In view of the fact that Cypress Garden has faced many challenges leading to its closure, it is vital for the Kent Buescher to come up with policies for its resurrection. Decision making is a vital process in every organization since it entails selection of the best course of action amid many alternatives. Taking the role of Kent Buescher, one of the best decisions making model that is appropriate in bringing Cypress Gardens to life is rationale-economic decision model.
The rationale-economic decision model enables the decision maker to focus on how to implement decisions, rather than the actual implementation (Lewis et al., 2007, p.155). This model is essential in Cypress’s case because we are aware of the issues surrounding the park’s failure, including competition and poor management.
According to Armelli, Sheaffer, and Halevi (2009), rationale-economic decision model has a structured and an organized approach in decision-making. The sequenced approach starts with problem identification. Thus, it is essential to identify the problems that led to Cypress Garden’s downfall – then, we can apply the problem solving skills. Asking why or why not is critical so as to bring out the problem. Information is gathered about the organization before the decision is made.
Analyzing the situation in Florida is important because it is easy to answer problem solving question lists, such as what the organization wants to achieve, what it needs to find a solution, how will the situation be different from the current , where did the issue arise, who is involved, and when the organization is supposed to act. The organization is then supposed to generate several alternatives. These options are then evaluated to decide on the best of all.
Similarly, the management selects the preferred alternative while looking at the future risks involved and the problems that might arise. Then the selected option is acted upon as well as allocation of resources. In this final step, it is important that the people involved in the decision-making are committed in making it work.
In essence, rationale-economic decision model presents a structure and method of decision-making process to ensure that before the decision is made, there are factors to be considered in a consistent and complete manner Lewis et al., 2007, p. 156). Therefore, it would be easier to provide guidance for the managers of Cypress to help them reach an ideal outcome.
Moreover, the aspects of vigilance and participative decision-making are important in this case. Asmub & Svennevig (2009) argue that participative decision-making and vigilance are critical, especially where a large number of members such as employees are involved. In vigilance, the quality of decision made is dependent on the group’s concentration during the meeting.
Attentive members will produce the best alternatives because they will think critically about a problem, evaluate the problem, discuss choices, and evaluate them and come up with the best solution.
The level of participation is determined by factors such as the Decision significance, importance of commitment, leader expertise, likelihood of commitment, team support, and team expertise and competence. Therefore, we would encourage members of Friends of Cypress Gardens to participate in decision making through team support and commitment to ensure that we meet the organizations goals and objectives.
Lewis et al. (2007) suggest that participative decision-making needs consideration depending on the complexity of the problem and need for group participation. In participative model, group participation gains more weight from the last level where members can make decisions, but as they go up to the first level, their participation is limited.
Therefore, we would employ the five styles of participative model: decide, consult individually, consult group, facilitate, and delegate. Decide style is where the leader makes decision, but also gathers information from the group to solve the problem. In consult individually style, the leader gets information from individual employees and gathers it for decision-making. In Consult group style, the leader gathers information from a group of members and uses it to make decisions.
Facilitate style is whereby the leader gives the problem to the members who try to solve it and then makes decision together with the group members. In delegate style, the group is allowed to solve a problem and come up with an alternative solution (Lewis et al., 2007, p. 160). Therefore, engaging the members of Friends of Cypress Gardens using the mentioned styles would help resurrect Cypress Gardens.
References
Armelli, A., Sheaffer, Z. & Halevi, M. Y. (2009). Does Participatory Decision-making in Top Management Teams Enhance Decision Effectiveness and Firm Performance? Journal of Personnel Review, 38, 696-714.
Asmub, B. & Svennevig, J. (2009). Meeting Talk. Journal of Business Communication, 46, 3-22.
Lewis, P. S., Goodman, S. H., Fandt, P. M., & Michlitsch, J. F. (2007). Management: Challenges for Tomorrow’s Leaders (5th ed.). Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.