Forces of Influence
Forces of InfluenceThe Forces of Influence
Making decisions is a major portion of the manager’s responsibilities. It is an aspect that cannot be taken lightly nor can it be done in a hasty manner. Hasty, careless decisions can have devastating results on the manager’s unit or even for the entire company. Decisions that are made with deliberation using different kinds of processes can lead to better and/or more profitable operations. When decisions are made in this manner, the manager will be confident that they have made an appropriate decision and is the best option given the information available at the time. This does not mean that the manager will always make the correct decision. Lack of information or situational changes can lead to faulty analysis. However, if the manager uses critical thinking and proven successful decision-making strategies, they can and should be confident in whatever action they have decided is appropriate. Their confidence level will affect the outcome of their action.
“Managers can be called “information workers”; a manager is a craftsperson whose raw material is information (McCall & Kaplan 16).” Managers spend the majority of their time absorbing information and trying to process all the information in order to reach a decision of some sort or another. A manager has many information system sources that may provide information, including: systems and structures to document on ongoing progress and status of situations, people around them volunteer information and might be approached in search of trouble signs, clues, and to find missing pieces of puzzles, values of the organization, which point people in certain directions and define the critical variables in a complex array of possibilities, and a manager’s own direct experience (McCall & Kaplan 16).
Information systems are effective tools that a manager may choose to use. These systems keep them informed of on going events. There is one major problem with information systems. Too much information and the manager can go into information overload. This can lead a manager to make faulty decisions based on information that is relevant to their perception but fail to investigate information an opposing idea or situation. Information overload can also result in paralysis of action.
Managers rely heavily on peers that surround them. This allows the manager to gather information needed to complete their critical thinking process, which leads to a decision....
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