The Most Appropriate Group Decision-Making Technique
Making decisions as a group can be very challenging. It can lead to conflict and take up huge amounts of time, and often it is difficult to come to an agreement. Fortunately, several different techniques have been developed to overcome some of these difficulties. No one technique is considered the best for all situations, as all of the techniques have advantages and disadvantages.
For this assignment, pay close attention to three group decision-making processes—the Delphi technique, brainstorming, and the Nominal Group Technique.
Below are three different scenarios. For each scenario, explain which group decision-making technique you would choose out of brainstorming, nominal group, or Delphi. Your paper should be 4–5 pages in length:
The company you work for is in crisis. Several new competitors have been rapidly growing and taking away your customers. Your company’s sales are steadily dropping. You and the rest of the top management team know that creative new strategies are needed in order to keep up with the new competitors. Nobody is sure what needs to be done, but it is clear something drastic and original needs to happen in order to keep the company afloat. The top management team members are all extroverts who are not afraid to speak up at meetings, but they are often prone to conventional thinking. Which group decision-making technique do you recommend?
Your company is facing cost overruns and needs solutions on how best to cut costs. The top management team includes both introverts and extroverts, with the extroverts usually dominating the conversation at meetings. Furthermore, meetings with this group often go off the agenda and drift into tangential subjects. A quick decision needs be made with input from all members of the team.
Your company needs to purchase a new software system as the old one is out of date. Your team consists of IT managers from all of the company’s overseas divisions. These managers are highly skilled and very knowledgeable about the different software options, but it is difficult to arrange a meeting with them due to the time differences and their very busy schedules. The decision is not urgent, but you need to make a decision within the next three months.
Conclude your paper with a discussion about which of the three group decision-making processes (nominal group, brainstorming, or Delphi) is the most useful to you, considering the types of decision situations in which you are typically involved.
The Most Appropriate Group Decision-Making Technique
Introduction
Decision-making in groups can be challenging mainly because no single approach is the most effective. It is prone to conflicts that can emerge when individuals cannot agree on a given course of action. Three techniques are employed to curb the challenges that emerge when making group decisions: the Delphi technique, brainstorming, and the Nominal Group Technique. This paper analyzes three case scenarios to establish the most appropriate group decision-making technique for each scenario. In the end, the paper demonstrates the most appropriate group-making decision technique.
Scenario 1
The most appropriate decision-making technique for this scenario is brainstorming. The approach entails group discussion to generate ideas and ways of addressing issues. The members contribute spontaneous ideas and try to find a conclusion for a particular problem. Brainstorming will work for this scenario because the top management team members are introverts. The members are not afraid to speak up during meetings. As a result, brainstorming will be critical since the members can quickly generate new ideas. In brainstorming sessions, it is vital to ensure members can speak up on issues affecting them. It is through the various spontaneous idea that a team can find a conclusion for an issue. Additionally, brainstorming is critical when a team needs to come up with creative ideas (White, Quehl, Costello & Costello, 2022). In this case, the top management is prone to conventional thinking. The brainstorming sessions will be required to help the members devise unconventional solutions to the problem. It will allow them to challenge the ideas presented and find unique solutions to the challenge of dropping sales. Additionally, brainstorming will enable the top management to have various solutions to the problem. Since the approach will involve some team members, this will permit more solutions to be proposed. The variety of solutions presented will allow the top management to identify the solutions that are most appropriate for the problem.
Scenario 2
The most appropriate technique for this is Nominal Group Technique (NGT). The method entails gathering information from members by asking individuals to respond to questions the moderator poses. The moderator then requests the group members to prioritize the ideas and suggestions of all the members. The technique is appropriate for this scenario because the team has a mix of both introverts and extroverts. As noted, extroverts usually dominate the conversation at meetings. NGT prevents specific individuals from dominating the discussion by encouraging all the members to participate (Harvey & Holmes, 2012). Using NGT will allow the moderator to give all the members opportunities to contribute. This will ensure that the introverts have a chance to speak. In the presence of extroverts, the moderator must ensure that the introverts are free to express themselves without fear of intimidation. The moderator will prevent the extroverts from dominating the meetings by limiting the time they can talk. Here, all the members will have an equal chance of contributing, balancing both groups' interests. Eventually, introverts and extroverts will contribute to what needs to be done to cut costs. Furthermore, NGT ensures that the results are a set of prioritized recommendations that demonstrate the group’s preference as opposed to some individuals. The results will be those of both introverts and extroverts, reflecting the group's wishes. Since a...