Qualitative decision making according to Cathal M. Brugha (1995) can be defined as a process that involves analyzing what should be done, where it should be done, and if it is more of an emphasis on planning or more to do with putting plans into effect. This can also be looked at in the sense of the people who participate in the process of the activity of decision making.
According to Mackenzie J E et al, qualitative research is an undertaking that can be put into practice in a variety of ways. Giving the customers a chance to physically scrutinize and maneuver through products comprehensively questioning and looking into individuals’ thoughts in a group environment. Inspection and observation of non-verbal characteristics. Increasing the value of products at any point in a product’s life cycle, including generating new concepts, product concept testing, branding, advertising, and market divisions. Looking at the company through the eyes of your esteemed customers.
Discovering when the synergy of group changes will add value to the process of decision-making. Many successful companies either big or small have implemented qualitative decision-making in different aspects of their functionality. An example is companies in the bioscience sector e.g. Merck and Millennium, Novo Nordisk that have implemented qualitative decision making in their ethical aspects.
In their own identities, the following dimensions are available according to Jocelyn E. Mackie, Andrew D. Taylor, David L. Finegold, Abdallah S. Daar, Peter A. Singer.
Ethical leadership has been noted to be including the chief executive officers and also the department of ethics.
External expertise can include external people like consultants and boards for ethics advisory.
Internal ethics departments in corporate human resources with their hiring and employee assessment procedures.
There is also external ethics participation of important people like suppliers and partners. Stakeholders can also be engaged in the processes but not to a greater extend.
The iterative decision-making process is a big term that can be used to refer to an interactive process whereby decisions are made basing on participation and feedback.
It is suitable for managing forest ecosystems. Feedback in this process is quite essential in the process of decision-making. This is because it allows a better understanding of the situation or problem and this translates into better decision making. The different processes involved to achieve this include Data Collection where interviews with the involved parties are done face to face to come up with data. The data obtained was captured from interview sessions and observations that were made during company visits.
And finally, open-minded data analysis. This is whereby the situation is looked at critically under the different dimensions so as to get hold of the facts.
A company for example is Emerald group publishers limited. Iterative decision-making processes are applied in online shopping environments, administrative organizations, and electronic commerce. According to Strategic Decisions (2007) by Emerald, Group Publishers limited looks at ways to be employed in the fast growth and development of organizations by the management.
In conclusion, it’s important for companies to incorporate interactive decision-making methods in order to achieve qualitative results for successful business operations. This can be done by including all its employees drawn from all levels of employment in order to come up with a final decision.