisions may end up being good or bad, but they are more likely to be beneficial
to the organization if the decision maker takes his or her time, gathers all available
data/evidence, and then assesses the underlying problem in order to develop an effective
solution. The outcome of any decision is typically what is scrutinized when things go wrong.
The process might have been flawless, but if the outcome of the decision was negative, the
decision maker will normally face tough questions. Most organizations are results-driven, and
the management that I’ve encountered tend to look more at if you achieved results than if you
had a good decision-making process.

I believe that the outcome of decisions is more important than the process itself. I’ll concede that
it would be extremely difficult to consistently arrive at good outcomes without a meticulous
process but, in the end, my boss and upper management will judge my value to the company on
the basis of if my work achieves the desired results and not on if I have a sound process in place.
That said, a person who is able to develop a rigorous system will tend to see positive results
more consistently than one who doesn’t.

References
Helsdingen, A. S., Van Den Bosch, K., Van Gog, T., & Van Merriënboer, J. J. G. (2010). The
Effects of Critical Thinking Instruction on Training Complex Decision Making. Human
Factors, 52(4), 537-545.
Neck, C. P., Houghton, J. D., & Murray, E. L. (2017). Organizational behavior: A critical-
thinking approach. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.