MGMT Chapter 5 Planning and Decision Making (Complete)

The five steps of the dialectical inquiry process are:

1. Generate a potential solution. 2. Identify the assumptions underlying the potential solution. 3. Generate a conflicting counterproposal based on the opposite assumptions. 4. Have advocates of each position present their arguments and engage in a debate in front of key decision makers. 5. Decide whether to use, change, or not use the originally proposed solution

How to make plans that works

1. Set goals 2. Develop commitment 3. Develop effective action plans: Who, What, When, How 4. Track progress toward goal achievement 5. Maintain flexibility.

Operational plans direct the behavior, efforts, and priorities of operative employees for periods ranging from....

30 days to six months.

Use your knowledge of the levels of planning to fill in the three labels missing from the following diagram.

A Top managers B Middle Managers c First level managers

Groupthink

A barrier to good decision making caused by pressure within the group for members to agree with each other.

Allows workers and managers to track their progress toward goal achievement and make adjustments in effort, direction, and strategies

Regular, frequent performance feedback

The first step in planning

Set goals

S.M.A.R.T. goals

Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely.

Procedures

Standing plans that indicate the specific steps that should be taken in response to a particular event.

The Sales Division will routinely monitor the percentage of new clients in underserved populations.

Tactical

The best decision-making technique to use for teams that do not meet face-to-face is:

The delphi technique

Goal commitment

The determination to achieve a goal.

Decision making

The process of choosing a solution from available alternatives.

Action plan

The specific steps (how), people (who), resources (what), and time period (when) for accomplishing a goal.

Decision criteria

The standards used to guide judgments and decisions.

how to compute the optimal decision

This is done by multiplying the rating for each criterion by the weight for that criterion ), and then summing those scores for each alternative course of action that you generated

Group decision making can lead to much better decisions than those typically made by individuals. True/False

True: This is why Companies rely so heavily on groups to make decisions

Once the strategic objective has been accomplished...

a new one should be chosen.

The nominal group technique improves group decision making by decreasing _______conflict. But it also restricts ________ conflict.

a-type; c-type

groupthink leads to consideration of a limited number of solutions and restricts discussion of any considered solutions, it usually results in

poor decisions.

the nominal group technique typically produces _______ decisions than the devil's advocacy and dialectical inquiry approaches.

poorer

Nominal

"in name only"

some other problems of group decision making

-takes considerable time -sometimes one or two people, perhaps the boss or a strong-willed, vocal group member, can dominate group discussions and limit the group's consideration of different problem definitions and alternative solutions

Pitfalls of Planning

1. Can impede change and prevent or slow needed adaptation. 2. Can create a false sense of certainty. 3. The detachment of planners.

List the three (3) standing plans in order from most specific to least specific

1. Rules and regulations 2. Procedures 3. Policies

Brainstorming has four rules:

1. The more ideas, the better. 2. All ideas are acceptable, no matter how wild or crazy they might seem. 3. Other group members' ideas should be used to come up with even more ideas. 4. Criticism or evaluation of ideas is not allowed.

Three things must occur for managers to make decisions to solve problems

1. managers have to be aware of the gap. 2. Managers have to be motivated to reduce the gap between a desired and an existing state 3. Managers must also have the knowledge, skills, abilities, and resources to fix the problem

Delphi technique steps

1. to assemble a panel of experts. 2. to create a questionnaire consisting of a series of open-ended questions for the group 3. the group members' written responses are analyzed, summarized, and fed back to the group for reactions until the members reach agreement

Nominal group technique

A decision- making method that begins and ends by having group members quietly write down and evaluate ideas to be shared with the group.

Devil's advocacy

A decision-making method in which an individual or a subgroup is assigned the role of critic

Dialectical inquiry

A decision-making method in which decision makers state the assumptions of a proposed solution (a thesis) and generate a solution that is the opposite (antithesis) of that solution.

Brainstorming

A decision-making method in which group members build on each other's ideas to generate as many alternative solutions as possible.

Electronic brainstorming

A decision-making method in which group members use computers to build on each others' ideas and generate as many alternative solutions as possible.

Delphi technique

A decision-making method in which members of a panel of experts respond to questions and to each other until reaching agreement on an issue.

Production blocking

A disadvantage of face-to-face brainstorming in which a group member must wait to share an idea because another member is presenting an idea.

Management by objectives (MBO)

A four-step process in which managers and employees (1) discuss possible goals. (2) collectively select goals that are challenging attainable, and consistent with the company's overall goals; (3) jointly develop tactical plans that lead to the accomplishment of tactical goals and objective; (4) meet regularly to review progress toward accomplishment of those goals.

Problem

A gap between a desired state and an existing state.

Strategic objective

A more specific goal that unifies company-wide efforts, stretches and challenges the organization, and possesses a finish line and a time frame.

Relative comparisions

A process in which each decision criterion is compared directly with every other criterion.

Absoute comparisons

A process in which each decision criterion is compared to a standard or ranked on its own merits.

Purpose statement

A statement of a company's purpose or reason for existing.

Purpose statements should be

Brief—no more than two sentences. Be enduring, inspirational, clear, and consistent with widely shared company beliefs and values

Satisficing

Choosing a "good-enough" alternative

Operational plans

Day-to day plans, developed and implemented by lower-level managers, for producing or delivering the organization's products and services over a thirty -day to six-month period.

A-type conflict (Affective)

Disagreement that focuses on individuals or personal issues.

C-type conflict (cognitive)

Disagreement that focuses on problem- and issue- related differences of opinion.

Evaluation apprehension

Fear of what other will think of your ideas

The second method of tracking progress is to...

Gather and provide performance feedback

Obtaining top managers support and making goals public are some ways to bring about

Goal commitment

The third step in decision making

Identify possible courses of action that could solve the problem

Benefits of Planning

Intensified effort, persistence, direction, and creation of task strategies.

Goals need to be specific and challenging because...

It will direct behavior and increase effort

Rules and regulations

More specific than procedures because they specify what must happen or not happen. They describe precisely how a particular action should be performed.

First-Level Managers

Operational Plans, Standing Plans, Single-Use Plans (Use operational, single-use, and standing plans to implement the tactical plans.)

One method of maintaining flexibilty while planning is to adopt an _________ approach

Options-based

Single-use plans

Plans that cover unique, one-time-only events.

Standing plans

Plans used repeatedly to handle frequently recurring events.

What doesn't happen in electronic brainstorming and why?

Production blocking; all group members are seated at computers, so everyone can type in ideas whenever they occur

Budgeting

Quantitative planning through which managers decide how to allocate available money to best accomplish company goals.

The next step is to systematically evaluate each alternative against each criterion. True/False

True

Goal commitment is really wanting to

achieve a goal

Next, you and Liz discuss some of the problems that can occur in the various phases in the decision-making process. For example, when defining the problem, Liz should be careful: a. Not to use satisficing, rather than maximizing, as a decision-making approach b. To fully understand the gap between current and ideal states c. To generate new ideas, instead of considering only tried and true solutions

b

When properly used, the devil's advocacy approach introduces _________ conflict into the decision-making process.

c-type

dialectical inquiry also introduces _________ conflict into the decision-making process.

c-type

Planning

choosing a goal and developing a method or strategy to achieve that goal.

Maximize

choosing the best alternative

The purpose of an action plan is to __________.

commit people and resources to a particular course of action

The final step in the decision-making process is to

compute the optimal decision by determining the optimal value of each alternative. This is done by multiplying the rating for each criterion (Step 5-4e) by the weight for that criterion (Step 5-4c), and then summing those scores for each alternative course of action that you generated (Step 5-4d).

Using your knowledge of SMART goals, select the best goal. a. I will complete this class with a good grade so I can graduate. b. I will study hard before my next test. c. I will ask my study group what they think of our professor. d. I will outline two chapters of my management textbook before class starts next Tuesday.

d.

Which two important steps do groups do a better job than individuals?

defining the problem and generating alternative solutions.

The third step in planning

develop effective action plans

The following five steps establish a _____ ______ program: 1. Generate a potential solution. 2. Assign a devil's advocate to criticize and question the solution. 3. Present the critique of the potential solution to key decision makers. 4. Gather additional relevant information. 5. Decide whether to use, change, or not use the originally proposed solution

devil's advocacy

A-type conflict undermines team effectiveness by preventing teams from

engaging in the activities characteristic of c-type conflict that are critical to team effectiveness

Holding options open gives you choices. And choices, combined with slack resources, give you....

flexibility

The following conditions are most likely to lead to what: -The group is insulated from others with different perspectives. -The group leader begins by expressing a strong preference for a particular decision. -The group has no established procedure for systematically defining problems and exploring alternatives. -Group members have similar backgrounds and experiences.

groupthink

A-type conflict often results in

hostility, anger, resentment, distrust, cynicism, and apathy.

The first step in decision making is

identifying and defining the problem

The purpose of options-based planning is to leave commitments open by...

maintaining slack resources

How to set goals participatively

managers and employees choose goals together

After identifying decision criteria, the next step is deciding which criteria are

more or less important

Each sales agent will personally contact three potential clients in an underserved community every day.

operational

Strategic planning begins with the creation of an...

organizational purpose.

Standing plans save managers time because after the plans are created

they can be used repeatedly to handle frequently recurring events

Slack resources

Cushion of extra resources that can be used with options-based planning to adapt to unanticipated changes, problems, or opportunities.

Options-based planning

Maintaining planning flexibility by making small, simultaneous investments in many alternative plans.

Top Managers

Mission (Create the organization's purpose statement and strategic objective)

We provide low-cost, high-quality insurance to underserved populations.

Mission statement

Middle Managers

Tactical Plans, Management by Objectives (Develop tactical plans and use management by objectives to motivate employee efforts toward the overall purpose and strategic objective)

Which of the following techniques can managers use to increase an employee's goal commitment? Check all that apply. a. Tell the employee what goals he or she is expected to meet b. Ask the employee to participate in goal setting c. Ask top management to speak publicly about their support for the employee's goals d. Continually revise goal difficulty upward

b,c,d

Businesses commonly rely upon groups to make decisions because of the many advantages to group decision making. Which of the following are advantages of group decision making? Check all that apply. a. One person may dominate the group. b. More information and knowledge are available. c. Groupthink may occur. d. More acceptance of the final decision is likely.

b,d

Identify the order in which the steps are usually taken. a. Weigh the decision criteria b. Define the problem c. Compute the optimal decision d. Evaluate each alternative e. Generate alternative courses of action f. Identify the decision criteria

b,f,a,e,d,c

In c-type conflict, group members disagree because their...

different experiences and expertise lead them to view the problem and its potential solutions differently.

On average, companies with plans have ______ profits and grow much faster than companies without plans.

larger

Distal goals

long-term or primary goals.

The goal of options-based planning is to keep

options open by making small, simultaneous investments in many alternative plans

A new second strategic objective must grow out of the __________ ___________, which does not change significantly over time

organization's purpose

Strategic Planning

overall company plans that clarify how the company will serve customers and position itself against competitors over the next two to five years

Proximal goals

short-term goals or subgoals.

There are three kinds of operational plans:

single-use plans, standing plans, and budgets.

Policies

standing plans that indicate the general course of action that should be taken in response to a particular event or situation.

A purpose statement is a...

statement of a company's purpose or reason for existing.

We will actively seek to acquire an East Coast life-insurance company that has a diverse clientele.

strategic

Typically, the more criteria a potential solution meets,

the better that solution will be.

Planning works best when the goals and action plans at the bottom and middle of the organization support...

the goals and action plans at the top of the organization

Second step in planning

to develop commitment to goals

The last step in developing effective plans is...

to maintain flexibility

C-type conflict is characterized by a willingness to examine, compare, and reconcile differences in order...

to produce the best possible solution

The most popular approach to bringing about goal commitment...

to set goal participatively

The first method of tracking progress

to set proximal and distal goals

The fourth step in planning

to track progress toward goal achievement

options-based planning is the opposite of

traditional planning

A well-written policy will also specify

why the policy exists and what outcome the policy is intended to produce

Rational decision making

A systematic process of defining problems, evaluating alternatives, and choosing optimal solutions.

Tactical plans

Plans created and implemented by middle managers that specify how the company will use resources, budgets, and people over the ext six months to two years to accomplish specific goals with in its mission.