Deck 9: Decision-Making and Creativity

Question 1

Examples of programmed decisions include reordering inventory automatically when stock falls below a predetermined level and issuing a written reprimand to someone who violates a specific work rule.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Teams may suffer from lack of participation error in the stage of decision-making where alternative courses of action are identified and analyzed.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Nonprogrammed decisions address routine problems that arise on a regular basis and for which standard solutions have been derived.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Acts of terrorism and workplace violence are examples of crisis decisions.

Question 5

Decisions in organizations are typically made under three different conditions or environments: certainty,jeopardy,and skepticism.

Question 6

Decision-Making is the process of choosing a course of action for dealing with a problem or opportunity.

Question 7

Unfortunately,formal crisis management programs are decreasing in popularity in organizations.

Question 8

Rational Decision-Making is a five-step process that starts with recognition and definition of the problem or opportunity,and ends with evaluation of results and any needed follow-up.

Question 9

The utility question asks if the decision respects the rights and duties of everyone.

Question 10

When a crisis occurs,managers should disregard skeptics as these people foster disagreement and lack of commitment.

Question 11

A moral dilemma is defined as a situation in which a decision-maker faces two or more ethically uncomfortable alternatives.

Question 12

Consideration of the moral problem might change decisions,but seldom would change how the decision is implemented.

Question 13

An example of a nonprogrammed decision is when a senior marketing manager who has to respond to the introduction of a new product by a foreign competitor.

Question 14

Programmed decisions implement solutions that have already been determined by past experience as appropriate for the problem at hand.

Question 15

The justice criteria asks if the decision satisfies all constituents or stakeholders.

Question 16

Nonprogrammed decisions are created to deal uniquely with a problem at hand.

Question 17

Programmed decisions are made as standardized responses to recurring
situations and routine problems.

Question 18

The most extreme type of programmed decision is the crisis decision.

Question 19

Decision-Making choices usually have a moral dimension that might be overlooked.

Question 20

Certain environments exist when information is sufficient to predict the results of each alternative in advance of implementation.

Question 21

Bounded rationality is choosing the first alternative that appears to give an acceptable or satisfactory resolution of the problem.

Question 22

Certainty is the norm in decision situations.

Question 23

Behavioral scientists are cautious about applying classical decision theory to many decision situations because they recognize that human beings have cognitive limitations that restrict their information-processing capabilities.

Question 24

Responses to uncertain environments seldom involve intuition,educated guesses,or hunches.

Question 25

Certainty is a less than ideal condition for managerial problem solving and Decision-Making.

Question 26

Classical decision theory appears to fit very well in today's chaotic world of globalizing high-tech organizations.

Question 27

Classical decision theory models view the manager as acting in a world of complete certainty.

Question 28

In the classical decision model,the problem is not clearly defined,knowledge of possible action alternatives and their consequences is limited,and the manager chooses a satisfactory solution to the problem.

Question 29

Bounded rationality refers to the idea that,while individuals reason well and are logical,they have their limits with respect to interpreting and making sense of things within the context of their personal situations.

Question 30

When dealing with risk environments,probabilities are assigned through objective statistical procedures rather than intuition.

Question 31

Risk environments exist when decision makers lack complete certainty regarding the outcomes of various courses of action,but they are aware of the probabilities associated with their occurrence.

Question 32

Behavioral decision theory models view the manager as acting in a world of complete certainty.

Question 33

Uncertain environments exist when managers have so little information that they cannot even assign probabilities to various alternatives and their possible outcomes.

Question 34

The behavioral decision model allows for an optimizing decision that gives the absolute best solution to the problem.

Question 35

In the behavioral decision model,the manager faces a clearly defined problem,knows all possible action alternatives and their consequences,and then chooses the alternative that offers the optimum solution to the problem.

Question 36

Of the three decision-making environments (certainty,risk,and uncertainty),risk environments are the most difficult for decision makers.

Question 37

Behavioral decision theory models accept the notion of bounded rationality and suggest that people act only in terms of what they perceive about a given situation.

Question 38

Threats to a brand or the firm's reputation are referred to as reputation risks.

Question 39

Risk management focuses on anticipating risk in situations and factoring risk alternatives into the decision-making process.

Question 40

The behavioral decision maker is viewed as acting most often under uncertain conditions and with limited information.

Question 41

Switching members among teams to gain insights from diverse backgrounds and experiences is known as associative play.

Question 42

When a decision maker faces two or more ethically uncomfortable alternatives,it is referred to as a __________________.

A)criteria question
B)moral dilemma
C)justice decision
D)moral problem
E)rational decision

Question 43

Teams engaged in systematic thinking would be expected to make a plan before taking action.

Question 44

The first step in the rational decision model is _______________.

A)choosing a preferred course of action
B)recognizing and defining the problem or opportunity
C)identifying the alternative courses of action
D)evaluating the results
E)implementing the preferred course of action

Question 45

Creativity is more likely to occur when a person has a lot of task expertise.

Question 46

The representativeness heuristic bases a decision on similarities between the situation at hand and stereotypes of similar occurrences.

Question 47

A key element in Decision-Making under risk and uncertainty is intuition.

Question 48

Heuristics are simplifying strategies or "rules of thumb" used to make decisions.

Question 49

Research shows that to prevent future errors,small problems should get the same time and attention as bigger ones.

Question 50

Judgment,or the use of one's intellect,is important in all aspects of Decision-Making.

Question 51

A mistake commonly made by many new managers and team leaders is presuming that they must solve every problem by making every decision themselves.

Question 52

Which of the following is NOT one of Cavanagh's criteria questions for assessing ethics in decision-making?

A)Does the decision satisfy all constituents or stakeholders?
B)Does the decision respect the rights of everyone?
C)Is the decision consistent with the canons of justice?
D)Does the decision make sense?
E)Is the decision consistent with my responsibility to care?

Question 53

The lack-of-participation error occurs in which phase of the rational decision model?

A)evaluating results
B)identifying alternatives
C)implementing preferred course of action
D)choosing a preferred course of action
E)recognizing the problem

Question 54

Intuition adds elements of flexibility and spontaneity to Decision-Making,thereby offering potential for creativity and innovation.

Question 55

In managing the decision-making process,one of the first issues to address is whether to actually address the decision situation.

Question 56

The availability heuristic involves assessing a current event based on past occurrences that are easily available in one's memory.

Question 57

Which of the following is NOT one of the five basic steps involved in the rational decision model?

A)recognize and define the problem or opportunity.
B)identify and analyze alternative courses of action,and estimate their effects on the problem or opportunity.
C)choose a preferred course of action.
D)inform relevant stakeholders of the decision and its consequences.
E)implement the preferred course of action.

Question 58

An example of the application of the anchoring and adjustment heuristic is the team leader who selects a new member not because of any special qualities of the person,but only because the individual comes from a department known to have produced high performers in the past.

Question 59

Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com believes there is a place for both systematic and intuitive decision-making in management.

Question 60

The process of choosing a course of action for dealing with a problem or opportunity is __________.

A)selection making
B)decision shaping
C)decision-making
D)judgment resolution
E)judgment generation

Question 61

__________ environments exist when managers have so little information that they cannot even assign probabilities to various alternatives and their possible outcomes.

A)Uncertain
B)Risk
C)Unpredictable
D)Jeopardy
E)Hazard

Question 62

The most difficult environment for decision makers to cope with is the __________ environment.

A)risk
B)certain
C)expectant
D)uncertain
E)statutory

Question 63

All of the following statements about uncertain environments are correct EXCEPT:

A)uncertain environments provide little,if any,information to predict expected results for decision-making alternatives.
B)behavioral responses to uncertain environments seldom involve intuition,educated guesses,or hunches.
C)uncertain environments require unique,novel,and often totally innovative alternatives to existing patterns of behavior.
D)an uncertain decision environment may be characterized as a rapidly changing organizational setting in terms of external conditions.
E)an uncertain decision environment may be characterized as a rapidly changing organizational setting in terms of the personnel who influence problem and choice definitions.

Question 64

__________ is an ideal condition for managerial problem solving and Decision-Making.

A)Certainty
B)Risk
C)Uncertainty
D)Turbulence
E)Chaos

Question 65

__________ are routine problems that arise on a regular basis and which can be addressed through standard responses.

A)Arbitrary decisions
B)Nonprogrammed decisions
C)Fixed decisions
D)Programmed decisions
E)Standardized decisions

Question 66

Problem-solving decisions in organizations are typically made under three different conditions or environments.These are __________.

A)confidence,chance,and doubt
B)certainty,risk,and uncertainty
C)conviction,hazard,and concern
D)certainty,jeopardy,and skepticism
E)confidence,hazard,and doubt

Question 67

The __________ model views decision makers as acting in a world of complete certainty.

A)behavioral decision
B)true decision
C)cognitive decision
D)classical decision
E)aesthetic decision

Question 68

When dealing with risk environments,managers may assign __________ through objective statistical procedures or through personal intuition.

A)potentialities
B)expectations
C)prospects
D)probabilities
E)feasibilities

Question 69

Threats to overall business success are called __________ risks.

A)strategic
B)operational
C)financial
D)reputation
E)functional

Question 70

Acts of terrorism and IT failures are examples of which type of decision?

A)rational decisions
B)ethical decisions
C)non-programmed decisions
D)programmed decisions
E)crisis decisions

Question 71

__________ accepts the notion of bounded rationality and assumes that decision makers act only in terms of what they perceive about a given situation.

A)Behavioral decision theory
B)Perceptive decision theory
C)Cognitive decision theory
D)Classical decision theory
E)Visual decision theory

Question 72

__________ environments exist when decision makers lack complete certainty regarding the outcomes of various courses of action,but they are aware of the probabilities associated with their occurrence.

A)Jeopardy
B)Hazard
C)Risk
D)Assured
E)Uncertain

Question 73

Behavioral scientists are cautious about applying classical decision theory to many decision situations because they recognize that human beings have __________ that restrict their information-processing capabilities.

A)sociological limitations
B)cognitive limitations
C)subjective limitations
D)emotional limitations
E)psychological limitations

Question 74

Which of the following is Cavanagh's utility question for assessing ethics in Decision-Making?

A)Does the decision satisfy all constituents or stakeholders?
B)Does the decision respect the rights and duties of everyone?
C)Is the decision consistent with the canons of justice?
D)Is the decision consistent with my responsibilities to care?
E)None of the above.

Question 75

Which of the following is considered to be a spotlight question as mentioned in the text?

A)What might my friend do if he was in a similar situation as me?
B)How would I feel if my family found out about this decision?
C)If I make this decision,will I be able to sleep at night?
D)Would most other people in society make the same decision as I would?
E)None of the above.

Question 76

The __________ model accepts the notion of bounded rationality and suggests that people act only in terms of what they perceive about a given situation.

A)behavioral decision theory
B)rational decision theory
C)rigid decision theory
D)scientific decision theory
E)potential investment decision theory

Question 77

__________ decisions are specifically crafted or tailored to the situation at hand.

A)Ad hoc
B)Discretionary
C)Nonprogrammed
D)Arbitrary
E)Elective

Question 78

Examples of __________ decisions include reordering inventory automatically when stock falls below a predetermined level and issuing a written reprimand to someone who violates a specific work procedure.

A)uniform
B)standardized
C)programmed
D)fixed
E)nonprogrammed

Question 79

KPMG's practice that focuses on helping executives identify threats to their firm and manage them is known as __________.

A)operational risk
B)enterprise risk management
C)strategic management
D)uncertainty avoidance management
E)reputation risk management

Question 80

A decision is exposed to public scrutiny and forces decision-makers to consider it in the context of full transparency with the use of __________.

A)rational decision-making
B)spotlight questions
C)satisficing
D)moral dilemmas
E)criteria questions