Exam 7: Individual and Group Decision Making: How Managers Make Things Happen

Ace Manufacturing has high turnover continually due to issues with the corporate office.Paul,the plant manager,is frustrated and cannot find a solution to stop it.At first he offered raises to many of the good employees who were leaving,but after a while,Paul started blaming those who were leaving,saying,"they are poor-quality employees and they are to blame for leaving." Paul is engaged in ____.

Roberta,the HR manager,is considering if she should use a group to develop a plan to improve on the present diversity plan.The goal is to increase the diversity of their workforce.Summarize the advantages and disadvantages of using group decision making in this situation.

When evaluating the alternatives of a decision,people need to base decisions strictly on cost,quality and feasibility.

In the political ads for Representative Joe Smith,the Democratic candidate,he is portrayed by the Republican-sponsored ads as being dishonest and poor at his job.Yet,the ads for Joe Smith,which are paid for by the Democratic supporters,describe him as being caring,honest,and a hard worker.The sponsors of these advertisements know that ads can affect whom voters choose on Election Day.This tendency of decision makers,the voters in this case,to be influenced by how a situation or problem is presented to them is known as ____.

When faced with a decision,Myles asks himself "Why not just take the easiest way out?" This approach is known as relaxed change,and is a form of evidence-based decision making.

The larger and more diverse the group,the higher the quality of the decision.

The rational model of decision making explains how managers should make decisions.

Sal has been in the landscaping business for over 40 years,and when Donovan,his business partner,suggested adding snow removal as an extra service,Sal responded with "My gut feeling is to say yes because of my experience in the past and what I have seen other companies do over the years,both successfully and not." Sal's response to Donovan is known as _____.

Sam is the production manager of a busy shoe factory.He was chosen because prior to his promotion he had proven himself to be very efficient,and as a department manager he had a logical and practical approach to solving problems.Sam has a reputation for being decisive and getting things done.Most of the employees like Sam,but they feel his style is autocratic,as he likes to do things by the book.Sam represents a person with a(n)______ style.

Leon is an investment portfolio manager.While sitting in a training workshop,the facilitator mentioned that "your female investors make trades much less often than men because they ____."

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

Doug is using rational decision making,and the chosen alternative that was implemented does not appear to be working.To correct the situation,the possibilities Doug should consider _____.

The steps in the rational decision-making process are (1)identify the problem or opportunity, (2)think up alternative solutions, (3)evaluate the solution chosen, (4)evaluate alternatives and select a solution,and (5)implement the solution chosen.

When Dave,the sales manager,is deciding on who will train the new sales trainee,he tries not to look at just the recent sales numbers but also checks past sales reports to determine who is the most productive.This way he is not affected by the ______ bias.

Satisficing is the tendency of ____.

Susanne,the CEO of national IT manufacturer,was approached by Simple Phones,a new company that is marketing a new type of phone,to partner with the company on a project.The partnership is uncertain since the company and technology are new.Susanne is uncertain what to do because she is limited by numerous constraints,such as the uncertainty and complexity of the technology,the management success of Simple Phones,and time,since other companies are interested in the partnership.This is an example of _____.

David,the IT department chair at a community college,has been having problems with his students not coming to class,so their grades are suffering.If David were to use defensive avoidance to respond to this situation,he could respond with procrastinating,passing the buck,or denying the risk of any negative consequences.

A benefit of the intuition model for making decisions is that it can slow decisions,which is useful when decisions involve many details.

Gretchen,the office manager in a small company,was told by her boss to start shopping for a new office copier,in addition to her many other duties.Although she spent some time shopping for the copier,she was limited by the lack of time,how much she has to spend,and the complexity of choices to select from.This is an example of an individual limited by bounded rationality.

Going with your gut,or intuition,is using conscious thoughts or logical inference to make a choice.