Selction Criteria for Judging Alternatives

The central task of decision-making is the choice from among alternatives. How is the choice made? Logically, one wants to choose the best alternative. This can only be done, however, if we can define what we mean by "best." There must be a criterion for judging which alternative is best. Now we recognize that best is a relative adjective. It is on one end of the spectrum. Since we are dealing in relative terms, rather than absolute values, the selection will be the alternative that is relatively the most desirable. Consider a person found guilty of speeding by a judge and given the alternatives of a $90 fine or three days in jail. On an absolute criterion, neither alternative is desirable. On a relative basis, one would choose the better of the undesirable alternatives. In this case we would be following the old adage to "make the best of a poor situation." There must be an almost unlimited number of ways in which one may judge the results of decision-making. Several possible criteria are listed.
  1. Create the least disturbance to the ecology.
  2. Improve the distribution of wealth among people.
  3. Use money in ways that are economically efficient.
  4. Minimize the expenditure of money.
  5. Ensure that the benefits to those who gain from the decision are greater than the losses of those who are harmed by the decision.*
  6. Minimize the time to accomplish the goal or objective.
  7. Minimize unemployment.
The selection of the criterion for choosing the best alternative may not be easy. If one were to apply the seven criteria above to some situation in which there were a number of alternatives, it seems likely that the different criteria would result in different decisions. It may be impossible for example, to minimize unemployment without at the same time increasing the expenditure of money. The disagreement between management and labor in collective bargaining concerning wages and conditions of employment reflect a disagreement over the criterion for selecting the best alternative. Management's idea of the best alternative, based on its criterion~ is seldom the best alternative, using organized labor's criterion.
*Kaldor Criterion

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This page was created by Timothy N. Burcham on 02/25/97 and was last updated on 02/25/97. The URL for this page is { }.