What is a good response reply to discussion below:

A very useful tool many decision makers use is a decision tree. A decision tree is a decision support tool that uses a tree like flowchart of decisions and possible consequences, along with costs. This type of decision tool is essentially a test to see what can happen to a business when choosing one decision over another. With a decision tree, each branch represents a decision and each leaf shows the outcome of making that decision. Using a decision tree is great when making a decision based on an expected value. It is also a useful tool when making predictions or prioritizing plans.

While I personally do not use decision trees outside of class, this tool would be helpful for my manager at work. The salon business is constantly changing, and many times salon owners need to make certain decisions in order to keep up with the constant change to stay competitive. Last year, my boss noticed her numbers were down. She considered hiring another stylist to bring in more money or hiring someone to help market her business by being in charge of all of the salon's social media and website traffic. With hiring a new stylist, my boss would be paying four stylists with the chance that the new stylist may not work out. However, hiring an additional stylist could increase the salons net revenue tremendously. Hiring someone to manage the business's marketing is also a very large cost with the chance of tremendous success or failure as well.

By using a decision tree, my boss would be able to see the outcome of each decision. By determining the additional costs of a new stylist or marketing team, along with the anticipated profit the salon could receive, a decision tree can help with understanding the chances of failure and success with each choice. Overall, it is clear that the use of a decision tree can be very beneficial for both large corporations and small businesses.

Show Less