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Show Dean of Business publishes book "The number of bad decisions made in the world is far outweighed by the number of decisions which never get made at all," wrote Dr. George S. Odiorne, dean of the University College of Business, in a newly published book by Prentice Hall, Inc. The 2 8 6-page work, "Management Decisions by Objectives," explained sophisticated decision-making techniques in layman's language. It is intended for beginners in business, managers without training in mathematics or psychology and "ordinary people who would like to make up their minds faster and better - and be right more often in the process." Utahn's Utopia "An imaginary Utopia in which people could make up their minds would not have as many businesses going broke, parents divided from children, homes broken or opportunities lost," wrote the Utah dean. To help reach that Utopia, Dr. Odiorne outlined a method for cultivating decisiveness. He stressed that his decision-making system doesn't totally eliminate the place of hunch and intuition. "But it does reduce the need for reliance upon them," he stated. "Being systematic in those things which lend themselves to system can help people proceed with greater confidence in unknown areas." The first step in decision-making is defining your goals, said Dr. Odiorne. "Fixing a goal and making a commitment to somebody whose opinion is important - such as your boss, a colleague, your wife, or a friend -- will improve decision-making immensely," he said. After goals have been identified and the situation clarified, tools and analytical instruments can be of great help in making decisions said the Utah author. The basic ideas behind computers and higher mathematics employed by systems experts are not beyond the scope of the average person, he' suggested, and can be applied to the problems of ordinary business and personal decision-making. To make the best decisions, the business educator said it j, advisable to develop several' options and choose among them rather than fastening emotionally! to a single one too soon. "It 'is at : this point -- choosing amcV options - that many people get hung up," wrote Dr. Odiorne, "mainly because they haven't clarified their objectives to begin with. If you have your objectives tightly defined, they help scree the options and you can pick the one which carries you farthest fastest. Without such an objective indecision is an almost inevitable outcome." , "Management Decisions b Objectives" is Dr. Odiome's flfli book. It also contains sections ot advanced decision theory explaining such modern tools as linear programming operation research, Critical Path, decision trees and hevristic logic. |