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

When people seek information to support their point of view and discount data that do not,they are subject to ______ bias.For example,Joe uses the fact that his commute is now shorter to confirm his belief that there are fewer cars on the road.However,Joe is not accounting for the fact that he recently took over the graveyard shift,and that traffic is always lighter at night and in the wee hours of the morning.

Female investors make trades much less often than men because they

A person's ________ reflects the combination of how he or she perceives and responds to information.

A decision tree,which is the hierarchy or chain of command used by many organizations when discussing alternatives,must be followed when getting decisions approved.

Republic advertisements about Representative Joe Smith,the Democratic candidate,portray him as lazy,dishonest,and poor at his job.At the same time,the Democratic ads for Joe Smith describe him as a caring,honest,hard worker.The sponsors of these advertisements know that ads can affect whom voters choose on Election Day.The tendency of decision makers (the voters in this example)to be influenced by how a situation or problem is presented to them is an example of

When Marcos,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 salesperson.By using this method he is not affected by the ______ bias.

Last year,Eduardo's home of 50 years,which contained so many family,school,and career memories,was destroyed in a fire.It is normal for this event to have a negative impact on his life and decision-making abilities for at least three years.

Availability bias-using only the information easily available.For example,because of the efforts of interest groups or celebrities,more news coverage may be given to AIDS or to breast cancer than to heart disease,leading people to think the former are the bigger killers when in fact the latter is.

Sunk-cost bias-money already spent seems to justify continuing.The sunk-cost bias is sometimes called the "Concorde" effect,referring to the fact that the French and British governments continued to invest in the Concorde supersonic jetliner even when it was evident there was no economic justification for the aircraft.

In regard to decision making,which of the following statements reflects what research has found?

George,Donna,and Maria are on the five-member Benefits Task Force that is researching options for the new benefits package.Over lunch,George suggests that going with the Members' Choice HMO is the best course of action,and Donna and Maria agree with George for the sake of unanimity,without ever researching and accurately assessing the decision.George,Donna,and Maria are engaged in

A decision tree is

____ is a technique used to help groups generate multiple ideas and alternatives for solving problems.

With the community interested in eating healthy,Sue Ellen,a restaurant owner,is considering adding more vegetarian dishes to her menu.This decision is uncertain and risky,and she finally decides to go with her gut feelings.Sue Ellen is exhibiting

Define and describe analytics.Give an example of an organization using analytics and how they are using it.

Escalation of commitment bias-increasing commitment to a project despite negative feedback about it.A website called Swoopo.com capitalizes on this bias by offering a penny auction in which,say,a $1,500 laptop is offered for bidding starting at a penny and going up one cent at a time,but it costs bidders 60 cents to make a bid."Once people are trapped into playing," suggests one account about this form of bias,"they have a hard time stopping."

Define the concept of deciding to decide.Explain the three criteria you should use to determine whether you should "decide to decide."

_____ causes people to view events as being more predictable than they really are.

Jorge,a restaurant manager,has to make a decision about firing a server who has had customer service issues.Discuss how Jorge can use the steps of rational decision making to address the issue.Be sure to specifically outline how you would implement the solution.

Chad and his partner,John,have decided to update their computer network,although they have no expertise in this area.During a meeting with John,Chad commented that "Our decision is limited by numerous constraints,such as our understanding of the complexity of technology,time and money,imperfect information,and our conflicting goals." These limitations are hindrances to