This definition has three key elements. First, decision making involves making a choice from a number of options—the school district can carry more or less inventory of school supplies and the math department can choose the Macmillan or McGraw-Hill math series. Second, decision making is a process that involves more than simply a final choice from among alternatives—if the school district decides to renovate the existing high school rather than build a new one, we want to know how this decision was reached. Finally, the "desired result" mentioned in the definition involves a purpose or target resulting from the mental activity that the decision maker engages in to reach a final decision—to locate the new elementary school on the east side of town.