The
non-rational decision-making methods
It is important to realise that not
all decisions are made rationally. That is, not all
decisions are made by people following a logical, linear
process. Some decisions are made intuitively or chaotically.
Others are made irrationally or randomly. In this section,
we will mention three types of non-rational decision-making
methods.
The implicit favourite. The implicit favourite model suggests that the decision-maker is neither rational nor objective. The decision-maker is said to implicitly select a favourite alternative solution or technology, and then to spend the rest of the decision process trying to confirm their choice. The process really gives the appearance of objectivity, the person is frequently not even aware of their bias toward one choice. This model highlights the importance of intuition and feelings in decisions, rather than rational or even bounded rational objectivity.
Political and power-based decision-making. Another example of a non-rational decision-making process is a decision made for political or power-based reasons. This might be done innocently, in line with the implicit favourite model, or done intentionally. Decisions in the real world, seem quite frequently to be made on the basis of power and political factors.
The rubbish-bin model of decision-making. The last non-rational organisational decision-making process is referred to as the "rubbish-bin model" or as "organisational anarchy". It suggests that decisions sometimes are irrational, that decisions are sometimes made randomly, arbitrarily and chaotically. It is suggested that decisions are made sometimes from a disorderly convergence of participants, problems, solutions and decision opportunities. They are all tossed into the rubbish-bin and mixed up together. Sometimes, we have solutions looking for problems, rather than an orderly search for solutions to clearly identified problems. Sometimes we establish goals to justify decisions already made. It is suggested that we tend to make these types of decisions in situations where decision-makers have limited time, are in complex environments with ambiguous goals, with scattered, loosely linked units, and with many departments, committees and task forces each with vague or overlapping responsibilities.
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Holistic Management Pty. Ltd.