Study Notes

Decision Making
Styles and Manager’s roles
Decision Making styles and manager roles

Introduction

The decision-making styles are strategies that leaders and individuals employ to make choices.
Different styles work better in different situations or environments, and understanding decision-
making leads to productive, cooperative, and engaged work environments. Knowing when to
use different styles can improve leadership, knowledge of self, and understanding of others in
the workplace. Appropriate decision-making can increase productivity, contribute to a
company's mission and vision, and encourage a team culture.

Styles can be characterized in a couple of ways. First, each type focuses on either task
completion or group/social engagement. Task focus uses data to determine how best to achieve
the outcome or decision. Group/social focus engages stakeholders and their opinions or needs
in the development and decision-making process.

Second, the decision making styles allow for two levels of flexibility: structured versus
ambiguous. Structured decision-making seeks a clear plan, expert opinions, practicality, and
follows what has worked before. Flexible decision-making allows for open options, taking risks,
creative problem solving, and uncertainty.

Understanding the types of decision-making and their strengths and weaknesses will enable the
leader to employ the right strategy to make appropriate choices in a variety of situations.

Decision-Making Styles

Based on two broad parameters of ‘tolerance for ambiguity’ and ‘value orientation’, there are
four styles of decision making – Analytical, conceptual, directive and behavioral.

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Decision Making styles and manager roles

Analytical Style

analytical decision-making styles involves careful analysis of the situation, various factors
affecting each situation and then arriving at a fair conclusion. Analytical style decision making
describes people who feel comfortable with high tolerance for ambiguity but are motivated to
find the best or most comprehensive solution and have a rational way of thinking. Analytical
decisions-making style is characterized by commitment to finding the best answer, enjoying
problem solving, comfort with large amounts of data, innovation, time consuming method. It is
suited for complex problems

Directive Style

Such a decision maker has lot of quick ideas and has low tolerance for ambiguity but has
rational way of thinking. This form of decision making relies on a rational and autocratic style
(prefer taking decision alone) that results in the employee using his own knowledge, experience
and judgment to choose the best alternative. This type of leader is very rational, but thinks
mostly about the short-term. They are very logical, efficient and take quick decisions within a
short time. They assess few alternatives and also consider limited information while taking any
decision. Basically such managers are driven by results, rely primarily on riles and processes,
are aggressive in nature, are strong verbal communicators and inform about the decision to the
people.

Directive style decision-makers tend to struggle with receiving advice, responding to differing
opinions and creating a plan in new or uncertain situations.

Conceptual Style

Such decision makers focus on long term; as such, they evaluate all possibilities before
narrowing down on a decision. These people have high tolerance for ambiguity and is intuitive in
nature. They look at many alternatives. They focus on the long run and are very good at finding
suitable solutions. This kind of decision making is for a long term, and subjected to changes.

This style focuses on recognizing underlying problems and coming up with creative, integrated
options to pursue. But many conceptual style decision-makers find difficulty with execution and
adequate planning for follow-through.

Behavioral Style

Behavioral style decision-making has low tolerance for ambiguity and is intuitive. These decision
makers consider the feelings of people involved before taking a decision. The manager
possesses behavioral style decision-making will engage in team discussion. He is responsive to
the mood of the team members. He makes decision based on what feels right, and what will
motivate the team members to perform. The decision is communicated clearly and leaves no
room for doubt. They are concerned about the achievement of subordinates and always take
suggestions from others. They organize meetings of subordinates’ time and again to get
information and suggestions, and to make others feel included and important.

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Decision Making styles and manager roles

However, they try to avoid conflict. Acceptance by others is important to this decision making
style and they can be termed as ‘people pleasers’.

Decision-Making behaviours

 Psychological: Decisions derived from the needs, desires, preferences, and/or values of
the individual making the decision. This type of decision-making is centered on the
individual deciding.
 Normative: In many ways, decision making (particularly in groups, such as within an
organization) is about communicative rationality. This is to say that decisions are derived
based on the ability to communicate and share logic, using firms premises and
conclusions to drive behavior.
 Cognitive: This is an integrated feedback system between the individual/organization
making a decision, and the broader environment’s reactions to those decisions. This type
of decision-making process involves iterative cycles and constant assessment of the
reactions and impacts of the decision.

From the cognitive perspective, there are a few specific stylistic models:

 Optimizing vs. Satisficing - Decision-making is limited to the finite amount of

information an individual has access to. With limitations on information, true objectivity is
impossible. Decisions are therefore intrinsically flawed. A satisficer will recognize this
necessary imperfection, and prefer faster but less perfect decisions while a maximizer
will take a longer time trying to find the optimal choice. This can be viewed as a
spectrum, and each decision (depending on the risk of a mistake) can be viewed with
varying levels of perfection.
 Intuitive vs. Rational - Daniel Kahneman puts forward the idea of two separate minds
that compete for influence within each of us. One way to describe this is a conscious and
a subconscious perspective. The subconscious mind (referred to as System 1) is
automatic and intuitive, rapidly consolidating data and producing a decision almost
immediately. The conscious mind (referred to as System 2) requires more effort and
input, utilizing logic and rationale to make an explicit choice.
 Combinatorial vs. Positional - This relationship was put forward by Aron
Katsenelinboigen based on how the game of chess is played, and an individual’s
relationship with uncertainty. A combinatorial player has a final outcome, making a
series of decisions that try to link the initial position with the final outcome in a firm,
narrow, and concrete way (i.e. certainty). The positional decision-making approach is
‘looser’, with a sense of setting up for an uncertain future as opposed to pursuing a
concrete object. Each move from this type of player would maximize options as opposed
to pursue an outcome.

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Decision Making styles and manager roles

Leadership styles based on involvement in Decision-Making

Autocratic or Authoritarian leadership

An autocratic leader centralizes power and decision-making in himself. The leader
involvement is high while that of others is low.
He gives orders, assigns tasks and duties without consulting the employees. The leader
takes full authority and assumes full responsibility. Subordinates act as he directs. He
neither cares for their opinions nor permits them to influence the decision. He believes
that because of his authority he alone can decide what is best in a given situation.

Democratic or Participative or Consultative leadership

Here both the leader and the team members have high involvement in decision making .
It is characterised by consultation with the subordinates and their participation in the
formulation of plans and policies. He encourages participation in decision-making.

Delegating or laissez faire leadership

The laissez-faire or non-interfering type of leader passes on the responsibility for
decision-making to his subordinates and takes a minimum of initiative in administration.
He gives no direction and allows the group to establish its own goals and work out its
own problems. The leader’s involvement is nil to low and that of others is also low. The
leader might ask to be informed of the decision (or not), but may not change the
decision.

Team style leadership

Here the leader involvement in decision making is low but that of the team is high. The
leader may facilitate the team reaching consensus, where everyone agrees to support
the decision. The leader participates in decision making only as a member of the group.

Bureaucratic Leadership
In this style the leaders strictly adhere to the organizational rules and policies to take a
decision and makes sure that the employees also strictly follow the rules and
procedures.

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Decision Making styles and manager roles

Managerial roles

According to Henry Mintzberg, a manager has 10 roles sub-divided into three categories, one of
them being decisional roles.

The various roles are as follows:

Role Description Example

Inter-personal Roles
Figurehead Symbolic head; required to Representing organisation at
perform a number of routine conferences, seminars; signing legal
duties of a legal or social nature documents
Leader Responsible for the motivation Training, counselling subordinates
and direction of subordinates
Liaison Maintains a network of outside Emails, phone calls, meetings within
contacts who provide and without the organisation
information and favors
Informational Roles
Monitor Receives wide variety of Handling all mails and contacts
information;
Serves as nerve centre of
internal and external information
of organisation
Disseminator Transmits information received Forwarding mails for decision making;
from outsiders or other instructions to subordinates
subordinates to members of
organisation
Spokesperson Transmits information to Board meetings; discussing results
outsiders on organisation’s on investor call; speeches

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Decision Making styles and manager roles

plans, policies, actions, and

results; serves as expert on
organisation’s industry
Decisional Roles
Entrepreneur Initiate improvement projects, Strategy sessions
identify new ideas, delegate
idea responsibility
Disturbance handler Take corrective action during Dispute with supplier
dispute or crisis, resolve
conflicts among subordinates,
adapt to environmental crises
Resource allocator Decide who gets resources, Budgeting and forecasting
scheduling, budgeting, setting
priorities
Negotiator Represent Labour union negotiations
organisation/department during
negotiations of union sales,
purchase, etc.