Case Study for Emotional & Retional Manager Essay

Case Study for Emotional & Retional Manager Essay

In philosophy, rationality is the characteristic of any action, belief, or desire, that makes their choice a necessity. It is a normative concept of reasoning in the sense that rational people should derive conclusions in a consistent way given the information at disposal. It refers to the conformity of one’s beliefs with one’s reasons to believe, or with one’s actions with one’s reasons for action. However, the term “rationality” tends to be used differently in different disciplines, including specialized discussions of economics, sociology, psychology, and political science. A rational decision is one that is not just reasoned, but is also optimal for achieving a goal or solving a problem.Rational Manager Character analysis:Irrational and illogical management causes untold losses every year all over the world. Managers are paid to make logical, financially viable decisions and solve problems using good judgment to facilitate the smooth flow of the operation. Reasoning is an important process, which anyone can acquire by a short formal education. It is one of the most important factors in making rational decisions. The absence of conscientious, systematic problem analysis and decision making causes inefficiency and waste of resources. It also results in failure to set clear objectives and performance standards. Successful managers plan their meeting for optimal productivity. Meetings must be well organized and controlled; deviations from the agenda must not be tolerated. Operational meetings must be planned to inform rank and file.Suggestions must be solicited and duly studied. The definition of problem is “an unwanted effect, something to be corrected or removed”, that which cannot be solved before establishing its cause. Every problem, almost always, has only one cause. Problem solving must follow a logical process and careful analysis. It requires skill to apply theory to practice. A correct decision in one operation may prove to be less effective, even incorrect in another. The decision maker must be fully familiar with the operation, problem area and employees involved. Only correct and relevant information must be used in decision-making. Good managers always evaluate daily, the effectiveness of their decision to make corrections.Often, managers make the most convenient, but poor and costly decisions. Poor decisions may appear to solve a problem, but eventually the problem will reappear with more devastating repercussions. Young, inexperienced managers rely on technology, and conveniently forget (ignore) the importance of human factors like service standard, product quality, plate presentation and guest satisfaction, all of which cannot be quantified and must be fine-tuned constantly. A manager must know precisely the level of performance of all employees. In very large operations, general managers rely on division managers to make decisions on their behalf, and then provide guidance when incorrect reasoning was employed. Correct decisions can be made based only on facts. Problem solving and analysis are two entirely different processes. A problem indicates deviation from the standard, and usually a change of some kind causes it. In order to analyses a problem, seven steps are required: • Established standards • A problem is caused by a deviation from the standard • The deviation must be identified, accurately located and described • There is always something distinguishing about the deviation from the standard • The cause of the problem is an unwanted change • Possible causes are deduced from changes established • The deviation(s) explains the cause(s) A problem may have several solutions. The decision maker must select the best which is linked to the scope of his/her experience.Here are the steps required to make a good decisions; Establish objectives, Classify objectives and prioritize Develop alternatives, Evaluate alternatives against objectives Select the best alternative Test alternatives (if possible) for possible adverse consequences Control adverse effects by taking affirmative action.Managers require standards to follow. If unavailable, they must develop them and seek the approval of their superior. Each problem must be solved individually. Several problems (related or not) cannot be solved simultaneously, and jumping from one to another may be an exercise in futility. If several problems exist, all must be prioritized and solved in sequence. Vaguely described and/or perceived problems cannot be solved satisfactorily. A common mistake is jumping to conclusions. Incorrect identification of a problem leads to wrong decisions, and eventually to a major crisis. Managers must be able to anticipate potential problems; promoting a line worker to a supervisory position requires due diligence. The background of the individual must be checked thoroughly, and his/her decision making skills verified before the promotion.RATIONAL VERSUS EMOTIONAL DECISION MAKING (3)Human brain researchers have determined that the more that is on one’s mind, then the more likely one will make an emotional decision rather than a rational one. Could this provide an explanation why so many decisions by managers and employees continue to seem irrational? As background, the brain researchers conducted an experiment asking people to memorize a series of numbers in sequence ranging from two to seven numbers. After given their numbers all the individuals had to do was walk down the hall to a room and write the numbers down. But there was a catch. As the subjects walked down the hall another researcher interrupted them and offered a gift for participating of either a piece of chocolate cake or an attractive bowl of fruit. The results were surprising (and very statistically significant). Those with the least numbers to memorize chose the fruit whereas those with more numbers chose the cake.Why is this? The brain researchers have observed that the human brain has two parts: a rational deliberate section and an emotional one. The competition between the two is fierce. When the mind load is light, as with those people tasked to memorize only two numbers, their judicious mind ruled the healthy fruit was more appropriate than the high calorie cake. In contrast, when the brain is more filled with items, emotion wins over reason. Let’s put this finding into the context of today’s work world. How many managers are constantly juggling many priorities? All of them. You are too. For example, should I first reply to that e-mail, edit and finalize that paper due, phone that colleague, read that blog or twitter, or analyze that report? When one has these types of “to-do” items, as a decision is thrust upon them, it is not surprising the choice is an emotional one? As examples, our largest customer just requested a special service.Should we charge them for it? Our most unreliable supplier just missed another due date. Should we replace them with another supplier? You could debate each of those decisions either way. But if your mind is distracted with a dozen other priorities and no time to debate, it is conceivable the emotional brain section might overrule the rational one. Decisions deserve analysis. The margin for error is thinner these days, and what we deal with daily is more complex than a decade ago. The tools for business analytics have now become available for even the casual user. Read my article Why Will Business Analytics Be the Next Competitive Edge? If organizations delay becoming a culture for analytics and metrics then the quality of their decisions will jeopardized.Case Study:This case was happened in 2002 in one of Egyptian military factory, the production sector took a decision to buy a certain production machine for producing a very complicated work piece, and this work piece will be used in a military device. This machine is very expensive and also very accurate, so the chairman had to be sure that this machine will be suitable for the required work piece and also will achieve the accuracy required, in order to do so, the chairman stipulated a strange condition in the contract of the machine to accept it from the seller, this condition simply is the factory will never transfer the money of the machine to the seller unless the machine not only delivered and installed but also after producing the first required work piece, and this produced work piece must be applied to measuring tests and pass through quality control procedureswhich is according to the German Standards (DIN).The chairman asked the quality control manager to construct a full plan to apply the measuring tests, that plan must illustrate the team, equipments used, strategy and measuring operations, once the quality control manager got the order he called for  meeting to make a discussions with the sector’s member about the required plan and to take their opinion about who will be in this team. Also the quality control manager had to determine a team leader for this mission, he had two choices, first one is an old engineer working in the quality control sector for many years and has very good and strong connections to all people in the quality control sector, second one is young engineer worked for just two years in the quality control sector but on the other hand he considered expert due to his advanced studies in the university in these type of tests and measurements.The quality control manager chose the old engineer to be the team leader. After submission the plan to the chairman to confirm, he accepted the plan but he changed the team leader and chose the young engineer due to his background knowledge. The quality control manager was very surprised and tries to change the chairman’s mind but he could not. The quality control manager called for another meeting for the sector in order to explain the reasons of changing the team leader and also to convince the team members accepting the new leader.AnalysisIn this case study we are obviously about two different manager styles. The chairman consider rational manager by the mean of word, he is always task oriented and focusing on how to achieve target whatever happened, this can be seen in how he made the deal with the machine seller, actually the above condition in the contract considered strange condition and not common at all in this type of business, but he did not care about what commonly used and also did not care about rules, he just want to make sure that the expensive machine he bought will do his work piece accurately. From another point of view he asked the quality control manager to construct the working plan for tests, this is to insure that the all process will be under control, where the decision of machine acceptance or rejection depends only on these tests.Also as he task oriented and always studding his option carefully he changed the team leader of the plan, as he believe that this is the way to achieve goal, and he did not care about team members, old team leader and also the quality control manager. On the other hand we have the quality control manager which considered emotional manager as seen, once he has been asked to construct the tests plan; immediately he called for a meeting to do so, also his way to determine the team leader; he used his intuition to avoid trouble in work may had been caused by the old engineer, he did not care about task accuracy, he did not care about how important was the mission and chose the old engineer just to be safe and away from troubles. Also when the chairman changed the team leader; he called for another meeting just to give excuses to the old team leader, and also to make a discussion with the team member to convince them with the new leader. CONCLUSION (2):The ancient philosophical debate about whether ethics is primarily a matter of reason or emotion has spilled over into psychology, where there is much current discussion about the nature of ethical thinking. But sufficiently rich theories of inference and emotion can clarify how moral judgments at their best should be both rational and emotional. How can we do the right thing? People are sometimes told: Be rational, not emotional. Such advice adopts the widespread assumption that reason and emotion are opposites. This opposition is particularly acute in ethics, where philosophers and psychologists have long debated the relative roles in ethical thinking of abstract inference and emotional intuitions. This debate concerns both the descriptive q Adjudicating this debate requires an evidence-based theory of emotions that mediates between two traditional theories: the cognitive appraisal view that takes emotions to be judgments about the accomplishment of one’s goals, and the physiological perception view that takes emotions to be reactions to changes in one’s body.The cognitive appraisal view is compatible with the potential rationality of emotion, because the truth or falsity of judgments can be evaluated. On the other hand, the physiological perception view puts emotions on the non-rational side, since bodily reactions are not susceptible to reason. I have argued for a synthesis of the two views of emotion. The brain is capable of simultaneously performing both cognitive appraisal and bodily perception, and emotional consciousness results from this combination. If the integrated view is correct, we can see how emotions can be both rational, in being based at least sometimes on good judgments about how well a situation accomplishes appropriate goals, and visceral, providing motivations to act. Some emotions are beautifully rational, such as love for people who add great value to our lives, whereas other emotions can be irrational, such as attachment to abusive partners.Ethical judgments are often highly emotional, when people express their strong approval or disapproval of various acts. Whether they are also rational depends on whether the cognitive appraisal that is part of emotion is done well or badly. Emotional judgments can be flawed by many factors, such as ignorance about the actual consequences of actions and neglect of relevant goals, such as taking into account the needs and interests of all people affected. Adam Smith is sometimes taken as preaching a gospel of self-interest, but his work on moral sentiments emphasized the need for ethics to be based on sympathy for other people. Hence the emotions involved in ethical thinking can be rational when they are based on careful consideration of a full range of appropriate goals, including altruistic ones. Ideally, this consideration should mesh with a visceral reaction that provides a motivation to act well and correct injustices. Being good requires both thinking and feeling. Question about how people actually do think when they are making ethical judgments and the normative question of how they should think. References:{1} http://www.foodreference.com/html/artrationalmanager.html {2} http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/hot-thought/201006/ethical-thinking-should-berational-and-emotional {3} http://smartdatacollective.com/garycokins/23935/rational-versus-emotional-decision-making