MSLD632 - Module 3 - Framing Complex Decisions - Madeline Campbell


Effective decision-making is crucial for leaders and managers within an organization, as they are making hundreds of decisions every day. These decisions are affecting every aspect of their company, team and customers. Hoch, Kunreuther and Gunther state in their book Wharton of Decision Making, “Good decision making has often been described as following an orderly and logical process from framing a problem, assembling alternatives, evaluating them, and choosing the best one to implement” (2001). However, with natural environmental and technological growth, decision-making is a fast-paced, ever-changing environment that has greatly shifted over time. Within the admission department at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Arizona, we utilize various approaches when dealing with complex, multiple stakeholders and environmental decision-making processes.

COMPLEX DECISIONS
First, within complex decisions, the counselors face unending data regarding potential students, past students, current students and the like. We utilize a CRM called Salesforce. Within this CRM, the vast majority of datamining available to us is outstanding. However, since there is a dense amount of data that must be shifted through and utilized to enhance our decision making, we utilize very specific reports to aid in our travel planning process. Hoch, Kunreuther and Gunther relay that, “Managers are using tools such as data mining and data warehousing to harness this avalanche of data in their business decisions. (2001). With the multifaceted decisions we are required to make, this data analysis simplifies our decision-making process through specific reports that are available via new technologies. If I could implement some changes to how my department utilizes this technology, I would make an alteration of only allowing certain reports to be available for counselors. There is a mass amount of data available, and our department may become overwhelmed when researching the data for making decisions. Often times, counselors use too much of their time trying to find certain reports, or get stuck on simply where to look/how to find reports. This is a downfall of having so much information at our fingertips. Bennet and Bennet state in their research, The Decision-Making Process for Complex Situations in a Complex Environment (2008), “As with any informed decision-making process, we move into the complexity decision space with the best toolset and as deep an understanding of the situation as possible. That toolset may include experience, education, relationship networks, knowledge of past successes and historic individual preferences, multiple frames of reference, cognitive insights, wellness (mental, emotional and physical) and knowledge of related external and internal environmental pressures” (p. 3).

MULTIPLE STAKEHOLDERS DECISIONS
Another decision counselors are faced with every day is making admission decisions. Our admission decision process, as well as recruiting guidelines, are governed by the National Association of Admission Counselors (NACAC). Therefore, since we are “competing” with other top STEM based universities, we have to ensure that our decision are following these guidelines with outside stakeholders (NACAC).  We cater to multiple stakeholders, such as other universities, students, parents and simply other ERAU departments, therefore sticking to the NACAC guidelines is important to ensure we are operating fairly according to the regulations in place. “The key is to link this external stakeholder mapping process to company strategy. When this multiparty approach is coupled with detailed knowledge edge of historical trends and outcomes, provided by the types of data and systems modeling described earlier, a company can integrate and communicate its market and investment strategies to all affected stakeholders in a responsible manner” (Hoch, Kunreuther and Gunther, 2001). Since ERAU Admissions is governed by a very strict and specific set of policies, this removes the complex factor of decision making with stakeholders, as we all hold ourselves to the NACAC standard.

ENVIRONMENTAL DECISIONS
Since the admissions department is primarily focused on recruiting high school students, our pyramid on how we recruit and communicate with prospective students is ever-changing. Technology is continually growing and evolving for 17 and 18 year olds, therefore, we have to alter how we utilize technology to make decisions within our communication.  First, we have pretty learned that contacting our students via email or text messaging is the best way to get ahold of them. NACAC requires that the admissions department only text a student if they have submitted an application to the institution, therefore we take this into consideration when deciding how to communicate to a prospective student. Another environmental factor we have to take into consideration is the changing and growing field of academics and competiveness. Thankfully Embry-Riddle, for both residential campuses as well as our online programs, have very high academic levels. However, it is difficult to relay this to high school students who may not know much about the university. Therefore, creating Instagram and YouTube videos that outline the strong academic structure that ERAU upholds has been a new tactic that has changed with environmental and technological changes.

References
Hoch, S. H., Kunreuther, H., & Gunther, R. (2001). Wharton on Making Decisions. New York: Wiley.
Bennet, A, Bennet, D, Burstein, F & Holsapple, C. (2008). The Decision-Making Process in a Complex Situation

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