Chapter 3: Managerial Decision Making

Question 1

Affective Conflict

Answer 1

Emotional disagreement directed towards other people

Question 2

Bounded Rationality

Answer 2

A less-than-perfect form of rationality in which decision makers cannot be perfectly rational because decisions are complex and complete information is unavailable or cannot be fully processed

Question 3

Brainstorming

Answer 3

A process in which group members generate as many ideas about a problem as they can; criticism is withheld until all ideas have been proposed

Question 4

Certainty

Answer 4

The state that exists when decision makers have accurate and comprehensive information

Question 5

Coalition Model

Answer 5

Model of organizational decision making in which groups with differing preferences use power and negotiation to influence decisions

Question 6

Cognitive Conflict

Answer 6

Issue-based differences in perspectives or judgments

Question 7

Conflict

Answer 7

Opposing pressures from different sources, occurring on the level of psychological conflict or of conflict between individuals or groups

Question 8

Contingency Plans

Answer 8

Alternative courses of action that can be implemented based on how the future unfolds

Question 9

Custom-made Solutions

Answer 9

New, creative solutions designed specifically for the problem

Question 10

Devil’s Advocate

Answer 10

A person who has the job of criticizing ideas to ensure that their downsides are fully explored

Question 11

Dialectic

Answer 11

A structured debate comparing two conflicting courses of action

Question 12

Discounting the Future

Answer 12

A bias weighting short-term costs more heavily than longer-term costs and benefits

Question 13

Framing Effects

Answer 13

A decision bias influenced by the way in which a problem or decision alternative is phrased or presented

Question 14

Garbage Can Model

Answer 14

Model of organizational decision making depicting a chaotic process and seemingly random decisions

Question 15

Goal Displacement

Answer 15

A condition that occurs when a decision-making group loses sight of its original goal and a new, less important goal emerges

Question 16

Groupthink

Answer 16

A phenomenon that occurs in decision making when group members avoid disagreement as they strive for consensus

Question 17

Illusion of Control

Answer 17

People’s belief that they can influence events, even when they have no control over what will happen

Question 18

Incremental Model

Answer 18

Model of organizational decision making in which major solutions arise through a series of smaller decisions

Question 19

Maximizing

Answer 19

A decision realizing the best possible outcome

Question 20

Nonprogrammed Decisions

Answer 20

New, novel, complex decisions having no proven answers

Question 21

Optimizing

Answer 21

Achieving the best possible balance among several goals

Question 22

Programmed Decisions

Answer 22

Decisions encountered and made before, having objectively correct answers, and solvable by using simple rules, policies, or numerical computations

Question 23

Ready-made Solutions

Answer 23

Ideas that have been seen or tried before

Question 24

Risk

Answer 24

The state that exists when the probability of success is less than 100 percent and losses may occur

Question 25

Satisficing

Answer 25

Choosing an option that is acceptable, although not necessarily the best or perfect

Question 26

Uncertainty

Answer 26

The state that exists when decision makers have insufficient information

Question 27

Vigilance

Answer 27

A process in which a decision maker carefully executes all stages of decision making