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

The rational model of decision making is also called the ____ model.

Microsoft studies correlations between its successful workers and the schools and companies they arrived from, an application of business analytics.

The process of studying large amounts of data of a variety of types to uncover hidden patterns, unknown correlations, and other useful information is known as ____.

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.

A data-mining technique used to predict future behavior and anticipate the consequences of change is known as ___.

Says one expert in decision making, consensus is reached "when all members can say they either agree with the decision or had their 'day in court" and were unable to convince the others of their viewpoint. In the final analysis, everyone agrees to support the outcome."

People with a low tolerance for ambiguity and an orientation toward task and technical concerns in making decisions have an analytical decision-making style.

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

Malik and his managers spent a large sum of money on the new training program, and they feel that there has been little improvement as a result of the investment. The training is scheduled to continue for two more months, and Malik feels that with all the money already spent on the project, it is too costly to simply abandon it. This is known as ______.

Doug, the CEO of an auto dealership, has to significantly reduce the hours of many employees due to the high costs from the Affordable Care Act. Doug knows that he is typically successful in implementing the correct alternative in decisions, even with sensitive issues like this, because he carefully plans how he will execute decisions and he is sensitive toward those who are affected. Careful planning and being sensitive typically will result in successful implementation.

The prospect theory suggests that ____.

Satisficing is a weak method of decision making because the advantages gained by just making a quick decision to have an answer and not delaying a decision until all information is in and all alternatives are weighed, usually results in major problems.

Groupthink occurs when group members strive to disagree simply due to issues related to either not believing in the group leader or personal differences.

Orlando, the manager of a camera store, believes that his store may be closed by corporate in the near future, so he cannot sleep well at night and he is dealing with severe anxiety, irritability, and has been ill several times this month. Several times Orlando has missed important details in his job, and he almost got in an automobile accident this morning. Orlando is experiencing ____.

There is usually one best decision-making style that applies to any situation.

With defensive avoidance, a manager can't find a good solution and follows by ____.

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.

The Delphi technique is a group process that uses physically dispersed experts who fill out questionnaires to ____.

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

Olivia, the owner of a small city newspaper, started her business two years ago, believing that there was still enough demand for her product. However, because people are busy and with the availability of news online, she has seen the demand for her paper drop steadily. Olivia made a decision to change the original direction of the company and focus more on an Internet news service. By demonstrating that managers need to think and act as if their company is an unfinished prototype, won't be ruined by new ideas and focusing on facts, Olivia is relying on _____.