Introduction: Individual or corporate decisions are not often written about in the popular media unless the result has catastrophic consequences. In this chapter we have described several political, military, and otherwise public decisions and their consequences. But other decisions certainly have been made that could be analyzed if they were described in a public way. You may have been affected by some, maybe by the decision to cancel a flight you were booked on, or the decision to close a retail store at which you worked.
Internet Assignment: Use the Internet to find information on a decision that may not be widely known, but which could be analyzed. Decisions that companies make affect the lives of many people, as in the decision to close a plant, or change advertising campaigns, or invest in new research. These decisions may be hard to find at first. However, by thinking about products or services you use, companies you buy from, stores you shop in, or trips you have taken, you should be able come up with a decision that some company or organization made that affected you and is written about in newspapers or magazines. Look up as many articles as you can about that company or organization and the particular decision. Find out as much as possible about that decision and the results of it.
Follow-up: How easy or difficult was it to find information on the decision you chose? How much information was available on the Internet? Did you find out enough information to really understand how and why the decision was made? Finally, respond to the following questions:
- Do you agree with the decision?
- Was it clear from the information who was responsible for making the decision?
- How would you have made this decision differently?
