Quicker Just Isn't Enough.

• Author: Marshall, Jeffrey
• Position: Brief Article

Speed is a critical element in corporate decision-making, and a recent survey suggests that workers and managers are being forced to make choices more quickly. Yet a vast majority say that their organization "misses opportunities" because of top management's inability to make timely decisions.

The survey by Princeton, N.J.-based management consultants Kepner-Tregoe found that more than 70% of all respondents -- 339 hourly workers and 479 supervisors -- said that the number of decisions they had been asked to make in the past three years had increased. Yet even more, 84%, said that the average time needed to reach a decision had declined. "As a result," Kepner-Tregoe observes, "many organizations find themselves in 'decision overdrive' -- going too fast to be effective and losing focus and precision in the process."

Budgeting/finance is a key area where speed hurts, the respondents said. Others frequently cited...