1- Hello,

Thank you for your post. On my behalf I just would like to add that whenever groups are highly cohesive and are closed to seeking outside perspectives, they can be at risk of experiencing groupthink effect. Some of the most common characteristics associated with groupthink include:

• Seeing team as foolproof or illusion of invulnerability when team members believe that group is better at making decisions than it is. Individuals think that the group could never make any erroneous choices and whatever it decides as most appropriate and ethical (discounting that others might have different values and beliefs).
• Being closed minded. Group members may make too much effort trying to justify and rationalize their selection, rather than assessing potential fallbacks of their plan and creating new alternatives. In this scenario even when members see signs of potential pitfalls, they try to rationalize the rightness of their decision.
• Placing compliance over free debate or illusion of unanimity. The groupthink setting leaves no room for people to voice their opinion and challenge the final proposal. Therefore, individual members tend to self-censor and avoiding asking any questions.

Bibliography

Janis, I. L. (1982). Groupthink: Psychological Studies of Policy Decisions and Fiascoes (2nd ed.). New York: Houghton Mifflin.

* this is a response to the original initial post of 4 paragraphs* which you will find attached

pertaining to advanced decision making

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2- Decision making is the process of when a person analyzes a situation or problem and decides the best solution. People make decisions all day everyday whether it being something as big as a business decision or even something small like what they will eat for dinner. When being involved in a business there will be times where a group will have to come together to make a decision. This is called group decision making, the downside to this is having the possibility of groupthink. Groupthink is a term used for the effort of a group trying to find a valuable solution, but end up in a bind because of the many personalities. When groupthink comes along it is important for each voice to be heard, if not the chances of reaching a solution that everyone agrees on is low.

Some normal problems that add onto groupthink in decision making starts with too many ideas. When everyone has their own ideas the brainstorming and conversation carries on to long. In this way, the solution does not ever come about. If a solution is reached, it takes double the time. Another common problem is the members in the group maybe being bias towards someone else’s idea. This distracts from the good ideas and the bad ideas. Just because someone is liked more than another person doesn’t take away from that person’s idea. A few ways to dodge these problems is first looking at all ideas and examining them. In this way, it takes away from one person’s idea being more popular then the other. It might not be bad to make all ideas anonymous as well, so no one knows whose idea is who. Also, there is always a benefit to have some sort of mediator or leader that can run the group. He or she should be responsible for making fair judgements and allowing everyone to speak evenly (Houghton, 2015).

In my experiences of groupthink, the main problems were not allowing everyone to have fair judgements of ideas and having groups within groups. When everyone’s idea is not failrly judged someone may feel left out or unimportant. This creates a disconnection within the group, which can put a damper on future decisions. Also, when there are different friend groups in the groups other information is not fully open to the whole group. Some members of the group may know more about the solution than others which creates confusion with the final outcome. Some ways to prevent these problems is to go around in the group to every person and hear everything they have to say on the topic. Write everything out so everyone can see, and have a democratic vote on each idea. In this way, there is a fair chance for each person to have their idea analyzed. Lastly, having a leader can always help the group move in the right direction. The person must be a trustworthy advocate they has no favorites (Pautz & Forrer, 2013).

References:

Houghton, D. P. (2015). Understanding groupthink: The case of operation market garden. Parameters, 45(3), 75-85. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/und…

Pautz, J. A., & Forrer, D. A. (2013). The dynamics of groupthink: The cape coral experience. Journal of International Energy Policy, 2(1), 1-14. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.19030/jiep.v2i1.7890

* this is also pertaining to advanced decision making*

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3- Using a success metrics to appraise & gauge against on a monthly / quarterly basis is vital. It enables you to fathom whether the program is performing as per the expectations. After all, if you are not quantifiably measuring outcomes, you do not know whether the program is succeeding/ failing, or what’s the best course of action to undertake.

* this is a response to the original initial post of 4 paragraphs* which you will find attached

pertaining to marketing management

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4- The company that I am going to focus on is Amazon. Amazon is an e-commerce company. Advancements in technology, as well as channel selection, has a huge impact on the potential for the e-commerce industry. Amazon is the pioneer in the e-commerce industry and in using channel strategy. The channel strategy of Amazon focuses mainly on customer demand and their needs or requirements (Serrano, 2019). The statistic and analytics that Amazon develops in regard to upcoming requirements and trends are fabulous. Notably, Amazon uses data to develop responsive and personalized collaboration across all channels. Also, the company integrates its channels in the backend going beyond inventory, as well as central fulfillment. The forecasting model of Amazon brings the insight of future demands. The company believes in the strategy of reaching, acting, converting, and engaging.

Amazon continues to measure its programs and the effectiveness of its investments analytically and work on gaps that are identified. This enables the company to know the area and kinds of products it focuses on, hence contributing to its success. The company establishes fulfillment centers that act as cross-docking and warehouse centers for reducing lead time for distribution. Besides, the company’s channel enables it to forecast the needs of online customers and provide offers based on the availability of stock. Amazon works on the common marketplace model enabling vendors to send their products in a competitive market, thus attracting shoppers through low price and better service level (Ghaffary, 2019). The common marketplace of Amazon aids in lowering product costs through consolidation chance, as well as a common warehouse model for different brands via fulfillment centers.

References

Ghaffary, M. (2019). Marketplace Checklist: How Amazon Built The Largest Marketplace In The United States. Forbes.

Serrano, S. (2019). What Amazon Teaches us About OmniChannel Strategy in 2019.

*this is pertaining to marketing management*