Models of Decision Making - Advantages and Drawbacks in Crisis Management

Abstract

It has been shown that professional stress is underexamined when it comes to personnel management in crisis situations. High degree of responsibility associated with this profession implies high stress potential that largely depends on quality of leadership and decisions taken. Decision element is of crucial importance for successful crisis managing. In order to understand and improve decision-making in crisis situations, a necessity for rationalization of decision theory emerges. Researches focusing on the matter of decision-making have been conducted by scientists of many profiles, having establishment of basic approaches of modern decision theory for the result: normative approach is based on probability functions whereas the prescriptive approach provides guidelines for decision-making in practice. Finally, there is descriptive approach that harnesses heuristics to describe ways in which people actually decide. In real-life situations decision-making is laid by contextual and psychological boundaries inherent to all people. In that respect, observed patterns of different behaviours in people when it comes to decision-making under ambiguity, different from those in deciding under stress, play a major role. There are significant differences in practical values of particular models of decision-making. Therefore, this paper investigates various models of decision-making and their applicability in crisis situations in purpose of prevention and reducing stress levels in responsible persons. In the conclusion, the approach of bounded rationality based on heuristic strategies imposes itself as the most appropriate, although fallible, but often only possible choice. By adopting skills of situational awareness and critical thinking, supported by adequate stress trainings, simulations and preventive measures such as risk analysis, operation strategies and calculations of probability based on postulates of normative domain of decision-making theory, it is possible to mitigate negative influence of stress and enhance decision-making in crisis management.