While the Associated Press (AP) Style Book-the preferred source
for written style for thousands of journalists world-wide (at least
those who write for the English language)-state that decision
making be hyphenated in all cases (e.g.: decision-making,
decision-maker), and while as a former editor and publisher, I
would typically defer to the AP style, I prefer the answer provided
by a number of other sources (including many, if not most, American
universities and government agencies, as well as virtually all
on-line resources) which say that the compound should be hyphenated
when used as an adjective, and not hyphenated when used as a noun
(e.g.: our decision-making process versus the process of our
decision making, etc.)
Related Q&A：
Is decision making hyphenated-Well, typically, \decision making\ is not hyphenated. You just write it as two separate words. It's common in American English to keep them separate. For example, we say \effective decision making\ or \strategic decision making\ But sometimes in specific contexts or certain styles of writing, you might see it hyphenated, but that's not the usual way. So, in most cases, no hyphens needed! Ya know what I mean?
