Hypotheses in Business (Essay Sample)

Read the article by Chapas and Friga (listed in the Syllabus, and linked here for your ease) and address/answer the following questions: 1. What role do hypotheses play in making better business decisions? 2. How could you integrate this information within your organization? Your post should contain at least one scholarly citation (you can even use Chapas & Friga if you like). Be sure to list the reference for the citation at the bottom of your post. Instructions: Your initial post should be at least 250 words.

Decision-making in today’s environment is difficult, andnew managers in R&D and other technical positions areoften shocked at the lack of systematic decision-makingthey find in their interactions with upper managementand their peers in other parts of the organization.However, there is a well-tested source of insight into howto improve the decision-making in business: the scientificmethod. Although it has revolutionized our lives andthe ability to manipulate our material world, the scientificmethod has not been widely adapted for businessexecutives. Nevertheless, we believe it can improve theefficiency and effectiveness of decision-making forexecutives, research managers, and business leaders ingeneral.In this article, we first examine the typical decisionmakingenvironment in organizations, highlighting thechallenges executives face in their quest for better performance.Next, we introduce some of the basic tenetsfrom the scientific method and describe how they canplay a role in overcoming several of the key decisionmakingdeficiencies. We then describe a five-stepprocess that can assist in the implementation of scientificmethod techniques in daily decision-making, illustratedby a case study relating to new technology development.Challenges Executives FaceThree key macro-level elements that differentiate thedaily decision-making of today include informationoverload, shareholder pressure, and shortened businesscycle time:• The search tools in use for problem solving by executivesat most companies today yield a quantity of informationthat can be overwhelming. This situation hasincreased the importance of knowledge managementskills to sort the data, identify what is truly relevant, andthen to create value from it.• Shareholder pressure, a result of the rise in worldwidecapital markets, has led to a relentless drive to achieveshort-term financial results, often at the expense of longtermconsiderations. A number of well-known corporatefailures may have resulted from the pressure to achieveconsistent growth at any cost.• Finally, the time-to-market and overall business cycleshave shortened to a level unimaginable 50 years ago.Decisions must be made faster than ever before (1).Ultimately, decision-making is done on an individuallevel. Alarmingly, much of the research suggests thathumans are extremely limited in their decision-making