Credit manager and decision, choose from several possible tracks

The decision-making process is based on an intellectual approach which involves several factors:

Process information from internal and/or external data,
analyse the latter according to their quality (relevance, freshness, availability and veracity).

Proper information is a real challenge (internet, data, etc.). However, this is an indispensable condition for controlling risks, because relevant and decisive information, by its nature, does not exist. The decision implements rational processes, but also more complex skills than reasoning.

In order to remove the uncertainties, it takes into account arguments or facts more or less objective depending on the nature of the decision-maker. The decision also highlights its technical competence. Specifically, it finds explanatory evidence to assess the foreseeable or probable consequences of the decision.

Moreover, the limits of this approach are drawn, on the one hand, by the perception of clear and clear signals and, on the other hand, by the speed of action. This leaves little time for deliberations in the discernment of potential contingencies or alternatives. This is why decision-making is a risk.

The complex environment of the decision

Making a decision is based on several factors. The nature of the context, the sources of pressure and the company’s professional frame of reference, as well as the decision-maker, are elements to be taken into account.

A context influenced by the culture of the organisation: the collective beliefs in force and the relationships between the actors (clients, buyers, financiers, partners, etc.).
Sources of pressure are concentrated around authority: nature of responsibility, role, group and time.
A frame of reference for the company and the decision-maker consisting of beliefs and prejudices on a collective vision of reality.

Thus the credit manager has several tasks: to analyse the information at his disposal, to draw on his experience, to weigh the pros and cons, but also to exchange and share with his peers. In the end, he will learn a lesson that will help him to choose the least bad of the possibilities offered.

Sometimes it is necessary for him to share the decision with other members of his company. Commercials, the financial hub or management therefore have a role to play in refining it. These formal or informal exchanges allow him to be creative in the face of uncertainty and to establish a so-called “rational” position.

There are, of course, complementary methods, techniques and tools to facilitate decision-making, but they will not replace humans when they have to be chosen.