Harvard Business Essentials, Decision Making

Many analytical tools—including some software versions—are avail-

able for this purpose.

Step 5: Choose the Best Alternative

When all previous steps have been carried out properly and the de-

cision team is in agreement on its objective, the team members can

rationally evaluate each of the alternatives. Under ideal circum-

stances, the right choice will be clear. But in reality, some degree of

personal preferences, ambiguity, and dissention often makes the final

choice difficult. Fortunately, there are techniques that can help a de-

cision team get through these difficulties. These methods, explained

in chapter 6, have fanciful names: catchball, point-counter ...