Lecture 6 - leadership and decision making

Question 1

Leadership

Answer 1

The process of influencing the activities of an organized group in its efforts toward goal setting and goal achievement.

Question 2

6 perspectives on leadership

Answer 2

1. Trait-spotting
2. Style counselling
3. Context-fitting
4. New leadership
5. Distributed leadership
6. Who needs leaders?

Question 3

Great man theory

Answer 3

A historic perspective which argues that the fate of societies and organizations is in the hands of powerful, idiosyncratic (male) individuals.

Question 4

3 measures of generalized trait-spotting

Answer 4

1. Ability (intelligence, relevant knowledge, verbal facility)
2. Sociability (participation, cooperativeness, popularity)
3. Motivation (initiative and persistence)

Question 5

Glass ceiling

Answer 5

Stops women from reaching roles higher up the hierarchical ladder.

Question 6

Glass cliff

Answer 6

Promoting women to high risk positions, being set up to fail.

Question 7

Consideration (Ohio State leadership studies)

Answer 7

A pattern of leadership behavior that demonstrates sensitivity to relationships and to the social needs of employees.

Question 8

Initiating structure (Ohio State leadership studies)

Answer 8

A pattern of leadership behavior that emphasizes performance of the work in hand and the achievement of product and service goals.

Question 9

Contingency theory of leadership

Answer 9

A perspective which argues that leaders must adjust their style to take into account the properties of the context.

Question 10

3 factors that influence leadership effectiveness

Answer 10

1. The extend to which the task in hand is structured.
2. the leader’s position power or formal authority.
3. The nature of the relationships between the leader and followers.

Question 11

Structured task

Answer 11

A task with clear goals, few correct or satisfactory solutions and outcomes, few ways of performing it, and clear criteria of success.

Question 12

Unstructured task

Answer 12

a task with ambiguous goals, many good solutions, many ways of achieving acceptable outcomes and vague criteria of success.

Question 13

Situational leadership

Answer 13

An approach to determining the most effective style of influencing, considering the direction and support a leader gives, and the readiness of followers to perform a particular task.

Question 14

New leader

Answer 14

An inspirational visionary, concerned with building a shared sense of purpose and mission, creating a culture in which everyone is aligned with the organization’s goals and is skilled and empowered to achieve them.

Question 15

Super leader

Answer 15

A leader who is able to develop leadership capacity in others, empowering them, reducing their dependence on formal leaders, stimulating their motivation, commitment and creativity.

Question 16

Transformational leader

Answer 16

A leader who treats relationships with followers in terms of motivation and commitment, influencing and inspiring followers to give more than mere compliance to improve organizational performance.

Question 17

Transactional leadership

Answer 17

A leader who treats relationships with followers in terms of an exchange, giving followers what they want in return for what the leader desires, following prescribed tasks to pursue established goals.

Question 18

Distributed leadership

Answer 18

The exercise of leadership behaviors, often informally and spontaneous, by staff at all levels of an organization, with a group taking collective responsibility, or taking turns in leadership roles depending on circumstances.

Question 19

2 contingency leadership theories

Answer 19

1. Fiedler’s Contingency Theory
   Leaders have a fixed style (task-oriented or relationship-oriented). Success depends on matching that style to the right situation.
2. Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Theory
   Leaders adapt their style based on the maturity/competence of their followers (delegating, supporting, coaching and directing). Model in the shape of a ‘‘normaal verdeling’’.

Question 20

Classical decision theory

Answer 20

Assumes that decision-makers are objective, have complete information and consider all possible alternatives and their consequences before selecting the optimal solution.

Question 21

Rational model of decision making

Answer 21

Assumes that decision making is and should be a rational process consisting of a sequence of steps that enhance the probability of attaining a desired outcome.

Question 22

Rationality

Answer 22

The use of scientific reasoning, empiricism and positivism, along with the use of decision criteria that include evidence, logical argument and reasoning.

Question 23

Bounded rationality

Answer 23

Theory which says that individuals make decisions by constructing simplified models that extract the essential features from problems without capturing all their complexity.

Question 24

Behavioral theory of decision making

Answer 24

Recognized that bounded rationality limits the making of optimal decisions. It treats decision making as another aspect of individual behavior.

Question 25

Maximizing

Answer 25

A decision making approach where all alternatives are compared and evaluated in order to find the best solution to a problem.

Question 26

Satisficing

Answer 26

A decision making approach where the first solution that is judged to be good enough is selected and the search is then ended.

Question 27

Prescriptive model of decision making (by Vroom)

Answer 27

Approach that recommends how individuals should make decisions in order to achieve a desired outcome. Vroom focuses on how a leader decides rather than what a leader decides.

Question 28

2 key concepts of prescriptive model of decision making by Vroom

Answer 28

1. Quality: the quality of the decision relates to it achieving the aim, the cost of its implementation and the time taken to implement it. 2. Acceptability: the acceptability of the decision relates to subordinates and anyone else either effected by the decision or who has to implement it.

Question 29

3 main elements of the prescriptive model of decision making by Vroom

Answer 29

1. Decision participation styles 2. Diagnostic questions with which to analyze decision situations 3. decision rules to determine the appropriate decision participation style

Question 30

Explanatory model of decision making

Answer 30

An approach that accounts for how individuals, groups and organizations make decisions.

Question 31

Heuristic

Answer 31

A simple and approximate rule, guiding procedure, shortcut of strategy that is used to solve problems.

Question 32

Bias

Answer 32

Prejudice, predisposition or a systematic distortion caused by the application of a heuristic.

Question 33

Descriptive model of decision making

Answer 33

A model which seeks to portray how individuals actually make decisions.

Question 34

Certainty in managers

Answer 34

Condition in which managers possess full knowledge of alternatives, being able to calculate the costs and benefits of each alternative and have a high predictability of outcomes.

Question 35

Risk in managers

Answer 35

Condition in which managers have a high knowledge of alternatives, being able to calculate the costs and benefits of each alternative and have a medium predictability of outcomes.

Question 36

Uncertainty in managers

Answer 36

Condition in which managers have a low knowledge of alternatives, can to some degree calculate the costs and benefits of each alternative but have no predictability of outcomes.

Question 37

Routine decisions

Answer 37

Decisions made according to established procedures and rules.

Question 38

Adaptive decisions

Answer 38

Decisions that require human judgment based on clarified criteria and are made using quantitative decision tools.

Question 39

Innovative decisions

Answer 39

Decisions which address novel problems and lack pre-specified courses of action.

Question 40

Group polarization

Answer 40

A situation in which individuals in a group begin by taking a moderate stance on an issue related to a common value, but after having discussed it, end up taking a more extreme decision than the average of members decisions. The extremes could be more risky or more cautious.

Question 41

Risky shift

Answer 41

Tendency of the group to make riskier decisions than an individual would.

Question 42

Caution shift

Answer 42

Tendency of the groups to make more risk averse decisions than an individual.

Question 43

Groupthink

Answer 43

Individuals accept a viewpoint of the group even if they do not agree.

Question 44

7 factors affecting group cohesiveness

Answer 44

1. Size 2. Duration 3. Threats 4. Isolation 5. Rewards 6. Restricted entry 7. Similarities

Question 45

Evaluation apprehension

Answer 45

Brainstorming group members fear the negative appraisal of their contributions from others, which raises anxiety and leads to fewer ideas.

Question 46

Social matching

Answer 46

Occurs when members begin to match others, decreasd efforts which is called social loafing.

Question 47

Escalation of commitment

Answer 47

An increased commitment to a previously made decision despite negative information suggesting one should do otherwise.

Question 48

Task factors

Answer 48

Concern the characteristics of the task itself.

Question 49

Psychological factors

Answer 49

Concern the individual or group decision makers themselves. For example: how familiar they already are with the task.

Question 50

Nominal group technique

Answer 50

Involves group members first working separately and then joining together in order to generate ideas or make decisions.

Question 51

The four categories of the ABCD's of categorizing decisions

Answer 51

1. Ad hoc decisions: Low stake decisions that are ignored because they in the other 3 organizational ambiguity is most likely to undermine decision making effectiveness. 2. Big-bet decisions: Infrequent and high risk decisions have the potential to shape the future of the company. 3. Cross-cutting decisions: small interconnected decisions are made by different groups as part of a collaborative end to end decision process. 4. Delegated decisions: decisions handled by an individual or team with limited input from others.

Question 52

2 dimensions of Thompson and Tuden conditions favouring different decision-making processes

Answer 52

1. Degree of agreement or disagreement over goals to be achieved. 2. Degree of certainty that the outcome could be achieved by means of a given action.

Question 53

4 models of Thompson and Tuden conditions favouring different decision-making processes

Answer 53

1. Rational model 2. Incremental model 3. Political model 4. Garbage can model

Question 54

4 streams of activities that cope with decision making and uncertainty

Answer 54

1. Choice opportunities 2. Participants 3. Problems 4. Solutions

Question 55

Evidence based decision making

Answer 55

Situation in which a decision is made that follows directly from the evidence.