DECSION MAKING FOR HAWTHORNE UNIVERSITY
You are an Administrative Manager at the Hawthorne University, which is one month away from
issuing final examinations to students in November. Once this has been completed, which usually
takes a total of two weeks, marking is done by Lecturers and students are advised of their grades
one month after, before the end of December. This time frame allows for them to know if they can
proceed to register for their scheduled courses in January, or if they need to re-sit a failed exam.
As the University is in the process of finalising their typical face to face examinations, the world
has been hit by a communicable disease, which limits close physical interactions such as previous
exam settings. As part of the management team, you are now responsible for making a decision as
it pertains to moving forward with the final assessment for students.
The alternatives are listed below for your review to assist with your decision making.
Alternative A: Estimated cost: $250,000
Run examinations as normal with the rental of additional facilities with larger rooms to allow for
social distancing and comfort among invigilators and students. Additional external invigilators
would also need to be sourced, which is included in the above cost.
This will require an additional two weeks to secure and set up the spaces, and communicate
location to students. Marking and communication of grades can still be facilitated in time to
determine registration for the January semester, with a little push from the entire team. With this,
the integrity of the assessment process will not be threatened.
Alternative B: Estimated cost: $400,000
Convert examinations to two (2) separate coursework/ project pieces, for which external persons
would be contracted to develop same. Lecturers will still be required to review final pieces and
agree before submission to students to complete.
This will require an additional two (2) months to facilitate. The integrity of the assessment cannot
be guaranteed as students cannot be supervised in the completion of assessments.
Alternative C – Estimated cost: $300,000
Convert examinations to 100% online assessments, facilitated by a programme that the school
would need to secure sufficient licenses for students and administrators to utilise at home.
This would require an additional month for licenses to be obtained, work uploaded and persons
trained to utilise the application, which can also offer supervision to some extent while students
complete their work. While marking to a great extent would be automated, reducing the turn
around time to students, it will not be in time for them to register in time January.
Questions
1. With reference to the case, define the term decision and identify the problem that
exists. (3 marks)
2. List and explain in proper order the eight (8) steps in the decision-making process,
referencing the case for each step where possible. Ensure to identify at least three (3)
decision criteria and complete the relevant evaluation and selection. (24 marks)
3. Briefly discuss two (2) different decision-making models that management can
generally use. Which would you be utilising in this case, and why? (6 marks)
4. Do you believe the decision to be made is programmed or non-programmed; and
explain why have you chosen your particular response? (2 marks)
