HABITUAL TENDENCIES IN DECISION MAKING - By Shamika Khatawkar

Recent times have altogether given a different dimension to organizations. Surviving and growing in this contemporary world of work is thus becoming an extremely challenging task. Every organization has to indulge in intensive forecasting, organizing, planning, strategizing and decision making to ensure, successful accomplishment of its organizational goals.

The growth of an organization largely depends on several interdependent factors. Business strategies drive growth, and they in turn are driven by all the important decisions taken within the organizational context.

Effective decisions facilitate an organization by contributing to enhanced profits, while unsuccessful ones contribute to losses further affecting the organization negatively.

When it comes to decision making, we can clearly see that individuals are required to take decisions every now and then. All employees, no matter what level have to indulge in some sort of decision making. Like the top management has to be involved in taking decisions organization wide, the managers; in taking decisions department wide, and the team leaders, in taking decisions within teams. 

As decisions do not happen in isolation, all employees also have to be abreast with the factors affecting decision making. These factors may be organizational or individual. If we see within an organization, we can understand that an organization largely focuses on the ‘organizational factors’ affecting decision making and generally tends to ignore the ‘individual’ ones. 

So what are these individual factors which can affect decision making? 

These individual factors are nothing but the ‘Habitual Tendencies’ of individuals. That is, an individual’s perceptions, habits and cognitions.  Many research scholars have debated that these Habitual Tendencies influence individuals to approach various problems in consistently similar ways (Scott & Bruce, 1995).

Meaning, individual habits and perceptions make people apply a set formula or pattern while approaching problems or while making decisions of any sort. Scholars have also stated that once a pattern is cognitively formed it becomes a Habitual Tendency and people tend to apply it in all walks of life. As individuals grow, their Habitual

Tendencies get strengthened and they stay fairly stable over a period of time.

Researchers Scott and Bruce have done a considerable amount of study on decision making styles. According to them, individuals can fall under any of the five habitual tendencies, namely Rational, Intuitive, Avoidant, Spontaneous and Dependent. 

• The Rational decision making tendency focuses on using logic by considering alternatives to arrive at the best possible decision.

• The Intuitive one relies on feelings or hunches to make decisions. 

• The Dependent one relies heavily on other people for advice and guidance.

• The Avoidant one attempts to evade making decisions altogether.

• The Spontaneous decision making tendency inclines towards making decisions quickly.

Now that we know of, what these ‘Individual Factors’ or ‘Habitual Tendencies’ are, we can definitely be a little more aware in future while making decisions. We can certainly identify which ‘Habitual Tendency’ is the most prominent in us and which is the least characteristics of us.

This self-awareness will truly aid us in making decisions of any sort at personal as well as organizational level. To reap the benefits of our decisions we can certainly identify the pros and cons of our decision making tendency!