Book description
How do executives make decisions? Based on what? Are their decisions conscious or unconscious? Can they explain each decision they make? What tools can they use to improve their decision-making process? What rules of thumb (heuristics) can they use when faced with decision-making challenges? These are some of the questions this book is about. During the past 30 years, as an entrepreneur and senior executive of several medium-sized Canadian hi-tech businesses, the author observed his decision-making processes to be based either on experience or on advice received from colleagues. Seldom were decisions based on formal or informal academic-based methods. Discussing decision-making methods with other executives of comparable business backgrounds confirms they rely on similar methods when looking for solutions to challenging business problems. There is no substitute for years of experience in any human endeavour. However, tapping into some of the methods and lessons learned from personal experience can result in useful principles for others to follow. These principles might be useful especially for entrepreneurs interested in building their businesses or executives looking for some additional help in acquiring a better decision-making mouse-trap.
Table of contents
- Cover
- Half Title Page
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Contents
- Introduction
- Prologue
- What Are Heuristics? (Rules of Thumb)
- How Do Business Executives Make Decisions? (Do Rules of Thumb Count?)
- When You Do Not Decide, You Have Decided (Do Not Procrastinate)
- Why Technology Is Not Important—Or Is It? (Computers Are Dumb)
- Experience Counts (What You Do Not Know Is Important)
- Learn from Your Failures (Do Not Reinvent the Wheel)
- Personal Presence Management (Your Time Is Not Yours)
- Safety First (Without It Nothing Else Counts)
- People Count (Show Them)
- Quality Is Free (The Devil Is in the Detail)
- Believe in Numbers—But Not Too Much (What You Can Measure, You Might Manage)
- The Customer Is Always Right (Most of the Time)
- If It Ain’t Broken, Break It (Innovate)
- Managing Errors (No Blame)
- The Dog Ate My Shipment (The Inconceivable Is Not So)
- Let Go of the Banana (Delegate) or (Delegation Pitfalls)
- Everybody Knows the Future (Is Planning Overrated?)
- Complexity Is Out—Simplicity Is In (Less Is More)
- Meaningless Choices (Decisions That Do Not Matter)
- The Bank Manager Is Not Your Friend (Do Not Go to the Bank with a Problem)
- The Government Can Help (This Is Not a Joke)
- Do Not Quit Your Day Job(Buying a Lottery Ticket Is Not Winning the Lottery)
- Endnotes
- Index
Product information
- Title: Business Decision-Making
- Author(s):
- Release date: May 2015
- Publisher(s): Business Expert Press
- ISBN: 9781631572456
You might also like
book
Business Problem-Solving and Strategy
A FUN AND APPROACHABLE WAY TO LEARN IMPORTANT BUSINESS PRINCIPLES Do you want to improve your …
book
Strategic Analysis and Choice
Strategy and strategic planning at the firm level often gets a bad reputation because managers aren't …
book
Business Decision Making, Second Edition, 2nd Edition
How do executives make decisions? Are their decisions conscious or unconscious? Can they explain each decision …
book
Decision-Making Training
Every day, people make decisions and solve problems in both their business and personal lives. For …