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PSY 3365 Chapter 10

Terms in this set (81)

The process of making choices from several alternatives is called:
decision-making
The analytical model of the decision-making process focuses on which key aspects of decision-making:
formulation and implementation
The first step in the traditional, analytical model of decision-making is to
identify the problem.
Once a problem has been identified:
objectives must be defined.
A "predecision" is ________.
a decision about what process to follow in making a decision.
The use of ________ leads to outcomes that are higher in quantity and better in quality than those made in the absence of such techniques.
decision support systems
________ are computer programs that help decision makers structure their responses to decisions.
Decision support systems
The identification of possible solutions to the problem comes in the:
alternative generation stage.
If Alonso Lopes continually checks up on his counter parts everyday to make sure that they are consistently present and working, then he would be using:
nonprogrammed decision-making.
If a manager is making a decision for which no ready-made solutions exist because the situation is unique, he/she is making a(n):
nonprogrammed decision
When trying to decide if a decision is a programmed or nonprogrammed decision, a manager should consider three questions, including:
What types of tasks are involved?
The key element in classifying a decision as certain or uncertain is:
the risk involved.
When a decision is made on concrete verifiable data, the decision is based on:
objective probabilities.
When a decision is based on personal beliefs or hunches it is called:
subjective probability.
The level of uncertainty in a decision can be reduced by:
increasing the information available from which to make the decision.
When managers make decisions they rely most heavily on:
their history of past decisions
Bill's company tends to have employees from all levels gather data, prepare reports, and pass this information on to senior level managers who actually make the decisions. This is an example of:
top-down decision-making.
________ allows employees to make the decisions required to do their jobs without first seeking supervisory approval.
Empowered decision-making
At Disney World, employees use ________ in order to make customers happy on the spot.
empowered decision-making
A person who prefers complex problems and is willing to use innovative methods would be most likely to use the ________.
analytical style of making decisions
When making a decision, if an individual is more willing to consider complex solutions based on ambiguous information after carefully studying the data, and enjoys solving problems, his/her decision style is most likely to be:
analytical.
If a person is more socially oriented in his/her approach to problems, if he/she tends to consider many broad alternatives, and have a strong future orientation, his/her decision style is most likely to be:
conceptual
A person who has a deep concern for the organization and the development of the workers, and is highly concerned about others' achievement, mostly likely has a ________ decision style.
behavioral
Studies show that corporate presidents tend toward ________.
no one dominant decision style
According to research, military leaders were found to have high scores in the ________ decision-making style.
conceptual
The expected advantages of using groups to make decisions include:
the potential pooling of resources.
Group decision-making does have a few disadvantages, such as:
A) a tendency to waste time.
B) the potential for group conflict.
C) possible intimidation by the group leader.
All of the above.
The tendency for members of highly cohesive groups to conform to group pressures so strongly that they reject the potentially correcting influence of outsiders is known as:
groupthink
The first indicator that groupthink could develop is:
the group has high levels of cohesion.
Sometimes it may help to play the role of devil's advocate, to intentionally find fault with a proposed solution. This would be most useful for which of the following strategies for avoiding groupthink?
Promoting open inquiry
One can prevent or diminish groupthink by:
breaking the larger group into subgroups.
Groupthink can be eliminated or diminished by:
A) promoting open inquiry.
B) holding second-chance meetings.
C) admitting shortcomings.
all of the above
When people in an organization make decisions in order to make themselves look good, the organizational barrier of ________ is interfering with rational decision-making.
political facesaving
The ________ of decision-making seeks to maximize profits by searching systematically for the optimum solution to a problem.
rational-economic model.
The decision-making model that simply considers alternatives as they appear and accepts the first alternative that meets the criteriafor acceptability is the:
administrative model.
________ is an organizational impediment to decision-making where moral and ethical limitations impact the decision.
Bounded discretion
_______ are made by selecting the first minimally acceptable alternative as it becomes available.
Satisficing decisions
According to image theory, decision-making is:
an automatic, intuitive process.
According to image theory, the decision to adopt a course of action is based on a two-step process, known as the:
compatibility test and the profitability test.
________ refers to the making decisions differently, depending on how the problem is presented.
Framing
If you want to frame a decision in such a way as to increase the likelihood that people will be more willing to take risks, you should:
frame the problem in terms of the potential losses to be suffered.
Henrietta thinks that the dip in stock prices is a good sign she should buy because her broker describes the dip as an opportunity rather than as a downturn. Henrietta's behavior is an example of:
attribute framing.
Orin is trying to persuade his date to go see the latest action movie. He has decided that what he needs to do is emphasize what she will miss, how hurt he will be, and that he will go anyway but with his other friends, something she doesn't want him to do. Orin has framed the issue in terms of:
goals
The ________ describes how decision makers ideally ought to behave so as to make the best possible decisions.
normative approach
________ are simple rules of thumb used to help make quick decisions about complex problems.
Heuristics
The tendency for people to base their judgments on information that is readily available to them, although it might not be accurate, is called:
the availability heuristic.
Which of the following describes the tendency for people to perceive others in stereotypical ways if they appear representative of the category to which they belong?
The representativeness heuristic
Research shows that individuals will often ________ early in the decision process and then not seriously consider other options.
choose an implicit favorite
Suppose you recommend hiring a certain individual for a new job in your department, and on the strength of your recommendation, she gets the job. As time goes on, the new hire proves to be a poor employee. Some of your colleagues even recommend dismissing her. However, because you were the person who recommended hiring her, you stand by your recommendation and argue that she should be given more time to prove herself on the job. Your behavior reflects the phenomenon of:
escalating commitment.
Escalation of commitment is unlikely when:
A) funds for further investing are limited.
B) the threat of failure is overwhelming.
C) responsibility for earlier failures is diffused.
all of these have happened, or are happening.
________ is the tendency for people to give too little credit to others when things are going poorly and too much credit when things are going well.
Person sensitivity bias
Research of group versus individual decision-making seems suggests that
the superiority of group or individual decision-making depends on the nature of the task.
A group is more effective than an individual at problem solving when the ________.
group is heterogeneous with complementary skills.
The superiority of the group or an individual depends on:
the nature of the task and the expertise of the people involved
If a decision is required on a simple problem and the answer is readily verifiable, ________.
an expert working alone may do better than a group
Individuals perform better than groups on:
poorly structured, creative tasks.
Effective brainstorming requires:
the sharing of all ideas, even far-out suggestions.
Research on brainstorming shows:
that people feel inhibited by the presence of others when sharing far-out ideas.
If a group seeks answers too quickly in a sense of desperation, they are guilty of:
hypervigilance.
________ occurs when decision makers stick to the first idea that comes to mind without adequately evaluating it consequences.
Unconflicted adherence
The process of using the consensus of expert judges collected by letter or e-mail to make decisions is known as:
the Delphi technique
The first step in the use of the Delphi technique is:
enlisting the cooperation of the experts.
The Delphi technique has the advantage of:
reducing costs while accessing expertise.
The method of systematically presenting and discussing ideas before voting on them in face-to-face groups is known as:
the nominal group technique.
A limitation of the nominal group technique is that:
it requires a trained facilitator.
The nominal and Delphi techniques suffer from a similar drawback:
the acceptance of the decision that is made.
The stepladder technique has the advantage of:
minimizing nonparticipation.
Brian, Chen, Adrienne, Sandra, and Jill are working on a company problem. Jill is deeply concerned for the company and how the solution will affect the personal development of employees. She is open to the others' suggestions and will tend to make her decision in the meeting. On the other hand, Brian wants a simple, clear, quick solution. He only gathers the minimum necessary information and tends to rest on rules or precedent to make his decision. Adrienne has just retired from a successful 20-year career in the Army as a logistics officer.In contrast to Brian, Chen enjoys the problem-solving process. He wants to look at a complex solution because he wants the best possible solution. Sandra is the facilitator of the group. She reminds the group to think of the solution's impact on the employees. Sandra has a strong future orientation and enjoys her role as facilitator because it allows her to initiate new ideas.

Brian's decision style is:
directive
Brian, Chen, Adrienne, Sandra, and Jill are working on a company problem. Jill is deeply concerned for the company and how the solution will affect the personal development of employees. She is open to the others' suggestions and will tend to make her decision in the meeting. On the other hand, Brian wants a simple, clear, quick solution. He only gathers the minimum necessary information and tends to rest on rules or precedent to make his decision. Adrienne has just retired from a successful 20-year career in the Army as a logistics officer.In contrast to Brian, Chen enjoys the problem-solving process. He wants to look at a complex solution because he wants the best possible solution. Sandra is the facilitator of the group. She reminds the group to think of the solution's impact on the employees. Sandra has a strong future orientation and enjoys her role as facilitator because it allows her to initiate new ideas.

Chen has a ________ decision style.
analytical
Brian, Chen, Adrienne, Sandra, and Jill are working on a company problem. Jill is deeply concerned for the company and how the solution will affect the personal development of employees. She is open to the others' suggestions and will tend to make her decision in the meeting. On the other hand, Brian wants a simple, clear, quick solution. He only gathers the minimum necessary information and tends to rest on rules or precedent to make his decision. Adrienne has just retired from a successful 20-year career in the Army as a logistics officer.In contrast to Brian, Chen enjoys the problem-solving process. He wants to look at a complex solution because he wants the best possible solution. Sandra is the facilitator of the group. She reminds the group to think of the solution's impact on the employees. Sandra has a strong future orientation and enjoys her role as facilitator because it allows her to initiate new ideas.

If Adrienne follows the norms discovered in decision style research, her style is most likely to be:
conceptual
Brian, Chen, Adrienne, Sandra, and Jill are working on a company problem. Jill is deeply concerned for the company and how the solution will affect the personal development of employees. She is open to the others' suggestions and will tend to make her decision in the meeting. On the other hand, Brian wants a simple, clear, quick solution. He only gathers the minimum necessary information and tends to rest on rules or precedent to make his decision. Adrienne has just retired from a successful 20-year career in the Army as a logistics officer.In contrast to Brian, Chen enjoys the problem-solving process. He wants to look at a complex solution because he wants the best possible solution. Sandra is the facilitator of the group. She reminds the group to think of the solution's impact on the employees. Sandra has a strong future orientation and enjoys her role as facilitator because it allows her to initiate new ideas.

Jill's decision-making style is apparently:
behavioral
Decision makers have a number of options available to them as to how to categorize and make decisions. Ray selected his job because he thought it simply felt like the right place to work. The organization and job seemed to fit his values and career goals. When the secretary that reports to Ray in his new job decides that she needs office supplies, she calls up central purchasing and places an order. But in order to get the new computer software she wants for her job, she has to get Ray to sign off on the purchase. After six months on the job Ray concludes that he needs an assistant. He writes up the job description, receives permission to recruit for the position. He receives about 150 resumes in the mail. He sets up interviews with the top 10 candidates. As he is interviewing candidate number four, he decides he meets all the criteria and offers him the job, which he accepts.

The secretary's decision-making process for buying office supplies is an example of:
a programmed decision.
Decision makers have a number of options available to them as to how to categorize and make decisions. Ray selected his job because he thought it simply felt like the right place to work. The organization and job seemed to fit his values and career goals. When the secretary that reports to Ray in his new job decides that she needs office supplies, she calls up central purchasing and places an order. But in order to get the new computer software she wants for her job, she has to get Ray to sign off on the purchase. After six months on the job Ray concludes that he needs an assistant. He writes up the job description, receives permission to recruit for the position. He receives about 150 resumes in the mail. He sets up interviews with the top 10 candidates. As he is interviewing candidate number four, he decides he meets all the criteria and offers him the job, which he accepts.

The decision-making model Ray seems to be using in his recruiting/hiring efforts is the:
administrative model.
Decision makers have a number of options available to them as to how to categorize and make decisions. Ray selected his job because he thought it simply felt like the right place to work. The organization and job seemed to fit his values and career goals. When the secretary that reports to Ray in his new job decides that she needs office supplies, she calls up central purchasing and places an order. But in order to get the new computer software she wants for her job, she has to get Ray to sign off on the purchase. After six months on the job Ray concludes that he needs an assistant. He writes up the job description, receives permission to recruit for the position. He receives about 150 resumes in the mail. He sets up interviews with the top 10 candidates. As he is interviewing candidate number four, he decides he meets all the criteria and offers him the job, which he accepts.

Ray's decision-making process about his job seems to fit which of the following descriptions the best?
This is an example of the image theory model.
Nancy recently tried to talk her executive management team into moving into international markets. She emphasizes the positive opportunities that were possible, but her supervisors turn her idea down because they fear the risks involved. They preferred expanding existing markets to entering new markets. Nancy reviews the meeting with her supervisor later to see how she could improve it. Her supervisor says that she didn't provide sufficient information prior to the meeting and several of the executives were drawing on information currently on their desks, showing the international market was a dangerous place to be, rather than the exciting opportunity Nancy tried to present. Gail, Nancy's friend, suggested at lunch that the 'old-boys' network was functioning, and she was turned down because they weren't going to let some pushy woman tell them what they should be doing. About four months after the presentation, the executive management team meets again to decide about the investment of capital and effort. Existing markets are drying up, and if the company doesn't move into new markets, especially internationally, it may well fail. Obsolescence of the product line and the growth of competition is destroying their market share and profitability. However, the management team decides to invest more money and effort into existing markets and to let the international idea sit.

The turn down by Nancy's bosses is an example of:
framing effects.
Nancy recently tried to talk her executive management team into moving into international markets. She emphasizes the positive opportunities that were possible, but her supervisors turn her idea down because they fear the risks involved. They preferred expanding existing markets to entering new markets. Nancy reviews the meeting with her supervisor later to see how she could improve it. Her supervisor says that she didn't provide sufficient information prior to the meeting and several of the executives were drawing on information currently on their desks, showing the international market was a dangerous place to be, rather than the exciting opportunity Nancy tried to present. Gail, Nancy's friend, suggested at lunch that the 'old-boys' network was functioning, and she was turned down because they weren't going to let some pushy woman tell them what they should be doing. About four months after the presentation, the executive management team meets again to decide about the investment of capital and effort. Existing markets are drying up, and if the company doesn't move into new markets, especially internationally, it may well fail. Obsolescence of the product line and the growth of competition is destroying their market share and profitability. However, the management team decides to invest more money and effort into existing markets and to let the international idea sit.

Nancy's immediate boss's explanation for the turndown is related to:
an availability heuristic.
Nancy recently tried to talk her executive management team into moving into international markets. She emphasizes the positive opportunities that were possible, but her supervisors turn her idea down because they fear the risks involved. They preferred expanding existing markets to entering new markets. Nancy reviews the meeting with her supervisor later to see how she could improve it. Her supervisor says that she didn't provide sufficient information prior to the meeting and several of the executives were drawing on information currently on their desks, showing the international market was a dangerous place to be, rather than the exciting opportunity Nancy tried to present. Gail, Nancy's friend, suggested at lunch that the 'old-boys' network was functioning, and she was turned down because they weren't going to let some pushy woman tell them what they should be doing. About four months after the presentation, the executive management team meets again to decide about the investment of capital and effort. Existing markets are drying up, and if the company doesn't move into new markets, especially internationally, it may well fail. Obsolescence of the product line and the growth of competition is destroying their market share and profitability. However, the management team decides to invest more money and effort into existing markets and to let the international idea sit.

Gail's explanation of the failure of the presentation relates it to:
a representativeness heuristic.
Nancy recently tried to talk her executive management team into moving into international markets. She emphasizes the positive opportunities that were possible, but her supervisors turn her idea down because they fear the risks involved. They preferred expanding existing markets to entering new markets. Nancy reviews the meeting with her supervisor later to see how she could improve it. Her supervisor says that she didn't provide sufficient information prior to the meeting and several of the executives were drawing on information currently on their desks, showing the international market was a dangerous place to be, rather than the exciting opportunity Nancy tried to present. Gail, Nancy's friend, suggested at lunch that the 'old-boys' network was functioning, and she was turned down because they weren't going to let some pushy woman tell them what they should be doing. About four months after the presentation, the executive management team meets again to decide about the investment of capital and effort. Existing markets are drying up, and if the company doesn't move into new markets, especially internationally, it may well fail. Obsolescence of the product line and the growth of competition is destroying their market share and profitability. However, the management team decides to invest more money and effort into existing markets and to let the international idea sit.

How could the management team's decision to continue to invest in existing markets be explained?
This is an example of the escalation of commitment
B.F.E., Inc. has to assign several problems to different groups. In the first case, the group consists of a number of experts who have offices across the country and have difficulty getting together. The problem they are working on is a problem that needs to be solved over the next six to nine months. In the second case, management is concerned that people might be intimidated by their leaders. The team is located in the same building as the corporate headquarters. Genuine consensus is important, and a trained facilitator is available to lead the group. In the third and final situation, management has observed that the people selected to participate seem hesitant to do so. Plus, the lengthy nature of the work to be done means new people will need to be added to the group periodically. Time is not an issue.

________ would be the best approach to problem solving in the first case.
The Delphi technique
B.F.E., Inc. has to assign several problems to different groups. In the first case, the group consists of a number of experts who have offices across the country and have difficulty getting together. The problem they are working on is a problem that needs to be solved over the next six to nine months. In the second case, management is concerned that people might be intimidated by their leaders. The team is located in the same building as the corporate headquarters. Genuine consensus is important, and a trained facilitator is available to lead the group. In the third and final situation, management has observed that the people selected to participate seem hesitant to do so. Plus, the lengthy nature of the work to be done means new people will need to be added to the group periodically. Time is not an issue.

The best problem solving approach for the second case would be:
nominal group technique.
B.F.E., Inc. has to assign several problems to different groups. In the first case, the group consists of a number of experts who have offices across the country and have difficulty getting together. The problem they are working on is a problem that needs to be solved over the next six to nine months. In the second case, management is concerned that people might be intimidated by their leaders. The team is located in the same building as the corporate headquarters. Genuine consensus is important, and a trained facilitator is available to lead the group. In the third and final situation, management has observed that the people selected to participate seem hesitant to do so. Plus, the lengthy nature of the work to be done means new people will need to be added to the group periodically. Time is not an issue.

The best problem-solving technique in the third situation would be:
the stepladder technique.
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