THE UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIOLOGY AND SPECIAL

EDUCATION

NAME: COMPUTER NO:

RAELLY DONALD…………………………………………………2018156691

DAVY BANDA………………………………………………………..2018163710

COURSE CODE: …………………………………………………..EAP 9012

LECTURER: ……………………………………………………….DR CHIPINDI

TUTOR:……………………………………………………………..MISS FERNANDO

QUESTION 1:

Discusses the stages of the decision-making process in an educational organization

Decision making is one of the most important activity in which school administrators engage
daily. The success of a school is critically linked to effective decisions. Decision making is a
process involving choices. The process generally consists of several steps which encompasses;
identifying a problem, analyzing of a problem, generating alternatives, evaluating alternatives,
and selecting preferred alternatives. Not only that, it also involves implementation of the best
selected alternatives and review of the outcomes which result from the implementation process.
Therefore, the writing discusses the stages of the decision-making process in an educational
organization.

According to Bubnicki (2004) a decision can be defined as an act of choosing something to

achieve a certain purpose as a result of something. Additionally, (Hastie, (2010) defined
decision-making process as a critical process involving numerous interlinking stages ranging
from identification of the problem, analysis, generating alternatives, evaluating alternatives,
selecting preferred alternatives, implementation and review of the outcomes. An educational
organization relate to an established learning institution which maybe public or private and aims
to provide education to learners for purposes of such learners realizing their potential so as to
immensely contribute to the development of the society and the well-being of its people ( Hicks,
2005).

Decision making is a critical component in so far as the daily running of the affairs of an
educational organization is concerned. In this regard, it is an obvious phenomenon that the
existence of problems in an educational organization is an inevitable fact hence there ways and
means through which such problems are dealt with or curbed or avoided for the purposes of
ensuring that an organization continue to save its purpose. In the light of this, in an event of the
problem immerging or yet to occur, the identification of such a problem stand to be a primary
step which educational administrators should take. Therefore, in order to identify a problem,
school administrators may scan the learning environment around them to determine whether the
school is progressing satisfactorily toward the achievement of its goals, or the problem might in
some instances present itself to such an extent that a solution is needed (Verschaffel, 2011). For
example, it maybe suddenly reported or observed that the school is having the problem of
shortage of clean water thereby affecting the smooth running of the day to day school activities.
In this way, a problem is simply identified.
Once the problem has been identified, the second step in the decision-making process is problem
analysis. According to Brown et al, (2004) Problem analysis among other critical aspects
involves two important areas which are analyzing the extent or impact of the identified problem
as well the potential causes of the problem. In this regard, some problem might be so serious
while others might be less serious and so is there impact. For example, shortage of water in one
hostel might have less impact than the shortage of water in the whole school. On the other hand,
problem analysis factor in an aspect of what could be the potential causes of the problem. The
two aspects involved in the problem analysis significantly assists guiding the school
administrators of the relevant and achievable alternatives to come up with in order to alleviate or
completely curb the problem.

From the problem analysis the third stage involves coming up with alternatives to the problem.
In developing these alternative solutions, school administrators first must specify the goals that
they hope to achieve through their decision. Once school administrators have determined their
goals, they can search for alternative means of reaching them. Information must be collected
regarding each of the alternatives and their likely consequences. More specifically, the school
administrators must seek to learn as much as possible concerning the likelihood that each
alternative will result in the achievement of various outcomes, and the extent to which those
outcomes will contribute to the achievement of the goals and objectives being sought
(Zopounidis, 2011). For example, the school has recorded poor academic performance among its
learners, appropriate alternatives such changing the teaching methods, providing other teaching
and learning materials and extending the learning time might be brought forth to improve the
academic performance of learners.

The forth step in the decision-making process is evaluating each of the alternatives generated in
step 3. In evaluating alternatives, school administrators must ask critical principal questions in
terms of whether the alternative is achievable or satisfactory toward the achievement of the
problem or what impact such alternatives will have on learners and teachers, whether or not the
alternatives maybe carried out with the available resources (Grant, 2011).
According to Gilboa (2011) once the administrators have evaluated all of the possible
alternatives, they then attempt to select the best alternative to implement so as to successfully
deal with the problem. For instance, out of the 10 suggested alternatives 5 of which may be
selected for implementation while five will be done with after taking into consideration
determinant factors in the preceding stage.

After selecting the best alternatives, the school administrators face the challenge of
implementing the decision. It should however be noted that sound decision may actually fail if
implemented poorly. Hence, school administrators need to make sure that the alternative is
clearly understood by all key players involved in the implementation process. This may be
accomplished by communicating the decision to all involved staff (Ahmed, 2011). For example,
effective communication is necessary for effectively implementing decisions. Therefore, if the
people who must carry out a decision participate in the process, they are more likely to endorse
enthusiastically the outcome. Thus, the degree to which persons have or have not been involved
in prior steps may substantially affect the success of the implementation process. In this regard,
school administrators need to provide enough resources to make the alternative succeed. For
example, they may set up budgets and schedules towards smooth implementation of the
alternatives.

The final step in the decision-making process is reviewing the process in the implementation of
the alternatives in terms of whether or not the implementation process is done effectively or the
expected standard. In events that there certain factors which needs reconsiderations or changes
school administrators and other players should ensure doing so in order to reline the actions
towards the realization of the expected goals. On the other hand, reviewing process may
encompass the actual outcomes of the implementation process and ascertain the extent to which
such outcomes solve the problem (Hicks, 2005).

Conclusion

Decision-making is an integral part of the management of any organization. As such, educational

managers at all levels make decisions in establishing objectives, planning, organizing, directing,
and controlling the education process. School administrators cannot administer without making
decisions, decisions for themselves and for their groups and institutions. The quality of school
administrators' decisions is the yardstick of their effectiveness and of their values to the schools.
Thus, the art and science of decision making are frequently associated with managerial expertise.
Consequently, in every organization such as the school, decisions must be taken at one time or
another, for the organization to survive.
REFERENCES

Ahmed, P. (2011). Innovative management, context, strategies, systems, and processes: Upper
Saddle River NJ, Prentice Hall.

Brown, W. & Moberg, D. (2004). Organization theory and management (8th ed.): New York,
America.

Bubnicki, Z. (2003). Analysis and decision making in uncertain systems: New York, America.

Gilboa, I (2011). Rational choice: Cambridge MIT Press.

Grant, R. (2011). Contemporary strategy analysis: New York, America.

Hastie, R. (2010). Rational choice in an uncertain world,the psychology of judgment and

decision making: Thousand Oaks, Sage press.

Hicks, M. (2005). Problem solving and decision making, Hard, soft, and creative approaches:
Belmont Cengage Learning press.

Verschaffel, L. (2011). Use of external representations in reasoning and problem solving:

Analysis and improvement: New York, America.

Zopounidis, C. (2011). Multiple criteria decision aiding: New York, America.