Problem Solving and Decision Making Process

Problem Solving and Decision Making Process

In a TQM environment, teams are often involved in a process of selecting one course of action from among two or more alternatives (i.e. decision making process). Effectiveness of this process can be increased by making it systematic.

According to Hardvard business professor, David Garvin, winners of the Malcolm Baldridge Award must "demonstrate 'fact-based management' - a reliance on hard data, not assumptions, when making decisions... The company's information base must be comprehensive, accessible, and well validated. The data must be easy to use."

A necessary condition for a decision is a problem, i.e. a disparity between a desired state and current reality.

The Relationship Between Problem Solving and Decision Making

(Source: Anderson, D.R., Sweeney, D.J. and Williams, T.A., An Introduction to Management Science: Quantitative Approaches to Decision Making, South-Western College Publishing, 2000, p.4)

The Deming Cycle is a model for solving problems in ways that lead to improvement.