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Chapter 11 Making Decisions
Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, you should be able to do the following:
- Understand what is involved in decision making.
- Compare and contrast different decision-making models.
- Compare and contrast individual and group decision making.
- Understand potential decision-making traps and how to avoid them.
- Understand the pros and cons of different decision-making aids.
- Engage in ethical decision making.
- Understand cross-cultural differences in decision making.
Empowered Decision Making: The Case of Ingar Skaug
Figure 11.1
Ingar Skaug, CEO of Wilh. Wilhelmsen Lines, ASA, saw changing the decision-making climate of the company as one of the first changes needed when he took over in 1989.
“If you always do what you always did, you always get what you always got,” according to Ingar Skaug—and he should know. Skaug is president and CEO of Wilh. Wilhelmsen, ASA, a leading global maritime industry company based in Norway with 23,000 employees and 516 offices worldwide. He faced major challenges when he began his job at Wilhelmsen Lines in 1989. The entire top management team of the company had been killed in an airplane crash while returning from a ship dedication ceremony. As you can imagine, employees were mourning the loss of their friends and leadership team. While Skaug knew that changes needed to be made within the organization, he also knew that he had to proceed slowly and carefully in implementing any changes. The biggest challenge he saw was the decision-making style within the company.
Skaug recalls this dilemma as follows. “I found myself in a situation in Wilhelmsen Lines where everyone was coming to my office in the morning and they expected me to take all the decisions. I said to people, ‘Those are not my decisions. I don’t want to take those decisions. You take those decisions.’ So for half a year they were screaming about that I was very afraid of making decisions. So I had a little bit of a struggle with the organization, with the people there at the time. They thought I was a very poor manager because I didn’t dare to make decisions. I had to teach them. I had to force the people to make their own decisions.”
His lessons paid off over the years. The company has now invented a cargo ship capable of transporting 10,000 vehicles while running exclusively on renewable energy via the power of the sun, wind, and water. He and others within the company cite the freedom that employees feel to make decisions and mistakes on their way to making discoveries in improved methods as a major factor in their success in revolutionizing the shipping industry one innovation at a time.
Sources: McCathy, J. F., O’Connell, D. J., & Hall, D. T. (2005). Leading beyond tragedy: The balance of personal identity and adaptability. Leadership & Organizational Development Journal, 26, 458–475; Skaug, I. (2007, July). Breaking free in turbulent times: The intersection of turbulence, innovation and leadership: Unleashing creativity and driving positive change. Business Leadership Review, 4, 1–7; Furness, V. (2005). Interview with Ingar Skaug. European Business Forum. Retrieved April 4, 2008, from http://www.ebfonline.com/article.aspx?extraid=30; Norwegian executive Ingar Skaug named chairman of Center for Creative Leadership (2006). Retrieved April 4, 2008, from http://www.ccl.org/leadership/news/2006/skaug.aspx.