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Webster Industries Essay

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Webster Industries: A Critical Analysis of Carter's Process for Decision Making There are several weaknesses in the process that Carter used for decision making. Perhaps the most severe of them all was the lack of sight with respect to the strategy of the Webster Industries. The financials for the company clearly show that by October 1975 the company was probably recovering from the downturn. If that was indeed the case, Carter should requested an adjustment to the anchoring bias of 15% downsizing target and examined the list of criteria that Stevens’ laid out in the light of sustained growth. Healthy growth requires people who are competent in their current job as well as people with potential. Consequently the group should have avoided using criteria such as lack of future potential in competent people or seniority for downsizing. Stevens’ suggestion for reviewing people’s potential and seniority, put in an anchoring bias that could well have been avoided. Stevens also thought that people with seniority might choose to retire which indicated a representativeness bias on his part, while his somewhat callous attitude towards fairness was concerning. These aspects were clearly incongruent with the original strategy laid out by Abe Webster and Webster Industries’ paternalistic culture. To align the organization with Webster’s strategy, Carter sh...

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