Exam 9: Decision Making

A process of information search and decision-making that starts with the presumed answer to the decision and proceeds to only seek out information that confirms the initial verdict or decision is:

In the rational model of decision making, decision makers determine the appropriate decision criteria, such as price and quality, and then assign weights or levels of importance to them.

The availability heuristic operates on the notion that if you can think of something, it must be important and will become part of your decision.

Research shows that while verdict-based decision making, which employs a broader information search, is much more likely to lead to better decisions, evidence-based decision making is still very common.

According to the administrative theory of individual decision making, people do not have the ability to process all of the information and solutions that face them, which leads them to limit their problems and solutions. This is known as:

What is the scarcity principle?

A poorly framed problem can undermine even the best-considered decision.

Decision support systems are driven by human input that guide people through the decision-making process.

''Sensors'':

Many individuals will refuse to sell a stock or a mutual fund at a loss even though it may be clear that the investment will not turn around. This is an example of a:

The representativeness heuristic occurs when seeming patterns are assumed to represent something that the data warrant.

Write an explanatory note on how cultural factors can affect decision making.

One effective way to minimize escalation of commitment decision problems is to separate decision choosers from decision evaluators.

Which of the following is arguably the most important step in rational decision making?

Situation-accepting managers are likely to believe that they themselves are the prime or only influence on the same process.

Someone who argues against the decision being contemplated, allowing the rationale for the decision to be checked is a:

Which of the following is NOT a symptom of groupthink?

A decision that follows standard operating procedures, and where there is no need to explore alternative solutions because the optimal solution has already been identified and documented is a(n):

What is groupthink? Why is it considered to be problematic?

Many projects result in escalation of commitment when decision makers underestimate the risk and overestimate their probability of success. This is called the: