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This topic explains the constant cycle of business operations through planning, monitoring, and assessing products and processes. I think it is important because it verifies the delivery of good quality and identifies problem areas.

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This module was all about the control process and shows the different tactics you can use to manage an organization. This topic was important to me because it outlines some of my views with managing a company.

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Bureaucratic control is method of controlling used in management which heavily depends on strict documentation, reporting, monitoring, measuring of employee effectiveness. It results in developing organizational bureaucracy (group of people whose only job is to maintain order, gather information, prepare summaries of reports and formal planning on various levels of organization. Bureaucratic control requires developing of comprehensive system of rules and procedures to manage the actions and behaviour of people in organization. It often requires costly information systems and computer software to work effectively. Main advantage of this type of control is clear goals and responsibilities, main disadvantage is high cost and decrease in innovativeness and creativity.

Example of Bureaucratic control

Examples of bureaucratic control include:

Policies and Procedures: Organizations often create policies and procedures to help guide employees in their job duties. These policies and procedures provide a framework for how employees should act and behave, as well as expectations for performance.

Job Descriptions: Job descriptions are detailed descriptions of each position in an organization. These job descriptions provide a clear set of expectations for the position, and help to ensure that employees understand the tasks and duties associated with their job.

Performance Evaluations: Performance evaluations are another important tool in bureaucratic control. These evaluations are used to measure employee performance and to ensure that employees are meeting expectations.

In conclusion, bureaucratic control is a traditional form of organizational control that is based on rules, procedures, and hierarchies. It is used to ensure that activities are performed in a consistent and uniform manner and is typically used in large organizations. Examples of bureaucratic control include policies and procedures, job descriptions, and performance evaluations.

Bureaucratic control is a traditional form of organizational control that is based on rules, procedures, and hierarchies. It is used to ensure that activities are performed in a consistent and uniform manner and is typically used in large organizations. Examples of bureaucratic control include:

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs): Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are sets of instructions that detail a specific procedure or task. These SOPs provide a clear and consistent set of instructions for employees to follow, and help ensure that tasks are performed in the same manner each time.

Performance Metrics: Performance metrics are measurements used to track the performance of employees. These metrics provide a way to measure employee performance and ensure that employees are meeting expectations.

Hierarchies of Authority: Hierarchies of authority are an important part of bureaucratic control. This structure helps to ensure that employees are following the rules and procedures set forth by the organization and that tasks are being performed in the correct manner.

In conclusion, bureaucratic control is a traditional form of organizational control that is based on rules, procedures, and hierarchies. It is used to ensure that activities are performed in a consistent and uniform manner and is typically used in large organizations. Examples of bureaucratic control include Standard Operating Procedures, performance metrics, and hierarchies of authority.

When to use Bureaucratic control

Bureaucratic control is most effective in organizations with complex structures and processes, such as large corporations and government organizations. This type of control is also useful in organizations that have a large number of employees and need to ensure consistency in the performance of tasks. Additionally, bureaucratic control can be helpful in organizations that need to establish clear expectations for employees, as well as a set of guidelines for how employees should behave.

Bureaucratic control is less effective in organizations that emphasize creativity and innovation, as this type of control is focused on following rules and procedures and does not allow for much flexibility. Additionally, bureaucratic control can be too rigid for small organizations, as the rules and procedures may be too complex and difficult to manage.

In conclusion, bureaucratic control is most effective in large organizations with complex structures and processes, where there is a need to ensure consistency and establish clear expectations for employees. It is less effective in organizations that emphasize creativity and innovation, or in small organizations where the rules and procedures may be too complex.

Types of Bureaucratic control

Bureaucratic control is a type of organizational control characterized by its focus on rules, procedures, and hierarchies in order to ensure that organizational goals are achieved. It is typically used in large organizations with complex structures and processes. Types of bureaucratic control include:

Rules and Regulations: Organizations typically establish rules and regulations to guide employee behavior and ensure that tasks are completed in a consistent and uniform manner.

Hierarchies: Hierarchies are an important part of bureaucratic control, as they help to define roles, responsibilities and power within an organization.

Documentation: Documentation is important to ensure that employees understand the tasks they are responsible for. Documentation can include job descriptions, policies, and procedures.

Performance Measurement: Organizations use performance measurements to evaluate employee performance and ensure that employees are meeting expectations.

In conclusion, bureaucratic control is a traditional form of organizational control that is based on rules, procedures, and hierarchies. It is typically used in large organizations and its types include rules and regulations, hierarchies, documentation, and performance measurement.

Steps of Bureaucratic control

The steps of bureaucratic control are as follows:

Planning: Planning involves setting goals and objectives for the organization and creating strategies to achieve them.

Organizing: Organizing involves creating hierarchies and structures within the organization to ensure efficient and effective communication and operations.

Implementing: Implementing involves putting the plans and structures into action. This involves making sure that employees understand their roles and responsibilities and that they are following the procedures and rules.

Monitoring: Monitoring involves measuring progress towards goals and objectives and making sure that employees are following the rules and procedures.

Evaluating: Evaluating involves assessing the effectiveness of the organizational controls and making necessary changes.

In conclusion, bureaucratic control involves five steps: planning, organizing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating. These steps are used to ensure that the organization is achieving its goals and objectives and that employees are following the rules and procedures.

Approach and techniques

Defined and regulated schemes of sanctions and rewards are important components of bureaucratic control as well. They are necessary to provide and protect conformity in organization. Other tools of bureaucratic control that create a framework of carrying out tasks for inferiors are the determination of standard costs and budgetary controls. According to Max Weber there are three elements that represent the most important elements of bureaucratic control. Those are:

Activities that need to be done in order to make organization function properly are subdivided as official duties.

The power to make decisions about actions that are necessary to complete those duties should be divided in a stable way that is fully determined by rules applying to means of coercion.

To regularly and stably accomplish those duties the methodical provision has to be made.

Other Max Weber's statements characterizing bureaucratic management and control are:

The rules of organization's hierarchy and graded management create a strictly organized system of superiors and inferiors. In this system superordinate's offices have control over subordinates' offices. This makes it possible to appeal a decision of members of lower offices to the government in completely coordinated way.

The administration of organization using bureaucratic control rely on the written documents-files that are saved in their original or draught form.

As a rule, bureaucratic control is based on formal commands so organization should separate any official activities from aspects of private life.

Advantages of Bureaucratic control

Bureaucratic control has several advantages that make it a popular choice for organizations.

Clear Rules and Regulations: Bureaucratic control provides a clear set of rules and regulations that everyone in the organization must follow. This helps to ensure that everyone is held to the same standards and that activities are performed in a consistent manner.

Structured Decision Making: Bureaucratic control also provides a structured decision making process. This helps to ensure that decisions are made in a logical and consistent manner, and that the organization is operating in the best interests of its stakeholders.

Accountability: Finally, bureaucratic control provides a great deal of accountability. This helps to ensure that employees are held responsible for their actions and that the organization is held accountable for its performance.

Limitations of Bureaucratic control

Bureaucratic control is a traditional form of organizational control, and as such, it has certain limitations. These limitations include:

Rigidity: Bureaucratic control is often seen as rigid and inflexible. The rules, regulations, and procedures that are used to guide and control employee behavior can be restrictive and can stifle creativity and innovation.

Slow Decision-Making: Bureaucratic control often involves a strict hierarchy of decision-making authority, which can lead to slow decision-making processes. This can be an impediment to the organization's growth and progress.

Limited Accountability: The hierarchal structure of bureaucratic control can limit accountability within the organization. Without clear accountability, it can be difficult to identify and address any problems or issues within the organization.

Other approaches related to Bureaucratic control

In addition to bureaucratic control, there are several other approaches used to ensure organizational goals are met. These approaches include:

Scientific Management: This approach emphasizes the use of data and scientific methods to increase efficiency and productivity. It focuses on the division of labor, standardization of processes, and the use of incentive systems.

Just in Time Management: This approach focuses on reducing inventory and increasing efficiency by ensuring that materials and resources are available only when needed.

Total Quality Management: This approach focuses on quality and customer satisfaction as a way to ensure organizational goals are met. It emphasizes continuous improvement, employee involvement, and customer feedback.

In conclusion, bureaucratic control is one approach used to ensure organizational goals are met. Other approaches include scientific management, just in time management, and total quality management. Each of these approaches has its own set of principles and methods that can be used to ensure organizational goals are achieved.

References

Bai, C. & Wang, Y. (1998). Bureaucratic Control and the Soft Budget Constrain. "Journal of Comparative Economics", Volume 26, Issue 1, p. 41-61.

Brenner, S. W. (2013). Cyber-threats and the Limits of Bureaucratic Control. Minn. JL Sci. & Tech., 14, 137.

Cheng, J. L & McKinley W. (1983). Toward an Integration of Organization Research and Practice: A Contingency Study of Bureaucratic Control and Performance in Scientific Setting. "Sage Publication", Vol. 28, No. 1, p. 85-100.

Ferner, A. (2000). The underpinnings of 'bureaucratic' control systems: HRM in European Multinationals. "Journal of Management Studies", Volume 37, Issue 4, p. 521-540.

Hodgson, D. E. (2004). Project Work: The Legacy of Bureaucratic Control in the Post-Bureaucratic Organization. "Organization", Volume 11(1), p. 81-100.

Koppell, J.G (2006). The Politics of Quasi-Government-Hybrid Organizations and the Dynamics of Bureaucratic Control. Cambridge University Press.

Lee, C. (2000). Power, Money, and Media: Communication Patterns and Bureaucratic Control in Cultural China. Northwestern University Press.

Smylie, M. A. (1997). From Bureaucratic Control to Building Human Capital: The Importance of Teacher Learning in Education Reform. "Arts Education Policy Review", p. 35-38.

Vandenberghe V. (1999). Combining Market and Bureaucratic Control in Education: An answer to market and bureaucratic failure?. "Comparative Education", 35:3, p. 271-282.

Walton, E. J. (2005). The Persistence of Bureaucracy: A Meta-analysis of Weber's Model of Bureaucratic Control. "Organization Studies", Volume 26, Issue 4, p.p. 569-600.

Weber, M. & Hans G. & Wright M. C. (1958). From Max Weber: essays in sociology. Oxford University Press.

West, W. F., & Raso, C. (2012). Who shapes the rulemaking agenda? Implications for bureaucratic responsiveness and bureaucratic control. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 23(3), 495-519.

Author: Izabela Pyszczek

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Bureaucratic control is method of controlling used in management which heavily depends on strict documentation, reporting, monitoring, measuring of employee effectiveness. It results in developing organizational bureaucracy (group of people whose only job is to maintain order, gather information, prepare summaries of reports and formal planning on various levels of organization.

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I am my best when I motivated. Employee motivation improves the morale in the office and makes working easier.

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You cannot properly manage a company if you don't know how to be a leader.

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Although there isn't a single right way to effectively lead a team, there are several characteristics common among successful leaders and managers you should consider when developing your leadership skills.

Incorporating these abilities into your professional development can enable you to make difficult decisions, align your organization on common goals, and lead your team to success.

Why Effective Leadership Is Important in Business

Ineffective leadership can cost companies more than just morale. According to research from Gallup, 24 percent of employees are actively disengaged as a result of poor management, leading to teams that are less productive, less profitable, and more likely to cause turnover. And that turnover adds up quick: translating into nearly two times the annual salary of every employee who quits.

That's why effective leadership skills are important. In order to retain employees, satisfy customers, and improve company productivity, you need people who can effectively communicate the company's vision, guide teams, and influence change.

If you aspire to be that person, here's how you can become a more effective leader.

Free E-Book: How to Become a More Effective Leader
Access your free e-book today.
DOWNLOAD NOW

Characteristics of an Effective Leader

1. Ability to Influence Others

"[Leadership] is all about influencing people," said Kirstin Lynde, founder of leadership development firm Catalyze Associates, in a Facebook Live interview.

Early in your career, you might exercise authority by being the go-to person on a certain subject within your organization, or by actively listening and building consensus among your team. As you advance, you may exert influence by knowing how to articulate the direction you think the company should head in next.

According to the online course Power and Influence for Positive Impact, influence is "the ability to produce effects on other people's behavior." Influencing others requires building a strong sense of trust with your colleagues.

"This means [you] need to understand the types of resources people value when it comes to achieving safety and self-esteem," says Harvard Business School Professor Julie Battilana in her course Power and Influence for Positive Impact.

Focus on understanding their motivations and encourage them to share their opinions. You can use that knowledge to make change and show their voice matters.

2. Transparency-to an Extent

Part of building trust is being transparent. The more open you are about the organization's goals and challenges, the easier it is for employees to understand their role and how they can individually contribute to the company's overall success. That sense of value and purpose translates into higher levels of employee engagement.

"To get people on board, they need to grasp what you're conveying so they're excited to join you in turning that direction into a reality," says HBS Professor Anthony Mayo in the online course Organizational Leadership. "Your communication should meet people where they are, give them a sense of where the organization is going, and then give them a roadmap for how they can bridge the gap from where the organization is now to where you want to take it."

While transparency is often intended to promote collaboration, knowledge sharing, and accountability, too much of it can have the opposite effect, according to Ethan Bernstein, an associate professor of organizational behavior at HBS.

"Wide-open workspaces and copious real-time data on how individuals spend their time can leave employees feeling exposed and vulnerable," writes Bernstein in the Harvard Business Review. "Being observed changes their conduct. They start going to great lengths to keep what they're doing under wraps, even if they have nothing bad to hide."

Bernstein encourages balancing transparency with privacy and setting different types of boundaries to still foster experimentation and collaboration.

3. Encourage Risk-Taking and Innovation

Experimentation is critical to establishing and maintaining your company's competitive advantage. Great leaders recognize this and encourage risk-taking and innovation within their organization.

"You can't wave a wand, dictate to people that they need to be more creative, and wake up the next day to find people taking risks and trying new things," Mayo says in Organizational Leadership.

Instead, leaders must actively foster a culture of innovation by supporting experimentation, challenging unwritten rules, and embracing mistakes. These steps, backed by data, can yield innovations that wouldn't have otherwise surfaced.

By creating a culture that embraces failure and experimentation, employees are more emboldened to test theories or propose new ideas, because they see that creativity is valued. For example, Google's innovation lab, X, offered bonuses to each team member who worked on a project the company ultimately decided to kill as soon as evidence suggested it wouldn't scale, in an effort to "make it safe to fail."

After all, big breakthroughs don't happen when companies play it safe; experimentation is needed to reach lofty business goals. If well-intentioned, failures often become valuable lessons.

How to Be an Effective Leader at Any Stage of Your Career

4. Integrity and Accountability

One of the most important aspects of leadership is demonstrating integrity. In a survey by consulting firm Robert Half, 75 percent of employees ranked "integrity" as the most important attribute of a leader. In a separate survey by Sunnie Giles, creator of Quantum Leadership, 67 percent of respondents ranked "high moral standards" as the most important leadership competency. Yet, it can be easy for leaders to deprioritize integrity when faced with organizational power. The ability to balance power and accountability can set successful leaders apart from ineffective ones.

"It's precisely these two levers-sharing power and accountability-that enable workplaces and societies to keep power in check," Battilana says in Power and Influence for Positive Impact.

Employees want to know that their manager will advocate for them, treat them fairly, and, ultimately, do what's right for the business. As a leader, it's important to not only avoid the consolidation of power but also any decision-making that could negatively affect others. Doing so can foster trust within your team and model behavior for others in the organization. The culmination of these factors can help you build a successful team.

5. Act Decisively

In today's fast-changing, complex business environment, effective leaders need to make strategic decisions quickly-even before any definitive information is available.

Once you make a choice, stick with it, unless there's a compelling reason to shift focus. Your goal is to move the organization forward, but that won't happen if you can't make a decision without wavering.

While timely decision-making is essential for any effective leader, it's important to remember that decision-making is a process.

"The majority of people think about making decisions as an event," says HBS Professor Len Schlesinger in the online course Management Essentials. "It's very rare to find a single point in time where a 'decision of significance' is made and things go forward from there. What we're really talking about is a process. The role of the manager in overseeing that process is straightforward, yet, at the same time, extraordinarily complex."

By acting decisively, continuously evaluating, and pivoting when necessary, you can lead your organization through the ever-changing business landscape.

6. Demonstrate Resilience

Every decision you make won't result in success. There will be times when you're met with failure; it's your job as a leader to exercise resiliency.

Consider the example of Antarctic explorer Ernest Schackleton presented in HBS Online's sample business lesson on resilient leadership, led by HBS Professor Nancy Koehn.

When Shackleton's ship, the Endurance, was trapped and crushed by icebergs, the original mission-traversing Antarctica-suddenly became irrelevant. The new mission was to get his team of 28 men home alive. To do so, he needed to quickly lead his team through crisis.

The lesson outlines three key components of Shackleton's approach that all leaders can learn from when facing major challenges:

Continuously assess and reassess your leadership approach

Commit to your primary objective while exercising flexibility

Maintain belief in the team's mission by managing collective and individual energies

Effective leaders don't avoid hard truths or difficult challenges. Instead, they take responsibility for their decisions, maintain optimism, and focus on charting a new course of action. They also help others cope with organizational change and address issues quickly, so that problems don't fester and escalate.

Assessing Your Strengths

Becoming an effective leader doesn't happen overnight. It's an iterative process and requires you to assess your strengths and evaluate who you are as a communicator and collaborator.

"In many cases, it's your strong performance as an individual contributor that lays the foundation for your leadership roles," says Mayo in the course Leadership Principles. "But what got you there won't get you to the next level. As you shift from doing the work yourself to creating the conditions in which others excel, your identity is less about your individual accomplishments and tasks and more about the collective work of the group."

With that shift in mind, you can take action to develop your leadership style and become the type of leader your organization needs.
Do you want to enhance your leadership skills? Download our This post was updated on February 17, 2023. It was originally published on October 4, 2018. free leadership e-book and explore our flowchart to see which online leadership and management course can help you become a more effective leader and unleash the potential in yourself and others.

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6 Characteristics of an Effective Leader | HBS Online

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Effective leadership is essential to the productivity of any organization. Here, we discuss 6 characteristics of an effective leader.

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Communication is a must in everything you do in life.

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Employee evaluations help employees to see where they are and what they need to improve on. Evaluations can also help management to see what areas employees are struggling in and may need extra training to improve.

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One of the biggest downfalls I have experienced in my work life is lack of training for employees. A company will suffer if employees are not properly trained and it makes the company look bad.

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Over the last couple of decades, technology has dramatically changed how people work. Positive company culture and work-life balance have become a top priority. Rather than sitting in offices and cubicles, people collaborate in the office or work remotely. Thanks to globalization, business is now wider than your geographical region. With so many rapid changes, employee training has become more critical than ever.

Employee training is beneficial to both organizations and employees. Approximately 94 percent of employees say they would stay with an organization if it invested more in learning [ 1]. Employee training can help improve company culture, increase productivity, and support workplace safety. But that's just the beginning. Take a deeper dive into why employee training is essential and how to make it a part of your organization.

What is employee training?

Employee training is any instruction or activity that teaches employees new skills or improves their current skills and performance. The term may describe anything from safety training for an entire staff to introducing a new hire to the ins and outs of a particular job to training an existing employee how to use new technology.

Some use 'employee training' interchangeably with ' employee development.' While they go hand-in-hand, you'll usually find slight differences. Training teaches something new or builds upon something that already exists, and it is usually a shorter process. Development is more of a long-term, multi-layered approach. For example, getting a new tablet in the office and teaching your employees the basics of how to use it is employee training. Sending an employee to take an online course or earn a certification to enhance their current skills is more along the lines of employee development.

What are the benefits of employee training?

Employee training empowers employees and organizations simultaneously by improving company culture, increasing productivity, and offering numerous other benefits. This can be mutually beneficial as it can lead to low turnover rates, increased sales for the organization, and more contentment and work-life balance for employees. Take a look at some of the more specific benefits you may see as an employee, leader, or manager of an organization that implements employee training.

Benefits for the employees

Employees who receive high-quality employee training tend to be more satisfied overall, but the benefits continue. Other reasons employees appreciate good training include:

Increasing autonomy in the workplace

Maintaining a safer work environment

Feeling more significant support from their employers

Increasing confidence in the ability to do a job correctly

Acquiring skills and knowledge they can use to advance their careers

Learning skills and information that may lead to a leadership role in the future

Developing a greater understanding of their roles and the tasks they need to complete

Benefits for the organization

It's no secret that satisfied and well-trained employees benefit the organization where they work. They're less likely to leave for another job when they feel content where they are, which means you have a lower turnover rate. Other ways that employee training might benefit your organization include:

Safer workplace (fewer accidents, fines, lawsuits, etc.)

Increased profits due to better performance and higher productivity

Improved company reputation as employees spread the word about how much they enjoy working for your organization

Increased engagement and enthusiasm among your staff

Better pipeline of potential future leaders within your organization

Improved company culture

Increased collaboration and better workplace relationships

Morale boost for both employees and leaders

Ability to implement new technology and strategies with greater ease

What are some types of employee training?

Employee training can be divided into many categories, depending on the goal and subject matter. Some common types of training include:

General workplace training: General workplace training is a broader category that can include just about anything, but it usually focuses on reskilling or upskilling technical and human skills. It can apply to new and veteran workers, an entire staff, or just one employee.

Common ways to implement employee training

When you think about the phrase 'employee training,' you may imagine a group of workers sitting around a conference or classroom listening to an instructor. That's certainly one way to implement employee training, but dozens of others exist.

In some cases, you won't have a choice. If you receive a video from your corporate office on sexual harassment, showing the video to your employees is your only option. However, if you're a human resources leader or another type of workplace leader assigned a topic, you can get creative with how you present it to the workers. Some ideas include these:

Employee training best practices

Now that you know what employee training is, it's time to implement a program in your organization. Here are some best practices when planning and implementing an employee training program:

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Employee Training: What It Is and Why It's Important

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Over the last couple of decades, technology has dramatically changed how people work. Positive company culture and work-life balance have become a top priority. Rather than sitting in offices and cubicles, people collaborate in the office or work remotely. Thanks to globalization, business is now wider than your geographical region.

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As a working single mother it is extremely important to have flexible in my work so that I can still be there for the special moments with my daughters.

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NTUC to focus on career support for youths, flexible work arrangements: Ng Chee Meng

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Employee empowerment makes me feel valuable to my manager and my company. It makes me feel like my feelings and thoughts matter.

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Goals are important to me because they help keep me focused in life and hold me accountable to complete the plans I made. Setting smart goals is another tool I picked up that helps me achieve my goals in smaller doses so I won't feel overwhelmed.

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Planning plays a major part in building and maintaining a business. Everything I do from business, personal, and school requires planning. Without proper planning I would literally have a mental break down.

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Part of being a great leader is proper decision making.

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What is a Decision Tree?

Learn the pros and cons of using decision trees for data mining and knowledge discovery tasks.

A decision tree is a non-parametric supervised learning algorithm, which is utilized for both classification and regression tasks. It has a hierarchical, tree structure, which consists of a root node, branches, internal nodes and leaf nodes.

As you can see from the diagram above, a decision tree starts with a root node, which does not have any incoming branches. The outgoing branches from the root node then feed into the internal nodes, also known as decision nodes. Based on the available features, both node types conduct evaluations to form homogenous subsets, which are denoted by leaf nodes, or terminal nodes. The leaf nodes represent all the possible outcomes within the dataset. As an example, let's imagine that you were trying to assess whether or not you should go surf, you may use the following decision rules to make a choice:

This type of flowchart structure also creates an easy to digest representation of decision-making, allowing different groups across an organization to better understand why a decision was made.

Decision tree learning employs a divide and conquer strategy by conducting a greedy search to identify the optimal split points within a tree. This process of splitting is then repeated in a top-down, recursive manner until all, or the majority of records have been classified under specific class labels. Whether or not all data points are classified as homogenous sets is largely dependent on the complexity of the decision tree. Smaller trees are more easily able to attain pure leaf nodes-i.e. data points in a single class. However, as a tree grows in size, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain this purity, and it usually results in too little data falling within a given subtree. When this occurs, it is known as data fragmentation, and it can often lead to overfitting. As a result, decision trees have preference for small trees, which is consistent with the principle of parsimony in Occam's Razor; that is, "entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity." Said differently, decision trees should add complexity only if necessary, as the simplest explanation is often the best. To reduce complexity and prevent overfitting, pruning is usually employed; this is a process, which removes branches that split on features with low importance. The model's fit can then be evaluated through the process of cross-validation. Another way that decision trees can maintain their accuracy is by forming an ensemble via a random forest algorithm; this classifier predicts more accurate results, particularly when the individual trees are uncorrelated with each other.

Hunt's algorithm, which was developed in the 1960s to model human learning in Psychology, forms the foundation of many popular decision tree algorithms, such as the following:

- ID3: Ross Quinlan is credited within the development of ID3, which is shorthand for "Iterative Dichotomiser 3." This algorithm leverages entropy and information gain as metrics to evaluate candidate splits. Some of Quinlan's research on this algorithm from 1986 can be found here (PDF, 1.4 MB) (link resides outside of ibm.com).

- C4.5: This algorithm is considered a later iteration of ID3, which was also developed by Quinlan. It can use information gain or gain ratios to evaluate split points within the decision trees.

- CART: The term, CART, is an abbreviation for "classification and regression trees" and was introduced by Leo Breiman. This algorithm typically utilizes Gini impurity to identify the ideal attribute to split on. Gini impurity measures how often a randomly chosen attribute is misclassified. When evaluating using Gini impurity, a lower value is more ideal.

How to choose the best attribute at each node

While there are multiple ways to select the best attribute at each node, two methods, information gain and Gini impurity, act as popular splitting criterion for decision tree models. They help to evaluate the quality of each test condition and how well it will be able to classify samples into a class.
Entropy and Information Gain
It's difficult to explain information gain without first discussing entropy. Entropy is a concept that stems from information theory, which measures the impurity of the sample values. It is defined with by the following formula, where:

S represents the data set that entropy is calculated

c represents the classes in set, S

p(c) represents the proportion of data points that belong to class c to the number of total data points in set, S

Entropy values can fall between 0 and 1. If all samples in data set, S, belong to one class, then entropy will equal zero. If half of the samples are classified as one class and the other half are in another class, entropy will be at its highest at 1. In order to select the best feature to split on and find the optimal decision tree, the attribute with the smallest amount of entropy should be used. Information gain represents the difference in entropy before and after a split on a given attribute. The attribute with the highest information gain will produce the best split as it's doing the best job at classifying the training data according to its target classification. Information gain is usually represented with the following formula, where:

a represents a specific attribute or class label

Entropy(S) is the entropy of dataset, S

|Sv|/ |S| represents the proportion of the values in Sv to the number of values in dataset, S

is the entropy of dataset, Sv

Let's walk through an example to solidify these concepts. Imagine that we have the following arbitrary dataset:

For this dataset, the entropy is 0.94. This can be calculated by finding the proportion of days where "Play Tennis" is "Yes", which is 9/14, and the proportion of days where "Play Tennis" is "No", which is 5/14. Then, these values can be plugged into the entropy formula above.

Entropy (Tennis) = -(9/14) log2(9/14) - (5/14) log2 (5/14) = 0.94

We can then compute the information gain for each of the attributes individually. For example, the information gain for the attribute, "Humidity" would be the following:

Gain (Tennis, Humidity) = (0.94)-(7/14)*(0.985) - (7/14)*(0.592) = 0.151

As a recap,

- 7/14 represents the proportion of values where humidity equals "high" to the total number of humidity values. In this case, the number of values where humidity equals "high" is the same as the number of values where humidity equals "normal".

- 0.985 is the entropy when Humidity = "high"

- 0.59 is the entropy when Humidity = "normal"

Then, repeat the calculation for information gain for each attribute in the table above, and select the attribute with the highest information gain to be the first split point in the decision tree. In this case, outlook produces the highest information gain. From there, the process is repeated for each subtree.
Gini Impurity
Gini impurity is the probability of incorrectly classifying random data point in the dataset if it were labeled based on the class distribution of the dataset. Similar to entropy, if set, S, is pure-i.e. belonging to one class) then, its impurity is zero. This is denoted by the following formula:

Advantages and disadvantages of Decision Trees

While decision trees can be used in a variety of use cases, other algorithms typically outperform decision tree algorithms. That said, decision trees are particularly useful for data mining and knowledge discovery tasks. Let's explore the key benefits and challenges of utilizing decision trees more below:
Advantages
- Easy to interpret: The Boolean logic and visual representations of decision trees make them easier to understand and consume. The hierarchical nature of a decision tree also makes it easy to see which attributes are most important, which isn't always clear with other algorithms, like neural networks.

- Little to no data preparation required: Decision trees have a number of characteristics, which make it more flexible than other classifiers. It can handle various data types-i.e. discrete or continuous values, and continuous values can be converted into categorical values through the use of thresholds. Additionally, it can also handle values with missing values, which can be problematic for other classifiers, like Naïve Bayes.

- More flexible: Decision trees can be leveraged for both classification and regression tasks, making it more flexible than some other algorithms. It's also insensitive to underlying relationships between attributes; this means that if two variables are highly correlated, the algorithm will only choose one of the features to split on.
Disadvantages
- Prone to overfitting: Complex decision trees tend to overfit and do not generalize well to new data. This scenario can be avoided through the processes of pre-pruning or post-pruning. Pre-pruning halts tree growth when there is insufficient data while post-pruning removes subtrees with inadequate data after tree construction.

- High variance estimators: Small variations within data can produce a very different decision tree. Bagging, or the averaging of estimates, can be a method of reducing variance of decision trees. However, this approach is limited as it can lead to highly correlated predictors.

- More costly: Given that decision trees take a greedy search approach during construction, they can be more expensive to train compared to other algorithms.

- Not fully supported in scikit-learn: Scikit-learn is a popular machine learning library based in Python. While this library does have a Decision Tree module (DecisionTreeClassifier, link resides outside of ibm.com), the current implementation does not support categorical variables.

IBM SPSS Modeler is a data mining tool that allows you to develop predictive models to deploy them into business operations. Designed around the industry-standard CRISP-DM model, IBM SPSS Modeler supports the entire data mining process, from data processing to better business outcomes.

IBM SPSS Decision Trees features visual classification and decision trees to help you present categorical results and more clearly explain analysis to non-technical audiences. Create classification models for segmentation, stratification, prediction, data reduction and variable screening.

For more information on IBM's data mining tools and solutions, sign up for an IBMid and create an IBM Cloud account today.

Related solutions

IBM SPSS Modeler
IBM SPSS Modeler is a data mining tool that allows you to develop predictive models to deploy them into business operations. Designed around the industry-standard CRISP-DM model, IBM SPSS Modeler supports the entire data mining process, from data processing to better business outcomes.
Explore IBM SPSS Modeler

IBM SPSS Decision Trees
IBM SPSS Decision Trees features visual classification and decision trees to help you present categorical results and more clearly explain analysis to non-technical audiences. Create classification models for segmentation, stratification, prediction, data reduction and variable screening.
Explore IBM SPSS Decision Trees

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Learn the pros and cons of using decision trees for data mining and knowledge discovery tasks

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I learned about the different types of bias decisions and the effects they can have on the organization. Anchoring bias stands out to me because I see a lot of employees become so comfortable they refuse to adapt to any change in the company.

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I love transnational strategy because it shows how a company is able to multi-task to satisfy needs of customers locally and internationally.

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Prior to this section I had never heard of IMF and was interested to see the role it plays. IMF is used to achieve sustainable growth and prosperity.

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Organizational culture breaks down the inner workings of the company. Understanding the organizational culture helps to build a stronger foundation for a successful business.

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I was drawn to this particular section because whistleblowing helps hold companies accountable. Whistleblowers are usually have a bad reputation but I think they provide a deep and real insight to the horrible working conditions within the company.

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The Origins Of Whistleblower Protection Laws | NBC News Now

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It is extremely important for any company to practice ethical behavior. This topic showed how unethical practices can damage a company.

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With its highly coveted line of consumer electronics, Apple has a cult following among loyal consumers. During the 2014 holiday season, 74.5 million iPhones were sold. Demand like this meant that Apple was in line to make over $52 billion in profits in 2015, the largest annual profit ever generated from a company's operations. Despite its consistent financial performance year over year, Apple's robust profit margin hides a more complicated set of business ethics. Similar to many products sold in the U.S., Apple does not manufacture most its goods domestically. Most of the component sourcing and factory production is done overseas in conditions that critics have argued are dangerous to workers and harmful to the environment.

For example, tin is a major component in Apple's products and much of it is sourced in Indonesia. Although there are mines that source tin ethically, there are also many that do not. One study found workers-many of them children-working in unsafe conditions, digging tin out by hand in mines prone to landslides that could bury workers alive. About 70% of the tin used in electronic devices such as smartphones and tablets comes from these more dangerous, small-scale mines. An investigation by the BBC revealed how perilous these working conditions can be. In interviews with miners, a 12-year-old working at the bottom of a 70-foot cliff of sand said: "I worry about landslides. The earth slipping from up there to the bottom. It could happen."

Apple defends its practices by saying it only has so much control over monitoring and regulating its component sources. The company justifies its sourcing practices by saying that it is a complex process, with tens of thousands of miners selling tin, many of them through middle-men. In a statement to the BBC, Apple said "the simplest course of action would be for Apple to unilaterally refuse any tin from Indonesian mines. That would be easy for us to do and would certainly shield us from criticism. But that would also be the lazy and cowardly path, since it would do nothing to improve the situation. We have chosen to stay engaged and attempt to drive changes on the ground."

In an effort for greater transparency, Apple has released annual reports detailing their work with suppliers and labor practices. While more recent investigations have shown some improvements to suppliers' working conditions, Apple continues to face criticism as consumer demand for iPhones and other products continues to grow.

Discussion Questions

Bibliography

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Apple Suppliers & Labor Practices - Ethics Unwrapped

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
With its highly coveted line of consumer electronics, Apple has a cult following among loyal consumers. During the 2014 holiday season, 74.5 million iPhones were sold. Demand like this meant that Apple was in line to make over $52 billion in profits in 2015, the largest annual profit ever generated from a company's operations.

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I was able to learn valuable skills to help me develop into an effective leader/manager.

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Management skills can be defined as certain attributes or abilities that an executive should possess in order to fulfill specific tasks in an

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This is a question I ask everyday in my current place of employment. I think its important for managers to step into their role and lead the people under them. This section gave me tips and basic information on how to be a successful manager.

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This topic was important to me because I have started to notice how terrible the are at my managers at my current job. This topic made me want to be a person/leader.

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The chain of events that leads to strong and sustained business results starts with great managers who defy common management practice at virtually every turn, says Curt Coffman, global practice leader for employee and customer engagement consulting at The Gallup Organization.

What is the defining contribution of great managers? They boost the engagement levels of the people who work for them. According to Gallup research, only 28% of U.S. employees are engaged, or are actively pursuing top performance on behalf of their organizations, and Gallup studies show that this has a direct impact on the bottom line. Engaged employees lead to engaged customers, who in turn drive a company's growth, long term profitability, and stock price.

So what distinguishes managers who not only retain valuable employees but, by boosting engagement, also extract their full value? According to Coffman, coauthor with Marcus Buckingham of First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently (Simon & Schuster, 1999), the answer lies in rejecting conventional wisdom in four core areas of managing people: selection, expectation setting, motivation, and development.
Selection
Most managers select employees according to the skills needed for the role, but great managers select people for their talent. Coffman defines talent as a recurrent pattern of thought, feeling, or behavior and accounts for the different results produced by those with the same skills and training. Talent is abundant, Coffman observes, yet people whose natural talents fit their role are a rare and valuable commodity.

Consider what differentiates top performing customer service representatives, Coffman notes. All reps in a firm get the same training, but the best take one-third fewer calls than the average to resolve the same complaint. Why? Because they use the phone as a tool of intimacy-they can envision what the customer looks like, what room he is in; they smile and nod even though the customer cannot see what they are doing. Instinctively, their talent leads them to manage each customer relationship in the most effective manner.

Great managers resist the temptation to hire people whose skills are a good match for how a job is already configured; instead, they seek those whose talent will redefine how the job is done.
Expectation setting
Conventional wisdom says managers should specify the steps that employees need to take to accomplish a specific task. But great managers define the outcomes they seek and let each person use her individual talent to achieve them. For example, while great managers do not usually mandate steps to be taken, they do provide specific direction when accuracy or safety is involved, or when a company or industry standard is at stake. But even then they don't let the steps obscure the focus on the outcome.
Motivation
Conventional wisdom says that "anybody can be anything they want to be," and thus managers tend to focus on finding and fixing a person's weaknesses. This leads to reviews and development plans that focus on negatives - where the emphasis is on "improving" a person into someone he is not.

In contrast, great managers emphasize the development of their subordinates' unique strengths so as to help further their talent, while finding strategies to support their weaknesses. The key here is determining how to take greater advantage of what people already do well.
Development
Conventional managers rate the person and develop the performance; great managers rate the performance and develop the person-they realize that every person is different and should be treated as such.

Most companies view promotion as the natural path of progression. But is that always the right course? No, says Coffman, because success in one role is not necessarily an indication of success in another.

Consider how many outstanding account representatives fail miserably when they are promoted to sales managers. The ability to sell is entirely distinct from the ability to manage. What's more, promotion removes the high-performing salesperson from the position in which she has been producing substantial value for the company.

Great managers seek the right fit for a person's talent, they work to see that he is rewarded for his performance, and they endeavor to ensure that his talent is developed through progressively more challenging and meaningful assignments.

This article appeared in the August 2004 issue of Harvard Management Update.

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The chain of events that leads to strong and sustained business results starts with great managers who defy common management practice at virtually every turn, says Curt Coffman, global practice leader for employee and customer engagement consulting at The Gallup Organization. What is the defining contribution of great managers?

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My name is Nikki and I am the proud mother of two beautiful handfuls. Unfortunately, I do not have any interest or hobbies because I have been consumed with being a mother and work. While being a mother can sometimes be exhausting I enjoy the adventures it brings. I often feel like a sluggish robot waiting to crash. My days start early and end late and always rotate around my kids or my job.  I recently decided to return to school to finish my last few courses for my bachelor degree.  I am excited to finish this course and gain more insight into management and move a step closer to earning my degree. While I'm excited to complete my degree I have no clue what I will or want to do once I graduate. If I could have my way I would retire early to focus on being a full-time mother.