Programmed Decision

According to Campling, Poole, Wiesner, Ang, Chan and Tan (2007), programmed decisions can be defined as decisions which "apply solutions from past experience to a routine problem". Thus, programmed decisions can also be termed 'routine decisions' where managers can usually plan them in advance and implement them when needed. On the other hand, non-programmed decisions are decisions that "apply specific solutions crafted for a unique problem" (Campling et al., 2007). These decisions are made in response to situations that are unique, are poorly defined and largely unstructured. Campling and his colleagues (2007) also added that it is important for the manager to make effective non-programmed decisions especially when there is a crisis i.e. an unexpected problem that leads to disaster.

Looking back at the given case study, the decision faced by Greyhound executives is obviously a non-programmed decision. Firstly, the situation faced by Greyhound Lines is present with ambiguous problems as well as insufficient and uncertain information. This fact had further assured that there must be creative and non-programmed decision. Secondly, the decision made is definitely not any routine, programmed decision which is familiar and straightforward. The reorganization plan does not base on past experience as the problems were unanticipated and are dealt with only after they occurred. In addition, it also influenced many parts of the Greyhound Lines' structure and functions. Thus, this decision cannot be considered as programmed decision. Lastly, the fact that the reorganization plan is decided by Greyhound top executives can show that the decision is non-programmed because such decisions are usually made by higher level manager of organization in order to meet demands of unique and uncertain situation at hand.

Based on the points which I stated above, we can conclude that the creation of a new organizational strategy is a non-programmed decision. This decision is different from previous organizational decision because the issue is new, a different set of environmental factors exists, and other conditions have changed. For example, Amazon.com's Jeff Bezos's strategy to get big fast helped the company grow tremendously. But this strategy worked at a cost - perennial financial losses. Bezos made decisions regarding sorting demand, shipping as well as foreign partnership and opening a marketplace allowing other sellers to sell their books at Amazon. As a result, for the first time in company history, Amazon earned a profit. Some other examples of non-programmed decision are deciding whether to acquire another organization, deciding which global markets offer the most potential, or deciding whether to sell off an unprofitable vision.

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