Decision making is an integral part of the organization. The management is responsible for making critical decisions that will enable the company to become successful in any competitive market. It also entails quantitative and qualitative management since the business operations are inclusive of determining the value of the financial figures and how best the organization can utilize the information to achieve the set goals. Therefore, the two topics that discuss the theme of quantitative and qualitative decision making are Operations Management and Decision Making in Organizations and Financial Management and Decision Making in Organizations.

Operations Management and Decision Making in Organizations

Operations Management is the process of ensuring the efficient coordination of activities that relate to the transformation of several inputs to the final output; thus the creation of goods and services (Govindan, Rajendran, Sarkis & Murugesan, 2015). The three primary operations in the organization that leads to efficient production of goods and services include marketing which focuses on the demand level, the production which is creating the product and finance which involves the analysis of the organizational performance in terms of profitability and its ability to pay debts (Govindan et al., 2015). Operations Managers have a significant role in operations management. They make crucial decisions that determine the success or failure of the production of products or services.

The managers are responsible for the decisions concerning the design of products and services. In as much as there is the need to fulfill the market gap, the management should not produce any product to meet the demand level but the products and services that create value and customer experience thus developing brand loyalty, and the consumers will have preference to the organization’s products as opposed to those of the competitors (Govindan et al., 2015).  The management is also responsible for quality management, determining the capacity of the product concerning the required resources and technology input as well as ensuring that the organization has employees who contribute positively to the product outcome.

This topic has valuable lessons that a person can utilize in the management of their business operations.  One of the lessons learned is that the process of operations management has four strategies. Process focus enables the management to establish various business strategies that will lead to the production of a variety of products at low costs thus maintaining low volume but a high range of quality products (Govindan et al., 2015). The repetitive process involves the continuous production of a product following the same activities and production process. Other processes are product focus and mass customization.

 Financial Management and Decision Making in Organizations

Every organization must conduct comprehensive financial management before making any decisions for the success of the organization (Zietlow, Hankin, Seidner & O’Brien, 2018). It is essential to understand the financial capabilities of an organization thus developing a plan for efficient allocation of resources for the production of products and services. Financial management also enables the management to determine its profitability and strategize on how to achieve sustainability and a competitive advantage in the market (Zietlow et al., 2018). The management also needs to project the future value of their business operations to make decisions that will not compromise their future financial and resource capability. Therefore, the organization can strategize on low-cost methods while maintaining quality thus produce valuable products that fetch high prices which leads to increased revenues.

Individuals can gain much knowledge from this topic.  For example, decision support tools enable a person to perform an analysis that will influence the decision-making process. One of the decision support tools is PESTLE Analysis which has various factors that determine the performance of the business (Zietlow et al., 2018). The management can use SWOT Analysis to understand the internal and external factors of the environment that can have an impact on the outcome of the product. A person can also learn various financial management processes. It is essential to integrate the financial strategies and plans the overall objectives and resources of the organization (Zietlow et al., 2018). It is also necessary to perform an analysis for financial opportunity, develop various strategic financial programs as well as ensuring the implementation, management and the control of the established financial programs.

References

Govindan, K., Rajendran, S., Sarkis, J., & Murugesan, P. (2015). Multi criteria decision making approaches for green supplier evaluation and selection: a literature review. Journal of Cleaner Production, 98, 66-83.

Zietlow, J., Hankin, J. A., Seidner, A., & O’Brien, T. (2018). Financial management for nonprofit organizations: policies and practices. John Wiley & Sons.