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1. Table of Contents
Abstract........................................................................................................ 2
1. Introduction........................................................................................... 2
2. Literature Review.................................................................................. 3
2.1 Problem Solving vs Decision Making.........................................................................3
2.2 Theoretical Models of Decision Making.....................................................................3
2.2.1 The Rational Choice model..................................................................................4
2.2.2 The model of bounded rationality........................................................................4
2.2.3 The incrementalist view.......................................................................................4
2.2.4 The organizational procedures view ....................................................................4
2.2.5 The political view.................................................................................................4
2.2.6 The garbage can model ........................................................................................4
2.2.7 The individual differences perspective ................................................................4
2.2.8 Naturalistic decision making................................................................................4
2.2.9 The multiple perspectives approach.....................................................................5
2.3 Rational Choice Decision Making Process .................................................................5
2.3.1 Step 1 – Define the problem ................................................................................5
2.3.2 Step 2 – Choose the best decision process...........................................................5
2.3.3 Step 3 – Develop possible choices.......................................................................5
2.3.4 Step 4 – Select the choice with the highest value ................................................5
2.3.5 Step 5 – Implement the selected choice...............................................................5
2.3.6 Step 6 – Evaluate the selected choice ..................................................................5
2.4 Problems in Decision Making Process........................................................................6
2.5 Employee involvement (EI) and participation (EP) in Decision Making ...................7
2.6 Employee involvement (EI) Practices.........................................................................8
2.6.1 Advantages of employee involvement (EI) .........................................................8
2.6.2 Disadvantages of employee involvement ............................................................9
3. The Company – XXX Malaysia........................................................... 10
3.1 XXX organizational culture and behavior ................................................................11
3.2 XXX Decision making process.................................................................................11
3.2.1 Health Concerns for Staff working on Shift ......................................................12
3.2.2 General Practice in XXX ...................................................................................14
4. XXX vs the decision making model in the literature ........................... 14
5. Recommendations................................................................................ 15
6. Conclusion........................................................................................... 17
References.................................................................................................. 18
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Abstract
In the era of globalization and rapid changes in today’s business and organizations, decision
making has become an integral part of organizational operations and managerial activities at
every organizational level. Many empirical studies suggested that employees and the
organization have benefited from a good program of Employee Involvement (EI), Employee
Participation (EP) and decentralized decision-making in an organization. As such, this paper
intended to provide a general overview of decision making, theoretical models of decision
making, rational choice decision making as the selected model, problems in rational choice
decision making model, and literature review of EI practices, and the advantages and
disadvantages of EI decision making in organizations. The selected organization in this paper
is a Multinational Company – XXX Malaysia based out Cyberjaya, Selangor. The current
decision making process and practice of XXX Malaysia will be dissected and compared against
market practice. Subsequently, some recommendations to improve the current practice in the
organization will be made based on the analysis.
1. Introduction
Decision making is one of the most important process in an organization impacting in every
level, including, individual, group and organization. It is often associated with problem solving
and group processes in the organizational structure. According to Harris (2012), the standard
and universal definition of decision making is “the study of identifying and choosing
alternatives based on the values and preferences of the decision maker. Making a decision
implies that there are alternative choices to be considered, and in such a case we want not only
to identify as many of these alternatives as possible, but to choose the one that best first with
our goals, objectives, desires, values and so on”.
Decision making should start with the identification of the decision maker(s) and
stakeholder(s) in the decision, reducing the possible disagreement about problem definition,
requirements, goals and criteria (Baker et al. 2001). In a typical organization today, managers
are usually make plenty of decisions, some of the managers being operational and others being
strategic. There are typically three levels of management which are top level who will make
the strategic decision, middle level who will make the tactical decision and first or low level
who will make operational decisions. Making decision is a mXXXer of a huge responsibility
which affecting the organization as well as their employees and other stakeholders.
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In relation to this topic, we will take a closer look at an established organization on the
practice of how they make an important decision making and the process to establish a decision.
2. Literature Review
2.1 Problem Solving vs Decision Making
Decision making and problem solving are critically important skills areas for managers,
supervisors, planners, coordinators and individuals. It is important to be able to identify current
and potential problems and to make sound, timely decisions before anything goes wrong.
According to Study (2005), Problem solving and decision making is related to one another and
the definition is as follows:
Problem solving – is a set of activities designed to analyze a situation systematically and
generate, implement, and evaluate solutions.
Decision making – is a mechanism for making choices at each step of the problem solving
process.
Decision making is part of problem solving, and decision making occurs at every step of
the problem solving process.
2.2 Theoretical Models of Decision Making
According to Akdere (2011), there are a number of theories associated with decision making.
Some of the well-known theories are 1) Statistical decision theory; 2) Multiobjective decision
making theory; 3) Social decision making theory; 4) Affective decision making theory; 5)
Normative decision making theory; and 6) Descriptive theory. However, only a handful of
them actually deal with the decision making process in the organization.
Under theoretical models study conducted by Muir, Clinical and Standard (2004), they
listed out various models of decision making. The following list of views, supporting theories
and models is based upon categorizations related to decision making;
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2.2.1 The Rational Choice model
The rational manager view assumes a rational and completely informed decision-maker as
described by neoclassical microeconomic theory around the middle of the previous century.
2.2.2 The model of bounded rationality
The process-oriented view which is based on bounded rationality, where incomplete
information and that optimal choices are not always required. Bounded rationality is
characterized by the activities of searching and satisfying. Alternatives are searched for and
evaluated sequentially. If an alternative satisfies certain implicitly or explicitly stated minimum
criteria, it is said to “satisfice” and the search is terminated.
2.2.3 The incrementalist view
The logical incrementalist view involves a step by step process of incremental actions and
keeps the strategy open to adjustment.
2.2.4 The organizational procedures view
The organizational procedures view seeks to understand decisions as the out of standard
operating procedures invoked by organizational subunits.
2.2.5 The political view
The political view sees decision making as a personalized bargaining process, driven by the
agendas of the participants rather than rational processes. People differ on the organization’s
goals, values and the relevance of information.
2.2.6 The garbage can model
The garbage can view describes decision making is an “organized anarchy”. This model
emphasizes the fragmentedness and chaotic nature of decision making in organizations, rather
than the deliberate manipulations implied by the political view.
2.2.7 The individual differences perspective
This model focuses the XXXention on the problem solving behavior of the individual manager,
as influenced by the manager’s decision making style, background and personality.
2.2.8 Naturalistic decision making
Naturalistic decision making is concerned with investigating and understanding decision
making in its natural context.
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2.2.9 The multiple perspectives approach
This model for decision making as an XXXempt to “sweep in” all possible perspectives on a
problem. It is a concept of unbounded systems thinking, which assumes that any problem is a
member of any other problem.
2.3 Rational Choice Decision Making Process
A research study conducted by Neag and Pricopi (2010), listed out the steps of rational choice
decision making process into following steps as follows:
2.3.1 Step 1 – Define the problem
Assessment of the context and detection of the existing problem. Although an initial step, this
is a critical moment in the entire decision making process. In many situations, the incapacity
to correctly seize the issue leads to failure or inaction.
2.3.2 Step 2 – Choose the best decision process
Selecting the best available decision process.
2.3.3 Step 3 – Develop possible choices
After identifying the problem and selecting the process, next is to search viable alternative
choices or solutions. During this step, creativity and “out of the box” thinking are essential.
2.3.4 Step 4 – Select the choice with the highest value
Ascertain the choices or options based on the evaluation done in the previous step.
2.3.5 Step 5 – Implement the selected choice
Once a solution has been rationally chosen, one must put it into practice. The success of an
efficient implementation lies in better planning and accurate communication.
2.3.6 Step 6 – Evaluate the selected choice
Evaluate the selected solution through comparison or any chosen evaluation method. The fact
results must constantly compared with the planned ones.
Figure 2-0: Rational decision making process flow chart depicted the rational choice
decision making process.
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Figure 2-0. Rational decision making process.
2.4 Problems in Decision Making Process
The rational choice decision making seems logical, but quite difficult to implement in reality
because people are not and cannot be perfectly rational. There are few problems associated
with steps of the rational choice decision making process (McShane & Von Glinow, 2015).
The problems are:
1. Problems with problem identification - the problem identification stage is itself filled
with problems.
2. Problems with goals – the rational choice paradigm assumes that organizational goal
is clear and agreed on but in reality, organizational goals are often ambiguous or in
conflict with each other.
3. Problems with information processing – it assumes that decision makers can process
information about all alternatives and their consequences, whereas it is not possible in
reality.
4. Problems with maximization – The issue is people engage in “satisficing” rather than
maximization. People satisfice when they select the first alternative that exceeds a
standard of acceptance for their needs and preferences.
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2.5 Employee involvement (EI) and participation (EP) in Decision Making
Employee voice is a very important factor in the success of an organization. Many researchers
including (Irawanto, 2015; Lamley, T 2010; Singh, 2009; Lengnick-Hall and Lengnick-Hall,
1992; Walumbwa et al., 2011; Leana, Ahlbrandt, and Murrell, 1992) argue that successful
voice regimes not only positively affect the performance of employees in terms of quality and
productivity but also help to negate the issues which might explode if necessary action is not
taken. Lawler (1999) states that moving decision making power downward in organizations is
at the core of what employee involvement is all about.
According to Pleskac, Keeney, Merritt, Schmitt, and Oswald (2011), employees will
show more interest in staying with the organization if they have more opportunities to express
their dissatisfaction, grievances and to change the unsatisfactory work conditions. It means
every employee is regarded as a unique human being, not just a cog in a machine and each
employee is involved in helping the organization meet its goals. Each employee’s input is
solicited and valued by his or her management. Employees and management recognize that
each employee is involved in running the business.
Lamley, T (2010) defines employee involvement (EI) as a process for empowering
employees to participate in managerial decision making and improvement activities
appropriate to their levels in the organization, whilst employee participation (EP) is a process
of employee involvement designed to provide employees with the opportunity to influence and
where appropriate, take part in decision making on mXXXers which affect them . Employees
are the fuel that runs the engine of the organization and it is believed that their non-involvement
in the decision making process creates tensions between management and staff. It leads to lost
man hours among others which adversely affect the fortunes of the organization.
(Irawanto, 2015) mentions employee involvement (EI) and employee participation (EP)
is now considered a key element in the successful implementation of new management
strategies and plays an important role in determining the degree of job satisfaction,
commitment of the employee as well as their motivation. In his study on the relationship
between employee involvement and employee motivation conclude that high involvement of
employee in the organization's decision making process has increased the employee work
motivation as well as well-being.
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Employee involvement and employee participation is also termed as “decentralized
decision making” where decision making authority is delegated to the worker with no or
minimal interference from the manager (Zábojník, 2002).
2.6 Employee involvement (EI) Practices
According to Freeman and Kleiner (2000) there are about eight EI practices. They listed it out
as follows:
1. Self-managed work teams
2. Worker involvement in the design of EI programs
3. Total Quality Management - TQM
4. Committees on productivity
5. Worker involvement in work processes
6. Suggestion or complaint systems
7. Information sharing with employees
8. Opinion surveys
2.6.1 Advantages of employee involvement (EI)
Employee involvement improves decision making in several ways. The outcomes of the
decision making itself are much better as compared to centralized decision making. Problem
identification steps are done faster and better. Due to the size of people participate in the
process, more and better choices are produced. When several people working together can
potentially generate better solutions than the same people working alone, which then help
decision maker to select the best alternative. (McShane & Von Glinow, 2015).
In a larger context from organizational perspective, a key result in a long term study of
employee involvement (EI) practices conducted by Lawler (1999) found the employee
involvement practice has significantly improved corporate performance. The test was
conducted on EI practices against five measures of corporate performance, and the results
showed a higher return on the identified measurement.
Black and Gregersen, 1997; Kim 2002; Han, Chiang and Chang, 2011 as cited by
(Irawanto, 2015) mention that employees involvement in decision making has improved job
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satisfaction in an organization and considered as a key element in the successful
implementation of new management strategies which in turn increases the commitment of
the employee as well as their motivation.
A study by Shadur et al (1999) and Cadwallader et al. (2010) as cited by (Irawanto,
2015) found that involving employees increases their effort, which subsequently improves
efficiency and productivity, reduces the cost of monitoring employees and leads to increased
commitment. When sensitive financial and organizational information is shared with
employees, they believe they are better off, feel trustworthy and being treated fairly and
openly by the management. As a result of this relationship, the management or organization
will see the positive impact on task and performance effectiveness.
In relation to change management perspective, it is argued by Negulescu & Doval
(2014) that employees will be more likely to accept decisions in which they involved.
Employees will be in a right or better position to adapt the new changes if they know what is
expected from them and what is the current situation of the organization.
Irawanto (2015) concludes that employees who enjoy involvement or participation in
making decision feel secured in their job and will be indirectly motivated to provide the best
possible performance in their job, which reflects their pride and loyalty towards the
organization.
2.6.2 Disadvantages of employee involvement
Although there are a lot advantages when involving employee in decision making, there are
few notable disadvantages as well. According to Lengnick-Hall & Lengnick-Hall (1992), there
are at least two known issues associated with EI.
Poor decision quality due to deficiency of skills – decision quality can be questioned
if proper preparation or knowledge is not passed on to the employees. Level of XXXention and
employee’s effort in their contribution of the decision making process can be low as a result
from lack of knowledge and skills. In other words, unqualified employees to make decisions
often lead to poor choices. When this occurs, the benefits of EI is not realized, yet
organizational trust, commitment and performance are severely compromised.
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Increasing participation does not decrease accountability – while decision making
activities and influence can be shared, the effect of the consequences of either a good or a poor
decision cannot be as completely diffused. This means that those who are accountable for
decisions need to monitor and actively manage both the decision making processes and the
decision outcomes. For example, a general manager allows a selection committee to hire a
production manager who fits the social structure, but is not competent to oversee the planned
acquisition of a new technology, the general manager, not the committee, will be held
accountable for ineffective performance.
Meanwhile, a study conducted by Coye and Belohlav (1991), found that top-down
communication plays a big role to ensure the success of employee involvement program. Poor
communication with unclear objectives and lack of coordination, lead to lack of employee
commitment and participation from the employees. When some employees do not understand
the objectives, they simply ignore program by not participating actively. It may also worsen
the business condition.
3. The Company – XXX Malaysia
XXX is an American multinational telecommunications corporation. The headquarters is in
Dallas, Texas. XXX is a provider of telecommunications services to consumers in the US, and
to businesses and other providers of telecommunication services worldwide. XXX has presence
across the globe, including Malaysia and employed approximately 243,000 people as of
January 2014.
XXX Malaysia (which will be adverted to as “XXX” in this paper) was founded in 2008
after they won the biggest IT outsourcing contract from an oil and gas company, XXXX. The
contract covers the entire XXXX network infrastructure commissioning and maintenance
globally. The XXX total workforce as of October 2015 is around 350 employees based out
Cyberjaya and Petaling Jaya.
XXX is comprised of multiple service organizations from global service assurance,
shared services, service management and consulting services, and divided into several
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functional structures. The organization structure is based on hierarchical structure with multiple
level of reporting line from level one to the top level of the company, the CEO.
XXX is a transnational company and therefore, the location of employees and the
supervisors or managers is scXXXered around the world. Top level management mostly
resided in the country of origin, the USA, the middle management and first level management
are mostly in the hub centers of the company like in Amsterdam, Singapore, Hyderabad,
Bratislava, Tokyo and Cyberjaya. Figure 3-0 depicted the corporate hierarchy of XXX. The
lowest level is the “level 1” management, including clerical employees, engineers and
supervisors, then followed by “Level 2” management being the middle level management and
up to the top level, which are the Vice President, Executive Vice President, Senior Executive
President and Chairman/CEO.
Figure 3-0. XXX Corporate hierarchy.
(removed)
3.1 XXX organizational culture and behavior
Although the company has present worldwide and diverse community, the organization culture
and behavior is more towards US-centric culture. A few well known American cultures are
individualistic, teamwork, efficiency, directness, openness, competitive and high achiever
(Ismail, 2013).
In XXX, there is a unique culture which is widely practiced across the organization. The
tagline is called “One XXX”. The chairman of XXX emphasizes on working as “one”, think
as “one” and deliver the promise to the customer as “One XXX”. This culture in a way, affects
how decision is made in the organization. Generally, it has been a company’s philosophy to
involve employees (EI) and encourage participation (EP) in daily routines.
(removed)
3.2 XXX Decision making process
Due to the fact that XXX is such a huge organization, a lot of decisions are made on a daily
basis at various levels. The focus of this paper will be on operational decision making by the
first level management (team-leader) since the decision at the highest level like merger and
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acquisition, is not much visibility at the lowest level. The recent example of operational
decision making which was concluded earlier in the year will be discussed further.
3.2.1 Health Concerns for Staff working on Shift
Operational or technical issues are the common issues which always been addressed by the
first level management. Example of technical issues are degrading of network performance,
unauthorized implementation, missing deadline, imbalance project assignment and so forth.
In today’s outsourcing services, cost efficiency is one of the key elements for XXX to
stay competitive in the marketplace. Offshoring to cost effective work centers have become
part of the outsourcing strategy for XXX. At these centers, “24x5” rotating shift work covering
three regions is deployed in most of the service delivery teams. The strategy works perfectly
for the organization, but unfortunately shift work is known to be one of the detractors for most
of the affected employees.
3.2.1.1 What is the issue?
Earlier this year, an unusual trend in absenteeism rate mostly due to sick leave has been
observed by the management. The employee who reports-in sick is usually from a team
performing night shift or “graveyard” shift in the previous week. The situation has become a
threat to the business as team’s productivity becomes low due to shortage of staff.
The burden has been put on the remaining employees as they have to take up the
additional tasks. Over time, the trend has become predictable and more employees report-in
sick although they were not on the same shift cycle in the previous week. As a result, employee
motivation has gone down and start impacting customer’s satisfaction.
3.2.1.2 Resolution steps
In the team’s bi-weekly meeting, the team-leader highlighted the declining trend to the team as
an effort to address and resolve the problem. The team mentioned that working on night shift
for five days a week is very challenging. The employees feel that they don’t get enough rest,
although they are given two days rest before starting a new shift on the following week. They
become fatigued, unfit to work and the easy way out is to report sick.
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3.2.1.3 Solicits the team for an idea or suggestions
As shift work is part of the business requirement and widely deployed by other centers, there
is not much option available for the team. Instead of ignoring the situation, the team-leader
solicits his team for a viable solution to the problem.
There were two practical solutions have been suggested by the team. The first option is
to introduce a permanent night shift team and secondly to introduce a flexible night shift
environment. The first option has been ruled out as it will introduce a new problem to the team
which is lack of team bonding. The permanent night shift team is also seen to be working in
silo as they have less physical interaction with their peers.
The second option is more practical, but requires more coordination internally. Since
each sub team has four engineers, the general idea is to allow two engineers to join the evening
shift (Europe time zone) leaving the other two engineers working on night shift. To ensure
fairness, the two engineers must rotate with the other two engineers so that each engineer only
needs to work on night shift one week a month instead of two weeks a month.
3.2.1.4 The solution
Both of the options were suggested by the team and they feel that is the best options for them
to improve their health concern. The team-leader did not make his own decision, but storming
the possible solutions during team meetings, which indirectly empower the team to make their
own decision.
The final decision was made by the team-leader. Taking consideration of team bonding
and fairness to others, the obvious decision made by the team-leader is to go with the second
option. The decision was implemented in the following shift cycle, and performance and
productivity were tracked for three months. The team-leader review the decision he made by
asking feedback in the bi-weekly team meeting for three months. The solution is in use today
and the absenteeism issue has been completely removed and productivity is also increased.
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3.2.2 General Practice in XXX
XXX uses a lot of survey systems like a suggestion and opinion surveys as well as employee
engagement on regular basis. Example of survey systems is called “eNPS” – Employee Net
Promoter Score. The system is conducted on a quarterly basis, which is sent to all employees
to answer few simple questions. The questions usually lead employees to provide improvement
suggestions and anything related to the climate of the company.
XXX also setup a web-based suggestion system similar to a suggestion box. The system
is available online 24x7 and it is open to all levels of employees. The management then
collected the data, processed and brainstorm further by forming a task-force team. Recently,
XXX introduced a new compulsory training program called “Workforce 2020”. Most of the
employees especially managers are not familiar with the training program which lead to poor
communication on the importance of employee participation in the training. Employees use the
system and feedback that their managers are not equipped with the necessary information and
failed to convince the employee. Managers now have to join a weekly meeting as to equip the
managers with as much information as possible.
Apart from that, XXX also organize a monthly “Let’s talk” session where the top level
management usually Assistant Vice President (AVP) and Vice President (VP) schedule a one
hour “virtual” session for all staff located around the world. There are multiple sessions limiting
to a maximum of twenty participants per session. It is an open discussion with higher level
management. The issues vary from one department to another and most of the time the AVP
and VP try to address the issue and make candid decisions. Example of topics discussed in the
session is an overdue approval request for staff backfill.
4. XXX vs the decision making model in the literature
American corporations have been big advocates of employee involvement and participation
(Ismail, 2013). The focus on employee involvement on the part of XXX is in line with most of
the paradigm discussed in the literature. XXX recognizes employees as an important resource
that should be involved in the decisions making process.
Rational decision making - Based on the decision making process on “health concern”
issue as an example, most of the components discussed in the literature are similar to what is
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being practiced by XXX. The team-leader uses rational decision practice by systematically
assessing the actual issue in the team, encouraging openness by storming the issue publicly via
team meeting, enabling all team members to speak up and come up with possible options as a
team.
Organizational culture and behavior - The team-leader also include XXX culture and
behavior in the decision making process. The “One XXX” culture which emphasizes on
teamwork contribute significantly to the success of the process. The decision is derived from
the consensus agreement from all team members and the final part of the process is for the
team-leader to choose the most appropriate solution to the identified problem.
Communicate prolifically - Coye and Belohlav (1991) indicate the importance of
communication in the decision making process. In relation to this, the team-leader did well by
communicating the need to address and resolve the issue with the team. The team clearly
understand the situation thus actively participate and responding to the need of resolving the
issue.
XXX investment - In summary, XXX invested and implemented a lot of other ways,
tools and systems to collect employee’s voice and to encourage employee’s participation in the
decision making process. Soft-skills training is one of the biggest investment for the employees.
Apart from training, XXX also invest on system like online surveys to gather employee
feedback. A study conducted by May, J (2010) found that confidential surveys often result in
more candid feedback than other means. The investment on this area has developed a better
culture of employee involvement and participation.
5. Recommendations
Based on the literature review, involving employees in organizational decision making has a
lot of benefits to both employees and the organization. A recommendation is being made based
on the above mentioned topic against the current practice in the selected organization.
Soft-skills, e.g. Communication, negotiation skills – Although current XXX process
is similar to the literature, but it does not represent the entire team of XXX. Through personal
observation, some team-leaders are lack of soft-skills like communication and negotiation
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skills. Most researchers pointed out that high standard of communication contribute
significantly to the outcome of decision making. When team-leaders communicate and set the
objectives clearly will promote more participation from employees. (May, J 2015; Shadur et
al, 1999; Coye and Belohlav, 1991). As such, investing on soft skills is not a one-time
investment but considered as ongoing investment. At the same time, team-leaders must also
take his or her own initiative to improve themselves.
Information Sharing culture – to extend the success of the larger group of XXX, those
successful team-leaders should share his or her success story with others. Some keyword like
“openness” in the decision making process can be used as part of the information sharing
content so that employees from other departments feel motivated to actively participate in the
decision making process.
In a larger context of information sharing culture, management transparency in sharing
information like financial report, merger and acquisition plan, and business plan with
employees. Employees feel honored when such information is shared with them. This will
indirectly encourage employees to participate more actively in the decision making process
(Coye and Belohlav, 1991).
Support from the management or organization – The issue may be resolved at the
operational level, but from the top management perspective, their support and commitment are
also required. For example, on top of the agreed decision at the operational level, the
management may support the decision by providing transportation service for those working
on night shift to ensure their safety. The additional cost could be the show stopper for the
management, but this is just an example how management can support and enhance the
decision making process.
Celebrate successes – it is important to ensure success derived from employee
involvement and participation is recognized and rewarded. This will encourage more employee
involvement and participation in the culture. The earlier example, may not an appropriate
example for this, but may suitable in different situations like employee involvement in
resolving bigger issue involving large amount of money (cost reduction initiative) as an
example. The contributors deserve a recognition from the management. When the news is
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widely broadcasted, more employees will be XXXracted and will participate in future
initiatives (May, J, 2010).
6. Conclusion
Many empirical literature on employee involvement (EI), employee participation (EP) and
decentralized decision making found positive impact and benefits on both employees and the
organization. Researchers have conducted many studies on different industries from
government agencies, banking, education, human resource, services industry and so forth, and
the results of the study have always shown positive results as described above.
The practice is not only working for an established organization, but small
entrepreneurs should also embrace the practice. Leave the decision making activities to the
people who knows their work better, i.e. the employees and the management should focus on
the precious time to do some bigger and better for the organization.
The management and the organization should continue to invest in human development
or skillset training as the success of decentralized decision making rely on communication (to
clearly communicate the objective from the top down) and the employees must have the right
skill set to deliver and “champion” the role as an active participant in the decision making
process.
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Decision Making Process

  • 1. 1. Table of Contents Abstract........................................................................................................ 2 1. Introduction........................................................................................... 2 2. Literature Review.................................................................................. 3 2.1 Problem Solving vs Decision Making.........................................................................3 2.2 Theoretical Models of Decision Making.....................................................................3 2.2.1 The Rational Choice model..................................................................................4 2.2.2 The model of bounded rationality........................................................................4 2.2.3 The incrementalist view.......................................................................................4 2.2.4 The organizational procedures view ....................................................................4 2.2.5 The political view.................................................................................................4 2.2.6 The garbage can model ........................................................................................4 2.2.7 The individual differences perspective ................................................................4 2.2.8 Naturalistic decision making................................................................................4 2.2.9 The multiple perspectives approach.....................................................................5 2.3 Rational Choice Decision Making Process .................................................................5 2.3.1 Step 1 – Define the problem ................................................................................5 2.3.2 Step 2 – Choose the best decision process...........................................................5 2.3.3 Step 3 – Develop possible choices.......................................................................5 2.3.4 Step 4 – Select the choice with the highest value ................................................5 2.3.5 Step 5 – Implement the selected choice...............................................................5 2.3.6 Step 6 – Evaluate the selected choice ..................................................................5 2.4 Problems in Decision Making Process........................................................................6 2.5 Employee involvement (EI) and participation (EP) in Decision Making ...................7 2.6 Employee involvement (EI) Practices.........................................................................8 2.6.1 Advantages of employee involvement (EI) .........................................................8 2.6.2 Disadvantages of employee involvement ............................................................9 3. The Company – XXX Malaysia........................................................... 10 3.1 XXX organizational culture and behavior ................................................................11 3.2 XXX Decision making process.................................................................................11 3.2.1 Health Concerns for Staff working on Shift ......................................................12 3.2.2 General Practice in XXX ...................................................................................14 4. XXX vs the decision making model in the literature ........................... 14 5. Recommendations................................................................................ 15 6. Conclusion........................................................................................... 17 References.................................................................................................. 18
  • 2. BMOB5103 – Decision Making Nor Helmee Bin Abd Halim 2 Abstract In the era of globalization and rapid changes in today’s business and organizations, decision making has become an integral part of organizational operations and managerial activities at every organizational level. Many empirical studies suggested that employees and the organization have benefited from a good program of Employee Involvement (EI), Employee Participation (EP) and decentralized decision-making in an organization. As such, this paper intended to provide a general overview of decision making, theoretical models of decision making, rational choice decision making as the selected model, problems in rational choice decision making model, and literature review of EI practices, and the advantages and disadvantages of EI decision making in organizations. The selected organization in this paper is a Multinational Company – XXX Malaysia based out Cyberjaya, Selangor. The current decision making process and practice of XXX Malaysia will be dissected and compared against market practice. Subsequently, some recommendations to improve the current practice in the organization will be made based on the analysis. 1. Introduction Decision making is one of the most important process in an organization impacting in every level, including, individual, group and organization. It is often associated with problem solving and group processes in the organizational structure. According to Harris (2012), the standard and universal definition of decision making is “the study of identifying and choosing alternatives based on the values and preferences of the decision maker. Making a decision implies that there are alternative choices to be considered, and in such a case we want not only to identify as many of these alternatives as possible, but to choose the one that best first with our goals, objectives, desires, values and so on”. Decision making should start with the identification of the decision maker(s) and stakeholder(s) in the decision, reducing the possible disagreement about problem definition, requirements, goals and criteria (Baker et al. 2001). In a typical organization today, managers are usually make plenty of decisions, some of the managers being operational and others being strategic. There are typically three levels of management which are top level who will make the strategic decision, middle level who will make the tactical decision and first or low level who will make operational decisions. Making decision is a mXXXer of a huge responsibility which affecting the organization as well as their employees and other stakeholders.
  • 3. BMOB5103 – Decision Making Nor Helmee Bin Abd Halim 3 In relation to this topic, we will take a closer look at an established organization on the practice of how they make an important decision making and the process to establish a decision. 2. Literature Review 2.1 Problem Solving vs Decision Making Decision making and problem solving are critically important skills areas for managers, supervisors, planners, coordinators and individuals. It is important to be able to identify current and potential problems and to make sound, timely decisions before anything goes wrong. According to Study (2005), Problem solving and decision making is related to one another and the definition is as follows: Problem solving – is a set of activities designed to analyze a situation systematically and generate, implement, and evaluate solutions. Decision making – is a mechanism for making choices at each step of the problem solving process. Decision making is part of problem solving, and decision making occurs at every step of the problem solving process. 2.2 Theoretical Models of Decision Making According to Akdere (2011), there are a number of theories associated with decision making. Some of the well-known theories are 1) Statistical decision theory; 2) Multiobjective decision making theory; 3) Social decision making theory; 4) Affective decision making theory; 5) Normative decision making theory; and 6) Descriptive theory. However, only a handful of them actually deal with the decision making process in the organization. Under theoretical models study conducted by Muir, Clinical and Standard (2004), they listed out various models of decision making. The following list of views, supporting theories and models is based upon categorizations related to decision making;
  • 4. BMOB5103 – Decision Making Nor Helmee Bin Abd Halim 4 2.2.1 The Rational Choice model The rational manager view assumes a rational and completely informed decision-maker as described by neoclassical microeconomic theory around the middle of the previous century. 2.2.2 The model of bounded rationality The process-oriented view which is based on bounded rationality, where incomplete information and that optimal choices are not always required. Bounded rationality is characterized by the activities of searching and satisfying. Alternatives are searched for and evaluated sequentially. If an alternative satisfies certain implicitly or explicitly stated minimum criteria, it is said to “satisfice” and the search is terminated. 2.2.3 The incrementalist view The logical incrementalist view involves a step by step process of incremental actions and keeps the strategy open to adjustment. 2.2.4 The organizational procedures view The organizational procedures view seeks to understand decisions as the out of standard operating procedures invoked by organizational subunits. 2.2.5 The political view The political view sees decision making as a personalized bargaining process, driven by the agendas of the participants rather than rational processes. People differ on the organization’s goals, values and the relevance of information. 2.2.6 The garbage can model The garbage can view describes decision making is an “organized anarchy”. This model emphasizes the fragmentedness and chaotic nature of decision making in organizations, rather than the deliberate manipulations implied by the political view. 2.2.7 The individual differences perspective This model focuses the XXXention on the problem solving behavior of the individual manager, as influenced by the manager’s decision making style, background and personality. 2.2.8 Naturalistic decision making Naturalistic decision making is concerned with investigating and understanding decision making in its natural context.
  • 5. BMOB5103 – Decision Making Nor Helmee Bin Abd Halim 5 2.2.9 The multiple perspectives approach This model for decision making as an XXXempt to “sweep in” all possible perspectives on a problem. It is a concept of unbounded systems thinking, which assumes that any problem is a member of any other problem. 2.3 Rational Choice Decision Making Process A research study conducted by Neag and Pricopi (2010), listed out the steps of rational choice decision making process into following steps as follows: 2.3.1 Step 1 – Define the problem Assessment of the context and detection of the existing problem. Although an initial step, this is a critical moment in the entire decision making process. In many situations, the incapacity to correctly seize the issue leads to failure or inaction. 2.3.2 Step 2 – Choose the best decision process Selecting the best available decision process. 2.3.3 Step 3 – Develop possible choices After identifying the problem and selecting the process, next is to search viable alternative choices or solutions. During this step, creativity and “out of the box” thinking are essential. 2.3.4 Step 4 – Select the choice with the highest value Ascertain the choices or options based on the evaluation done in the previous step. 2.3.5 Step 5 – Implement the selected choice Once a solution has been rationally chosen, one must put it into practice. The success of an efficient implementation lies in better planning and accurate communication. 2.3.6 Step 6 – Evaluate the selected choice Evaluate the selected solution through comparison or any chosen evaluation method. The fact results must constantly compared with the planned ones. Figure 2-0: Rational decision making process flow chart depicted the rational choice decision making process.
  • 6. BMOB5103 – Decision Making Nor Helmee Bin Abd Halim 6 Figure 2-0. Rational decision making process. 2.4 Problems in Decision Making Process The rational choice decision making seems logical, but quite difficult to implement in reality because people are not and cannot be perfectly rational. There are few problems associated with steps of the rational choice decision making process (McShane & Von Glinow, 2015). The problems are: 1. Problems with problem identification - the problem identification stage is itself filled with problems. 2. Problems with goals – the rational choice paradigm assumes that organizational goal is clear and agreed on but in reality, organizational goals are often ambiguous or in conflict with each other. 3. Problems with information processing – it assumes that decision makers can process information about all alternatives and their consequences, whereas it is not possible in reality. 4. Problems with maximization – The issue is people engage in “satisficing” rather than maximization. People satisfice when they select the first alternative that exceeds a standard of acceptance for their needs and preferences.
  • 7. BMOB5103 – Decision Making Nor Helmee Bin Abd Halim 7 2.5 Employee involvement (EI) and participation (EP) in Decision Making Employee voice is a very important factor in the success of an organization. Many researchers including (Irawanto, 2015; Lamley, T 2010; Singh, 2009; Lengnick-Hall and Lengnick-Hall, 1992; Walumbwa et al., 2011; Leana, Ahlbrandt, and Murrell, 1992) argue that successful voice regimes not only positively affect the performance of employees in terms of quality and productivity but also help to negate the issues which might explode if necessary action is not taken. Lawler (1999) states that moving decision making power downward in organizations is at the core of what employee involvement is all about. According to Pleskac, Keeney, Merritt, Schmitt, and Oswald (2011), employees will show more interest in staying with the organization if they have more opportunities to express their dissatisfaction, grievances and to change the unsatisfactory work conditions. It means every employee is regarded as a unique human being, not just a cog in a machine and each employee is involved in helping the organization meet its goals. Each employee’s input is solicited and valued by his or her management. Employees and management recognize that each employee is involved in running the business. Lamley, T (2010) defines employee involvement (EI) as a process for empowering employees to participate in managerial decision making and improvement activities appropriate to their levels in the organization, whilst employee participation (EP) is a process of employee involvement designed to provide employees with the opportunity to influence and where appropriate, take part in decision making on mXXXers which affect them . Employees are the fuel that runs the engine of the organization and it is believed that their non-involvement in the decision making process creates tensions between management and staff. It leads to lost man hours among others which adversely affect the fortunes of the organization. (Irawanto, 2015) mentions employee involvement (EI) and employee participation (EP) is now considered a key element in the successful implementation of new management strategies and plays an important role in determining the degree of job satisfaction, commitment of the employee as well as their motivation. In his study on the relationship between employee involvement and employee motivation conclude that high involvement of employee in the organization's decision making process has increased the employee work motivation as well as well-being.
  • 8. BMOB5103 – Decision Making Nor Helmee Bin Abd Halim 8 Employee involvement and employee participation is also termed as “decentralized decision making” where decision making authority is delegated to the worker with no or minimal interference from the manager (Zábojník, 2002). 2.6 Employee involvement (EI) Practices According to Freeman and Kleiner (2000) there are about eight EI practices. They listed it out as follows: 1. Self-managed work teams 2. Worker involvement in the design of EI programs 3. Total Quality Management - TQM 4. Committees on productivity 5. Worker involvement in work processes 6. Suggestion or complaint systems 7. Information sharing with employees 8. Opinion surveys 2.6.1 Advantages of employee involvement (EI) Employee involvement improves decision making in several ways. The outcomes of the decision making itself are much better as compared to centralized decision making. Problem identification steps are done faster and better. Due to the size of people participate in the process, more and better choices are produced. When several people working together can potentially generate better solutions than the same people working alone, which then help decision maker to select the best alternative. (McShane & Von Glinow, 2015). In a larger context from organizational perspective, a key result in a long term study of employee involvement (EI) practices conducted by Lawler (1999) found the employee involvement practice has significantly improved corporate performance. The test was conducted on EI practices against five measures of corporate performance, and the results showed a higher return on the identified measurement. Black and Gregersen, 1997; Kim 2002; Han, Chiang and Chang, 2011 as cited by (Irawanto, 2015) mention that employees involvement in decision making has improved job
  • 9. BMOB5103 – Decision Making Nor Helmee Bin Abd Halim 9 satisfaction in an organization and considered as a key element in the successful implementation of new management strategies which in turn increases the commitment of the employee as well as their motivation. A study by Shadur et al (1999) and Cadwallader et al. (2010) as cited by (Irawanto, 2015) found that involving employees increases their effort, which subsequently improves efficiency and productivity, reduces the cost of monitoring employees and leads to increased commitment. When sensitive financial and organizational information is shared with employees, they believe they are better off, feel trustworthy and being treated fairly and openly by the management. As a result of this relationship, the management or organization will see the positive impact on task and performance effectiveness. In relation to change management perspective, it is argued by Negulescu & Doval (2014) that employees will be more likely to accept decisions in which they involved. Employees will be in a right or better position to adapt the new changes if they know what is expected from them and what is the current situation of the organization. Irawanto (2015) concludes that employees who enjoy involvement or participation in making decision feel secured in their job and will be indirectly motivated to provide the best possible performance in their job, which reflects their pride and loyalty towards the organization. 2.6.2 Disadvantages of employee involvement Although there are a lot advantages when involving employee in decision making, there are few notable disadvantages as well. According to Lengnick-Hall & Lengnick-Hall (1992), there are at least two known issues associated with EI. Poor decision quality due to deficiency of skills – decision quality can be questioned if proper preparation or knowledge is not passed on to the employees. Level of XXXention and employee’s effort in their contribution of the decision making process can be low as a result from lack of knowledge and skills. In other words, unqualified employees to make decisions often lead to poor choices. When this occurs, the benefits of EI is not realized, yet organizational trust, commitment and performance are severely compromised.
  • 10. BMOB5103 – Decision Making Nor Helmee Bin Abd Halim 10 Increasing participation does not decrease accountability – while decision making activities and influence can be shared, the effect of the consequences of either a good or a poor decision cannot be as completely diffused. This means that those who are accountable for decisions need to monitor and actively manage both the decision making processes and the decision outcomes. For example, a general manager allows a selection committee to hire a production manager who fits the social structure, but is not competent to oversee the planned acquisition of a new technology, the general manager, not the committee, will be held accountable for ineffective performance. Meanwhile, a study conducted by Coye and Belohlav (1991), found that top-down communication plays a big role to ensure the success of employee involvement program. Poor communication with unclear objectives and lack of coordination, lead to lack of employee commitment and participation from the employees. When some employees do not understand the objectives, they simply ignore program by not participating actively. It may also worsen the business condition. 3. The Company – XXX Malaysia XXX is an American multinational telecommunications corporation. The headquarters is in Dallas, Texas. XXX is a provider of telecommunications services to consumers in the US, and to businesses and other providers of telecommunication services worldwide. XXX has presence across the globe, including Malaysia and employed approximately 243,000 people as of January 2014. XXX Malaysia (which will be adverted to as “XXX” in this paper) was founded in 2008 after they won the biggest IT outsourcing contract from an oil and gas company, XXXX. The contract covers the entire XXXX network infrastructure commissioning and maintenance globally. The XXX total workforce as of October 2015 is around 350 employees based out Cyberjaya and Petaling Jaya. XXX is comprised of multiple service organizations from global service assurance, shared services, service management and consulting services, and divided into several
  • 11. BMOB5103 – Decision Making Nor Helmee Bin Abd Halim 11 functional structures. The organization structure is based on hierarchical structure with multiple level of reporting line from level one to the top level of the company, the CEO. XXX is a transnational company and therefore, the location of employees and the supervisors or managers is scXXXered around the world. Top level management mostly resided in the country of origin, the USA, the middle management and first level management are mostly in the hub centers of the company like in Amsterdam, Singapore, Hyderabad, Bratislava, Tokyo and Cyberjaya. Figure 3-0 depicted the corporate hierarchy of XXX. The lowest level is the “level 1” management, including clerical employees, engineers and supervisors, then followed by “Level 2” management being the middle level management and up to the top level, which are the Vice President, Executive Vice President, Senior Executive President and Chairman/CEO. Figure 3-0. XXX Corporate hierarchy. (removed) 3.1 XXX organizational culture and behavior Although the company has present worldwide and diverse community, the organization culture and behavior is more towards US-centric culture. A few well known American cultures are individualistic, teamwork, efficiency, directness, openness, competitive and high achiever (Ismail, 2013). In XXX, there is a unique culture which is widely practiced across the organization. The tagline is called “One XXX”. The chairman of XXX emphasizes on working as “one”, think as “one” and deliver the promise to the customer as “One XXX”. This culture in a way, affects how decision is made in the organization. Generally, it has been a company’s philosophy to involve employees (EI) and encourage participation (EP) in daily routines. (removed) 3.2 XXX Decision making process Due to the fact that XXX is such a huge organization, a lot of decisions are made on a daily basis at various levels. The focus of this paper will be on operational decision making by the first level management (team-leader) since the decision at the highest level like merger and
  • 12. BMOB5103 – Decision Making Nor Helmee Bin Abd Halim 12 acquisition, is not much visibility at the lowest level. The recent example of operational decision making which was concluded earlier in the year will be discussed further. 3.2.1 Health Concerns for Staff working on Shift Operational or technical issues are the common issues which always been addressed by the first level management. Example of technical issues are degrading of network performance, unauthorized implementation, missing deadline, imbalance project assignment and so forth. In today’s outsourcing services, cost efficiency is one of the key elements for XXX to stay competitive in the marketplace. Offshoring to cost effective work centers have become part of the outsourcing strategy for XXX. At these centers, “24x5” rotating shift work covering three regions is deployed in most of the service delivery teams. The strategy works perfectly for the organization, but unfortunately shift work is known to be one of the detractors for most of the affected employees. 3.2.1.1 What is the issue? Earlier this year, an unusual trend in absenteeism rate mostly due to sick leave has been observed by the management. The employee who reports-in sick is usually from a team performing night shift or “graveyard” shift in the previous week. The situation has become a threat to the business as team’s productivity becomes low due to shortage of staff. The burden has been put on the remaining employees as they have to take up the additional tasks. Over time, the trend has become predictable and more employees report-in sick although they were not on the same shift cycle in the previous week. As a result, employee motivation has gone down and start impacting customer’s satisfaction. 3.2.1.2 Resolution steps In the team’s bi-weekly meeting, the team-leader highlighted the declining trend to the team as an effort to address and resolve the problem. The team mentioned that working on night shift for five days a week is very challenging. The employees feel that they don’t get enough rest, although they are given two days rest before starting a new shift on the following week. They become fatigued, unfit to work and the easy way out is to report sick.
  • 13. BMOB5103 – Decision Making Nor Helmee Bin Abd Halim 13 3.2.1.3 Solicits the team for an idea or suggestions As shift work is part of the business requirement and widely deployed by other centers, there is not much option available for the team. Instead of ignoring the situation, the team-leader solicits his team for a viable solution to the problem. There were two practical solutions have been suggested by the team. The first option is to introduce a permanent night shift team and secondly to introduce a flexible night shift environment. The first option has been ruled out as it will introduce a new problem to the team which is lack of team bonding. The permanent night shift team is also seen to be working in silo as they have less physical interaction with their peers. The second option is more practical, but requires more coordination internally. Since each sub team has four engineers, the general idea is to allow two engineers to join the evening shift (Europe time zone) leaving the other two engineers working on night shift. To ensure fairness, the two engineers must rotate with the other two engineers so that each engineer only needs to work on night shift one week a month instead of two weeks a month. 3.2.1.4 The solution Both of the options were suggested by the team and they feel that is the best options for them to improve their health concern. The team-leader did not make his own decision, but storming the possible solutions during team meetings, which indirectly empower the team to make their own decision. The final decision was made by the team-leader. Taking consideration of team bonding and fairness to others, the obvious decision made by the team-leader is to go with the second option. The decision was implemented in the following shift cycle, and performance and productivity were tracked for three months. The team-leader review the decision he made by asking feedback in the bi-weekly team meeting for three months. The solution is in use today and the absenteeism issue has been completely removed and productivity is also increased.
  • 14. BMOB5103 – Decision Making Nor Helmee Bin Abd Halim 14 3.2.2 General Practice in XXX XXX uses a lot of survey systems like a suggestion and opinion surveys as well as employee engagement on regular basis. Example of survey systems is called “eNPS” – Employee Net Promoter Score. The system is conducted on a quarterly basis, which is sent to all employees to answer few simple questions. The questions usually lead employees to provide improvement suggestions and anything related to the climate of the company. XXX also setup a web-based suggestion system similar to a suggestion box. The system is available online 24x7 and it is open to all levels of employees. The management then collected the data, processed and brainstorm further by forming a task-force team. Recently, XXX introduced a new compulsory training program called “Workforce 2020”. Most of the employees especially managers are not familiar with the training program which lead to poor communication on the importance of employee participation in the training. Employees use the system and feedback that their managers are not equipped with the necessary information and failed to convince the employee. Managers now have to join a weekly meeting as to equip the managers with as much information as possible. Apart from that, XXX also organize a monthly “Let’s talk” session where the top level management usually Assistant Vice President (AVP) and Vice President (VP) schedule a one hour “virtual” session for all staff located around the world. There are multiple sessions limiting to a maximum of twenty participants per session. It is an open discussion with higher level management. The issues vary from one department to another and most of the time the AVP and VP try to address the issue and make candid decisions. Example of topics discussed in the session is an overdue approval request for staff backfill. 4. XXX vs the decision making model in the literature American corporations have been big advocates of employee involvement and participation (Ismail, 2013). The focus on employee involvement on the part of XXX is in line with most of the paradigm discussed in the literature. XXX recognizes employees as an important resource that should be involved in the decisions making process. Rational decision making - Based on the decision making process on “health concern” issue as an example, most of the components discussed in the literature are similar to what is
  • 15. BMOB5103 – Decision Making Nor Helmee Bin Abd Halim 15 being practiced by XXX. The team-leader uses rational decision practice by systematically assessing the actual issue in the team, encouraging openness by storming the issue publicly via team meeting, enabling all team members to speak up and come up with possible options as a team. Organizational culture and behavior - The team-leader also include XXX culture and behavior in the decision making process. The “One XXX” culture which emphasizes on teamwork contribute significantly to the success of the process. The decision is derived from the consensus agreement from all team members and the final part of the process is for the team-leader to choose the most appropriate solution to the identified problem. Communicate prolifically - Coye and Belohlav (1991) indicate the importance of communication in the decision making process. In relation to this, the team-leader did well by communicating the need to address and resolve the issue with the team. The team clearly understand the situation thus actively participate and responding to the need of resolving the issue. XXX investment - In summary, XXX invested and implemented a lot of other ways, tools and systems to collect employee’s voice and to encourage employee’s participation in the decision making process. Soft-skills training is one of the biggest investment for the employees. Apart from training, XXX also invest on system like online surveys to gather employee feedback. A study conducted by May, J (2010) found that confidential surveys often result in more candid feedback than other means. The investment on this area has developed a better culture of employee involvement and participation. 5. Recommendations Based on the literature review, involving employees in organizational decision making has a lot of benefits to both employees and the organization. A recommendation is being made based on the above mentioned topic against the current practice in the selected organization. Soft-skills, e.g. Communication, negotiation skills – Although current XXX process is similar to the literature, but it does not represent the entire team of XXX. Through personal observation, some team-leaders are lack of soft-skills like communication and negotiation
  • 16. BMOB5103 – Decision Making Nor Helmee Bin Abd Halim 16 skills. Most researchers pointed out that high standard of communication contribute significantly to the outcome of decision making. When team-leaders communicate and set the objectives clearly will promote more participation from employees. (May, J 2015; Shadur et al, 1999; Coye and Belohlav, 1991). As such, investing on soft skills is not a one-time investment but considered as ongoing investment. At the same time, team-leaders must also take his or her own initiative to improve themselves. Information Sharing culture – to extend the success of the larger group of XXX, those successful team-leaders should share his or her success story with others. Some keyword like “openness” in the decision making process can be used as part of the information sharing content so that employees from other departments feel motivated to actively participate in the decision making process. In a larger context of information sharing culture, management transparency in sharing information like financial report, merger and acquisition plan, and business plan with employees. Employees feel honored when such information is shared with them. This will indirectly encourage employees to participate more actively in the decision making process (Coye and Belohlav, 1991). Support from the management or organization – The issue may be resolved at the operational level, but from the top management perspective, their support and commitment are also required. For example, on top of the agreed decision at the operational level, the management may support the decision by providing transportation service for those working on night shift to ensure their safety. The additional cost could be the show stopper for the management, but this is just an example how management can support and enhance the decision making process. Celebrate successes – it is important to ensure success derived from employee involvement and participation is recognized and rewarded. This will encourage more employee involvement and participation in the culture. The earlier example, may not an appropriate example for this, but may suitable in different situations like employee involvement in resolving bigger issue involving large amount of money (cost reduction initiative) as an example. The contributors deserve a recognition from the management. When the news is
  • 17. BMOB5103 – Decision Making Nor Helmee Bin Abd Halim 17 widely broadcasted, more employees will be XXXracted and will participate in future initiatives (May, J, 2010). 6. Conclusion Many empirical literature on employee involvement (EI), employee participation (EP) and decentralized decision making found positive impact and benefits on both employees and the organization. Researchers have conducted many studies on different industries from government agencies, banking, education, human resource, services industry and so forth, and the results of the study have always shown positive results as described above. The practice is not only working for an established organization, but small entrepreneurs should also embrace the practice. Leave the decision making activities to the people who knows their work better, i.e. the employees and the management should focus on the precious time to do some bigger and better for the organization. The management and the organization should continue to invest in human development or skillset training as the success of decentralized decision making rely on communication (to clearly communicate the objective from the top down) and the employees must have the right skill set to deliver and “champion” the role as an active participant in the decision making process. [Word count - 5182]
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