Parameter Delegation. One of the most common decision simplification techniques, this method involves delegating to others the research and

development of alternatives from which the decision maker will then choose.

We use this method in our everyday lives by walking into a store, where the managers have chosen to carry 10 of the scores of washing machine available, by ordering from the mail order catalog listing six of the dozens of word processing programs available and so on. We assume that these people have used some method of useful decision making to select the group of alternatives presented to us. We hope the criteria included quality, performance, value, and so on, rather than profit margin, but we are sometimes deceived.

In a company, an executive may delegate to a committee or a subordinate the basic research into a decision and ask to be presented with three or four alternatives from which to choose.

Another example of parameter delegation is the reliance on recommendations from others. When we buy something or go see a movie based on a favorable review, we are exercising this method of decision simplification. The newest term for this version of parameter delegation is collaborative filtering.

8. Random Choice. Here, just any alternative is chosen. The choice may be the first alternative available or simply one picked without analysis or ordering. When you need to use a towel, or put clean sheets on the bed, or choose some fruit to eat, you might decide that any will do. "Just grab one"

might be another name for this technique. It certainly makes the decision easy and simple. Analysis requires a lot of mental effort, and some people, especially those who spend much of their working lives performing complicated analyses, want to reduce the level of analysis in the rest of their lives. You will sometimes see them walk into a stationery store and rather nonchalantly grab a notebook or pad to use. Random choice can produce a fun adventure in restaurants, too.

9. Conformity. Follow the crowd; do what others do; go with the flow. In this technique you attach yourself to a preexisting decision stream and accept the decisions that most other people have made. When most other people in your subgroup have put on acid-washed jeans, you do too. We like to think of ourselves as rugged and independent individualists, but in reality we adopt many pre-made decisions through social conformity.

10. Reaction. Rebel; do the opposite of the majority; go against the flow.

This technique is used by those who want to appear to be making decisions.

It is easy and automatic, just like conformity.

11. Feelings. Follow your heart; go with your emotions; use your intuition;

trust that gut feeling. Choices presented by your feelings are ready and apparent. Once again, this is a way of avoiding the hard mental work of analysis. And, of course, there is some evidence that some preferences of the feelings may actually be subconsciously performed analyses. Other preferences of the feelings are simply irrational lusts.

12. Idleness. Do nothing. Let others decide for you, or let circumstances dictate the choice. You must face the consequences of making no decision, however. Someone has said that making no decision is really a decision. If you do not decide whether to vacation in France or England, you will in effect be deciding to stay home.

13. Adoption of a short-range view. Choices are simplified if the consequences are considered only insofar as they involve today. This strategy leads to quick decisions, but it can also be very dangerous.

1. You are planning to buy a house or a car. Rather than having to decide between buying the item right now with all cash or never having it, you can plan to buy it over several years by making payments. Or, you might combine this plan with the plan to buy a smaller house and add rooms later as they could be afforded.

By planning you can thus accomplish things that might otherwise look impossible. What does planning gives you in this situation

a. it provides a standard of measurement..

b. it allows limited resources to be committed in an orderly way.

c. Planning converts values to action

2. An engineer notices a fine white powder covers everything in a room that has a laminating press. She asks the operator how long he has been working in this room. He replies that he has been working there for over ten years. The engineer is concerned that the health of this operator may be at risk from inhaling this powder for so long. What should she do?

a. Do nothing. After all, it is not a part of her job description.

b. Go to the nearest television station and talk with a reporter about this deplorable situation.

c. Check into OSHA regulations concerning this powder. Should the regulations warrant it, notify OSHA of the problem. Then, through appropriate company channels notify the operator and make sure that he receives a thorough medical examination to determine if any harm has occurred. Then check to make sure that appropriate follow-up examinations are carried out.

d. Your own solution…

SELF-CHECK 4

3. Marta Malasobras has been coming to work late for the several weeks now. She works in a small group and the other members have come to you to complain that her tardiness reduces the effectiveness of the entire group. When you confront her with this problem, she breaks down and cries: she has to drop her son off to school but the school gates do not open soon enough for her to get to work on time. She has been unable to find anyone to take her son to school. What should you do?

a. Fire her. Chronic lateness to work is a serious offense and cannot be tolerated in any way.

b. Discuss her problem with the rest of her work team. See if any temporary arrangement can be made to give her time to find someone to take her son to school.

c. Delegate the problem to the work team. After all, empowering them with decision-making authority also makes them more accountable. It’s their problem, not yours.

d. Your solution…

4. Your company has decided to accept your recommendation to purchase a UV curing oven to increase productivity. When the oven has been delivered and readied for use, your supervisor asks you to begin using it even though the appropriate Environmental Quality Board permits have not yet been issued. He argues that such permission is pro forma anyway so why wait and lose valuable production time. What should you do?

a. Do what your supervisor asks. The permits should arrive in a couple of weeks and nobody is going to find out that during that time you have been operating the oven without permits.

b. Refuse to do it. Nobody has the right to ask you to do something illegal.

c. Tell him that he can do so but only on his own authority. Then write a memo to him, his supervisor, and a coworker explaining that you disapprove of this decision.

d. First, try to reason with him. Explain that even though you will probably not get caught, the severity of the fine and loss of reputation are not worth the risk. Add that as an engineer, you have a special obligation to

safeguard the environment which includes strictly conforming to government environmental regulations.

5. A skilled machine operator under your supervision has recently returned from maternity leave. She works a ten-hour shift two days a week; company policy is that workers are entitled to a ten-minute break every two hours and a half hour for lunch in the middle of the shift. She has asked you for permission to return home every two hours to nurse her baby. Since she lives ten minutes away from work, this would require her to violate company policy. What should you do?

a. Tell her that she can either start bottle-feeding her baby or look for another job. You cannot get involved in the personal affairs of your employees

b. Suggest that her husband bring the baby to work. She could then nurse the baby in the company’s medical room during her regular, authorized breaks.

c. Honor her request but set a time limit of, say, three weeks.

d. Your solution…

B. Using the T-Chart list the possible PROs and CONs in the situation below

Your company has recently entered into a cooperative venture with a Japanese firm. A team of Japanese engineers has come to your plant to teach your engineers a new manufacturing process. However, the senior member of this team, a

Japanese engineer with very traditional cultural views, refuses to work with a

female member of your team despite the fact that she is a highly qualified engineer.

Your initial decision is to reassign the woman engineer. What do you think will be the possible effects? What will be your final decision?

PRO CON

Recording Sheet For Oral Questioning / Interview

Student name:

Module Title/No:

Qualification:

Oral/interview questions Satisfactory response

Yes No

1.  

2.  

3.  

4.  

5.  

The student's underpinning knowledge was:

Satisfactory  Not satisfactory 

Student's Signature: Date

Trainor's signature: Date:

Acceptable answers are:

Trainor's signature: Date:

Rating Sheet

Module 2 - Leading Small Teams

Performance Feedback

Remarks

S NS C NYC 1. Self-Check 1

2. Self-Check 1.1 3. Self-Check 2 4. Self-Check 3 5. Self-Check 4 S - Satisfactory NS – Not Satisfactory C - Completed

NYC – Not Yet Completed Module is

Completed  Not Yet Completed 

Remarks:

Student's Signature Date

Trainor's signature: Date: