Deck 4: Decision-Making Skills

Question 1

Group decisions are generally better when speed is more important than avoiding mistakes.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

The satisficing approach to decision making is sometimes called the rational or scientific approach.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Defensive avoidance refers to the barrier to effective decision making that exists when the decision maker either does not see danger signs or opportunity or ignores data from the environment.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

The satisficing approach to decision making is based on the concept of "economic man."

Question 5

Decision making is the process of determining the appropriate responses or actions necessary to alleviate a problem.

Question 6

The intelligence stage in the decision process involves inventing,developing,and analyzing possible courses of action.

Question 7

Both the nominal group technique and brainstorming suffer from the problem occurring when the participants are so close to the problem under study that they are blind to what appear to be obvious solutions.

Question 8

The satisficing approach to decision making is based on the assumption that the people have the time and cognitive ability to process only a limited amount of information.

Question 9

The purpose and tradition of the organization is an important factor in a manager's decision-making style.

Question 10

Optimizing means selecting the first alternative that meets the decision maker's current level of aspiration.

Question 11

Brainstorming is intended to produce a large quantity of ideas or alternatives and generally follows a definite procedure.

Question 12

The intelligence stage in the decision process involves searching the environment for conditions requiring a decision.

Question 13

A pragmatic mode suggests that an individual has an evaluative framework that is guided primarily by success-failure considerations.

Question 14

A manager who is "living in the past," is most likely to follow the optimizing approach to decision making.

Question 15

Under conditions of risk,the decision maker can use expected value analysis to help arrive at a decision.

Question 16

The nominal group technique is a highly structured technique to foster creativity that has been designed to keep personal interactions at a minimum.

Question 17

Of the three stages of the decision process,management decisions place greater emphasis on the choice stage.

Question 18

An advantage of expected value analysis is that it represents the best possible outcome if the event is repeated many times.

Question 19

The optimistic or gambling approach to decision making is also called the maximin approach.

Question 20

The maximax approach to decision making involves selecting the alternative whose best possible outcome is the best of all possible outcomes for all alternatives.

Question 21

Questions asked in the problem-finding stage of the creative decision making model usually begin with who,what,where,when,how many,how much,or similar words.

Question 22

Harry,a manager at Pine and Acorn Consultancy,needs to make a decision on a new service that his group is planning to launch.Though it carries substantial risk of failure,this service has the potential of generating huge revenues if successful.The decision that Harry needs to take in this context can be best categorized as a _____ decision.

A) satisficing
B) maximin
C) risk-averting
D) transactional
E) nonprogrammed

Question 23

The overriding purpose of the fact-finding stage of the creative decision making model is to rewrite or restate the problem in light of the information available to the decision maker.

Question 24

_____,in its narrowest sense,is the process of choosing from among various alternatives.

A) Transaction processing
B) Decision making
C) Goal setting
D) Conflict resolution
E) Problem solving

Question 25

Which of the following statements about nonprogrammed decisions is true?

A) They involve the decision maker facing known situations.
B) They are reached by an established or systematic procedure.
C) They include routine, repetitive decisions.
D) They are easier to make than programmed decisions.
E) They require a creative approach by the decision maker.

Question 26

Mind mapping uses metaphorical thinking for creative problem solving.

Question 27

Harry,a manager at Pine and Acorn Consultancy makes most of his decisions based on his emotions and feelings.Which of the following approaches to decision making is Harry following?

A) The old school approach
B) The risk-averting approach
C) The intuitive approach
D) The satisficing approach
E) The programmed approach

Question 28

The employee handbook of Pine and Acorn Consulting contains clear guidelines about employee dress code and the actions Pine and Acorn will take against employees found violating the code.Harry,a manager at Pine and Acorn,has noticed that a new hire in his team has been regularly violating the code.The decision that Harry needs to take in this context can be best categorized as a _____ decision.

A) satisficing
B) maximin
C) risk-averting
D) transactional
E) programmed

Question 29

Data processing uses data to produce information for management in making decisions to solve problems.

Question 30

The problem-finding stage of the creative decision making model is concerned primarily with the present and the past.

Question 31

Transaction-processing system is a subset of data processing.

Question 32

Examples of management information systems intended to support managers in particular functional areas include payroll,billing,and inventory record systems.

Question 33

Management information systems substitute computer processing for manual recordkeeping procedures.

Question 34

Brainstorming has been found to generate more unique ideas than the nominal group technique.

Question 35

Which of the following statements about programmed decisions is true?

A) They have little or no precedent.
B) They are relatively unstructured.
C) They include routine, repetitive decisions.
D) They are more difficult to make than nonprogrammed decisions.
E) They require a creative approach by the decision maker.

Question 36

Which of the following statements about the intelligence stage in the decision process is true?

A) It implies developing potential courses of action.
B) It involves searching the environment for conditions requiring a decision.
C) It refers to the actual selection of a course of action.
D) It entails inventing, developing, and analyzing possible courses of action.
E) It comprises analyzing likely courses of activity.

Question 37

_____ decisions are reached by an established or systematic procedure.

A) Satisficing
B) Maximin
C) Risk-averting
D) Transactional
E) Programmed

Question 38

Which of the following is the process of determining the appropriate responses or actions necessary to alleviate any deviation from some standard or desired level of performance?

A) Transaction processing
B) Decision making
C) Conflict resolution
D) Problem solving
E) Goal setting

Question 39

The goal wishing method uses maps that start with a core topic and then use "branches" that flow outward from the central topic to subtopics and related concepts.

Question 40

Nonmanagement decisions are concentrated in the _____ stage of the decision process.

A) feedback
B) design
C) intelligence
D) process
E) choice

Question 41

Which of the following approaches for dealing with uncertainty involves comparing the worst possible outcomes for each alternative and selecting the one that is least undesirable?

A) The expected value approach
B) The optimistic approach
C) The maximin approach
D) The gambling approach
E) The risk-averting approach

Question 42

Harry is a senior manager at Pine and Acorn Consultancy.He ignored the data indicating that the economy of the largest market of Pine and Acorn was sliding into recession.He had failed to take the decision to expand in the growing economies costing Pine and Acorn significant future revenues.Which of the following barriers to effective decision making did Harry succumb to?

A) Complacency
B) Panic
C) Gambling
D) Deciding to decide
E) Defensive avoidance

Question 43

Approaches to decision making that attempt to evaluate factual information through the use of some type of deductive reasoning are referred to as _____ approaches.

A) nonprogrammable
B) maximin
C) spontaneous
D) rational
E) synectic

Question 44

A(n)_____ mode of values suggests that an individual has an evaluative framework that is guided primarily by success-failure considerations.

A) maximin
B) affect
C) risk-averting
D) pragmatic
E) ethical

Question 45

Which of the following approaches used by decision makers under a situation of uncertainty is also known as the gambling approach?

A) The maximax approach
B) The synectics approach
C) The nominal grouping approach
D) The expected value approach
E) The certainty analysis approach

Question 46

Which of the following is the approach taken by the "administrative man"?

A) Makes an attempt to optimize
B) Chooses the best alternative available
C) Meets the minimum satisfaction criteria
D) Mostly uses feelings to make decisions
E) Selects the most creative alternative

Question 47

Harry is a senior manager at Pine and Acorn Consultancy.He decided to expand Pine and Acorn's services in the growing economies after slow decision making cost Pine and Acorn significant future revenues.Which of the following barriers to effective decision making did Harry succumb to?

A) Complacency
B) Panic
C) Gambling
D) Deciding to decide
E) Defensive avoidance

Question 48

A potential shortcoming of the _____ is that it represents the average outcome if the event is repeated many times.

A) expected value analysis
B) transaction processing analysis
C) maximin analysis
D) satisficing approach
E) synectics approach

Question 49

Which of the following approaches to decision making involves selecting the best possible alternative?

A) The minimax approach
B) The risk-averting approach
C) The synectics approach
D) The satisficing approach
E) The optimizing approach

Question 50

Which of the following statements about group decision making is true?

A) Group performance is frequently worse than that of the average group member.
B) Groups are better suited than individuals for making programmable decisions.
C) Groups often take less time to solve problems than does the average group member.
D) Groups tend to be more risk averse than the average person in low-risk conditions.
E) Groups have a much wider range of alternatives to choose from than the average person.

Question 51

Which of the following approaches to decision making involves selecting the first alternative that meets the decision maker's current level of aspiration?

A) The minimax approach
B) The risk-averting approach
C) The synectics approach
D) The satisficing approach
E) The optimizing approach

Question 52

When the decision maker has very little or no reliable information on which to evaluate the different possible outcomes,he or she is most likely to use the _____ approach for decision making.

A) expected value
B) economic man
C) maximin
D) synectics
E) error-free

Question 53

Which of the following is the first step in the optimizing approach to decision making?

A) Identify possible alternatives
B) Select the best alternative
C) Establish, rank, and weigh the decision criteria
D) Recognize the need for a decision
E) Gather available information and data

Question 54

Which of the following approaches to decision making is based on the concept of "economic man"?

A) The minimax approach
B) The risk-averting approach
C) The synectics approach
D) The satisficing approach
E) The optimizing approach

Question 55

Which of the following is the last step in the optimizing approach to decision making?

A) Identify possible alternatives
B) Select the best alternative
C) Establish, rank, and weigh the decision criteria
D) Recognize the need for a decision
E) Gather available information and data

Question 56

A manager is deciding between sourcing a raw material from an agent (fast and expensive option)and assigning an employee in the procurement department to buy it from the market (slow and low-price option).This is an example of a decision made under a condition of _____.

A) risk
B) certainty
C) synectics
D) uncertainity
E) optimization

Question 57

Harry is a senior manager at Pine and Acorn Consultancy.He failed to notice that the economy of the largest market of Pine and Acorn was sliding into recession.He had failed to take a decision to expand in the growing economies costing Pine and Acorn significant future revenues.Which of the following barriers to effective decision making did Harry succumb to?

A) Complacency
B) Panic
C) Gambling
D) Deciding to decide
E) Defensive avoidance

Question 58

Under conditions of risk,which of the following can the decision maker use to help arrive at a decision?

A) Risk-averting approach
B) Synectics approach
C) Maximin analysis
D) Expected value analysis
E) Certainty analysis

Question 59

Which of the following is a pessimistic approach for dealing with uncertainty when making decisions?

A) The maximin approach
B) The synectics approach
C) The nominal grouping approach
D) The expected value approach
E) The risk-averting approach

Question 60

Which of the following approaches for dealing with uncertainty involves choosing the alternative with the least variation among possible outcomes?

A) The satisficing approach
B) The risk-averting approach
C) The brainwriting approach
D) The maximin approach
E) The synectics approach

Question 61

Which of the following provides information that describes an organization or one of its major parts in terms of what has happened in the past,what is happening now,and what is likely to happen in the future?

A) Transaction-processing systems
B) Contingency systems
C) Management information systems
D) Clustering systems
E) Data support systems

Question 62

_____ involves presenting a problem to a group of people and allows them to present ideas for a solution to the problem.

A) Data mining
B) Clustering
C) Brainstorming
D) Synectics
E) Mind mapping

Question 63

Harry,a senior manager at Pine and Acorn Consultancy,needs to decide how best to expand the services of Pine and Acorn in new markets.He is following the model for creative decision making for this purpose.He is attempting to identify what needs to be done to successfully implement the chosen idea that he has arrived at.Which of the following stages of the model for creative decision making is Harry currently at?

A) Fact finding
B) Idea finding
C) Acceptance finding
D) Problem finding
E) Solution finding

Question 64

Explain the principle of bounded rationality.

Question 65

Contrast management information systems against transaction-processing systems.

Question 66

In which of the following stages of the creative decision-making model,questions usually begin with who,what,where,when,how many,how much,or similar words?

A) The acceptance-finding stage
B) The fact-finding stage
C) The problem-finding stage
D) The idea-finding stage
E) The solution-finding stage

Question 67

What can managers do to establish a creative environment?

Question 68

Harry,a senior manager at Pine and Acorn Consultancy,needs to decide how best to expand the services of Pine and Acorn in new markets.He is following the model for creative decision making for this purpose.He has already described the decision situation in a written form and systematically gathered additional information concerning the current state of affairs.What should Harry do next?

A) Fact finding
B) Idea finding
C) Acceptance finding
D) Problem finding
E) Solution finding

Question 69

Which of the following tools for fostering creativity involves the following steps: listing,recording,voting,discussion,and final voting?

A) The clustering technique
B) The brainstorming technique
C) The nominal group technique
D) Analogies
E) Synectics

Question 70

Which of the following is an example of a transaction-processing system?

A) Inventory record systems
B) Contingency data systems
C) Operational information systems
D) Financial reporting systems
E) Human resource systems

Question 71

Describe the five-step approach to foster the creative environment.

Question 72

What are some limitations of the optimizing approach?

Question 73

How can emotional attachments hurt decision makers?

Question 74

_____ systems substitute computer processing for manual recordkeeping procedures.

A) Transaction-processing
B) Contingency
C) Management information
D) Clustering
E) Data support

Question 75

Which of the following is a highly structured tool for fostering creativity that is designed to keep personal interactions at a minimum?

A) The clustering technique
B) The brainstorming technique
C) The nominal group technique
D) Analogies
E) Synectics

Question 76

Describe the optimizing approach to decision making.

Question 77

List and describe the steps that are involved in making a nominal group technique work.

Question 78

List the stages of the creative decision-making model.

Question 79

Harry,a senior manager at Pine and Acorn Consultancy,needs to decide how best to expand the services of Pine and Acorn in new markets.He is following the model for creative decision making for this purpose.He has already described the present situation in writing.What should Harry do next?

A) Fact finding
B) Idea finding
C) Acceptance finding
D) Problem finding
E) Solution finding

Question 80

Outline the positive aspects of group decision making.