The Use of the Committees System in Organizational Decision Making

The Use of the Committees System in Organizational Decision Making

Today, well over hundred computerized and non-computerized business management games also known as business simulation are in use in a growing number of universities and business across the country.

Since the introduction as an educational tool in 195 by the (AMA) American Management Association considerable progress has been made in the advancement of this methodological approach to development in the decision making capabilities of individual’s preparation to themselves to assume managerial responsibility and the practicing executive.  Mr. F. C. Richardietal is the one who wrote Top Management Decision.

The AMA Approach (New York American Management Association, 1957).  However, the early methods of exposing trainees to the job of top executive largely were limited to describing what management executives did and what they should do.

  • SCHOOL OF THOUGHT WITHIN THE SUBJECT AREA:

A committee may be defined as a group of people appointed by some other generally larger body or bodies to meet and discuss matters decision within some field of reference with a view to make group decisions or recommendation to the parent body.

In Schwartz own definition, he defined a committee as a group of persons asked to consider or investigate and report an act and some matter.  Schwartz also stated further that the committee may equally be referred to as either a task force, comment, board, agency or commission.  Dale defined a committee as a group of people usually not more than can sit around the table which make decision or parents view points and whose conduct is governed by a set of rules.  Williams Glueck and Chas Adams also defined committees as a group of two or more persons created to serve a particular purpose, make a decision or a recommendation.  Schein also classified committees as formal groups which are created to fulfill specific task that are clearly related to the total organization mission.  Schein also classified the formal groups.

A permanent committee is an example of permanent formal group while committee to carry out a particular job and get dissolved once the job is accomplished are temporary formal groups.

Nwachukwu distinguished between the permanent and Ad hoc Committees.  The committees that is empowered to meet regularly to discuss and act on general problems (present and future problems) affecting their operations, he called a permanent committee while those that are appointed to study and offer solutions to a specific organizational problem, he called the ad hoc committee is dissolved once their assignment is completed.

  • THE SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT RELEVANCE TO THE PROBLEM OF STUDY:

According to Richard M. Hodgetts, A committee has knowledge, experience and judgment than any on individual alone.  When an organization focuses the attention of a committee on a particular problem, the result is often a solution superior to that which could be obtained from anyone member working independently.  Committees are also useful in a co-ordinating plan and transmitting information for example in the implementation of major programme.  Many departments may be involved and a committee can help each other to see where it fits in the overall plan.  Most formal organization have committee because of the realization that the concentration of task on one individual does not make efficient and effective control.

Another school of thought is C.T. Handwick and B. F. Landuyt who said that the committee can bring together people of varying views and ability and so its product may be better than that made possible by an individual endeavour.  That is by gathering some committees that have different ideas and ability and those ideas will be shared at the gathering place so that their product may be better than that made possible by an individual endeavour.

That the resort to a committee may give the administrators a greater reputation for seriousness of purpose and comprehensiveness of efforts since it suggests that he or they are trying to supplement their own ability.  They equaled supported the idea that committees is a fine committees is a fine communication centre and a means of educating some members.

The function of committee system therefore, is primarily to the top management decision making process.  It helps to tackle problems of large scale and complex operations by inputs from major sections of the organization with specialists and experts contributing their knowledge and points of view.

Many large progressive organization have employed the group decision making process in solving their problems.  This method has been found to produce greater satisfaction among employees as it eliminates cause of employees discontent.  Different interest groups participate in the decision making committees which make it possible in some situations of management and employees or labour union representatives to meet on the basis of equality to determine the best way to solve problems of mutual interest.  Decisions arrived at is usually acceptable to both sides.

Peter F. Drucker expressed the doubt whether the successful business concerns ever used the one man accepts.  After considering certain duties like the formulation of objective and preparation of financial plans, he disagreed with the idea of a one man chief executive being capable of making decision alone.

  • DIFFERENT METHODS OF STUDYING THE PROBLEM:

In selecting the members of a committee, the administrators should always be guided by the basic principles that the mere fact of association will not assure the success of the committee.  The suggestion in the methods of studying the problem is that members of committee should be the type of people who have acquired the basic formal education and the degree of education should be dependent on the responsibilities of the committees.

Professor C. C. Nwachukwu expressed that the view of effective use of committees in the solution of organization problems depends on the selection of the right people to serve in the committee.  He therefore suggested that the selection of members of a committee should be based on qualifications such as knowledge of the subject matters to be assigned to the committee interests, responsibility, availability and emotional maturity.  Glueck said that selecting members who are informed and who can act in a conscientious and reasonable manner.  Another suggestion is getting a clear definition of the committee’s responsibility and authority.

  • SUMMARY

In summary of this chapter, a lot of things were reviewed by different authors concerning about the use of committees in organizational decision making.  Like some definitions by the authors in committee, they gave the different meanings of their own view concerning about committee.

Some contributed that committees as a group of persons asked to consider or investigate an act and some matter.  Some thoughts in relevant to the problem states that when an organization focuses the attention of a committee on a particular problem the result is often a solution superior to that which could be obtained from anyone member working independently.  Then in suggesting in different ways of studying the problem, Professor C. C. Nwachukwu expressed that the view of effective use of committee in the solution of organization problems depends on the selection of the right people to serve in the committees and selection on the committee should be based on qualifications.

Finally, Glueck said that selecting members who are informed and who can act in a conscientious and reasonable manner.

—-This article is not complete———–This article is not complete————

This article was extracted from a Project Research Work Topic:

THE USE OF THE COMMITTEES SYSTEM IN ORGANIZATIONAL DECISION MAKING

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