Agriculture Management, Economics, & Sales

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AM1

Agriculture Management, Economics, & Sales

Business Decisions

Unit:Agribusiness Management

Lesson Title:Business Decisions

Standards

Student Learning Objectives

Slide 2 in AM1 Business Decisions

Lesson Objective

After completing the lesson on business decisions, students will demonstrate their ability to apply the concept in real-world situations by obtaining a minimum score of 80% on Let’s Buy a Car Evaluation.

Enabling Objectives

As a result of this lesson, the student will…

1. Personally identify what drives the decision-making process, what interferes with the decision-making process, the consequences for making a poor decision, and the rewards for making an educated decision.
2. Define a problem and illustrate each step in the decision-making process in order to solve that problem.
3. Use the SWOT Analysis to evaluate a person and/or business decision.

Time:Approximately 195 minutes

List of Resources

Dean, Dr, Jeremy. (2007). Nobel Prize-Winning Research on Risky Decision Making. Retrieved from

Duckworth, M. (2008). College: Where Am I Going To Go? Retrieved from

Instructional Materials Laboratory. (1997).Agribusiness Sales, Marketing, and Management Instructor Guide. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri.

Knaus, Dr. Bill. (2010). Emotions, Decision Making, and Procrastination. Retrieved from

Markman, A. (2012). Comparison Creates Confidence. Retrieved from

McLaughlin, S. (2003, December 15).Classroom Cash Incentive Plan. Retrieved from:

Mind Tools. (n.d.). Personal SWOT Analysis. Retrieved from

Mind Tools. (n.d.). SWOT Analysis: Discover New Opportunities. Manage and Eliminate Threats. Retrieved from

Missouri Center for Career Education. (2006). Missouri Personal Finance Curriculum. Retrieved from

Missouri Department of Revenue. (n.d.). Motor Vehicle, Trailer, ATV and Watercraft Tax Calculator. Retrieved from

Pelusi, N. (2013). Fretting Over Decisions. Retrieved from

Schneiderheinze R., Wood C. (1997).Agribusiness Sales, Marketing, and Management Student Reference. Columbia, MO: Instructional Materials Laboratory.

Shrira, I. (2012). Imagining Other People’s Choices Clarifies Your Own. Retrieved from

Vala, K. (2006). Choking on Choice? Retrieved from

List of Tools, Equipment, and Supplies

AM1 PowerPoint Presentation

AM1 Activity Sheet and Evaluation Packet

Note cards or small sheets of paper for review activity

Key Terms

Slide 3 in AM1 Business Decisions

The following terms are presented in this lesson (shown in bold italics):

SWOT

Interest Approach:Use an interest approach that will prepare the students for the lesson. Teachers often develop approaches for their unique class and student situations. A possible approach isincluded here.

Slide 4 in AM1 Business Decisions

Making Decisions:Assign each student to read one of the articles below on decision making. When finished, have them use the information from the article to complete AM1.1. These articles may also be printed and given to students if computers with Internet access are not available.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Below are summaries of the above articles. In order to most effectively facilitate class discussion over the articles, it is suggested teachers read each article and complete AM1.1 for their reference during discussion.

1. Choking on Choice?
2. Too many choices make individuals confused. Maximizers consider every possible option while satisfiers look until they find an option that will work for them or is good enough. Some people focus on what they have given up or could have possibly gained when they have so many choices.

1. Comparison Creates Confidence
2. People make decisions by comparing choices with one another or researching each choice and choosing what they consider to be the best. If people are not experts, it is easier to compare choices rather than look at each one individually. People who make comparisons are more confident in the decisions they make.

1. Emotions, Decision Making, and Procrastination
2. People can choose to procrastinate or to be productive. Conflict between reason and emotion can drive whether or not a person procrastinates. Prioritizing often helps resolve the problem between procrastination and productivity.

1. Fretting Over Decisions
2. When people believe any decision may be the correct one, they become overwhelmed and exhausted with the decision-making process. The need for certainty drives stress. If people relinquish the need for certainty, they will gain confidence in their decision-making abilities.

1. Imagining Other People’s Choices Clarifies Your Own
2. People’s images of themselves or how they are seen in public often drives their decisionmaking. Visualizing the “typical” person in both options of a decision can help an individual decide which person looks most like him/her. People should also consider their ideal selves when aligning themselves to the “typical” person in each situation.

Summary of Content and Teaching Strategies

Objective 1: Personally identify what drives the decision-making process, what interferes with the decision-making process, the consequences for making a poor decision, and the rewards for making an educated decision.

1. Facilitate a class discussion on their findings from AM1.1. As a class, determine answers to the following questions based upon personal experience and the articles from the Interest Approach.

• What drives the decision-making process?
• What interferes with the decision-making process?
• What are the consequences of making a poor decision?
• What are the rewards for making an educated decision?

1. Take a general class survey by show of hands:

• Who would buy the right skip a day of school?
• Who wants to earn money for correct answers in class?
• What is you lost money for incorrect answers?
• Who wants to earn money for good behavior?
• Who wants to earn money just for showing up for class?
• What if you lost money for missing an assignment?
• What if you had to pay me for every minute you were tardy to class?

1. Ask students how their thoughts on the statements/questions above changed when money was associated. Facilitate a class discussion on why money changes the stakes. Other questions to ask are

• If finances were very limited for you, how would that change your decision-making process?
• What consequences do you personally face for making a poor financial decision?
• Is the decision-making process you go through different when money is involved?

• Incentive programs, rewards, and consequences drive decisions, and when money is involved, the stakes change.
• We actually have something to physically lose when money is involved.
• We have to work for our money, so we are more careful about how it is spent and saved.

Agribusiness ManagementAM1Business Decisions

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Objective 2:Define a problem and illustrate each step in the decision-making process in order to solve that problem.

1. Each and every day we personally face tough decisions with consequences that affect our well-being. Business owners are also faced with tough decisions on a daily basis and need to use the same psychology we just discussed in order to be successful.

1. Ask students, “Why do business owners in particular need to be able to make decisions?”

1. Use one or two examples from AM1.2 (which will be completed later in the lesson) to facilitate a class discussion on how an individual goes about making a decision. Using the example, have students come up with an ordered list of their decision-making process. Place the list on the whiteboard and revisit after showing them the actual list from the PowerPoint presentation.

1. Revisit the list on the board created prior to revealing the actual decision-making process. Ask students, “What steps did we originally forget?” “Why may these steps have been overlooked?”

1. Facilitate a discussion on how this same decision-making process could be used in our personal choices.

1. Complete AM1.2 using the decision-making process.

• In order for a business to run smoothly, decisions are constantly made and occur at all levels of the business or organization.
• How those decisions are made is an important factor in the success of a decision.
• The leader of an organization must decide whether to take full control of the decision-making process or to allow input from other employees when making decisions.

1. Define the problem
2. Identify limiting factors
3. Develop potential alternatives
4. Analyze alternatives
5. Select best alternative
6. Implement the decision
7. Establish a control and evaluation system

Objective 3:Use the SWOT Analysis to evaluate a person and/or business decision.

1. In addition to the steps in the decision-making process, we can also use a tool called the SWOT Analysis to assist in our decision-making.

1. Watch YouTube video at: Have students record the questions they should ask themselves through each section of SWOT on AM1.3.

1. Use PowerPoint slide to assist students in completing their charts.

1. SWOT Analysis can be used to make both personal and business decisions. Visit for an example of a personal SWOT analysis.

1. Complete AM1.4 having students complete a SWOT Analysis from scenarios in AM1.2 for a personal decision and a business decision, or have students come up with a real-life scenario they are currently facing.

• Strengths
• Weaknesses
• Opportunities
• Threats

• What advantages does your organization have?
• What do you do better than anyone else?
• What unique or lowest-cost resources can you draw upon that others cannot?
• What do people in your market see as your strengths?
• What factors mean that you "get the sale"?
• What is your organization'sUnique Selling Proposition(USP)?

• What could you improve?
• What should you avoid?
• What are people in your market likely to see as weaknesses?
• What factors lose you sales?
• Again, consider this from an internal and external basis: Do other people seem to perceive weaknesses that you donot see? Are your competitors doing any better than you?

• What good opportunities can you spot?
• Of what interesting trends are you aware?
• Useful opportunities can come from such things as changes in technology and markets on both a broad and narrow scale; changes in government policy related to your field; changes in social patterns, population profiles, lifestyle, and so on; local events

• What obstacles do you face?
• What are your competitors doing?
• Are quality standards or specifications for your job, products, or services changing?
• Is changing technology threatening your position?
• Do you have bad debt or cash-flow problems?
• Could any of your weaknesses seriously threaten your business?

Review/Summary

Slide 15 in AM1 Business Decisions

Making decisions is just another part of operating a business. Even with the best plans, decisions must be made and implemented to meet changing situations. If an owner or manager follows a logical decision-making process, however, changes may be more easily made.

Review

Slide 16 in AM1 Business Decisions

Shout It Out Review: As a topic pops up on the screen, point to a student to shout out a quick statement about that topic. That student then points to another student to shout out a statement about that topic. No student can be selected a second time until all students have had a chance to participate. Continue this process for each topic at least five times (more if desired) before revealing the next topic. If a topic arises that cannot make five rounds (or whatever designated number the teachers sets), go back and review that content as a class, in pairs or individually.

Slide 17 in AM1 Business Decisions

Exit cards: Students will answer the following questions on a note card or small slip of paper and hand to the teacher as they exit:

• What did you learn today about decision making?
• What questions do you still have about decision making?

Application

Extended Activities

Evaluation

Let’s Buy a New Car AM1.5

• Alternate - Paper-pencil Quiz Evaluation AM1.6

Answers to Evaluation

Let’s Buy a New Car AM1.5

Answers will vary. Use scoring guide on AM1.5 to assess student work.

Alternate Evaluation AM1.6

1. Step1: Define the problem; Step 2: Identify limiting factors; Step 3: Develop potential alternatives; Step 4: Analyze alternatives; Step 5: Select the best alternative; Step 6: Implement the decision; Step 7: Establish a control and evaluation system
2. Answers will vary, but should follow the model below:

Step 1: I need a new cell phone.

Step 2: My parents will only pay $100 for the new phone. I have to pay for the remaining balance.

Step 3: Student should identify at least three cell phones from which he/she has to choose.

Step 4: Student should compare the features, benefits, downfalls, prices, etc. of all three choices.

Step 5: Student will select his/her desired phone.

Step 6: I have told my parents I have selected the ______. My parents will pay $100 for the phone, and I will contribute the remaining ______with money from ______.

Step 7: I accept responsibility for choosing this phone and will re-evaluate my decision in six months based upon the following features of the phone: Student should list specific features of the phone that were important to him/her in step 4.

1. S – Strengths; W – Weaknesses; O – Opportunities; T – Threats

Agribusiness ManagementAM1Business Decisions