Application of Evidence-Based Practice on Decision-Making
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Background Information: Evidence-Based Practice refers to the process of using analyzed and scientific evidence to make decisions for the organizations. Management in an organization has various functions that include planning, organizing, directing, and controlling. To make decisions, the organizations must use rational decision-making process to ensure that sound decisions are made. Decisions made by the organizations range from the financial decisions, human resource management decisions, and supply chain management decisions. These decisions are influenced by different factors.
Objectives: The main objective of this paper is to critically evaluate the evidence-based practice on the decision-making in the organizations. Evidence-Based Practice involves the use of the evidence collected from the field to make rational decisions for the organizations. Therefore, this paper submits the importance of the evidence-based practice on the decision-making process in the organizations.
Methodology: The methodology that has been used in this presentation is literature review. The literature has analyzed various concepts that include rational decision-making in the organizations and the use of evidence-based practice. The literature review has been important in ensuring that various peer-reviewed journals and books have been properly analyzed. The literature review is also critical in evaluating the articles and coming up with the ways of managing different activities while at the same time developing an understanding of the data.
Findings: From the analysis, the finding is that the evidence-based practice is critical in the decision-making processes in the organizations at all levels. The most critical decisions must follow carefully analyzed data that have been professionally collated. The analysis of these data have been determined to remain essential in coming up with ways that can be critical in managing the most important aspects. The most important tools that are used in predicting the future in the organizations include SAS tools and the SPSS analysis tools. These tools are vital in analyzing the data for decision-making in the organization. Nvivo can also be applied in analyzing the qualitative data. Nvivo analyses data accurately and has been important in formulating the best outcomes across the world. The organization should invest in both quantitative and qualitative data analysis tools.
Conclusions: Evidence-Based Practice is an important step that helps in making rational decisions in the organizations. Management in the organizations must make use of the evidence-based practices in making their decisions.
Recommendations: The recommendation is that management should make their decisions based on the evidence provided. Evidence provided involve the statistical data that give the objective assessment of the problems. The evidence provides a clear understanding and prediction of the future of the organizations. Therefore, the organization should use various tools to analyze their data so that they can make objective decisions and that their decisions can always be qualitatively better.
Part One
In the organization, management is concerned with various important functions that can be critical in ensuring that various objectives are realized. The main functions of the management in an organization include planning, organizing, organizing, directing, and controlling (Lloyd & Aho, 2020). To perform these functions better, the management must make critical decisions that have been determined to align with the vision and mission of the company. Making the decisions require rational decision-making process that has been determined to remain critical in the organizations. Rational decision-making process involves the use of data to make the most important decisions that aide in the functioning of the management in an organization. In an organization, the management can make various decisions from the revenues to be spent in the organization, number of people to be hired, and the investments to make using the analyzed data. To make these decisions, the organizations must ensure that the evidences are collected and analyzed. The evidences collected must inform the decision-making process and this can be critical in handling different activities in the organization. In most organizations, the management makes recommendations based on the ideas that have been presented. Planning is the process whereby the management thinks in terms of those activities and operations that have remained important in ensuring that different objectives are realized. Planning includes the setting up of the objectives and the strategic goals that can be prudent in following the activities. Planning includes forging ahead and making plans that can be vital in ensuring that the operations are in line with the objectives while at the same time improving the outcomes. Planning requires the use of evidence to come up with various ways and to improve the functioning of the activities.
Evidence-based practice refers to a problem-solving approach that integrates the best-evidence from the well-designed studies and values (Portney, 2020). The evidence-based practice uses the values to make conscientious decisions and to aid the managers and the planners to make proper decisions that have a far-reaching impact on the performances of various duties. Evidence-based practice steps include collecting data, analyzing the data, and implementing the research findings. The evidence-based practice also involves making deductions from the available evidence and the recommendations that have been made from the study. Managers have been using the evidence based practice to make their decisions and to ensure that various objectives are realized. In the organizations, the evidence-based practices helps in analyzing data, the use of the evidence-based practice is also essential in analyzing the outcomes and coming up with various steps that can be considered as rational decision-making approach. In various organizations, the evidence-based practice has been used in making recommendations that are essential in managing the major issues and in resolving the problems that are found within the organizations. Evidence-based practice has also been used in the quantification of the problems and in identification of the major issues that can be critical for the deductions and in the management of different problems. The use of evidence-based practice involves the application of the data and the analysis of the data that has remained critical in managing the major issues. Collation of data has also been determined to reflect on the main aspects of the management of different issues. Decision-making process in the organizations depends on the strategies that have been employed in the organizations to come up with the most critical ways of managing the major activities in the organizations. Decision-making process that follows the use of evidence is always processed and considered as objective decision-making. The model integrates various activities that has continued to remain critical among different managers.
Evidence-based practice helps in organizing the activities of the organization. Organizing the activities and operations include the assignment of various tasks, grouping, and providing authority in an organization. Organizing also involves the division of management roles and responsibilities in the organization. In the organization, the management must organize their human resources to achieve some of the most important objectives and come up with ways of implementing the objectives. The use of data helps in making objective judgment. The accuracy in the organization is also enhanced and this can be important in achieving various objectives in the organization. Data can also be used in directing the activities in the organization. Directing in the management involves setting up the operations after the planning and organizing. Planning is the initial management step while the organizing is the second management step that has been important in handling different activities in the organization. In the organization, the data can inform directing that can also be critical in managing the main steps and ensuring that some of the objectives are achieved. Evidence-based practice can be critical in managing the activities of the organization and ensuring that various aspects of change can be managed. Managing these activities would be important in ensuring that various activities are realized while at the same time improving the functioning of the organization. Improving the functioning of the management in the organizations would be dependent on the practices that are done by the management in the organizations. The use of evidence-based practice has remained important in achieving some of the most prominent objectives while at the same time building the connections that have been determined to remain essential in making the most important decisions. Evidence-based practice is a step towards managing the issues in the organization and in organizing different activities that can make the organizations operational.
Companies and organizations can predict their future using SAS advanced analytics tools. The Statistical Analysis Software can be used in analyzing data and identifying patterns from the data. Organizations can use the Statistical Analysis Software in collecting and analyzing data. When the data is collected and analyzed, patterns can be identified and these remains important in coming up with ways of managing the organization. After the patterns have been identified, predictions can be made and this can be essential in ensuring that different activities are realized. Organizations can use the Statistical Analysis Software in making the appropriate decisions and informing the management for proper decision-making. Using the Statistical Analysis Software has been determined to remain critical in developing an organization that is based on the improvement of the decisions and that which can be managed properly. Managing the organizations and making of the decisions have been determined to remain essential in handling the changes and ensuring that the Statistical Analysis Software can be increased across the world. Organizations can also use the Statistical Package for Social Sciences in making predictions and ensuring that the rational decisions can be made. The rational decision making process follows the use of various data that can be identified, collected, and analyzed. Recommendations can also be made from the use of these data. Data analysis can follow various methods that provide knowledge and information for the management in the organization. Data analysis using the SPSS and the SAS can be critical in improving the activities and enhancing the decision-making process. Decision-making process can be critical in influencing the most critical aspects of the organizations. The tools can offer quantitative analysis of the data that can be critical in making recommendations. Nvivo can also be applied in the qualitative data analysis that can provide an insight on the decision-making process. These tools are important for the organizations since they provide an understanding of different activities that have remained important for the organizations.
Critical thinking is also important in the evidence-based practice in the organizations. The main principles of critical thinking include gathering complete information, understanding and defining all the terms that are presented in the information, analyzing the models and methods that remain essential for the organizations, questioning of the conclusions, looking for the hidden facts and conclusions, and examining the bigger picture in the data. Therefore, before making decisions, the management must be involved in the evaluation of data based on questioning, problem definition, examination of the evidence, analysis of the assumptions presented, avoidance of the emotional reasoning, preventing the oversimplification, considering the interpretations provided, and accepting the ambiguities. Critical thinking can be vital in the organizations as it helps in developing systems that can be vital in increasing the performance in the organizations and increasing the outcomes in the organizations. Management and decision-making process must be based on the steps that employ the critical thinking methods. Understanding these steps would be important in achieving various objectives. Critical thinking must be captured in the evidence-based practice as it helps in reducing the problems that are associated with the problems of the organizations. Management of the main issues in the organizations have also been determined to remain essential in ensuring that the predictions do not follow the problems that can result to the poor judgments. The use of critical thinking helps in making sound decisions and those decisions that can be critical in managing different activities in the organization. Managers must employ the aspects of critical thinking in making their decisions and in coming up with the best ways of handling different activities.
Deontological ethics can be used in explaining the use of evidence-based practice in decision-making in the organizations. According to Deontological ethics, rightness of an action is determined partly or entirely by the intrinsic values that it presents. The rational decision-making process defines the actions that are right using the evidence. The outcome of an action determines whether the action was right or wrong. Deontological ethics can also been used in the process of determining the actions that remain important among different individuals. Deontological ethics has also been itemized as one of the prudent activities that can explain the impacts of the ethics on the actions on the rightness of the individuals. Deontological ethics also hold that individuals perform what is right based on their instincts. From the critical thinking of the managers and other leaders, the rational decision-making process will follow their instincts and will also be based on what is best for the organization. Deontological ethics has also been found to be critical in managing the most critical issues relating to people. From the organization, the deontological ethics can also explain the reason that the manager makes their decisions and how they are vital in making these decisions. Evidence-Based processes have been critical in defining what is expected and mapping the future. However, these applications of the rational decision-making have remained vital in achieving some of the most important systems and theories that can be relied on by the organization to make their respective decisions. Therefore, using the deontological ethics has remained critical in managing the key issues including making changes that are important.
The organizations can analyze the Gross Profit Margins to evaluate the financial performance. Gross Profit is a measure that analyzes the ratio of profits to revenues. The ratio shows the growth of the profits of the organization in relation to the changes in the revenues over time. Working capital ratio can also be used by the organization in measuring the quantitative financial performance. Current ration can also be used since it shows the ratio of current assets to the current liabilities of the company. These rations can show the direction of change in the organization and the profits that are obtained in the organization. Organizations have been working towards developing systems that are important in the measuring their performances quantitatively and diagnosing the problems in these organizations. The non-financial performance measures include conversion rates and the retention rates. Conversion and retention rates have been determined to remain essential in identifying the problems in the organization and ensuring that the objectives and aims of the organizations are realized. These measurements provide information that can be applied in decision-making process. The measures are also important in ensuring that the correct decisions can be made and that these decisions are made in the best interest of the organizations. Using these measures, the rations can be found and the systems can be improved. The management in the organization can also use these ratios to reflect, analyze, and report on the performance that remains critical for the development in these organizations. Financial measurements are vital in providing an overview of how the organization is performing and identification of the gaps that must be filled. The financial measurements are also critical in ensuring that the organization’s performance can be evaluated critically over time. In understanding the impacts of the financial performance, they can be used for making decisions that are immediate and have far-reaching impacts. However, the non-financial performance in the organization has an impact on the strategy formulation. It helps in formulating strategies that can also be vital in finding out the most important activities of the organizations. The strategies for expansion and development can be improved following the evaluation of non-financial performance. These measurements can be critical in improving the accuracy of decision-making process.
People practices like creation of the talent pools, development of the people policies, and analysis of the people data have been critical in creating talents and skills that can be essential in managing the individuals while at the same time ensuring that various objectives are realized. People practices have been determined to remain essential in managing the businesses and human resource practices. These steps have been determined to remain critical in managing the performances while at the same time ensuring that there is an understanding of various activities that remain essential in the performance in the organizations (Curcic, Kostic & Arapovic, 2018). The organization should use people practices in ensuring that the best talents are captured and also ensuring that the right policies are designed to help in improving human resource capacities in the organization. The organization must also work towards ensuring that the employees are properly motivated. Motivation helps in boosting the morale of the employees and this can be critical in ensuring that the main objectives are achieved in the organization. The impacts of these practices are direct in the organization and this can be reflected in the actions that people are involved. People practices can be important in managing the steps and ensuring that most of the individuals can achieve their respective objectives at their workplace. The workplace activities create an environment for the development that can also be determined to remain essential among different individuals. Therefore, the organizations have been trying to improve these people practice skills to help in achieving the requisite objectives. Therefore, for the organization, there is a need to use the rational decision-making process that involves the evidence-based practice. Evidence-based practice involves the collation of data that includes collecting data and analyzing data to inform the decisions that are to be made by the organization. These steps are critical in making sound decisions and critically thought out solutions.
Part Two
The second part of this paper deals with the analysis of data presented to help in making various decisions on management. Most of the decisions are made after the analysis and presentation of the data. The cost of recruiting employees across each department from 2016 to 2020 is represented as in table 1 below.
Table 1: Cost of recruiting employees
Cost of Employee Hiring Cost of Employee Hiring Cost of Employee Hiring Totals
Administration Drivers Production
2016 8260 43365 80535 132160
2017 4130 37170 111510 152810
2018 16520 66080 169330 251930
2019 36144 48192 240960 325296
2020 27108 96384 337344 460836
Hiring workers is a responsibility of human resource management. However, the steps involved are such that various forms of finance are required. Determining the cost of hiring employees remains critical in achieving the objectives and aims of the organizations. The cost of hiring employees has increased from $132,160 in 2016 to $460,836 in 2020. Cost of hiring employees in the production department is the highest for all the years presented. The cost of hiring drivers is the second highest for all the years. Cost of administration is the lowest for all the years. The management has investment in the employment of the human resources to increase the productivity, both quantitative and qualitative aspects of the productivity. The changes in the cost of hiring can help in making the predictions about the next recruitment. Predictions are based on the ratios and the percentages that have remained critical in handling of different activities. These activities have remained important in ensuring that various objectives are realized. The percentage of turnover as a ratio of number of employees per department over the five years is as shown in the table 2 below.
Table 2: Turnover as a percentage of employees
Year Administration Drivers Production
Total in department = 32 Total in department = 141 Total in department = 385
2016 12.5 14.893617 10.1298701
2017 6.25 12.7659574 14.025974
2018 25 22.6950355 21.2987013
2019 37.5 11.3475177 20.7792208
2020 28.125 22.6950355 29.0909091
Table 2 above shows the proportions of the turnover as a percentage of the employees. The turnover remains important in showing the changes in the rollover of the employees and in understanding how different activities can work. The changes in the turnover as a percentage of the employees remain critical in handling different aspects of hiring in this organization. The organization hires depending on the turnover rate. Production department had the highest number of turnover as a percentage of the employees. The turnover rate as a percentage of the employees in a department has increased from 10.13% in 2016 to 29.09% in 2020 in the production department. Production department had the highest number of employees. The table shows the changes that remain essential in handling different activities and improving the recruitment process that has also been vital among different individuals. Figure 1 below shows how the employees from the production and payroll have been resigning. The resignations have been captured for various reasons that remain important in ensuring that the proper recommendations are made. The employee activities are reflected in the data that has been provided in the figure below.
Figure 1: Resignations of the employees
From figure 1 above, majority of the employees from the productions department have been resigning at an alarming rate compared to the payroll department. Majority of the employees who have resigned in the productions department cite poor pay among other reasons for their resignation. Rewards and pursuing other careers are also important reasons why many people have been resigning in the productions department. However, the resignations in the payroll department have remained the same over time. From the graph, majority of those leaving are from the productions department. Production’s department is where the core operations of the organizations exist. The exit of many employees from the production process indicates a possible paralysis of the operations. Paralyzed operations can be critical in the operations of the organization.
From the analysis of the data, many employees have been leaving the organization for various reasons. Over the years, the number has been fluctuating in the production. However, the payroll has also remained flat. The implication is that there are different activities happening in the productions department compared to the payroll department. These activities have been essential in understanding how the organization grows. The information provided above can be critical in formulating system for managing the organizational change. Information that has been provided has also ensured that different decisions can be made following the rational decision-making process.
Recommendations
To prevent the resignations in the productions and payroll departments, the management must increase the salaries and remuneration of the employees. Compensation of the employees that commensurate with the amount of work done helps in keeping the employees. Proper compensation also helps in reducing the overemployment that can force the employees to resign. Resignation of the employees must be prevented through different ways that have been determined to remain critical in handling the welfare of the workers. The management should also engage in training and enhancement of skills through different programs that have been vital. The management must also ensure that they strategize to improve their close working relations. Close relations between the employers and employees remain important in retaining the employees. The company must ensure that the employee views and ideas are integrated in the organizations’ decisions. The organization must also institute the change management program. Change management program ensures smooth transition that can be crucial in handling of different activities while at the same time developing a clear understanding of different objectives in the organizations. Preventing the mass walkout is beneficial to the organization since it enables the organization to retain a pool of experienced staff that also has the institutional memory. Therefore, the organization can provide management roles that have been dictated to be important among different employees. Implementing the recommendations require a strong human resource management that can handle different activities and that can work towards building the connections between the workers and their bosses. It is also a step towards ensuring that the main objectives are realized.
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