Makers and making of decisions

Decision-making is usually a complicated matter in the corporate world. Recently, a research has been conducted to examine how the heads of corporations arrive at their decisions in Hungary. The most important results were discussed at a conference.

In the survey, conducted by Devise Hungary and RSM DTN Hungary, 437 managers participated, 47 of them ex-patriots. At the conference, delegates encountered a whole range of aspects of this process that plays vital part in their lives. Even through improvisation acts that were performed by a theater group who enacted how difficult this process can get.

The Decision Makers Forum had top leaders of organizations like Amcham, the National Association of Managers, the Joint Venture Association, British Chamber of Commerce, - among  others -  invited to discuss such important foci of the conference as the variety of possible positions, excellence as a leaders’ should-have-it quality. However, differences from good to excellence in terms of corporations were also mapped through different models. Similarly, such key issues could not be neglected as change and crisis management, leadership in old times and nowadays, male and female decision making processes and whether or how the media influences decision making was discussed. More importantly, a short survey was provided to categorize all those background features that carry valuable information for the top leaders.

Both the conference and research had serious implications. It is abundantly clear that even leaders and top decision makers seem to be aware of the lack of  and need for professionally updated knowledge on issues including their most precious tools: themselves. Professionally and humanly they meant to complete many chapters in the book of development to stand on the high standard they imagine themselves to be. The research, no doubt, brought both to Hungarian and expat leaders some causes for real discomfort to look in the mirror.

The decisive percentage of participants confessed to make decision on a rational basis, on the other hand, when they were asked on whom they rely on for getting the right information, the result was shocking. They named their negotiation partners who are most likely to communicate their own interest, mislead them willfully or totally unintentionally. Who else do they rely on? The top leaders are more than eager to share the burden of decision with their peers and with their spouse. The fact that the prerequisite of leadership is self-knowledge was amply supported both by the research and the conference, where at least a major first step was taken in Hungary.