Chapter 7: Individual and Group Decision Making

Question 1

Decision

Answer 1

A choice made from among available alternatives

Question 2

Decision making

Answer 2

The process of identifying and choosing alternative courses of action

Question 3

Rational model of decision making

Answer 3

Also called the classical model; the style of decision making that explains how managers should make decisions; it assumes that managers will make logical decisions that are the optimal means of furthering the organization’s best interests

Question 4

Problems

Answer 4

Difficulties that inhabit the achievement of goals

Question 5

Opportunities

Answer 5

Situations that present possibilities for exceeding existing goals

Question 6

Diagnosis

Answer 6

Analyzing the underlying causes

Question 7

Nonrational models of decision making

Answer 7

Models of decision-making style that explain how managers make decisions; they assume that decision making is nearly always uncertain and risky, making it difficult for managers to make optimum

Question 8

Bounded rationality

Answer 8

One type of nonrational decision making; the ability of decision makers to be rational is limited by numerous constraints

Question 9

Hubris

Answer 9

Extreme and inflated sense of pride, certainty, and confidence

Question 10

Satisficing model

Answer 10

One type of nonrational decision-making model; managers seek alternatives until they find one that is satisfactory, not optimal

Question 11

Intuition

Answer 11

Making a choice without the use of conscious thought or logical inference

Question 12

Ethics officers

Answer 12

Individuals trained in matters of ethics in the workplace, particularly about resolving ethical dilemmas

Question 13

Decision trees

Answer 13

Graph of decisions and their possible consequences, used to create a plan to reach a goal

Question 14

Data analytics

Answer 14

Process of examining data sets in order to draw conclusions about the information they contain

Question 15

Big data

Answer 15

Stores of data so vast that conventional database management systems cannot handle them

Question 16

Autonomous devices

Answer 16

Collect data from situations to make calculations, define probabilities, and make reason-based ­decisions according to programmed goals

Question 17

Artificial intelligence (AI)

Answer 17

The ability of a computer system to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence

Question 18

Robotic process automation (RPA)

Answer 18

When robots act like a human inputing and extracting information

Question 19

Predictive analytics

Answer 19

Category of data analysis that makes predictions about future outcomes based on historical data and analytics techniques

Question 20

Machine learning

Answer 20

An extension of predictive analytics, occurs when systems or algorithms automatically improve themselves based on data patterns, experiences, and observations

Question 21

Decision-making styles

Answer 21

Styles that reflect the combination of how an individual perceives and responds to information

Question 22

Heuristics

Answer 22

Strategies that simplify the process of making decisions

Question 23

Availability bias

Answer 23

The use of information readily available from memory to make judgments

Question 24

Representative bias

Answer 24

The tendency to generalize from a small sample or a single event

Question 25

Confirmation bias

Answer 25

Biased way of thinking in which people seek information to support their point of view and discount data that do not support it

Question 26

Sunk-cost bias

Answer 26

Way of thinking in which managers add up all the money already spent on a project and conclude it is too costly to simply abandon it; also called the sunk-cost fallacy

Question 27

Anchoring and adjustment bias

Answer 27

The tendency to make decisions based on an initial figure

Question 28

Overconfidence bias

Answer 28

Bias in which people’s subjective confidence in their decision making is greater than their objective accuracy

Question 29

Hindsight bias

Answer 29

The tendency of people to view events as being more predictable than they really are

Question 30

Framing bias

Answer 30

The tendency of decision makers to be influenced by the way a situation or problem is presented to them

Question 31

Escalation of commitment bias

Answer 31

When decision makers increase their commitment to a project despite negative information about it

Question 32

Categorical thinking bias

Answer 32

Tendency of decision makers to classify people or information based on observed or inferred characteristics

Question 33

Sham participation

Answer 33

Occurs when powerless, but useful individuals are selected by leaders to rubber stamp decisions and work hard to implement them

Question 34

Groupthink

Answer 34

A cohesive group’s blind unwillingness to consider alternatives. This occurs when group members strive for agreement among themselves for the sake of unanimity and avoid accurately assessing the decision situation

Question 35

Goal displacement

Answer 35

The primary goal is subsumed to a secondary goal

Question 36

Minority dissent

Answer 36

Dissent that occurs when a minority in a group publicly opposes the beliefs, attitudes, ideas, procedures, or policies assumed by the majority of the group

Question 37

Consensus

Answer 37

General agreement; group solidarity

Question 38

Brainstorming

Answer 38

Technique used to help groups generate multiple ideas and alternatives for solving problems; individuals in a group meet and review a problem to be solved, then silently generate ideas, which are collected and later analyzed

Question 39

Electronic brainstorming

Answer 39

Technique in which members of a group come together over a computer network to generate ideas and alternatives

Question 40

Project post-mortem

Answer 40

A review of recent decisions in order to identify possible future improvements