Reference no: EM132260037

(sales, marketing, accounting, finance, marketing, operations management, etc..)

1. Describe three significant, recurring decisions that you (the business professional you are interviewing) are called upon to make in the performance of the job. [Do not just name the decision; provide enough information so that the reader can understands the context and frequency in which the decisions are being made.

2. Select one of the three decisions identified above (presumably the one you and your interviewee find most interesting) and describe the type of information used to inform the decision-making process. [Be as complete as possible. Do not simply identify or name the information but briefly describe it, e.g., the source and structure (or lack) of the information. It does not have to be information obtained from a database. Professionals may rely on reading trade or academic literature, working with consultants, conducting independent research, or even simply consulting colleagues.

3. Describe the quality of information available to support the decision-making process. We want to understand the degree of risk involved, i.e., the chances of selecting the wrong alternative, due to lack of information. Consider factors such as: desired information does not exist, e.g., perfect predictions of the future; information contains errors; information is not timely; information is not completely relevant to the specific context in which the decision is being made; possibility of willful distortion of information, e.g., job applicant lying on resume or application form; information is available but too expensive to obtain, etc.

4. Describe analytic techniques used to employ the information in support of the decision-making process, e.g., most obviously descriptive or inferential statistics but possibly simulations, artificial intelligence or simply intuitive processes based on review of information described above.