For companies, it all comes down to decisions

The Life: Companies in the Middle East appear to have a more dictatorial style when it comes to decision making. But experts say that needs to change if they want to grow and get the best out of their employees.

Jenny Davis-Pecoud of Bain & Company's Global Organisation says there are three different styles of decision-making. Delores Johnson / The National

Three frogs are sitting on a log. One decides to jump off, so how many are left?

People give various answers to this riddle but the correct response is "three," according to Jenny Davis-Pecoud, a senior director of Bain & Company's Global Organisation practice.

"The frog decided to jump off but didn't actually jump off," she explains.

The frog's inaction underscores an important lesson with regard to decision making. A good decision not only has to be right - it has to be acted upon. "You have got to turn your decision into action, and you have to do all that with the right amount of effort," says Ms Davis-Pecoud.

Companies that are more effective at making and executing decisions deliver significantly better returns, which can be up to twice as high in terms of revenue growth, according to the global research from Bain.

The big calls are often made by people in leading positions but they are not the only ones who make significant decisions. Many take place on the front line. "If you think about Amazon or any of the online stores, the decision about what pops up after you put the first item in your cart is actually going to drive more revenue for them," says Ms Davis-Pecoud.

"Who decides what the next couple of offers are?" she adds.

However, senior executives must make sure that decisions are being made well. And there are three different styles of decision-making that dictate how this is done.

The first is consensus, where everyone has to agree. In a democratic style, a vote is taken. Participative style involves receiving feedback, but has a single point of accountability. And then there is the directive style, where bosses tell people what to do.

The directive style seems to be the most common in the Middle East, according to Ms Davis-Pecoud. "That's probably something that's going to need to shift a bit, particularly as organisations are growing and expanding," she says.

"People at the top aren't going to have all the information that they need," adds Ms Davis-Pecoud.

This is because customer or client-facing employees are much more likely to be aware of industry and market trends and needs, says Ehssan Abdallah, a senior practice consultant at Gallup.

The directive style of decision making can sometimes be effective, perhaps to take charge in times of crisis. But it does have a significant downside.

"It lags significantly on employee engagement," says Ms Davis-Pecoud.

"Employees who feel as if their opinions count are more likely to be engaged and believe themselves as being active stakeholders in the organisation," adds Mr Abdallah

Companies that want to move from directive to more consultative decision-making styles must be open about it by telling their employees they want to shift. Then they must clarify what it means for people and what they must do differently. A boss may tell the marketing department it has the decision on a new product campaign, but it must consult with the heads of other operations and sales to get input on the plans.

"We actually encourage companies to think more about decisions and what decision it is that they need to get made and executed," says Ms Davis-Pecoud.

"Then think about how you can design an organisational system which supports those decisions," she adds.

"Structure will be a piece of it but it is not by any means the only one."