Decision-making process
Abstract–The decision-making process presents a series of steps through which a gap or problem gets identified and appropriate measures applied to litigate the issue. Business owners make decisions regularly in addressing the problems related to everyday operations as well as long term strategic plans. The process involved in making decisions in most instances is not always optimized or specified formally [1]. However, having an understanding of the decision-making process helps business owners and organizations improve effectiveness when making decisions. The process involves seven steps.
Acknowledgement
In the preparation of my assignment, I had to consult several business people who deserve my deepest gratitude. The completion of this assignment would not have gotten successful without the input and cooperation of the owner of Avida store, Ms Salena, and for that, I am appreciative.
Decision-making process
- Identify the problem- this involves recognizing the specific need that requires to get addressed.
- Collect relevant information- the potential causes of the problem are determined.
- Identify possible alternative- potential solutions to the problem gets identified.
- Weigh the evidence- the pros and cons for the alternative solutions are laid out.
- Choose from the alternatives- the option that presents the best chance of producing valid results gets chosen.
- Plan implementation- the decision made gets put into action and monitoring systems put into place to analyze the outcomes.
- Review the decision and its impact on the business- evaluation of the results is done to find out if the decision made is yielding the expected results.
Avida store is a clothing shop that focuses exclusively on women clothes. The store has managed to stay afloat over the years and make a good profit. However, over the last couple of years, the sales volume has significantly decreased, demanding the owner to identify the reason affecting the business. Over the years, the shop has had no competition, but new stores are opening that sell variety of clothes including men and children at a lower cost. The location of the store is also not convenient for most people, and the price of their product is too high. The single focus of the business and the inconvenient location is limiting to the customers since families cannot conduct shopping in one store. These limitations have made it easy for the competitors to promote their businesses which have led to the dwindling sales and profit for Avida.
The owner can choose to conform to the trend set by the competing stores through an expansion of the range of products offered by the store. The company can introduce children or male clothes or both to sell alongside the female garments. The owner can also choose to maintain the business uniqueness by keeping the current strategy, although the probability of continuing having poor returns is high. Introduction of children clothes is desirable since most women would want to purchase clothes for their children as they buy their clothes too. For men clothes, however, introducing them is not likely to provide effective results since most men prefer shopping on stores that specialize in men clothes.
For the location, the construction of new buildings where people can shop everything has made the customers opt to buy clothes from the other stores. The owner should consider moving to a location which is not isolated where the customers can access it conveniently. For the product’s pricing, the business owner can choose to maintain the uniqueness of the store by focusing on the quality of the clothes. Another option is selling clothes at a lower price with an emphasis on volume.
Assessment of the sales volume should get carried out every month, and the customers complain and compliments analyzed, and the necessary changes applied. At the end of the year assessment on the sales volume need to get conducted with increment in profit being the ultimate measure of the effectiveness of the action plans taken.