Abstract

The success of the group decision-making process depends on the combined capacities of those engaged in decision making to work together with satisfaction and creativity. Too often decisions are made on the basis of fire-fighting methods, rules of thumb, and gut-level intuition, rather than on the basis of any sound systematic procedures. The fact that decisions reached in the traditional manner frequently fail to accomplish the desired goals is reflected, for example, in continuing conflict between labor and management. Groups of decision makers find themselves making the same bread and butter decisions over and over again. Improperly solved dilemmas continue to pop up persistently until appropriate solutions have been found. The paradox of decision making is that, despite the fact that groups generally tend to produce more adequate decisions than individuals working alone, most executives are at a loss regarding the effective employment of groups in reaching decisions. This occurs even though individuals do most of their living, learning, working and deciding within a group setting.