Major Considerations in Decision-Making

When faced with the need to decide regarding a problem or opportunity, the following factors, among others, would play a major role:

- The environment within which it takes place
- Any technical considerations which might apply
- Manpower requirements
- Capacities - what strain will be placed on the enterprise?

The environment. Any situation plays out in an environment which includes a legal environment, political considerations (internal or external), financial climate (again, internal and external) as well as physical (temperature, humidity, etc) and location and considerations arising therefrom. These are all factors which could influence the form a decision would need to take.

Technical considerations; what sort of equipment which would be needed or would new equipment be needed. Would research be needed or any development work be necessary?

- Manpower requirements. Are the people available to do the work? Do they have the skills or will training be required? Do they have the proven abilities or does this provide an opportunity to challenge and grow some people? If it is a challenge, what "flotation devices" can be provided to make sure they swim? Are the skills available in-house or would contractors or recruitment be needed? Would certain areas need to be closed down or reduced and re-skilling or redundancy of those affected be required?

Capacities. Here one should consider the financial climate and budgetary constraints as well as potentially production capacity. The skills of the people are also a capacity issue. Is sufficient material available or obtainable and at what cost and impact on the budget? Is the space available or would new buildings or new land be required? is it p

These factore listed here are by no means exhaustive and there is also an interplay between them; the need for training or additional skill has a financial impact, technical consideration will also impact on staffing and budget. Most changes would tend to have some sort of financial impact.

It can be seen that a great understanding of the whole context of the decision is required, but the advantage is that if a thorough investigation is performed then the problem or opportunity itself points to what is needed. But the need for understanding must be balanced with the need for action.if there is sufficient understanding to be reasonably sure the decision is correct, then steps for implementation of the decision should be started. Timeliness is also a factor which has not so far been considered, but which is often critical.