Deck 9: Making Decisions

Question 1

It is usually very easy to identify all of the possible solutions to a decision problem.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

When we can readily remember past instances of an event,we tend to underestimate the likelihood that an event will occur again.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Company-wide budget decisions are top-down decisions.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Unintended consequences can be minimized by spending appropriate time identifying the possible outcomes of a decision.

Question 5

Miller's Law states that the average person can hold about 10 objects in working memory.

Question 6

Programmed decisions follow a set of policies,procedures,or rules developed through past experience.

Question 7

Loss aversion frequently affects investment decisions.

Question 8

Nonprogrammed decisions require creativity.

Question 9

Overly narrow problem definitions restrict the options we have for a solution.

Question 10

Organizational incentives magnify the effects of loss aversion on the career-motivated self-censorship of "risky" proposals.

Question 11

Programmed decisions can never be delegated to subordinates.

Question 12

People are not as rational as assumed by the Rational Decision Making Model.

Question 13

Escalation of commitment has been blamed for the loss of thousands of lives and billions of dollars.

Question 14

The same decision can be a programmed decision for one organization or manager and a nonprogrammed decision for another.

Question 15

Effective decision making involves the efficient gathering of relevant information and expert opinion.

Question 16

Only senior executives make important decisions.

Question 17

Letting others participate in decision making can improve their performance and satisfaction.

Question 18

We tend to feel the pleasure of gains more strongly than the pain of losses.

Question 19

Satisficing leads us to consider many alternatives rather than selecting the first acceptable one we find.

Question 20

Strategic decisions require faster decision making than do operational decisions.

Question 21

Intuition is the opposite of rationality.

Question 22

Indonesian managers tend to accept life as it is and see little need for change.

Question 23

A laissez-faire leadership style is an extremely hands-off approach.

Question 24

It is a good idea to play Devil's advocate in order to intentionally challenge a group's assumptions and conclusions.

Question 25

To prevent groupthink,leaders should express their opinions when assigning a task to a group.

Question 26

Intuition can't be used when decision making rules are unclear.

Question 27

All of the ingredients of the current/recent financial crisis were known by the central bankers two years before the crisis began.

Question 28

Managers in the U.S.tend to view most situations as opportunities for improvement through change.

Question 29

It is a good idea to make important decisions when feeling strong emotions.

Question 30

Intuition is least useful among experts.

Question 31

Groupthink results in optimal decision making.

Question 32

U.S.managers are more likely to feel comfortable using intuition than their Israeli counterparts.

Question 33

Employees' satisfaction is generally higher when they work with an autocratic leader rather than a democratic one.

Question 34

It is practical and possible to follow a rational decision making model in every business situation.

Question 35

With meeting management software,contributions can be anonymous.

Question 36

Managers should involve employees in decisions whenever possible.

Question 37

Members should never discuss a group's ideas with non-group members.

Question 38

Decision making is influenced by cultural background.

Question 39

Novices should not rely on intuition.

Question 40

Irving Janis believed that groupthink was inevitable.

Question 41

During the nominal group technique,a round-table feedback session is used.

Question 42

__________ decisions are routine,address specific problems,and result in relatively structured solutions.

A) Programmed
B) Nonprogrammed
C) Strategic
D) Operational

Question 43

Time pressure has been found to increase creativity.

Question 44

Napoleon Bonaparte said,"Nothing is more difficult,and therefore more precious,than to be able to _________."

A) decide
B) succeed
C) listen
D) communicate

Question 45

Matching employees with the expertise and creative thinking requirements of their jobs increases intrinsic motivation.

Question 46

The nominal group technique works best for addressing a single decision.

Question 47

Which of the following is an operational decision?

A) how to increase profitability
B) how to increase product quality
C) handling equipment failure
D) determining what business to enter

Question 48

What retailer saved about 560 truckloads a year by changing the packaging of cashews from a round to a square container?

A) Sam's Club
B) Target
C) Costco
D) Dollar General

Question 49

The Delphi Method assumes that individual judgments are superior to group judgments.

Question 50

Explicit corporate policies that make decisions more concrete,systematic,and objective can improve the ethics of decisions.

Question 51

Ethics is always straightforward.

Question 52

__________ decisions address the long-term direction and focus on the organization.

A) Operational
B) Strategic
C) Top-down
D) Decentralized

Question 53

___________ decisions focus on the day-to-day running of the company.

A) Operational
B) Strategic
C) Top-down
D) Decentralized

Question 54

Which of the following is most likely to be a nonprogrammed decision?

A) how to handle an overtime request
B) how to discipline a subordinate
C) when to introduce a new product
D) none of these

Question 55

Where are decisions made in organizations?

A) at the top level
B) at the middle level
C) at the bottom level
D) all of these

Question 56

Which of the following is/are impacted by decision making?

A) business strategy
B) product design
C) customer interaction
D) all of these

Question 57

Technology can facilitate group decision making when members are together or when they are apart.

Question 58

When brainstorming,you should only generate a few ideas so that no one is overwhelmed.

Question 59

Which of the following is a strategic decision?

A) how to handle unexpected absenteeism
B) how to handle equipment failure
C) how to increase market share
D) determining work schedules

Question 60

____________ decisions are novel and require creativity.

A) Programmed
B) Nonprogrammed
C) Strategic
D) Operational

Question 61

Which type of decisions are made by employees--not managers--about their work?

A) top-down
B) decentralized
C) programmed
D) nonprogrammed

Question 62

Describing a decision as a loss or a gain influences our evaluation of alternatives.What term refers to this phenomenon?

A) framing
B) anchoring and adjustment
C) representativeness
D) escalation of commitment

Question 63

_________ decisions are directive and are made solely by managers who then pass them down to lower-level employees for implementation.

A) Top-down
B) Decentralized
C) Programmed
D) Operational

Question 64

What term refers to our tendency not to change what we are doing unless the incentive to change is compelling?

A) status quo bias
B) fundamental attribution error
C) groupthink
D) representativeness bias

Question 65

Which of the following actions could reduce escalation of commitment?

A) punishing employees when projects fail
B) rewarding employees for "staying the course" when projects aren't going well
C) rewarding employees for ending failing projects in a reasonable amount of time
D) all of these

Question 66

What term refers to making assessments by starting with a familiar value and then shifting it based on other elements of the decision problem to arrive at a final decision?

A) anchoring and adjustment
B) halo bias
C) representativeness
D) framing

Question 67

What is the first step in the rational decision making process?

A) identifying alternatives
B) defining the problem or opportunity
C) setting goals
D) identifying evaluation criteria

Question 68

What term refers to drawing a general impression about something or someone based on a single (typically good)characteristic?

A) overconfidence
B) escalation of commitment
C) halo effect
D) anchoring bias

Question 69

Which of the following does NOT tend to be one of the toughest managerial decisions?

A) closing or selling a business
B) opening a business
C) determining work schedules
D) hiring and firing

Question 70

Nonprogrammed decisions require managers to use ____________ rather than ___________.

A) experience, creativity
B) creativity, experience
C) individuals, groups
D) groups, individuals

Question 71

What term refers to the tendency to be overoptimistic in evaluating alternatives?

A) framing
B) overconfidence
C) availability bias
D) halo bias

Question 72

The information used to make nonprogrammed decisions is typically __________.

A) ambiguous
B) well-organized
C) simplistic
D) all of these

Question 73

What term refers to our tendency to overestimate what we are familiar with and underestimate things with which we are not familiar or that we do not remember as well?

A) availability bias
B) representativeness bias
C) halo bias
D) overconfidence

Question 74

The rational decision making model assumes that we make decisions __________ to maximize our expected ___________.

A) intuitively, achievement
B) slowly, income
C) quickly, performance
D) systematically, utility

Question 75

When we can readily remember past instances of an event,we tend to overestimate the likelihood that an event will occur again.What term refers to this phenomenon?

A) framing
B) anchoring and adjustment
C) availability bias
D) representativeness

Question 76

What term refers to all of the objective and subjective outcomes associated with a decision?

A) economic gain
B) ethics
C) expected utility
D) decentralization

Question 77

The information needed to make a programmed decision is ________ available,and the problem is ___________ structured.

A) readily, highly
B) not readily, not
C) readily, not
D) not readily, highly

Question 78

What term refers to the act of persisting with a failing course of action?

A) overconfidence
B) halo bias
C) availability bias
D) escalation of commitment

Question 79

It is common for the same decision to be ____________ for experienced managers but ___________ for more junior managers.

A) programmed, nonprogrammed
B) nonprogrammed, programmed
C) strategic, operational
D) operational, strategic

Question 80

___________ gives subordinates influence in the decision being made; ___________ gives subordinates the ability and authority to make the decision themselves.

A) Involvement, empowerment
B) Rmpowerment, involvement
C) Utility, logic
D) Logic, utility