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other words, if you want to make sure you make the best choice, going through the
formal steps of the rational decision-making model may make sense.
Let’s imagine that your old, clunky car has broken down and you have enough
money saved for a substantial down payment on a new car. It is the first major

purchase of your life, and you want to make the right choice. The first step, therefore,
has already been completed—we know that you want to buy a new car. Next, in step
2, you’ll need to decide which factors are important to you. How many passengers do
you want to accommodate? How important is fuel economy to you? Is safety a major
concern? You only have a certain amount of money saved, and you don’t want to
take on too much debt, so price range is an important factor as well. If you know you
want to have room for at least five adults, get at least 20 miles per gallon, drive a car
with a strong safety rating, not spend more than $22,000 on the purchase, and like
how it looks, you’ve identified the decision criteria. All of the potential options for
purchasing your car will be evaluated against these criteria.
Before we can move too much further, you need to decide how important each
factor is to your decision in step 3. If each is equally important, then there is no need
to weight them, but if you know that price and gas mileage are key factors, you might
weight them heavily and keep the other criteria with medium importance. Step 4
requires you to generate all alternatives about your options. Then, in step 5, you need
to use this information to evaluate each alternative against the criteria you have
established. You choose the best alternative (step 6) and you go out and buy your
new car (step 7).
Of course, the outcome of this decision will be related to the next decision
made; that is where the evaluation in step 8 comes in. For example, if you purchase a
car but have nothing but problems with it, you are unlikely to consider the same make
and model in purchasing another car the next time!
While decision makers can get off track during any of these steps, research
shows that limiting the search for alternatives in the fourth step can be the most
challenging and lead to failure. In fact, one researcher found that no alternative
[4]
generation occurred in 85% of the decisions studied. Conversely, successful
managers are clear about what they want at the outset of the decision-making process,
set objectives for others to respond to, carry out an unrestricted search for solutions,
[5]
get key people to participate, and avoid using their power to push their perspective.
The rational decision-making model has important lessons for decision makers.
First, when making a decision you may want to make sure that you establish your
decision criteria before you search for all alternatives. This would prevent you from
liking one option too much and setting your criteria accordingly. For example, let’s
say you started browsing for cars before you decided your decision criteria. You may
come across a car that you think really reflects your sense of style and make an
emotional bond with the car. Then, because of your love for this car, you may say to
yourself that the fuel economy of the car and the innovative braking system are the
most important criteria. After purchasing it, you may realize that the car is too small
for all of your friends to ride in the back seat when you and your brother are sitting in
front, which was something you should have thought about! Setting criteria before
you search for alternatives may prevent you from making such mistakes. Another

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