The Right Synergy
The Smart Manager|March/April 2017

Arriving at a mutually acceptable and constructive decision while working in groups can be a challenging task. It is therefore important that organizations pay attention to nurturing strong team values that impact decision-making.

The Right Synergy

Decision-making is the process of examining your possibilities, comparing them, and choosing a course of action. In the world of business—wherein there is enhanced uncertainty, ambiguity, and fierce competition—decisions taken are always of extremely high importance; it can make or break the business. Companies that grow and succeed continuously have mastered the process of taking the right decisions.

In business, decisions are seldom taken by a single person and they usually do not impact only an individual. They involve people and they are for people. As the above definition states, there are three parts to decision-making: generating possible options, examining and comparing them, and choosing the one that seems the best possible in the prevailing situation. Decisions taken by a group of people are far more complex than those by an individual. Before embarking on the dynamics of group decisionmaking, one needs to understand the process of decisionmaking. One of the most effective and easy-to-understand methods is the use of the six Cs of decision-making.

construct: It starts with creating a clear construct of what needs to be decided: what is the decision point?

compile: To ensure that decision leads to the desired outcome, it is imperative to assess and compile a list of requirements that must be met by the decision.

collect: The next step is to collect information about the possible alternatives that meet the requirements identified and compiled.

compare: Comparing alternatives is the most important part of the entire process.

This story is from the March/April 2017 edition of The Smart Manager.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the March/April 2017 edition of The Smart Manager.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM THE SMART MANAGERView All
Building A Quality Culture
The Smart Manager

Building A Quality Culture

A strong company culture defined by its values, beliefs, and behaviors, has a profound impact on its products and services. More so in today’s VUCA world, where to stay relevant and maintain a competitive edge, it is critical for organizations to build a culture that focuses on quality. Suresh Lulla, author of Quality Fables, elucidates through significant examples how creating a culture of quality is imperative to driving success and productivity.

time-read
5 mins  |
July-August 2016
Customers For Life
The Smart Manager

Customers For Life

The history of General Motors in India can be traced back to the 1920s, when it became the first automotive company to set up an assembly plant in the country. The relationship since then has not been as fruitful as GM would have hoped. GM’s flagship brand, Chevrolet, was introduced in India to build upon the success of the popular Opel marque. However, success has been fleeting at best—an issue that GM India is determined to rectify. It aims to do so by adopting a two-pronged approach: using customer feedback to influence product development, and delivering a superior sales-to-service experience.

time-read
4 mins  |
July-August 2016
The Digital Shift
The Smart Manager

The Digital Shift

… technology will radically disrupt HR in the near future. Indeed, it is already changing the way HR works and the role it plays and opening the door to a new type of “digital HR” function.1 The rise of digital and social media is changing the dynamics of HR and creating new ways of hiring, engaging, and retaining employees.

time-read
4 mins  |
July-August 2017
The Story Of Telling
The Smart Manager

The Story Of Telling

“The best brands are built on great stories,”* this remark by Ian Rowden best captures the strategy of diligent brand building. Much more than attractive logos or the products themselves, what builds a brand is how successfully a story is woven around it. Brand marketers have to be good storytellers indeed.

time-read
8 mins  |
July-August 2017
Complexity Is Simpler Than You Think
The Smart Manager

Complexity Is Simpler Than You Think

Kay Kendall and Glenn Bodinson, authors of Leading the Malcolm  Baldrige Way, shatter myths about excellence models such as Baldrige and EFQM.

time-read
6 mins  |
March/April 2017
Proponents of Isolation Never Become Victors
The Smart Manager

Proponents of Isolation Never Become Victors

Multilateralism in the political and economic space has always led to frameworks that favor the mighty. WTO was no exception. With agriculture kept out of its purview, it could never become a truly fair and free trading system. China was the only large emerging economy that exploited relative openness in low-cost manufactured goods to take full advantage of the system. Other emerging economies could at best garner minor gains.

time-read
1 min  |
March/April 2017
A History Lesson (From Year One) for Trump and the Brexit Crowd: Isolationism Has Never Worked!
The Smart Manager

A History Lesson (From Year One) for Trump and the Brexit Crowd: Isolationism Has Never Worked!

Professor Stephane Garelli on growing isolationism.

time-read
3 mins  |
March/April 2017
A Win-Win Game
The Smart Manager

A Win-Win Game

Business is not a sport where some stakeholder has to lose or fare badly for others to do well. Building an atmosphere of trust and transparency between all stakeholders will help companies retain them even during adverse times.

time-read
7 mins  |
March/April 2017
A Sustainable Model
The Smart Manager

A Sustainable Model

With a total market value of $4.3 trillion and an employment base of at least 1.3 million direct employees and millions of others indirectly employed, platforms have become an important economic force.*Companies today are constantly looking for ways to build platforms—Infosys Ltd announced its plans of monetizing its platforms to make them a $2 billion business by March 2021. But are all platform businesses successful?

time-read
9 mins  |
March/April 2017
Custom Made
The Smart Manager

Custom Made

…three in four consumers said they receive too many emails from brands, and one-fifth said they could not handle the current volume…69 per cent have ‘unfollowed’ brands on social media, closed their accounts or cancelled subscriptions.*In these times, when the market is flooded with products and services, the most efficent way to engage customers is to offer them customized content. To achieve this, brands need to focus on observing the nuances of individual preferences.

time-read
5 mins  |
March/April 2017