5.3 Classical Decision Making

If one was to simply describe how to go about making a decision, one would probably describe classical decision making.

Classical decision making – the theory.

Steps:
1. Obtain complete and perfect information on the alternatives
2. Eliminate uncertainty
3. Evaluate the alternatives and select the best.

Classical decision making – in practice

In practice, we often can’t get complete and perfect information on the alternatives.  We may not know what our customers will want.  We may not know what our competition is going to do.  We like certainty in managing a business but in practice it is rarely achievable.