DECISION- MAKING STRATEGIES
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 827 ▶ |
| Object type | Human sciences |
Most of decision-making strategies are more or less reductionist. As noted by T.R. BURNS and L.D. MEEKER: “This strategy eliminates problems of having to process and deal with different evaluations, at least in most phases of decision- making. Above all, it enables conflicts between different goals or evaluative standards in concrete settings to be articulated in relatable terms and resolved within an unidimensional value framework… Internal complexity of the decision-making system is reduced in order to achieve greater or easier computability and decidability, but this may be at the expense of essential representability of external complexity and effective action in a complex environment” (1976, p.112-3).
This could be good enough in simple situations.
However, situations may not be as simple as they seem… and the decision-maker may not be aware of it.
In order to allow for more secure evaluations prior to action, a systemic strategy should carefully consider the relations of the system with its metasystem (van GIGCH), in order to discover if some of these have some significant — and possibly ignored — bearings on the system's behavior.
It should also consider its internal organization, in terms of network relationships and organizational closure, since some unknown self-referrent behavioral cycle may react to some decisions by possibly uncontrolable blockages or runaway processes.
Still another, and quite subtle problem is the possible incompatibility between multiple objectives, which could be partial or total, or a result of an erroneous understanding of the relations between different time scales.
This should be adressed by a better systemic understanding of the potential availability of resources, the need for regulations and the possible differential cyclical behavior of some variables.
In very complex systems, decision-making should ideally be a final result of wide participation of all the stakeholders.
See also
Design (Co-participative), Design (Generic)