Reflective Essay: Influence on Decision Making Style

Question

Task: To successfully complete this assessment task, students should answer the following reflective essay questions:
Which concepts/theories from which week’s learning activities are significant or important to you?

Why are these concepts/theories you have identified important or significant to you? (Theoretical review)
How are the concepts/theories you have learned influencing/impacting your decision-making in relation to your current interpersonal relationships, professional workplaces and/or personal life? (Practical Application)

What have you learned about yourself through the unit activities? What skills do you possess and what skills are you lacking? How are you going to improve your decision-making in the future? (Self-knowledge and self-development) You should tie all your arguments/insights together at the end of your paper, highlighting how you think you will be able to use your learning in your future career and in life generally.

Answer

Introduction
Decision-making is one of the most crucial components illustrated in this reflective essaythat affects the activities of the manager. It can be considered to be a crucial part of the planning activities. During the planning process, it is important to decide the different steps that are considered to be useful in carrying out the actions as a field assessor in AGM company with the help of varied types of resources (Grootens-Wiegers et al., 2017). Different theories and concepts related to the decision-making style were taught to me during different weeks. This study will highlight the importance of the concepts from four weeks along with their influence on the decision-making style. Moreover, the critical analysis of the two diagnostic tools related to the learning style will also be discussed in the essay. The application of the concepts to my future career and life will also be analyzed accordingly.

Concepts/theories from the week’s learning activities significant to me
The concepts from weeks 2, 3, 5, and 7 were significant to me. From week 2, the managerial decision-making style has been chosen because it will assist me to develop the skills that are necessary to become a successful manager in AGM company. However, I must try to develop the skills from the initial days of being a field assessor and thus I think this week’s concept will assist me. On the other hand, from week 3, the concept of self-awareness can be considered to be essential for the enhancement of my skills as a field assessor thereby enhancing the effective level of communication. From week 5, the concept that can be considered to be useful to me includes the systematic approach of solving the problem. This systematic approach will make it easier for me to enhance my decision-making skills in field assessment and to carry out the communication process in AGM company accordingly. Further, from week 7, the concept of mind mapping and brainstorming can be considered to be essential as it assists me in the generation of new ideas, identifying the alternative solutions and thus facilitating the optimal solution in field assessment of AGM Company.

Importance of the concepts/theories from weeks’ learning activities
With the help of the managerial decision-making style, it will become easier for me to carry out the planning, organizing, staffing, coordinating, directing, and controlling actions in field assessment. As the decision-making process assists in the development of a final choice, I can say that through the development of these skills, the resources that are to be used by me in the future when I become the manager of the company can be enhanced from the position of field assessor (Abubakar et al., 2019). While going through this managerial decision-making style, I have learned to identify my weaknesses and strengths thereby making it easier for me to work upon them. As I did not possess patience in carrying out tasks minutely, this managerial decision-making style has enhanced it and thus I think I can utilize it effectively (Karimi et al., 2018). Self-awareness can be considered to play an important role in the enhancement of my learning as field assessor in AGM company because, with the help of this concept, it becomes easier to understand ourselves as unique and separate individuals involved in the marketing activities (Rubens et al., 2018). As individuals are empowered to make changes, it can be said that with the help of self-awareness, it will become easier for me to improve my strength thereby identifying the areas (Ciaunica&Crucianelli, 2019). Further, I can say that with the help of this self-awareness, I can easily embrace the intuition thereby knowing my emotional triggers and setting the boundaries while working in AGM company

The systematic approach of problem-solving can be considered to be important to me as it helps me to evaluate the plan thereby finding out the best solution as a field assessor (Van Leeuwen & Janssen, 2019). Moreover, with the help of this systematic approach to problem-solving, it will become easier for me to communicate ideas and thus take appropriate decisions (Funke et al., 2018). On the other hand, with the help of this approach, it will be easier for me to adopt the correct action plan and thus verify the problem that has occurred.

Mind mapping and brainstorming will be beneficial to me as it will help me in the generation of new connections and ideas in the position of field assessor within the stipulated period (Stokhof, 2019). With the help of these concepts, it will be easier for me to tackle the messy concepts and mix up different concepts on the list by applying the skills and knowledge (Thu et al., 2019). However, in most cases, when I face difficulty in managing the task, the concept of brainstorming and mind mapping will make it better for me to elaborate on the task within a short period.

Concepts/theories learned influencing/affecting decision-making in the interpersonal relationship/workplace and personal life

The managerial decision-making skill will be useful to me when I need to take some crucial decisions within a short time by analyzing both the merits and the demerits of the situation. My strength that can be linked with the managerial decision-making skill while working in AGM company includes the emotional intelligence, the problem solving and the teamwork possessed by me. However, I need to work over my areas of weakness such as reasoning and leadership so that I can manage it accordingly with my developed skills. The decision-making theory can be linked to this managerial decision-making as it will help me to tackle the risk and the uncertainty (Abubakar et al., 2019). With this decision-making process, the application and the adoption of the rational choice for business can also be made accordingly and thus I think it will be beneficial to me to a great extent.

I think the concept of self-awareness can be enhanced in me through reflecting on the way of responding to things and giving myself some time to respond to things. As I know those things that will keep me happy and satisfied, I must try to carry out them in consultation with my team members in the marketing company (Ciaunica&Crucianelli, 2019). However, while doing so, I must try to work on my weaknesses such as knowing the limits or the boundaries in taking the decision.

With the help of the systematic approach of problem-solving, the skills that can be enhanced in me include the development of the lateral mindset and the analytical skills for the creative and the innovative mindset (Funke et al., 2018). However, it is my responsibility to work on the weaknesses such as level-headedness, resilience, and the initiative to handle the decision-making process in improved ways in AGM company future.

For developing the mind-mapping and brainstorming skills, I think I consider the importance of each item and how it is linked to the topic which is one of the vital strengths inherent in me (Stokhof, 2019). However, I need to work on my weakness such as growing relationships within the team members through proper adjustment as well as reorganization of the ideas through improved ways.

Critical analysis of the two diagnostic tools
The decision-making questionnaire style allows rating each statement as per one’s choice so that it helps to judge one’s decision making. After completing this questionnaire, I have found that I can be categorized under the spontaneous decision-making style as I do not take much time in choosing from the list of alternatives irrespective of the situation. I think this decision making style is effective for me in the position of field assessor in AGM company According to this decision-making style, the skills possessed by me includes being hasty, rapid, and impulsive decision-maker that is one of the vital characteristics of intuition (Cosenza et al., 2019). However, the skills that I lack includes the navigation of the risks, uncertainty, the anticipation of the outcomes and the logical consequences within the short time frame.

Another important diagnostic tool includes the VAC Perception system Quiz in which additions are to be made of the options thereby assisting in the determination of the learning style. The results of this perception quiz highlighted that I possess both auditory and visual learning styles where I prefer to transfer the information from one person to another by engaging in experiential activities which is effective while working in the marketing company (Syofyan&Siwi, 2018). However, the skills that I lack includes failure to consult others while taking a critical decision as well as carrying out quantitative analysis of those decisions. Moreover, with the help of both these learning styles, I have learned to look at the instructions and thus follow them accordingly to complete the task.

The utilization of the learning in the future career and life
As I am involved as a field assessor in AGM company, I can say that the learning of the concepts over the week will help me to handle the position of the manager easily without facing many difficulties. Moreover, as decisions are considered to be prompt in the role of the manager, I think the spontaneous decision-making style along with auditory and visual learning style will help me to a great extent (Yazdi et al., 2020). Further, I can improve my decision making in future by consulting the team members, being optimistic in every direction and by being self-aware, I must respect the ideas shared by others and stop trying to find out flaws in others thereby welcoming the perspectives of my team members.

Conclusion
Thus, I can say that with the help of the decision-making process, I can carry out all the tasks including carrying out effective communication to the development of self-awareness as well as a systematic approach. All these aspects are possible only when I learn to improve my weaknesses and strengths accordingly. Therefore, it can be said that decision-making plays an essential role in carrying out planning as well as actions in managing the task.

References
Abubakar, A. M., Elrehail, H., Alatailat, M. A., &Elçi, A. (2019). Knowledge management, decision-making style and organizational performance. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 4(2), 104-114.

Ciaunica, A., &Crucianelli, L. (2019). Minimal self-awareness: From within a developmental perspective. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 26(3-4), 207-226. Cosenza, M., Ciccarelli, M., & Nigro, G. (2019). Decision-making styles, negative affectivity, and cognitive distortions in adolescent gambling. Journal of Gambling Studies, 35(2), 517-531.

Funke, J., Fischer, A., & Holt, D. V. (2018). Competencies for complexity: problem solving in the twenty-first century. In Assessment and teaching of 21st century skills (pp. 41-53). Springer, Cham.

Grootens-Wiegers, P., Hein, I. M., van den Broek, J. M., & de Vries, M. C. (2017). Medical decision-making in children and adolescents: developmental and neuroscientific aspects. BMC pediatrics, 17(1), 1-10.

Karimi, S., Holland, C. P., &Papamichail, K. N. (2018). The impact of consumer archetypes on online purchase decision-making processes and outcomes: A behavioural process perspective. Journal of Business Research, 91, 71-82.

Rubens, A., Schoenfeld, G. A., Schaffer, B. S., & Leah, J. S. (2018). Self-awareness and leadership: Developing an individual strategic professional development plan in an MBA leadership course. The International Journal of Management Education, 16(1), 1-13.

Stokhof, H., De Vries, B., Bastiaens, T., & Martens, R. (2019). Mind map our way into effective student questioning: A principle-based scenario. Research in Science Education, 49(2), 347-369.

Syofyan, R., &Siwi, M. K. (2018, July). The impact of visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning styles on economics education teaching. In First Padang International Conference On Economics Education, Economics, Business and Management, Accounting and Entrepreneurship (PICEEBA 2018) (pp. 114-121). Atlantis Press.

Thu, T. T. (2019). Using Mind-mapping as a transition from receptive to productive skills for second-degree learners. VNU Journal of Foreign Studies, 35(1).

Van Leeuwen, A., & Janssen, J. (2019). A systematic review of teacher guidance during collaborative learning in primary and secondary education. Educational Research Review, 27, 71-89.

Yazdi, M., Nedjati, A., Zarei, E., &Abbassi, R. (2020). A reliable risk analysis approach using an extension of best-worst method based on democratic-autocratic decision-making style. Journal of Cleaner Production, 256, 120418.

Appendices