Decision-Making Model Analysis

Decision-Making Model Analysis

Wikipedia defines decision making as "the congnitive process of selecting a course of action from among multiple alternatives. Every decision-making process produces a final choice. It can be an action or an opinion. It begins when we need to do something but we do not know what. Therefore decision-making is a reasoning process which can be rational or irrational, and can be based on explicit assumptioons or tacit assumptions."

When I do have to make important decisions at work, I am left with the task of choosing between many different solutions and trying to come up with a final choice.

One of the methods I use to make a decision is comparing the different solutions and deciding which one will work best for the company and the technicians. The method I seem to emulate is the same method that Motor Trend Magazine uses in comparing two vehicles and finding the best one out of the two. In the Motor Trend, December 2005 issue, the magazine compares two newly produced American Muscle Cars, the Dodge Charger SRT8 and the Pontiac GTO. They both are equal when it comes to horsepower and close on price, so deciding which one is the best choice for the money is the next chore. In order to do this, they test all aspects of the vehicles. From 0-60 test to riding comfort, handling, features as well as the overall owner cost. At first the GTO out outperformed the Charger in the power aspects but considering that the GTO is a two door and the Charger is a four-door car, the weight ratio comes into play. The Charger seemed to have more of a stable ride and didn't feel as clumsy as the GTO. The Charger then took the lead when it came to handling. The GTO showed signs of feeling less integrated and a bit sloppier. The Charger showed a bit more balance and provided the necessary grip to keep the driver at ease. The Charger once again proved to be a step ahead when it came to options. The GTO comes fully loaded with a six manual, power everything and driver and passenger side airbags. But the Charger has a little more to brag about; it can be equipped with navigation, bigger brakes and larger tires and front and side curtain airbags to protect all passengers, sunroof, adjustable pedals, rear seat video system, all of which is not offered in the GTO. The final comparison and probably most important is cost. Yes the Charger is priced about five thousand more that the GTO. Also the Charger is heavily charged a gas-guzzler tax, though the GTO only is when it comes in an automatic. At first glance the GTO would have been my choice of vehicle based on price, but once you see what all you could get for the money from the Charger, then the choice and the money is somewhat more justified. Also noting that the Charger can hold my family of four more comfortably.

The method that is used in the magazine is similar to the one I used when my company asked me what I thought about to two pieces of equipment that needed to be installed into the new Central office. System "A" and "B" performed similar tasks and both were capable of producing the results that we would require. So, now I had the task of let's say taking both for a test drive and seeing which one will work best in our office. The steps I took on deciding which one would best suit our need was one footprint, user friendly operation, upgrade features, technical support as well as cost. When comparing footprints, they both were equal which is important since I had a limited amount