Situation Analysis And Problem Statement

Personal Perspective Paper

MBA 500

University of Phoenix

September 5, 2006

Introduction

Decision-making is the cognitive process leading to the selection of a course of action among alternatives. Every decision making process produces a final choice called a decision. It can be an action or an opinion. It begins when we need to do something but we do not know what. Therefore, decision-making is a reasoning process which can be rational or irrational, and can be based on explicit assumptions or tacit assumptions. A person's decision-making process depend on a significant degree of their cognitive style (www.wikipedia.com). In this paper I will discuss my experience with cognitive styles and how they relate to decision-making.

My Experience

Most of my work experience has been in the medical field. As an instructor in a medical assisting program I have observed the Director of Education (DOE) decision-making techniques. My observation of the Director of Education along with my research has yielded four types of decision-making styles (directive leadership, supportive leadership, participative leadership, and achievement-oriented leadership) which the Director of Education uses.

As stated earlier a person's decision-making process depend on a significant degree of their cognitive style. These styles can be found in several decision-making models, but the Path Goal Theory seems to be the most likely choice for me. The Path Goal Theory suggests that the performance, satisfaction and motivation of a group can be affected by the leader in a number of ways:

Ð'* Offering rewards for the achievement of performance goals.

Ð'* Clarifying paths towards these goals.

Ð'* Removing