Chapter 6

Question 1

Group decision-making rules

Answer 1

Teams need a method by which to combine individuals decisions yields a group decision

Objectives of rules

• to find the alternative that the greatest # of members prefer
• to find the alternative that the fewest members object
• select the choice that maximizes team welfare

Question 2

Groupthink

Answer 2

Occurs when team members place decision consensus above all other decision priorities (NASA space shuttle example)

Question 3

Escalation of commitment

Answer 3

Under some conditions, teams, will persist with a losing course of action, even in the face of clear evidence to the contrary

Question 4

Abilene paradox

Answer 4

A form of pluralistic ignorance in which group members adopt a position because they feel other members desire it; team members don’t challenge one another because they want to avoid conflict or achieve consensus

Question 5

Group polarization

Answer 5

The tendency for group discussion to intensify group opinion, thus producing more extreme judgements that might be obtained by pooling individuals views separately

Question 6

Unethical decision making

Answer 6

certain conditions may act as enabling conditions for unethical behavior:

• rational expectations model
• false consensus
• vicarious licensing
• desensitization

Question 7

Rational Expectations model

Answer 7

People’s own motives are to maximize their own utility and self-interest

Question 8

False consensus

Answer 8

tendency for people to believe that others share their own views, when in fact they do not

Question 9

Vicarious Licensing

Answer 9

People are more likely to express prejudiced and immoral attitudes when their group members’ past behavior has established non-prejudiced credentials

Question 10

Desensitization

Answer 10

Diminished emotional responsiveness to a negative or aversive stimulus after repeated exposure to it

Question 11

Creative realism

Answer 11

These ideas are highly imaginative and highly connected to current structures and ideas

Question 12

Measuring creativity

Answer 12

Fluency: how many ideas a person generates
Flexibility: How many types of ideas a person generates
Originality: the ability to generate unusual solutions and unique answers to problems

Question 13

Convergent thinking

Answer 13

• thinking that proceeds towards single answer
• ideas evaluated to their feasibility & practicality

Question 14

Divergent thinking

Answer 14

• thinking that moves outwards from the problem in many directions without boundaries

Question 15

4 rules of brainstorming

Answer 15

Express any idea

Criticism is ruled out

Generate a high quantity of ideas

Modify & extend the ideas