Case Study ANALYSIS OF A GROUP DECISION AT TIME WARNERPrinciples of Management

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Bahria University

Submitted By:faryal mughalmaham asifMuhammad Asadullahsamar abbassharonia buttsheikh m. farhanDate: 17th August 2015Semester I

What does this case say about the role of emotions in decision making?DECISION MAKING:The processof selecting alogicalchoicefrom the availableoptions is known as decision making. When trying to make a gooddecision, apersonmustweighthe positive and negative sides of each option, and also consider all the alternatives.

ROLE OF EMOTIONS IN DECISION MAKING:One way of thinking holds that the mental process of decision-making is rational.Rational thinking and decision-making does not leave much room foremotions. In fact, emotions are often considered irrational occurrences that may distort reasoning.

Research in the last few decades has started to look at emotional decision making with a new perspective. Instead of having only arationalvs. emotional perspective, work has taken a more complete view, recognizing positive as well as negative effects of emotions in the context of making decisions.

Positive emotions: Enthusiasm Optimism Excitement PrideNegative emotions: Stress and tension Anxiety De-motivation ProcrastinationHOW EMOTIONS AFFECT INTERACTION IN BUSINESS:Business depends on people, and humans are emotional beings, so plenty of emotions are running around in the work place. Everyone brings moods and feelings into work. These moods affect how everyone works.

Without doubt your behavior at work affects your colleagues. They may respond well, badly, or indifferently, depending on: What you do or say (your behavior) What they think you mean by what you do or say (peoples always consider behaviors through their own filters. What emotions they have themselves.Relationships become strained and barriers are built. Within this environment people do not work well.

EFFECTS OF POOR DECISION MAKING:

Productivity Efficiency Turnover Profit Employee Moral Communication Brand Image ROLE OF EMOTIONS IN DECISION MAKING AFFECTS IN THIS CASE STUDY:The dispute between Time Warner and Disney was to pull ABC programs off the air. It all came down to money as Disney and Time Warner being sensitive to their identity did not care about the people and their names, rather money only.

The dispute between the two largest media giants has to do with how much Time Warner should pay Disney for carrying its cable channels. Disney is also strongly opposed to the possible merger between Time Warner and America Online.

DO NOT MAKE A PERMANENT DECISION, ON A TEMPORARY EMOTION

The role of emotions in decision making affects the both Time Warner and ABC network. On April 26, five days before the latest negotiating deadline, when Time Warners rights to carry the ABC network were to expire, ABC faxed a terse letter to Time Warner notifying it that Disney expected Time Warner to continue to carry the ABC signal through May 24 after the end of the sweeps period, Time Warner had been insisting on an eight-month extension. The tone of the fax set off the tempers of some Time Warner executives. They felt ABC was negotiating by fiat. Now this is the emotional decisions which were taking by Time Warner executives to consider blocking ABCs signal to the 3.5 million homes that Time Warners cable serviced. Some saw blocking the signal as a real risk. Given that cable companies are not popular with the public and often seen as charging monopolistic prices, several Time Warner executives feared that they would take the blame rather than Disney. Others argued that Disney, itself a huge conglomerate, might take just as much blame, if not more, if Time Warner put its message out effectively, and they doubted ABC would take the chance of losing up to $3 million a day in advertising revenues. They figured the threat of blocking ABCs signal might finally bring Disney to agree to Time Warners terms and this is the biggest decision making mistakes made by executives of Time Warner.

So it is very important when we make decisions that make sure all the aspect of ground realities, and not make permanent decision on temporary emotions. So, in that way it will helps and beneficial to the company.

How did group forces shape this decision?Group decision making is one of the most critical function or outcome of any group weather it is formal or informal. The decisions pertaining to our families and friends, and the company we work for as well depend on the wisdom and ability of making good decisions.

Unfortunately psychologists have found that groups suffer all kinds of biases and glitches that lead to poor choices no matters due to polarization, negative groupthink or any other reason. We can avoid the probability of the issues though by taking some remedy steps.

Group decisions are often based on the consensus of all members in the group. This can lead to bad decision due to often group polarization. We can reduce this by avoiding homogeneity in group composition.

How did Group Forces shape decision in this case study?In this case study, there was conflict of interest between the members of the decision making groups. Following are some points need to be highlighted related to the decision made in this case study. Conflict of interest made Time Warner Execs think rather negatively. Just to make Disney pay for their non-negotiating behavior, Time Warner ignored the legal consequences. The group didnt evaluate the alternatives before making the decisions rather went for emotions in the decision making i.e. Procrastination and Anger. No compromises were offered by the group forces in order to achieve a win-win situation.

What, if anything, could senior Time-Warner executives have done to have achieved a more effective outcome in this process?Before evaluating the group decisions made by the executives of Time Warner, we need to have a better understanding of what actually happened wrong and who was responsible for it?

Group decision making also known ascollaborative decision-making can be defined as a type of participatory process in which multiple individuals acting collectively, analyze problems or situations, consider and evaluate alternative courses of action, and select from among the alternatives a solution or solutions.

Assembling employees into decision-making groups is one method of tackling an issue or problem in the workplace. The more minds working on a single problem the more potential solutions are created. However, making a final decision in a group may be difficult in certain circumstances. Group decision-making techniques help businesses turn ideas into action plans.

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED BETWEEN DISNEY AND TIME WARNER?

For months, fans of Rosie O'Donnell have been waiting for the popular talk-show host to appear on ABC's "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." This is the big week, when she and a clutch of other celebrities are scheduled to appear on the hit game show, kicking off TV's all-important sweeps month. But Monday night, the only thing some of her fans saw when they tuned in was a black screen and a rather unentertaining message: "Disney has taken ABC away from you." Almost 3.5 million homes in 11 US cities, including New York, Houston and Los Angeles, were greeted with the eviction notice when they tried to view ABC channels. In fact, Time Warner denied the access of ABC channels as part of a long-running contract battle with ABC's owner, Walt Disney. The contract between the two companies had initially expired on December 31, 1999 and several temporary extensions had been granted to continue carrying the channels on Time Warner's cable network. Disney wants Time Warner to carry some of its programs as part of the cable company's basic service, rather than as a premium service, something Time Warner has been reluctant to do. The timing of Time Warner's action is significant. The company cut off ABC during a crucial "sweeps" period, which TV stations use to set advertising rates. The May sweeps began last week and run through May 24. The decision of Time Warner to cut ABC, the highest-rated US TV network, from its cable system is indicative of the ruthless struggle that is under way among media and telecommunications conglomerates for control of both traditional markets and those emerging as result of the development of the Internet.WHAT DECISIONS THE EXECUTIVE OF TIME WARNER HAD MADE DURING ALL THE PROBLEMS? When we are working in any organization we have to think at least twice before making any significant decision that is going to have a great impact on the public image of organization. The executives of Time Warner took a very drastic step when the negotiations with Disney were about to turn down. Time Warner management was very particular about its public image but the decision made on April 30, would result in defame of the image. Basically, group decision making is used to make better decisions in the favor of organization. As a group Cause & Effect of each significant decision is evaluated with finding the best suitable alternatives which may affect the image of any organization. Services were restored after 39 hours as the Federal Communications Commission was set to rule in favor of Disney's request to force Time Warner to restore the signal until the end of the current sweeps month. The President of Time Warner gave orders to his engineers to block the ABC signal. Tuesday afternoon, after only 39 hours of blocking ABCs signal, Time Warner called a news conference and announced that it had offered Disney a six month extension of the negotiations. FCC ruled that Time Warner had violated the law by blocking ABC from its system during a sweeps month. Time Warner executives admitted afterward that they erred. They say they made a legal miscalculation and also incorrectly assumed that Disney would back down. Why did we decide to take a stand now? asked Dessler. We thought it was the right time. They were just pushing us and pushing us.WHAT ACTUALLY THE EXECTIVES HAVE DONE TO GET MORE OUTCOMES FROM THE PROCESS? Basically, the executives of Time Warner made an oppressive decision based on the temporarily emotions. The executives should not have taken the problem to personal level, rather solving it with more efforts and meetings. They once should have account for all the parameters of their public image. For once they didnt think what would be the reaction of the viewers of Time Warner due to this decision. Before getting erred the executives had think all the Cause & Effect of their decision. One more thing they can do was to ethically warn publically Disney or ABC before taking this extreme decision.