The Link Between Perception And Individual Decision Making.

 

Individuals in organizations make decisions, choices from among two or more alternatives. Top managers determine organization´s goals, what products to offer or how to best finance operations. Middle managers set production schedules or select new employees. Non-managerial employees decide how much effort to put forth. 

 

In recent years, organizations have been empowering their non-managerial employees with decision-making authority historically reserved for managers alone. Individual decision making is thus an important part of organizational behavior.

 

Decision making occurs as a reaction to a problem. That is, a discrepancy exists between the current state of affairs and some desired state, requiring us to consider alternative courses of action. 

 

Every decision requires us to interpret and evaluate information. We typically receive data from multiple sources and need to screen, process, and interpret it. Which data are relevant to the decision, and which are not? The decision maker´s perceptions will answer that question. We also need to develop alternatives and evaluate their strengths and weaknesses. Again, the individual´s perceptual process will affect the final outcome.