Consumers, being human, have whims that cannot be assessed with financial data, or even predicted by the best of marketing departments.
This is also true of motivating individual employees. After all, an organization is only as good as its people. Thus, a good manager, will not merely look at the bottom line but also what motivates employees on an individual and intuitive basis. Often this is reflected in personal, anecdotal experience, rather than pure data. For example, challenges rather than ease spur some employes on, for other employees it is recognition of their wisdom, experience, or commitment to the organization. "I can excel or I can do the bare minimum. It makes no difference. I get paid the same. Why do anything above the minimum to get by?" said one disgruntled employee. (Judge & Robbins, 2006, p. 238) This employee, a teacher, felt that her school district did not solicit her input or respect her experience. She was driven to the profession out of idealism, not purely in pursuit of higher pay. If that was the case, she would have found another line of employment. What she wished was that her years of experience and perception had some impact on the wider curriculum....
Good decision makers take such human motivations into consideration when setting goals.
It is true that good decision makers might use the rational decision-making approach when making first, broad decisions about allocating organizational resources. But these decision-makers also know that it is necessary to take into consideration individualistic, human, and anecdotal factors when embarking upon a major project. If they do not, then they may find themselves, however rational, being irrationally taken by surprise.
Works Cited
Blue Letter Bible. Online Searchable Bible in Various Translations. Retrieved 11 Nov 2006 at http://www.blueletterbible.org/
Finance must excel now, more than ever: with continuous business volatility now a fact of life, the CFO must have a finance organization that can help to drive adaptive decision-making and overall company performance." (2002) CFO: Magazine for Chief Financial Officers. September 2002. Retrieved 11 Nov 2006 at http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3870/is_9_18/ai_92866117
Robbins, Stephen: Judge, Timothy (2006) Organizational Behavior. 12th Edition
New York: Pearson.
