Free Essay About Decision Making

Effective Situational Awareness

Situational awareness is defined by people's perceptions concerning certain elements of the environment. Being aware of the external environment makes it possible to understand the how people's actions, events and information are capable of impacting on the predetermined goals and objectives. The most important aspect of situational awareness is the consistent flow of information. Having the appropriate information is important for decision making because it helps in correctly determining or instituting a cause of action as appropriate. Dynamic and complex systems require that accurate information is passed from one end to another in order to avoid fatalities or breakdown emerging as a result of human error (Salas & Dietz, 2011).
An example of effective situational awareness is being able to communicate and providing adequate information to other people. Members of the crew are bound to work together as a means of ensuring that there is no breakdown resulting in fatalities. Communication is a critical aspect of decision-making because it provides space and time to institute a decision that is positive and durable. Consequently, effective communication is critical based on a number of fundamental facts. Case in point is that the manner in which information is passed to other people determines the extent to which they respond. For instance, if the information is not passed to people accurately, it gives room for complacency or ineffective response (Salas & Dietz, 2011).
Effective situational awareness is when information is passed with accuracy and the utmost diligence to ensure that the response and cause of action are commensurate the details provided. Without communication, it is possible to have breakdowns and poor decision making to the extent that an issue that could otherwise have been solved amicably ends up being disastrous.

Ineffective Decision Making

Decision-making is an important component that determines the extent to which effectiveness and efficiency are achieved. The essence of decision-making is to ensure that people can respond to the threats or opportunities presented by taking appropriate measures that are in tandem with the goals and objectives (McLucas, 2003). The 1972 plane crash in the US occurred as a result of ineffective decision-making. Case in point is that while the members of the crew were engaged in dealing with a single issue that could otherwise have been dealt with by a few people, the plane crashed resulting in a number of fatalities. If the crew had made effective decisions, maybe the plane would not have crashed. An example of ineffective decision-making is when there is poor participation. Participation is an important aspect of decision making because it makes it possible to get diverse views from various members. Input from other people helps in streamlining a decision effectively making it achieve the goals and objectives as appropriate.
Poor participation in decision-making is a guarantee that voices of discord can emerge to the extent of sabotaging the deliberations agreed on by the leadership or some group (McLucas, 2003). For instance, if members of the crew do not subscribe to the decision of the pilot to make an emergency landing or going back to the place of destination, it may present a challenge effectively leading to fatalities. Effective decision-making is, therefore, an important component in ensuring that there are sanity and coherence in so far as achieving the predetermined objectives is concerned. Ineffective decision-making is a recipe for negative consequences.

References

McLucas, A. C. (2003). Decision making: Risk management, systems thinking and situation awareness. Canberra: Argos Press.
Salas, E., & Dietz, A. S. (2011). Situational awareness. Farnham, England: Ashgate.