Exam 5: Decision Making, Learning, Creativity, and Entrepreneurship

The classical model of decision making assumes that

At the heart of organizational learning is

The ability of a decision maker to discover novel ideas that lead to feasible alternatives in decision making is known as creativity.

A software firm is considering introducing a new product on the market. However, managers cannot estimate the probability of success for the new product. Which of the following best describes the situation?

Compare and contrast programmed and nonprogrammed decision-making in organizations. Give an example of each.

While assessing the practicality of alternatives, managers must decide whether they have the capabilities and resources required to implement the alternative, and they must be sure that the alternative will not threaten the attainment of other organizational goals.

The explosion of the space shuttle Challenger is an example of poor managerial decision making by the managers at NASA and Morton Thiokol, who considered and then downplayed the criterion of

Marco is considering opening a theater in a mid-size city. However, before he does this, he wants to lower the risk of such an endeavor. Many theaters have opened before but have failed because of financial difficulties. Marco has some experience as an actor and as a stage manager, but this will be his first real foray into the business side of things. To best increase his chances of achieving his goal, Marco should

In a meeting, after hearing a member describe a problem to be addressed, all other members of the group first wrote down ideas and solutions. After this, everyone shared those suggestions without criticism. The group, one by one, clarified, critiqued, and then discussed the alternatives in the sequence in which they were first proposed. Finally, each member ranked all the alternatives, and the highest-ranking alternative was chosen. Which of the following decision-making techniques did the group implement?

To enhance the interaction between members of a brainstorming group, a manager should

The nominal group technique is especially useful when an issue is not controversial and when different managers are expected to champion a similar course of action.

What do managers do to regulate routine activities?

Managers can use a variety of techniques in group decision-making situations to counteract situations in which the group is suffering from groupthink or cognitive biases. Two such techniques have been shown to be especially useful in such situations. Discuss these two techniques and give an example of each.

Define groupthink. Explain a technique that counteracts groupthink.

The main reason for the loss of productivity in brainstorming is

Nikola, the accountant for a small firm, always pays the real estate taxes seven days before they are due. This represents which type of decision?

An organization's finance department decides to go to the company's usual bank and take out a loan whenever the company's revenues for the month are projected to be less than its expenses. What type of decision does this represent?

After one person shares an idea, the next thing that should happen in a brainstorming session is

When the meaning of the information available to a manager is unclear and can be interpreted in several ways, the information is

When fire chiefs manage firefighters battling hazardous, out-of-control fires, they frequently have to depend on their professional instincts to make on-the-spot decisions that will protect the lives of the firefighters, save the lives of others, control the fires, and preserve property-decisions made in emergency situations involving high ambiguity and rapidly changing conditions. This is an example of which of the following types of decision making?