Exam 4: Foundations of Decision Making

Suppose that you need a math elective to take in order to graduate. There are five different courses you could take. You call one friend and, on the basis of her terrific experience in one course, you choose that one. What would Herbert Simon call what you have just done?

Herbert Simon found that decision makers will often focus on easy- to- find choices- ones that tend to be highly visible.

Explain the group decision- making techniques of brainstorming, nominal group technique, and electronic meetings.

Diagram and discuss the four decision- making styles based upon the dimensions of tolerance for ambiguity and way of thinking. See Exhibit 4- 9 for diagram.

A rational decision maker makes consistent, value- maximizing choices within specified constraints.

Next year will be the first time that a certain regional manufacturing chemical manufacturing company will close one of their plants in Baton Rouge. The type of decisions in this situation that will be encountered by its upper levels of management are called _________decisions.

Ivan spoke out in a meeting in favor of a potential cost savings that would result from a new employee benefits program offered by the company. He later received information that showed that his initial decision about the cost savings was incorrect, but he was too embarrassed to publicly admit he was wrong, so he is sticking by his original statement. Ivan is experiencing

_________occurs when a manager purchases stock in a company and refuses to sell it even after it has dropped 40 percent in value over the past 6 months.

Which of the following is not an assumption of the rational decision- making model?

Describe advantages and disadvantage of groups compared to individuals when making decisions.

When a manager engages in behaviors that speed up the decision- making process in order to avoid information overload, he is engaging in judgmental shortcuts or

A problem is a discrepancy or conflict between an existing and a desired state of affairs.

Application of Decision- Making Styles Jeremy has noticed that the people within his organization make decisions in very different ways. Jackie is rational and has a low tolerance for ambiguity. She is efficient and generally makes decisions that are applicable to the short term. Andy tends to be very broad in his outlook and looks at many alternatives before making a decision. He generally focuses on the long term. Alexandra thinks intuitively and works well with others. She is open to suggestions and concerned about her coworkers. Jeremy himself wants to have complete information before making a decision and always carefully considers many alternatives. -The directive style of decision making is used by

In the decision- making process known as bounded rationality,

The decision maker evaluates each alternative by appraising it against the criteria.

During the identification of alternatives step in the decision- making process, the strengths and weaknesses of each alternative are evaluated.

The manager who mistakenly solves the wrong problem perfectly is as likely to perform just as poorly as the manager who fails to identify the right problem and does nothing.

_________ is not one of the eight steps in the decision making process.

In an effort to demonstrate that an initial decision was not wrong, instead of searching for new alternatives, managers engage in which of the following?

_________is the final step in the decision- making process.