Week 5

Question 1

what is a decision?

Answer 1

a commitment to a course of action that is taken to achieve a desired goal (Yates, 2003)

Question 2

what are the four phases to a decision?

Answer 2

1. situation assessment
2. option generation
3. option evaluation
4. implementation

Question 3

what is indecision?

Answer 3

a pattern of behaviour in which individuals seek to avoid the responsibility of making a decision by delaying or choosing options they perceive to be non-decisions (Anderson, 2003)
- future thinking is also key to indecision

Question 4

what three factors drives decision avoidance?

Answer 4

1. selection difficulty
2. anticipated regret
3. anticipated blame -> eg when you travelling, something goes wrong so potential of people blaming you

Question 5

what are Anderson (2003) four types of decision avoidance?

Answer 5

1. Choice deferral (I’ll put this off until later)
2. Status quo bias (I’ll just copy what others do)
3. Omission bias (I’ll just do nothing)
4. Inaction inertia (I’ve missed a previous better opportunity, so I’ll wait until another one comes along)

Question 6

what are Salmon et al (2011) seven identified barriers to effective coordination?

Answer 6

1. organisational problems eg ambiguous command structure
2. poor info management
3. inefficient communications
4. inadequate situation awareness
5. insufficient equipment
6. poor understanding of cultural differences
7. limited interagency training exposure

Question 7

what is endogenous uncertainty?

Answer 7

uncertainty relevant to the problem itself eg too little or too much info, time pressure

Question 8

what is exogenous uncertainty?

Answer 8

uncertainty relevant to the operating system that is responding to the problem eg poor trust, ineffective communications

Question 9

what does Anderson (2003) say about decision avoidance and indecision?

Answer 9

claims that decision avoidance is key to indecision, and it can manifest as choice deferral, status quo bias, omission bias and inaction inertia

Question 10

what is decision inertia?

Answer 10

a process of redundant deliberation over a choice for no gain (Power and Alison, 2019)
- usually occurs in scenarios where there’s negative consequences for inaction

Question 11

what is the 1st of the 5 factors that can contribute to decision inertia (Alison and Power, 2019)?

Answer 11

1. draw on Ellsberg (1961) who says that decision inertia will increase when information about the decision problem is ambiguous,
   - they state that this can occur when there is too little or too much info for one to process (drawing on Bharosa et al 2010)
   - they draw on (Klein, snowdon and Pin, 2007) who found that ambiguity derails choice as it reduces the decision makers confidence in their ability to correctly make sense of the situation and model future situations

Question 12

what is the 2nd of the 5 factors that can contribute to decision inertia (Alison and Power, 2019)?

Answer 12

2. decision inertia will increase when there is social or team uncertainty,
   - when working with members who aren’t liked, people can anticipate more regret for making the wrong choice (drawing on Kumar, 2004) which increases redundant deliberation so that they can avoid regret

Question 13

what is the 3rd of the 5 factors that can contribute to decision inertia (Alison and Power, 2019)?

Answer 13

3. goals are key for decision makers to motivate behaviour (Locke and Latham, 1990), however, vague goals can cause uncertainty and so affect behaviour as goals can be vague when there are many of them.
   - decision inertia will increase when managing conflicting goals

Question 14

what is the 4th of the 5 factors that can contribute to decision inertia (Alison and Power, 2019)?

Answer 14

4. decision inertia will increase in those who are less experienced in the choice context
   - drawing on (Bond and Nolan, 2011) the more experienced an individual is, the less likely are they to see risk or experience negative emotions with choice
   - having the confidence to make decisions despite incomplete information and high potential for negative outcomes is key for overcoming redundant deliberation.

Question 15

what is the last of the 5 factors that can contribute to decision inertia (Alison and Power, 2019)?

Answer 15

5. individual differences in ‘decisiveness’ traits will predict likelihood of decision inertia
   - draw on (brooks, 2011) who states that certain people’s process traits can impact they way they process decisions
   - Drawing on (Roskes et al, 2013) those personalities that are linked to indecision, can be described as showing poor cognitive flexibility as they can’t change to the demands of the environment and instead stay engaged with deliberation that aligns with their values
   = those who are indecisive show increased decision inertia

Question 16

how can you reduce decision inertia?

Answer 16

1. awareness training on decision inertia (like cognitive bias training)
2. shift in focus from making ‘best’ decision to the ‘least worst’ decision
3. simulation-based training to expose decision makers to wicked problems, building experience in a psychologically safe environment.

Question 17

What does Anderson (2003) say selection difficulty is?

Answer 17

its experienced when people find it hard to choose a course of action, but it can happen in the absence of uncertain preferences or negative emotion
- he states that increases in selection difficulty leads to increases in decision avoidant options

Question 18

what does Anderson (2003) say about anticipated regret?

Answer 18

• states that people try to reduce regret resulting from decisions and that choosing avoidant options is the common to avoid regret
• a higher level of anticipated regret resulting from choosing from different options, encourages a search for the option that minimises regret – in which status quo choices, omission choices and choice deferral are key contenders for selection when anticipated regret is under consideration.

Question 19

how do status quo and omission relate to anticipated regret according to Anderson (2003)?

Answer 19

• status quo selection reduces regret as it provides a differing way to justify a choice, when choices are seen as more reasonable
• omission functions like a response to anticipated regret

Question 20

how does anticipated blame lead to indecision according to Anderson (2003)?

Answer 20

• if individuals are aware that people relate less responsibility to omissions, they are then biased towards them, not out consideration of their own regret but to avoid the blame of others for a bad outcome.
• therefore this offers protection from backlash for the decision maker, as although decision makers may not consider their own potential regrets as a variable, the potential blame from when others judge their decisions gives them a reason to avoid decisions

Question 21

how does Anderson (2003) describe choice deferral of decision avoidance?

Answer 21

• choice deferral is where individuals choose not too choose an option at a moment in time for reasons such as waiting for a better alternative or avoiding responsibility
• ## degree of conflict influences choice deferral, when conflict is higher it increases the need to search for another option

Question 22

how does Anderson (2003) describe status quo bias of decision avoidance?

Answer 22

• he draws on Ritov and Baron, 1990 who state that humans have a tendency to prefer options that cause no changes to their normal or status quo and/or require no action on their part ie omission
• the status quo bias is a decision makers increased preference for the current affairs

Question 23

how does Anderson (2003) describe omission bias of decision avoidance?

Answer 23

• omission bias is an increased preference for options that don’t require action
• Anderson (2003) draws on Ritov and Baron (1992) who claimed that status quo bias is an extension of omission bias. they found that when individuals where given option that related to inaction or unchanging circumstances, people preferred the one that needed no action irrespective of whether it changed the status quo

Question 24

how does Anderson (2003) describe inaction inertia of decision avoidance?

Answer 24

• inaction inertia is the need for a person to omit action when they have already passed up a similar, more likeable opportunity to act

Question 25

how does Anderson (2003) describe cognitive dissonance and self-perception theories in relation to inaction inertia?

Answer 25

he states according to these theories, decision makers need to uphold a certain image of themselves means they must be able to explain certain events. In the instance of inaction inertia, it may require people to feel the need to explain why they failed to act on the initial opportunity. To do this, individuals might have to devalue the goal/offer in question or decide they shouldn’t like it, which leads to them doing the same when a similar opportunity to achieve the same goal presents itself.

Question 26

how does Anderson (2003) conclude decision avoidance?

Answer 26

people may choose decision avoidance as the costs of alternative options outweigh the benefits of not acting, they want to maintain status quo or to prolong the choice
- high levels of anticipated regret also provide individuals a way to justify escaping choosing an option or by prolonging the decision to avoid responsibility
- selection difficulty also leads to decision avoidance as when its not clear which option meets their needs, one can anticipate regret if their choice isn’t met or by choosing an avoidant option.