Chapter 10: Decision Making By Individuals and Groups

To be effective, a decision must do which of the following? Check all that apply. Be timely Be the lowest cost alternative Be acceptable to the individuals affected by it Meet the desired objective of the decision

Be timely Be acceptable to the individuals affected by it Meet the desired objective of the decision

Which of the following terms refers to the selection of the first alternative that is "good enough?" a. rationalizing b. satisficing c. heuristicizing d. optimizing

b. satisficing

All of the following statements accurately describe intuition and creativity EXCEPT a. Senior managers use intuition extensively, especially to evaluate decisions made rationally. b. Creative behavior at work may spill over and affect relationships at home. c. Job rotation takes employees out of their comfort zones, which discourages creativity. d. The use of intuition may lead to more ethical decision making.

c. Job rotation takes employees out of their comfort zones, which discourages creativity.

All of the following statements accurately describe diversity in decision making EXCEPT a. Functionally diverse teams make decisions resulting in better financial performance for the firm. b. When groups are made up of racially dissimilar individuals, they arrive at better decisions than do racially similar groups. c. Managers tend to be more favorable to employees whose accents are unique to the organization. d. Functionally diverse groups engage in greater debate than teams from similar backgrounds

c. Managers tend to be more favorable to employees whose accents are unique to the organization.

If one could create the ideal manager, which side of the brain would she use? a. the logical left side b. the creative right side c. She would use both sides equally well. d. Research argues that it does not matter. Hide Feedback

c. She would use both sides equally well.

You realize that a decision must be made and have identified the objective of your decision. Which of the following would you do next? a. list several courses of action b. evaluate alternatives c. gather information as to why the problem occurred d. select the best way to solve the problem

c. gather information as to why the problem occurred

What cultural dimension causes organizations in the United States to struggle with group decisions? a. power structure b. uncertainty avoidance c. individualism d. masculinity

c. individualism

Which of the following is an example of nonprogrammed decision making? a. Jazmine schedules an employee's 12-week maternity leave as per company policies. b. Kai issues a written reprimand to an employee who routinely arrives late for work. c. Robert orders inventory as the stock has reached the reorder point. d. After a fire in her office building, Maritza works to find nearby rental space to accommodate her employees

d. After a fire in her office building, Maritza works to find nearby rental space to accommodate her employees

Which statement accurately describes group decision making? a. Evidence shows that any group makes better decisions than any individual. b. Groups tend to make decisions quicker than individuals. c. Social decision schemes can predict group decisions only about 25% of the time. d. Group decision making tends to be synergistic.

d. Group decision making tends to be synergistic.

For participative decision making to work, companies must have a supportive organizational culture and a. a tall organizational structure. b. strong investments in new technologies. c. frequent feedback sessions. d. a team-oriented work design.

d. a team-oriented work design.

Augustus is a brand manager. His work team is discussing brand initiatives, and now there seems to be two opposing sides with different ideas. To get a fuller picture of the group's thoughts and feelings, Augustus asks each "side" to debate the benefits and limitations of the two ideas. Augustus is using which of the following techniques? a. devil's advocacy b. Delphi c. brainstorming d. dialectical inquiry

d. dialectical inquiry

Kari attended a group meeting about new brand initiatives. She believed that the brand seemed old-fashioned and favored some new packaging and advertising. When others in the group agreed with her view, Kari decided that the product actually needed a complete brand overhaul. Kari's attitudes are an example of a. nominal group technique. b. loopthink. c. groupthink. d. group polarization.

d. group polarization.

One side of this dimension, for example, in Latin America, favors quick, assertive decisions. The other side of this dimension, in countries like Scandinavia, likes decisions that reflect a concern for others.

masculine/feminine

Programmed vs Nonprogrammed decisions: Determining whether or not to ground an entire fleet of airplanes after one similar airplane has had an accidentDetermining that you should call the Finance Department for information about when office financial statements are created

nonprogrammed programmed

One side of this dimension, in countries such as Japan, favors group decisions. On the other side of this dimension, in countries like the United States, people have a harder time making and accepting group decisions.

Collectivist/Individualistic

When this is low, decisions are seen as opportunities for change. When it is high, people accept situations as they are and don't try to change them.

uncertainty avoidance

Groups are useful because they do which of the following? Check all that apply. Create synergy Always make better decisions than individuals Bring more knowledge and experience to problem solving Help people to commit to a decision

Create synergy Bring more knowledge and experience to problem solving Help people to commit to a decision

Which of the following is the best example of participative decision making? Managers create a work schedule for their employees Employees are asked to create the work schedule they will live by for the next year. Senior management shares corporate goals with all employees. Employees are asked to create a work schedule that another group will live by for the upcoming year.

Employees are asked to create the work schedule they will live by for the next year.

Which of the following represents the primary assumption of this model? Decision making is not a logical process because constraints force people to be less than logical. Decision making is done logically by reviewing all of the alternatives possible and considering the consequences of each. People have different preferences in decision making and the best decisions are made by multiple people with different preferences.

Decision making is done logically by reviewing all of the alternatives possible and considering the consequences of each.

As a manager, you want to enhance creativity in your organization. Which of the following activities will be helpful in this regard? Check all that apply. Give workers creative coworkers and supervisors. Give employees feelings of autonomy. Have employees compete with each other at work. Put workers in teams with diverse skills.

Give workers creative coworkers and supervisors. Give employees feelings of autonomy. Put workers in teams with diverse skills.

___________ suggests that individual group member attitudes will become more extreme following a group discussion.

Group polarization

People can expect the best performance when they: Make decisions intuitively Use logic and intuition together when making decisions Make decisions solely based on logic

Use logic and intuition together when making decisions

What limitation do the rationality model, bounded rationality model, and Z model all share? a. Decision makers are unwilling to abandon bad decisions. b. They rely overmuch on heuristics. c. Decision makers struggle to use their nonpreferred styles of behavior. d. They are unrealistic.

a. Decision makers are unwilling to abandon bad decisions.

Which of the following individuals is NOT ready for participative decision making? a. Starla is motivated by praise from her supervisor and by monetary rewards. b. Michael understands that his participation can benefit him in the short- and long-term. c. Jose has been offering suggestions to improve the production line for years because he wants the organization to succeed. d. Rita has many years of experience at her job and finds the work satisfying.

a. Starla is motivated by praise from her supervisor and by monetary rewards.

According to research, which individual would be most risk averse? a. an older woman b. a successful manager c. a more experienced manager d. a young man

a. an older woman

Employees who are most comfortable with top-level managers making all organizational decisions are likely from cultures with a. high power distance. b. a collectivist dimension. c. a strong feminism dimension. d. high uncertainty avoidance.

a. high power distance.

If an organization cannot provide employees full participation in all stages of decision making, it is important that they are involved in one of the stages with the highest payoff. Which of the following is NOT one of those stages? a. identifying problems b. generating alternatives c. evaluating results d. planning implementations

a. identifying problems

Which of the following is the first step in the decision-making process? a. recognize the problem b. gather information relevant to the situation c. identify the symptoms of the problem d. determine what is to be accomplished

a. recognize the problem

Which of the following represents the correct stepping used in the Z problem-solving model? a. sensing, intuition, thinking, feeling b. feeling, thinking, intuition, sensing c. sensing, thinking, feeling, intuition d. intuition, feeling, sensing, thinking

a. sensing, intuition, thinking, feeling

When this is high, managers make the decisions in a company. When it is low, employees are more likely to be involved in decision making.

power distance