Decision-making models, or the path that one would choose in his or her decision-making, is heavily relied on the information one has received. By having all the correct information available, decision-making becomes an easier task. The model in which one would base his or her decision-making upon can be analyzed into six different factors: the problem at hand, the goals that want to be reached, alternatives, pros and cons, decision(s), and reason(s) behind the decision(s).
According to Richard W. Scholl (1999), there are three components of every decision. The standards in which decision makers assess alternatives, or the criteria. The specific courses of action or options being considered are the alternatives. The cause and effect beliefs of Scholl's system are observations linking alternatives to criteria. Lunenburg and Ornstein (2004) believe that the decision-making is a rational process where decision-makers want to maximize the chances of reaching their objectives by factoring in all alternatives, consequences for those alternatives and reaching the final decision. Lunenburg and Ornstein's decision-making model is based completely on the concept of rationality. According to the model, the decision-making process can be broken down into six logical steps: identifying the problem, generating, evaluating, and choosing alternatives, and implementing and evaluating the decision.
The first step in Lunenburg and Ornstein's decision-making process is identifying the problem. If there is no problem, there is no need to make a decision. Next, after identifying and defining the problem, one should generate but not evaluate a list of all possible alternatives, no matter how ridiculous the alternative may be. By eliminating alternatives from the list early, t ...