New, complex, and unrecognized situations call for ________ decisions.
- rational
- intuitive
- nonintuitive
- programmed
- nonprogrammed
When a situation arises that is new, complex, and not recognized, it calls for a nonprogrammed decision on the part of the employee. Organizations are complex and changing environments, and many workers face uncertainty on a daily basis. In these instances, employees have to make sense of their environment, understand the problems they are faced with, and come up with solutions to overcome them.
Nonprogrammed Decisions: Decisions made by employees when a problem is new, complex, or not recognized.
People with a ________ orientation focus on demonstrating their capabilities so that others will think favorably of them.
- performance-avoid
- performance-prove
- programmed decision
- rational decision-making
- nonprogrammed decision
People with a performance-prove orientation focus on demonstrating their capabilities so that others will think favorably of them.
Performance-Prove Orientation: A predisposition or attitude by which employees focus on demonstrating their competence so that others think favorably of them.
Those with a performance-prove orientation focus on demonstrating their competence so that others will not think poorly of them.
Those with a performance-prove orientation focus on demonstrating their competence so that others think favorably of them. Those with a performance-avoid orientation focus on demonstrating their competence so that others will not think poorly of them.
Performance-Prove Orientation: A predisposition or attitude by which employees focus on demonstrating their competence so that others think favorably of them.
Beverly is the night manager at a motel near an interstate highway. In the wee hours of the morning, a tour bus breaks down and she is inundated with more than fifty unexpected guests. Rather than go into panic mode, however, she marshals the help of one other person on duty and speeds the tour group through check-in, placing them all in rooms in less than an hour's time. Though it took some effort, the whole process went relatively smoothly for Beverly because she has check in countless guests over the years. Handling the unexpected influx of guests involved a series of ________ decisions for her.
- rational
- intuitive
- nonintuitive
- programmed
- nonprogrammed
Programmed decisions are decisions that become somewhat automatic because people's knowledge allows them to recognize and identify a situation and the course of action that needs to be taken. Experts often respond to an identified problem by realizing that they have dealt with it before. That is not to say that the decisions are necessarily easy. It simply means that their experience and knowledge allows them to see the problems more easily and recognize and implement solutions more quickly.
Programmed Decisions: Decisions that are somewhat automatic because the decision maker’s knowledge allows him or her to recognize the situation and the course of action to be taken.
Decisions that become somewhat automatic because people's knowledge allows them to recognize and identify a situation and the course of action that needs to be taken are known as ________ decisions.
- rational
- intuitive
- nonintuitive
- programmed
- nonprogrammed
Programmed decisions are decisions that become somewhat automatic because a person's knowledge allows him or her to recognize and identify a situation and the course of action that needs to be taken.
Programmed Decisions: Decisions that are somewhat automatic because the decision maker’s knowledge allows him or her to recognize the situation and the course of action to be taken.
The belief that others think, feel, and act the same way as you do is called ________ bias.
- fundamental attribution
- social identity
- availability
- self-serving
- projection
One False assumption people tend to make when it comes to other people is the belief that others think, feel, and act the same way they do. This assumption is known as a projection bias.
Projection Bias: The faulty perception by decision makers that others think, feel, and act the same way as they do.
Projection bias causes problems in decision making because it limits our ability to develop appropriate criteria for a decision and evaluate decisions carefully.
Projection bias causes problems in decision making because it limits our ability to develop appropriate criteria for a decision and evaluate decisions carefully.
Decision Making: The process of generating and choosing from a set of alternatives to solve a problem.
Bounded rationality involves
- picking the alternative that maximizes value.
- evaluating all the alternatives simultaneously.
- using accurate information to evaluate alternatives.
- boiling the problem down to something that is easily understood.
- developing an exhaustive list of alternatives to consider as solutions.
Bounded rationality begins with boiling the problem down to something that is easily understood. The other steps-develop an exhaustive list of alternatives to consider as solutions, evaluate all the alternatives simultaneously, use accurate information to evaluate alternatives, and pick the alternative that maximizes value-are all part of rational decision making.
Bounded Rationality: The notion that people do not have the ability or resources to process all available information and alternatives when making a decision.
Tracy and Tonya's business has enjoyed enormous growth, and they are not sure how to handle the growing list of back orders, so they sit down together to figure out what they should do. First they list the important criteria involved, then they write down all possible solutions. Having done so, they evaluate these alternatives against the criteria they have established, and after a great deal of discussion, they choose an alternative that they believe will yield the best results. Lastly, having made a decision, they set out to implement it. This is an example of
- knowledge transfer.
- bounded rationality.
- communities of practice.
- performance-prove orientation.
- the rational decision-making model.
The rational decision-making model is a step-by-step approach to making decisions that is designed to maximize outcomes by examining all available alternatives. The first step in the rational decision-making model is to identify the criteria that are important in making the decision, taking into account all involved parties. The second step is to generate a list of all available alternatives that might be potential solutions to the problem. At this point, evaluating the alternatives is not necessary. The responsibility simply lies in coming up with as many potential solutions as possible. The third step in the model is the evaluation of those alternatives against the criteria laid out in step one. Does it matter how much the alternative costs? What exactly will happen as a result of various choices? What will the side effects of the alternative be? The fourth step is to select the alternative that results in the best outcome. That is, given the costs and benefits of each alternative, which alternative provides us with the most value? The fifth step is to implement the alternative.
Rational Decision-Making Model: A step-by-step approach to making decisions that is designed to maximize outcomes by examining all available alternatives.
The first step in rational decision-making is to
- generate the list of available alternatives.
- choose the solution that maximizes value.
- evaluate the alternatives that are available.
- choose a person who could evaluate the decision.
- identify the criteria that are important in making the decision.
The first step in the rational decision-making model is to identify the criteria that are important in making the decision, taking into account all involved parties.
Decision Making: The process of generating and choosing from a set of alternatives to solve a problem.
The rational decision-making model offers a step-by-step approach to making decisions that maximizes outcomes by examining all available alternatives.
The rational decision-making model offers a step-by-step approach to making decisions that maximize outcomes by examining all available alternatives.
Decision Making: The process of generating and choosing from a set of alternatives to solve a problem.
As a project manager with a great deal of training in decision making, Alex is to be taken seriously when he tells his subordinates, "We're in a crisis situation." He is referring to a(n)
- emergency that will likely make or break the company, thus creating a point of no return.
- point of sudden change that may well cause serious damage and thus requires deliberate thinking.
- result of evolving conditions that has the potential to erupt into complete disaster if left unchecked.
- change, either sudden or evolving, resulting in an urgent problem that has be addressed immediately.
- circumstance that requires educated minds to address, because intuition alone will not prove adequate.
A crisis situation is a change-whether sudden or evolving-that results in an urgent problem that must be addressed immediately. For businesses, a crisis is anything with the potential to cause sudden and serious damage to its employees, reputation, or bottom line. One of the key factors in almost all crises is that decisions must be made quickly.
Crisis Situation: A change, sudden or evolving, that results in an urgent problem that must be addressed immediately.
The leadership at Morgan Industrial Chemicals has been confronted with a crisis: someone incorrectly filed a purchase order from a key client, thus resulting in a shipment of the wrong materials. Not knowing this, the client proceeded to make use of the chemicals-with disastrous results. This has never happened to the company before, and although they have procedures for addressing various contingencies, the situation at hand requires quick thinking. The task of addressing the problem has fallen to Beth, who is an experienced manager, and she readily comes up with a solution. However, at first glance her idea sounds counterintuitive, and she needs the immediate support of her entire team to get behind her idea quickly. Therefore she should
- let the team members know that as a manager with considerable experience, she knows what needs to be done, and therefore requires absolute allegiance.
- explain the situation, present her solution and reasoning, point out what the team should be on the lookout for, and invite feedback from team members.
- begin by acknowledging that her solution is one possible idea out of many, then present her proposal and ask for feedback from the team.
- inform the team that the problem needs to be investigated, then form a study group and invite them to present their findings.
- first see to it that the person responsible for the mistake is identified and dealt with, then take action on the problem.
In a crisis situation like the one faced by Morgan Industrial Chemicals, intuitive decision making ability is critical. With her experience, Beth is almost certainly equipped to address this crisis, but when a manager uses intuition to make a decision in a crisis situation, followers often misinterpret the manager's intent. Karl Weick, a preeminent scholar on crisis management at the University of Michigan, suggests five steps for communicating intent to others when using intuition: (1) Here is what I think we face (How does the manager perceive the situation?) (2) Here is what I think we should do (A task-focused statement of what the manager wants to happen) (3) Here is why (The reasoning behind the decision) (4) Here is what we should keep our eye on (What things should the staff look for to ensure the intuition is correct or that the situation has not changed?) (5) Now, talk to me (Confirm that everyone understands their roles and that there is no other information to consider).
Feedback: In job characteristics theory, it refers to the degree to which the job itself provides information about how well the job holder is doing. In goal setting theory, it refers to progress updates on work goals.
Kate's firm does marketing research studies for film production companies, and this week they showed carefully selected test audiences a soon-to-be released blockbuster called Love, Explosions, and Laughter. Afterward they presented participants with a series of questions, including one that asked them to rate their favorite movie of all time. Production company executives were thrilled to see that viewers rated Love, Explosions, and Laughter higher than such classics as Citizen Kane and The Wizard of Oz, but most likely the reason for this was a decision-making bias known as
- representativeness.
- anchoring.
- framing.
- recency.
- contrast.
Recency bias refers to the tendency to weigh recent events more than earlier events.