Abstract
This paper describes decision-making processes and some of the many sources of bias that challenges decision makers in their attempts to solve problems. Furthermore, it describes the implications of these biases for managers and suggests ways to minimize the influence of biases in the decision-making process. Understanding the pitfalls of decision-making biases is crucial to improving the success of decision-making.
Identify Three Common Biases in Your Business and
How They Impact Decision-Making
Effectively solving problems is a common goal for individuals and organizations, and successful problem solving is dependent on the quality of decisions made along the way. Making decisions to diagnose and direct organizational performance improvement efforts is a continual task throughout the human resource development process. However, evidence shows that there is a gap between theory and practice in effective decision-making. In theory, the decision-making process is unaffected by outside influences and by the biases of the decision makers. In practice, the decision-making process is greatly influenced by the assumptions and biases of the decision makers.
Discussion
Availability Heuristic: Ease of Recall Bias
The Availability Heuristic Ease of Recall Bias suggests that human beings process information through thought processes that are developed through experience, through what we already know. These pathways become “rules of thumb” against which new ideas are judged. When faced with new situations, people naturally compare them to similar situations recallable in their memory. These situations often come to mind automatically. In less complex situations, these past occurrences are generally adequate for us to make sense of new situations. In more complex situations, these “rules of thumb” impede the process for reaching optimal outcomes.
Although these “rules of thumb” often allow individuals to reach satisfactory and...