6. Decisions and decision making
Tactics, command and leadership are closely associated with de-
cision making. It can be a matter of making decisions regarding
tasks, task execution or that someone has been given the autho-
rity to make certain decisions. Decision making is in turn associa-
ted with responsibility, i.e. taking responsibility for decisions. In
a given situation, it is the legal system that allocates authorities
to those in charge, while morally they take responsibility for their
conduct. Please refer to the line of reasoning on delegation that
was presented in the chapter on leading and being lead.
During recent years, extensive research has been conducted
concerning decision making in various types of reallife situa-
tions. Such decisionmaking situations are often characterised ac-
cording to Orasanu, et al. (1992a) by the following:
- Problems and situations that the decision maker encounters
are poorly structured. - Information about the problem or the situation is incomplete,
multifaceted and continually changing. - Objectives are (or compelled by the situation’s course of events)
variable, poorly formulated or even contradictory. - The decisions that are made affect several different problems
or situations at the same time. - There is a shortage of time.
- The risks are substantial, at times even lifethreatening.
- Many participants take part in the decision, either in prepara-
tory measures or in the practical consequences of the decision. - The decision maker must weigh the needs of personnel against
those of the organisation due to the fact that the assessments
and objectives that decisions are based upon are not always in
line with the preferences of personnel.
These characteristic aspects can also be said to be typical during
emergency response operations. Making decisions in conjunction