Decision Making and Team Decision Making (Chapters 6-7) Flashcards
What are the main information processing issues in decision making?
People tend to develop and evaluate only a few alternatives, identify and evaluate only a few outcomes for each alternative, evaluate alternatives sequentially rather than simultaneously, have an implicit favorite they compare alternatives to.
What are the main problems with maximization in decision making?
Satisficing - Choosing an alternative that is satisfactory or “good enough.” Pick first alternative that exceeds standard of acceptance.
Lack capacity and motivation to process huge volume of info to identify best choice.
Self-justification effect
People want to demonstrate that their decisions will be successful, so they support even when desired outcome not met. Don’t want to pull the plug and look incompetent.
Self-enhancement effect
People want to feel good about themselves; when we realize things aren’t going well we still invest anyways. Our probability of rescuing the project is above average. We’re lucky. Want to maintain favorable image.
Prospect Theory Effect
We want to avoid losses since negative emotions are stronger than when gaining something. It’s more painful to stop it than continue to fund it.
Sunk Costs effect
The feeling that you’ve already invested so much into the project that you might as well invest more to try and make it work.
Sunk Costs effect
The feeling that you’ve already invested so much into the project that you might as well invest more to try and make it work.
Describe each of the 4 contingency factors and explain how they should influence the choice of how to involve employees in decision making.
Decision structure, source of decision knowledge, decision commitment, risk of conflict.
Decision structure
Programmed decisions less likely to need employee involvement because solutions are worked out; benefits of employee involvement increase with novelty and complexity of problem/opportunity.
Source of decision knowledge
Subordinates should be involved when leader lacks sufficient knowledge and they can improve decision quality with additional info. In complex decisions employees often possess relevant information.
Decision commitment
Participation improves employee commitment, more unlikely to accept a decision made without their involvement.
Risk of conflict
If employee norms and goals conflict with organization’s, low level of employee involvement advisable. Degree of involvement depends on if employees will agree with one another, if conflict is likely high involvement difficult.
Production blocking
Time constraint in team decision making, have to hold on to thought, only one person speaks at a time.
Evaluation apprehension
Individuals reluctant to mention ideas that seems silly because they believe other team members are silently evaluating them.
Conformity pressures
Team cohesion leads people to conform to team’s norms. People might suppress dissenting opinions to keep status in group and not cause conflict.
Conformity pressures
Team cohesion leads people to conform to team’s norms. People might suppress dissenting opinions to keep status in group and not cause conflict.
Overconfidence
Teams efficacy far exceeds its actual abilities. Less vigilant when making decisions and debate less and seek out less info. Caused by team-level variation of self-enhancement. Stronger with external competition.
Diffusion of responsibility
Group members feel less personally responsible for team decisions. Riskier and more polarized decisions by group.
Process related guidelines for team decision making.
Emphasize process quality, structure team to support decision making.
Emphasize process quality
Team norms encourage critical thinking and constructive conflict, no member dominates, each member’s opinions in open, generate many options then narrow, reach consensus but don’t get stuck, provide procedural justice.
Structure team to support decision-making
Maintain optimal team size, use heterogenous team, brainstorm or use nominal group technique (effective decision-making structures), consider using independent subgroups to generate multiple recommendations.
Useful practices to improve brainstorming process.
Trained facilitator, require members to develop ideas ahead of time, have high benchmarks and have accountability, use brain-writing, create team memory.
What are the 4 main personal characteristics relating to creativity?
Cognitive and practical intelligence, persistence, knowledge and experience, idnependent imagination.
Cognitive and practical intelligence
Ability to synthesize and analyse, and apply ideas
