Abstract
This paper explains that a decision-making model helps a decision maker to structure the process by which he or she makes a decision; a good funeral director must be prepared with a number of models to help him or her make appropriate judgments in difficult situations. The author points out that conflict is the root of most decision-making difficulties, and there will always be conflicting factual and emotional evidence in any decision one is faced with on the job. The paper relates that the organizational model decision-making construct allows the funeral director access to the most accurate cause and effectual information; thereby, consulting the individual's will or other instruction regarding the deceased's desires and then negotiating between the participants involved by applying a flow approach to the decision using the steps of framing, deciding, communicating, implementing, and evaluating.

From the Paper
"When making a decision in the real world, it's a common and popular method to diffuse conflict by saying, 'oh, it's not a matter of life and death.' However, when a funeral director is making decisions regarding the most appropriate methods for his or her actions on a daily basis, or in a difficult situation at a funeral home, it is a matter of life and death. It is a matter of death because of the nature of the subject matter of the profession. It is a matter of life for the dead person's loved ones and relatives. The deceased and the living both have needs and wishes that are at stake, regarding the final obsequies for the individual who has passed on."

Tags:family, instruction, rational, conflict, organizational

Abstract
One of the key aspects to being a good manager is being a good decision maker and a good facilitator of decision making between others. However, although this statement may seem to be a cliche, like so many cliches about demonstrating strong leadership and business acumen, it bears a certain level of scrutiny when put into real world terms. This paper asks what happens when one must negotiate and mediate in the real world. It shows that, in these cases, there are two dominant paradigms every business manager must take into consideration, namely, what is economically feasible and good business sense, and what is ethically coherent with the company's philosophy and American law. This paper applies two available decision making models that satisfy both of these aspects, the rational actor decision-making model and the organizational processes decision-making model.

From the Paper
"In other words, quite often decision making in the work force cannot presume that all conflicts have a rational basis, or that all mediate decisions made thus can simply regard the quantitative and qualitative data that may be at the roots of a particular conflict. Decisions may ideally come from identifying relevant criteria, cause and effect beliefs, and different evaluations of proposed alternatives. However, if even from a purely rational basis conflict may result in all three areas, when conflicts in the workplace assume because of long-standing tensions, human resource management becomes even more difficult in achieving decisions that are mutually amicable for all parties."

Tags:employee, conflict

Abstract
The paper discusses how William S. Stavropoulos has managed to reorganize the leadership and decision-making structure of Dow Chemicals during his time as CEO. The paper explains why Stavropoulos has been considered an effective leader and decision-maker. The paper explores his belief that vertical leadership and shared leadership are positively associated and that they are not mutually exclusive. Stavropoulos believes that one person can no longer be expected to fully grasp all of the intricacies that enter into the decision-making process. The paper discusses leadership in general and explains that it is a deferral of the decision-making process from a group to an individual. The paper also looks at the two main ways in which shared leadership can be developed.

From the Paper
"Leadership, in many respects, is a deferral of the decision making process from a group to an individual. This can make the process far more efficient, but it also runs the risk of reaching the wrong conclusions. The military, for example, requires the most expedient form of decision-making--indecision can cost lives. Therefore, for ages humans have endorsed the practice of assigning military rank; a system where orders are to be followed without question and without hesitation. However, people are not machines."

Tags:shared, vertical, Dow, Chemicals, individual, group

Abstract
The paper offers recommendations to banks as it pertains to decision-making issues associated with the needs of customers, employees and the overall health and performance of the bank. The paper advises strategies on the bank's competition, risks, consumer needs, technologies, the mindset of decision makers and the concept of situational awareness.

Outline:
Introduction
Decision-Making and the Banking Industry
Ethics, Human resources and Communicative rules
Research the Competition
Appropriate Evaluation of Risks
Time frames and Decision making
Technology and Decision Making
The Mindset and Decision Making
Situational Awareness
Summary and Conclusion

From the Paper
"You do not have to watch the nightly news to know that the banking industry has experienced a great deal of turmoil over the past year. One of the primary reasons for this problem is the mortgage crisis and the subsequent credit crunch that has followed. Banks all over the country are reeling from missteps that were taken in the housing market which are now affecting many different aspects of banking.
"For the most part, a great deal of the problems that are now present in the banking industry could have been avoided had better decision making taken place. For instance banks should have insisted that new homers be able to verify income, prove credit worthiness and make down payments on their homes. Banks and other financial institutions such as mortgage lenders were irresponsible in their lending practices and now there is a tremendous price that is being paid for their irresponsibility."

Tags:competition, risks, consumers, technologies, mindset, situational, awareness

Abstract
This paper discusses the process of decision-making for those in management positions. It discusses the need for the manager to identify the possible risks and create solutions as a way to avoid or manage those risks. It also describes the characteristics of managerial decisions that contribute to the difficulty and stress of the decision-making process. The paper then analyzes the differences between programmed decisions and non-programmed decisions when dealing with the structure of a decision. Finally, the paper details the six-stage process that decision makers can follow.

From the Paper
"For management to arrive at a correct conclusion to a decision, more than an idea must arise. Good managers know what is ahead of them when a decision is to be made. Most decisions lack structure and involve risk, uncertainty, and conflict. Some will be programmed decisions, which involve a process to find a positive conclusion. Non-programmed decisions test the ability of the manager or the decision maker. Decision making is something that managers face on a daily basis. The decision making process should be used when ever there is a decision to be made, big or small. With many barriers to entry, this process can be tedious and exhausting. But in the end the great managers will emerge showing their skills and talents."

Tags:objective, evaluate, implement

Abstract
This paper reviews the importance of modeling in policy analysis and the use of decision tree analysis. It looks at the tools available to help policy makers. The writer uses the example of Firestone tires on the Ford Explorer sports utility vehicles as an application of decision trees in decision analysis.

From the Paper
"There is a large variety of tools available to help decision-makers. This paper focuses on one of these tools decision tree analysis. The consideration of the decision tree decision analysis tool begins with are view of the ..."

Tags:Decisoon, analysis, Decision, tree, Policy, analysis

Abstract
Atticus Finch, in To Kill a Mockingbird, is the epitome of an ethical decision maker and of an individual who believes in leading by example. In this story, Atticus represents a central character who as a lawyer, represents an African American accused of raping a white female in a harshly segregated and prejudiced township of Maycomb, Alabama.

From the Paper
Atticus Finch: A Model for Leading Ethically by Example Atticus Finch, in To Kill a Mockingbird, is the epitome of an ethical decision maker and of an individual who believes in leading by example. In this story, Atticus represents a central character who as a lawyer, represents an African American accused of raping a white female in a harshly segregated and prejudiced township of Maycomb, Alabama. The Deep South represented in this story and contrasted by Atticus' sense of justice, fairness, and empathy, provides the backdrop for Atticus' ability to discern right from wrong and to base his decisions upon this ability to

Tags:atticus, finch, ethical

Abstract
Introduction
This research reviews three decision support systems (DSSs). The three DSS tools reviewed are analytic hierarchy process (AHP), multicriteria attribute hierarchy process (MAHP), and conjoint analysis (CA). These DSS tools are reviewed from a managerial decision maker s perspective

From the Paper
"DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS: A REVIEW OF AHP, MAHP, & CA

Introduction
This research reviews three decision support systems (DSSs). The three DSS tools reviewed are analytic hierarchy process (AHP), multicriteria attribute hierarchy process (MAHP), and conjoint analysis (CA). These DSS tools are reviewed from a managerial decision maker s perspective.

Analytic Hierarchy Process
Support for repetitive decision-making functions be provided by the AHP, which more typically is used to support one-time decisions. Criteria levels needed to evaluate various sets of alternatives are classified into groups that represent intensities of a criterion. Research has found that an absolute measurement approach opens other possibilities for AHP ..."

Abstract
In light of the current scandals that have gripped the world's economic headlines and reduced the overall levels of trust in the nation's business leaders, ethical decision making has become a hot-button issue, both in the halls of academia, where MBAs receive their educations, and also in the everyday language of decision makers in the fields of business administration. This paper shows that what is so potent about the examples of Enron and WorldCom, among other companies accused of fraudulent and criminal business ethics, as well as of Martha Stewart, a brand name as well as an example of 'housewifery gone corporate logo', is that bad ethics can be bad business. When ethical scandals grip a company, that company's future and good name can be destroyed. The paper shows, therefore, that the idea that the only ethical query someone need ask him or herself when engaged in a business transaction is "will it make money for the company I work for" is a fallacy.

From the Paper
"Thus, the elements of an ethically defensible decision cannot always be quantified, although they must always be legal, if for only to ensure the continued financial survival of the company. However, for decisions that are ethical and financial in nature, rather than legal, there is no exact calculus, only the need to examine the implications of various options from a multitude of self-interests and perspectives, rather than simply one's own."

Tags:values, unethical, Markkula

Abstract
The paper is a short story on a new developing technology in our society: gene therapy (or gene manipulation) and "designer babies." The paper looks at the tensions that unfold within the relationship of a married couple as the wife pursues a "designer child" while the husband, feeling himself cut off from the decision-making process, begins to drift away from her.

From the Paper
"It was quiet on the way to see the doctor - maybe too quiet. Jim made a motion to turn on the radio, but Nancy stopped him: "I don't feel like listening to the radio right now, honey." So, following instructions, Jim put his right hand back on the steering wheel and kept driving. Ahead of him, the winding country road just kept right on unraveling, flanked on both sides by tall deciduous trees that were just now unloading their summer cargo of leaves. It was autumn and the heat was on, but it still felt cold for some reason. It was at about this point, with the doctor's office only a few miles away, that Jim realized he was scared - about the..."

Tags:doll, short, story