BUSN410 Week 6 Discussion

Watch the video and discuss the criteria you would use to evaluate a business decision? Discuss how you can determine if the decision is ethical.

The video, Tips to Improve the Decision Making Process, while an interesting video, does not help me evaluate a business decision. Nor does it help me determine if a decision is ethical. Albeit I have zero experience with making a business decision or evaluating a business decision.

I found an article by Ali Cox (who is a business analyst, which is what my major is in 😊) that aligns with some of the criteria I think I would use to evaluate a business decision. The article is titled "Choosing the Right Decision Criteria." The following is a list of criteria from Ali Cox’s article that I would potentially use to evaluate a business decision.

1. Ease of Implementation

2. Cost

3. Ease of Modification

4. Scalability

5. Flexibility

6. Risk Levels

7. Cost Savings

8. Return on Investment

9. Customer Satisfaction

Measurable and within the scope of the problem you are seeking to solve are the two most important factors for making a decision. If you can't measure something, at the very least you may compare it to something else. It is not possible to measure the "user pleasant" attribute of software, for example. What makes the program user friendly for your organization can either be listed or you can try the alternatives and rank them based on relative "user friendliness" between them (Cox, 2015).

For me, decided if a decision is ethical is straightforward. First, was the decision made with good intentions and did it come from a place of making the best "decision" for the business, at that moment in time. Second, were all sides of the "decision" looked at and appropriately researched? Third, were all stakeholders involved in the process? Last, were all consequences or affects consider. Like second and third order affects considered before any decision was made and implemented.

Cox, A. (2015, June 23). Choose the Right Decision Criteria | Typical Decision Criteria List. Netmind; netmind.net. https://netmind.net/en/choose-the-right-decision-criteria/#:~:text=These%20are%20some%20typical%20decision%20criteria%3A%201%20Ease,existing%20organization%20products%2010%20Increase%20in%20customer%20satisfaction

This week’s writing prompt is to discuss the criteria we would use to evaluate a business decision and to determine if a business decision is ethical or not. I think the first thing to do is to consider whether the decision is an ethical one or not. I would argue that an effective business decision that is unethical exposes a business to more risk (lawsuits ect.) then an ineffective decision that is ethical.

The question then becomes, whose ethics do you apply to the businesses decision? Certainly, the decision needs to be legal, or you would be exposing the business to legal risk. Both utilitarianism and deontology have their flaws. Utilitarianism considers whether a decision is ethical or not based off of if more happiness is accomplished than pain. While this framework is nice in concept it does not define whose happiness or whose pain. Deontology is idealistic in assuming that everyone possesses the same moral and ethical values. Deontology is similar to the golden rule, I will do unto others as I would have them do unto me. This is more doctrine of fairness then is of ethics. I think it’s important to consider both when making a business decision. Are you accomplishing more good with the decision and is the decision fair to all parties?

The next step is to determine the effectiveness of the business decision. This step to me is the easiest step. You clearly define the decision and project the outcome of the decision. Your projection is based on research and analysis of historical data, business process analysis, and market conditions. Sound business decisions that are able to be made by quantifying the available data and projecting that into the future.