Ch 7 - Individual and Group Decision Making learnsmart/smartbook
which of the following is an accurate description of decision making?
A decision is a choice made from among available alternatives. Decision making is the process of identifying and choosing alternative courses of action.
an individual's value orientation reflects the extent to which they focus on which of the following dimensions when making decisions?
ask and technical concerns or people and social concerns when making decisions. Some people, for instance, are very task focused at work and do not pay much attention to people issues, whereas others are just the opposite
eileen had provided the weekly inventory report to the management team every friday for the past four months, but she wasn't able to generate the report last week bc she was attending a seminar learning how to use the new inventory software. her boss sent her an email reminding her of the importance of the report and asking her to be sure and submit it every friday. this is an example of
avaliability bias
people with a(n) ___________ decision-making style have low tolerance for ambiguity and are task oriented. they are efficient, logical, and practical in their approach to solving problems and making decisions. which style do they use?
directive
what are the four general styles of decision making?
directive, analytical, conceptual, and behavioral
minority ___________ occurs when a minority in a group publicly opposes the beliefs, attitudes, ideas, procedures or policies assumed by the majority of the group
dissent
the tendency of decision makers to be influenced by the way a situation or problem is presented to them is referred to as the ___________ bias
framing
people are often wrong when they try to predict which of the following?
what their level of sadness will be in not receiving a reward what their level of happiness will be in receiving a reward how long their feelings about a particular outcome will last
brainwriting is the process of brainstorming by using _________.
a computer network
the ________ bias is based on ban individual's tendency to make decisions based on an initial figure
anchoring and adjustment
the first step in the rational decision-making process involves _________.
identifying the problem
according to the babson college study, successful analytics work with ________ application(s).
multiple
jacinda bought stock in AZY company at $70 per share and the price has tumbled since then. the stock is now trading at $7 per share and financial experts keep saying that the stock is like to continue to decline because of a lawsuit pending against the company. she keeps the stock and hopes its will turn around, even though she knows that's not likely. this is an example of ___________
escalation of commitment
ramona is bidding on an auction item against several other people. she knows the bid is already too high, but she doesn't want to give up, so she continues bidding. this is an example of the ________ bias.
escalation of commitment
when using the ethical decision tree, management should consider whether a proposed action is both legal and ________.
ethical
choose a key benefit of using intuition in decision making
it speeds up the process when deadlines are tight (1) It can speed up decision making, useful when deadlines are tight. (2) It can be helpful to managers when resources are limited. A drawback, however, is that it can be difficult to convince others that your hunch makes sense. In addition, intuition is subject to the same biases as those that affect rational decision making, as we discuss in Section 7.5. Finally, says one senior executive, intuition is fine for start-ups but "often deceives CEOs as their businesses become more complex." Still, we believe that intuition and rationality are complementary and that managers should develop the courage to use intuition when making decisions.
rather than holding formal meetings in the board room, kevin prefers meeting with his group over lunch at a restaurant. he feels that his group opens up more during these lunches and opinions are openly exchanged. which style of decision making does kevin use?
behavorial
someone who is trained about matters of ethics in the workplace, particularly about resolving ethical dilemmas, is called a(n) ________
ethics officer
identify the drawbacks to using intuition in the decision-making process. check all that apply
it can be difficult to convince others about the validity of your hunch. it is subject to the same decision-making biases as rational decision making.
analytics are best used to help companies track _______ applications.
multiple
in a study done at babson college's working knowledge research center, researchers identified three key attributes among organizations committed to quantitative, fact-based analysis. what are those three attributes?
use of modeling, multiple applications, and support from top management
which two of these options are important in combating groupthink?
allowing criticism allowing other perspective
when making decisions for her department, ellie tends to take a long time because she takes into consideration a large amount of information. what type of decision-making style does ellie demonstrate?
analytical
"don't tell me the truth; just tell me what i want to hear" is an example of the _______ bias
confirmation
the _________ bias occurs when people seek data to support their point of view and disregard information that does not support it
confirmation
tyler is a die-hard fan of college's football team and he bought season tickets. he tells everyone what a great team it is and about their big wins but seems to forget that the team has a losing record. this is an example of the _________ bias.
confirmation
big data analytics can be helpful for businesses in examining large amounts of data to uncover hidden patterns like those in which of the following categories?
consumer behavior
which of the following data would be included in big data?
data in coroprate databases social network communications surveillance data web-browsing data trails Big Data, stores of data so vast that conventional database management systems cannot handle them and so very sophisticated analysis software and supercomputing-level hardware are required. Big Data includes not only data in corporate databases but also web-browsing data trails, social network communications, sensor data, and surveillance dat
when decision makers increase their commitment to a project despite negative information about it, they are experiencing which type of bias?
escalation of commitment
the _________ bias occurs when people's positive feelings about their own decision-making ability is greater than their objective accuracy
overconfidence
the __________ bias reflects our tendency to generalize from a small sample or single event
representativeness
the ________ model of decision making emphasizes choosing the first solution that meets criteria rather than an optimal choice
satisficing
even though not everyone in the meeting agreed with the final decision, the group decided to proceed and replace all existing machine parts in the warehouse. in this situation, the group had ___________
reached a consensus
list the steps of the rational model of decision making in the correct order, with the first step listed at the top and the last step listed at the bottom
identify the problem or opportunity think of alternative solutions evaluate alternatives and select a solution implement and evaluate the solution chosen
identify the benefits of using intuition in the decision-making process. check all that apply.
(1) It can speed up decision making, useful when deadlines are tight. (2) It can be helpful to managers when resources are limited. A drawback, however, is that it can be difficult to convince others that your hunch makes sense. In addition, intuition is subject to the same biases as those that affect rational decision making,
indicate the three ways that can help managers in "deciding whether to decide"
1. Importance—"How High Priority Is This Situation?" You need to determine how much priority to give the decision situation. If it's a threat, how extensive might prospective losses or damage be? If it's an opportunity, how beneficial might the possible gains be? 2. Credibility—"How Believable Is the Information about the Situation?" You need to evaluate how much is known about the possible threat or opportunity. Is the source of the information trustworthy? Is there credible evidence? 3. Urgency—"How Quickly Must I Act on the Information about the Situation?" Is the threat immediate? Will the window of opportunity stay open long? Can actions to address the situation be done gradually?
relaxed change
A manager realizes that complete inaction will have negative consequences but opts for the first available alternative that involves low risk. This is, of course, a form of "satisficing"; the manager avoids exploring a variety of alternatives in order to make the best decision. "Why Not Just Take the Easiest Way Out?"
indicate the assumptions prevalent in the rational decision-making model. check all that apply
Complete information, no uncertainty: You should obtain complete, error-free information about all alternative courses of action and the consequences that would follow from each choice. Logical, unemotional analysis: Having no prejudices or emotional blind spots, you are able to logically evaluate the alternatives, ranking them from best to worst according to your personal preferences. Best decision for the organization: Confident of the best future course of action, you coolly choose the alternative that you believe will most benefit the organization.
which of the following questions would you use to evaluate alternatives in the third stage of the rational model of decision making?
Ethics, Feasibility, and Effectiveness In this stage, you need to evaluate each alternative not only according to cost and quality but also according to the following questions: (1) Is it ethical? (If it isn't, don't give it a second look.) (2) Is it feasible? (If time is short, costs are high, technology unavailable, or customers resistant, for example, it is not.) (3) Is it ultimately effective? (If the decision is merely "good enough" but not optimal in the long run, you might reconsider.)
which of the following are appropriate actions for a manager to take if a decision is not working as intended? check all that apply.
Give it more time. You need to make sure employees, customers, and so on have had enough time to get used to the new action. Change it slightly. Maybe the action was correct, but it just needs "tweaking"—a small change of some sort. Try another alternative. If Plan A doesn't seem to be working, maybe you want to scrap it for another alternative. Start over. If no alternative seems workable, you need to go back to the drawing board—to Stage 1 of the decision-making process.
when rivals are focused on winning an argument rather than the goal of a meeting and that topics of the meeting are not discussed. it is an example of _______
Goal displacement. Although the primary task of the meeting may be to solve a particular problem, other considerations may rise to the fore, such as rivals trying to win an argument. Goal displacement occurs when the primary goal is subsumed by a secondary goal.
which of the following is an advantage of group decision making?
Intellectual stimulation ----------------- Greater pool of knowledge. When several people are making the decision, there is a greater pool of information from which to draw. If one person doesn't have the pertinent knowledge and experience, someone else might. Different perspectives. Because different people have different perspectives—marketing, production, legal, and so on—they see the problem from different angles. Intellectual stimulation. A group of people can brainstorm or otherwise bring greater intellectual stimulation and creativity to the decision-making process than is usually possible with one person acting alone. Better understanding of decision rationale. If you participate in making a decision, you are more apt to understand the reasoning behind the decision, including the pros and cons leading up to the final step. Deeper commitment to the decision. If you've been part of the group that has bought into the final decision, you're more apt to be committed to seeing that the course of action is successfully implemented.
which of the following represents the third stage of the rational model of decision making?
Stage 3: Evaluate Alternatives and Select a Solution—Ethics, Feasibility, and Effectiveness
The results of rational decision making should be evaluated because thing may occur that were not foreseen, a "law" in economics known as the Law of ________ Consequences.
Unitntended One "law" in economics is the Law of Unintended Consequences—things happen that weren't foreseen. For this reason, you need to follow up and evaluate the results of the decision.
a computer-based information system that provides a flexible tool for analysis and helps managers focus on the future is known as _________
a decision support system
which two of the following are examples of the delphi technique?
a group of specialists submit anonymous reports about a subject the expert opinion is complied and consensus is reached The Delphi technique is a group process that uses physically dispersed experts who fill out questionnaires to anonymously generate ideas; the judgments are combined and in effect averaged to achieve a consensus of expert opinion.
defensive avoidance
a manager can't find a good solution and follows by (a) procrastinating, (b) passing the buck, or (c) denying the risk of any negative consequences. This is a posture of resignation and a denial of responsibility for taking action. "There's No Reason for Me to Explore Other Solution Alternatives"
relaxed avoidance
a manager decides to take no action in the belief that there will be no great negative consequences. This condition, then, is a form of complacency: You either don't see or you disregard the signs of danger (or of opportunity) "There's No Point in Doing Anything; Nothing Bad's Going to Happen"
Panic
a manager is so frantic to get rid of the problem that he or she can't deal with the situation realistically. This is the kind of situation in which the manager has completely forgotten the idea of behaving with "grace under pressure," of staying cool and calm. Troubled by anxiety, irritability, sleeplessness, and even physical illness, if you're experiencing this reaction, your judgment may be so clouded that you won't be able to accept help in dealing with the problem or to realistically evaluate the alternatives. "This Is So Stressful, I've Got to Do Something—Anything—to Get Rid of the Problem"
which one of the following best describes the basis of the nonrational models of decision making?
a model that describes how managers actually make decisions Nonrational models of decision making explain how managers make decisions; they assume that decision making is nearly always uncertain and risky, making it difficult for managers to make optimal decisions. The nonrational models are descriptive rather than prescriptive: They describe how managers actually make decisions rather than how they should. Two nonrational models are (1) satisficing and (2) intuition.
System 2 Daniel Kahneman
analytical and conscious: System 2 is our slow, deliberate, analytical, and consciously effortful mode of reasoning, which swings into action when we have to fill out a tax form or park a car in a narrow space.
sam gave employees a 5% raise last year and expects to give the same percentage raise this year, even though it will push his company's salaries above what is normally paid in the industry. this is example of the ______ bias.
anchoring and adjustment
a consensus is when all members are able to express their opinions __________.
and reach agreement to support the final decision
in order to optimize her newest promotion for the hollywood movie company she works for, carli analyzes large amounts of data from social media, industry forecasts and existing customer records to find buying patterns within her customer base. what is carli using to make her decision?
big data analytics
the process of examining large amounts of data in a variety of types to uncover hidden patterns, unknown correlations, and other useful information is known as _________.
big data analytics
the concept that suggests that the ability of decision makers to be rational is limited by constraints such as complexity, skills, time and money is known as __________ rationality
bounded
tonya decided to purchase a piece of equipment from a domestic company instead of an overseas company despite the domestic company's higher cost and lower quality. her decision was based on uncertainty that the foreign shipment would meet her production deadline. according to herbert simon, tonya was feeling the effects of __________.
bounded rationality During the 1950s, economist Herbert Simon—who later received the Nobel Prize—began to study how managers actually make decisions. From his research he proposed that managers could not act truly logically because their rationality was bounded by so many restrictions. Bounded rationality, the concept suggests that the ability of decision makers to be rational is limited by numerous constraints, such as complexity, time and money, and their cognitive capacity, values, skills, habits, and unconscious reflexes
michelle met with her five employees around a table and asked each of them to take five minutes to write down what they personally thought their new facility should include. She then collected the information and wrote it down on the white board for all of them to view and decide upon. Michelle is using the __________ technique.
brainstorming
what is the name of a technique used to help groups generate multiple ideas for solving problems in which potential ideas or solutions from group members in a meeting are collected (sometimes anonymously) and written on a board or flip chart?
brainstorming
electric brainstorming, also called ______, is a technique used to help members of a group come together over a computer network to generate ideas and alternatives for solving problems.
brainwriting
successful implementation of major decisions requires which 2 of the following to occur?
careful planning sensitivity to those affected by the decision Stage 4: Implement and Evaluate the Solution Chosen With some decisions, implementation is usually straightforward (though not necessarily easy—firing employees who steal may be an obvious decision, but it can still be emotionally draining). With other decisions, implementation can be quite difficult; when one company acquires another, for instance, it may take months to consolidate the departments, accounting systems, inventories, and so on
which one of the following best describes the decisions made by a person with an analytical style
carefully considers lots information and alternatives Careful Decision Makers Who Like Lots of Information and Alternative Choices Managers with an analytical style have a much higher tolerance for ambiguity and are characterized by the tendency to overanalyze a situation. People with this style like to consider more information and alternatives than those following the directive style. Analytical individuals are careful decision makers who take longer to make decisions but who also respond well to new or uncertain situations.
a _______ is a choice made from available alternatives
decision
a(n) _________ is a graph of decisions and their possible consequences; it is used to create a plan to reach a goal
decision tree
when a manager can't find a good solution to a serious problem and either procrastinates, passes the buck, or denies that there will be any negative consequences, she or he is adopting which ineffective response to a decision situation?
defensive avoidance
ronnie's company uses large numbers of snow blowers. after several failed, ronnie determined that the failures were due defective motors and decided that the company would uses a different vendor for future purchases. ronnie is making a(n) __________.
diagnosis Whether you're confronted with a problem or an opportunity, the decision you're called on to make is how to make improvements—how to change conditions from the present to the desirable. This is a matter of diagnosis—analyzing the underlying causes.
All examples of the "curse of knowledge"
engineers designing electronic products (such as DVD remote controls) with too many buttons. professional investors and bankers taking excess risks Specialization improves efficiency, but it also leads to tunnel vision and blind spots. In other words, as our knowledge and expertise grow, we may be less and less able to see things from an outsider's perspective—hence, we are often apt to make irrational decisions.
people with a conceptual decision-making style are likely to do which of the following?
find creative solutions rely on intuition take risks Conceptual types adopt a long-term perspective and rely on intuition and discussions with others to acquire information. They also are willing to take risks and are good at finding creative solutions to problems. However, a conceptual style can foster an indecisive approach to decision making.
during which of the following is positive team spirit and striving for unanimity most likely to lead to poor decision making?
groupthink ------------- A few people dominate or intimidate. Sometimes a handful of people will talk the longest and the loudest, and the rest of the group will simply give in. Or one individual, such as a strong leader, will exert disproportionate influence, sometimes by intimidation. This cuts down on the variety of ideas. Groupthink. Groupthink occurs when group members strive to agree for the sake of unanimity and thus avoid accurately assessing the decision situation.Page 228 Here the positive team spirit of the group actually works against sound judgment.164 See more about groupthink below. Satisficing. Because most people would just as soon cut short a meeting, the tendency is to seek a decision that is "good enough" rather than to push on in pursuit of other possible solutions. Satisficing can occur because groups have limited time, lack the right kind of information, or are unable to handle large amounts of information.165 Goal displacement. Although the primary task of the meeting may be to solve a particular problem, other considerations may rise to the fore, such as rivals trying to win an argument. Goal displacement occurs when the primary goal is subsumed by a secondary goal.
select the fields that are using big data analytics
health and medicine entertaining and reading hiring and personnel
_____________ are strategies such as "rules of thumb" that simplify decision making
heuristics
the tendency of people to view events as being more predictable than they really are is referred to as _____________ bias
hindsight when at the end of watching a game we decide the outcome was obvious and predictable, even though in fact it was not. Sometimes called the "I-knew-it-all-along" effect, this occurs when we look back on a decision and try to reconstruct why we decided to do something.
list the steps of the rational model of decision making in the correct order, with the first step listed at the top and the last step listed at the bottom.
identify the problem or opportunity think of alternative solutions evaluate alternatives and select a solution implement and evaluate the solution chosen
which of the following are part of the seven implementation principles of evidence-based decision making?
if all else fails, slow the spread of bad practice treat your organization as an unfinished prototype like everything else, you still have to sell it treat your organization as an unfinished prototype no brag, just facts see yourself and your organization as outsiders do evidence-based management is not just for senior executives like everything else, you still need to sell it if all else fails, slow the spread of bad practice the best diagnostic question: what happens when people fail?
the information collected from a decision support system is known as business
intelligence
making a choice without the use of conscious thought or logical inference is known as using ________.
intuition
according to psychologist daniel kahneman, system 1 thinking is _______.
intuitive and largely unconscious It operates automatically and quickly; it is our fast, automatic, intuitive, and largely unconscious mode, as when we detect hostility in a voice or detect that one object is more distant than another.
at the stage of evaluating alternatives during a decision-making process, which of the following is a question that a manager should ask?
is it feasible? In this stage, you need to evaluate each alternative not only according to cost and quality but also according to the following questions: (1) Is it ethical? (If it isn't, don't give it a second look.) (2) Is it feasible? (If time is short, costs are high, technology unavailable, or customers resistant, for example, it is not.) (3) Is it ultimately effective? (If the decision is merely "good enough" but not optimal in the long run, you might reconsider.)
which of the following questions is NOT one of the questions used in bagley's ethical decision tree?
is the proposed action a benefit to our competitors? --------------------------------------------- is the proposed action legal? if yes, does the proposed action maximize shareholder value? if yes, is the proposed action ethical? If "No," Would It Be Ethical Not to Take the Proposed Action?
which of the following are ways that knowledge of decision-making styles affects managers' work? check all that apply
managers can better identify personal strengths and weaknesses managers gain an understanding of differences that improves the ability to manage conflicts. ---------- know thyself influence others deal with conflict
which of the following decision-making models acknowledges that the decisions managers make are nearly always uncertain and risky, making it difficult for managers to make optimal decisions?
nonrational model
situations that present possibilities for exceeding existing goals are known as ___________
opportunities
ryan learned that recent sales by a competitor in his sales region had fallen because of distribution problems. as a result, ryan decided to add a salesperson to his staff to boost his own company's sales. ryan is demonstrating how a(n) __________ affected his decision making
opportunity
when krystal lost a big sale that meant she would not make her sales quota for the month, she burst into tears. "I can't deal with this!" she waited to a coworker. "I'm a complete failure at this job and I'm just going to quit!" which response to a decision situation does this BEST reflect?
panic
select the reasons it can be difficult to make evidence based decisions
people are trying to mislead you there is not enough good evidence there is too much evidence (1) There's too much evidence. (2) There's not enough good evidence. (3) The evidence doesn't quite apply. (4) People are trying to mislead you. (5) You are trying to mislead you. (6) The side effects outweigh the cure. (Example: Despite the belief that social promotion in school is a bad idea—that is, that schools shouldn't advance children to the next grade when they haven't mastered the material—the side effect is skyrocketing costs because it crowds schools with older students, and angrier students, demanding more resources.) (7) Stories are more persuasive, anyway.
a data-mining technique used to predict future behavior and anticipate the consequences of change is known as ________ modeling
predictive a data-mining technique used to predict future behavior and anticipate the consequences of change. Capital One conducts more than 30,000 experiments a year, with different interest rates, incentives, direct-mail packaging, and other variables to evaluate which customers are most apt to sign up for credit cards and will pay back their debt.
kelly works in the customer service department and at the end of the day she reported to her manager that all of the calls she received that day were customers complaining about the new wheel sprocket the company had just started using. which aspect of the rational decision making process is kelly providing to her manager?
problems
business analytics tend to be ________ (quantitative or qualitative) in nature
quantitative
"close enough is good enough" would best characterize which model of decision making?
satisficing model—that is, managers seek alternatives until they find one that is satisfactory, not optimal.
heuristics are strategies that _________ the process of making decisions
simplify
apex enterprises spent a large amount of money to customize a pumping system that it bought many years ago. its suppliers has begun to offer a new pumping system with even better features than its customized system. although the new system is competitively priced, apex decides to keep its older system. this would be an example of the ___________ bias.
sunk-cost
all of the following are characteristics of the delphi group problem-solving technique expect __________.
technological forecasting is required
what are three characteristics that affect decision making by a group?
the efficiency of the group the size of the group (the larger the group, the lower the quality of the decision) the knowledge of group members -------------------- they are less efficient their size affects decision quality they may be too confident knowledge counts
when kendra's manager asked the team to come up with some new ideas for drawing people to their trade show booth, kendra decided to be creative and suggested installing a video game in the booth to attract people. which part of the decision-making process does kendra's idea exemplify?
think of alternative solutions
which personality dimension indicates the extent to which a person has a high need for structure or control in their life?
tolerance for ambiguity
kendall is frustrated with her co-worker, jill. she feels that jill doesn't care that their manager seems to be showing favoritism toward the two other members of their team. jill just focuses on the work she is supposed to do, which demonstrates her _______.
value orientation
decision-making styles vary along two dimensions. what are those dimensions?
value orientation and tolerance for ambiguity A decision-making style reflects the combination of how an individual perceives and responds to information.
