Management 3200-Exam 2-Kerry Sauley

Is decision making a function of management?

No; decision-making is applicable to all management functions

Why do we make decisions as managers?

to achieve operative goals and overall organizational goals; decisions are means to and end rather than ends in themselves;

What's the difference between programmed and non-programmed decisions?

Program decisions are specific procedures that have been developed for repetitive and routine problems; specific procedure developed. thinking has been done for you

Non-programmed decisions are specific management problems that are novel and unique; complex and unstructured; no established procedure. have to think

Do managers make more programmed or non-programmed decisions?

programmed

What is decision-making under conditions of certainty?

Manager knows all the available alternatives and the outcomes associated with each...no element of surprise...managerial decisions are seldom made under conditions of certainty...ideal situation to make a decision

What is decision-making under conditions of risk?

Decisions are most common; alternitives are known but outcomes are in doubt

What is decision-making under conditions of uncertainty?

managers don't know alternatives, potential outcomes; decisions of uncertainty are made in situations with no historical data available (introduction of new technology)

What decision making condition is most common?

Risk

What decision making condition is least common and eaisest?

Certainty

What decision making condition is most difficult?

Uncertainty

What is the key to making good decisions under risk?

determining the probabilities associated with each alternative and choosing the best

How do programmed/non-programmed decisions and decision-making conditions relate?

Certainty=programmed

Uncertainty=non-programmed

Risk=Both

What does the traditional economic model assume about decision-makers? (2 assumptions)

Managers seek to maximize benefits or minimize costs; managers are completely rational; completely rational+maximizing benefits=best decision every time

Under what decision making condition do decisions get made in the traditional economic model?

Certainty

What does the behavioral model assume about decision making?

Bounded rationality and satisfice; descriptive (how you actually make decisions; pretty good decisions with less time/effort=more efficient

What is bounded rationality?

Managers are unable to grasp the full complexity of managerial decisions due to both their limited mental emotions and the uncertainty of future events

What are three things that bound rationality?

Limited mental capacity, emotions (emotional state), and unforeseeable of future events

What is satisficing? How does it differ from maximizing?

Rational behavior, going from one alternative to the next till you find a good enough one; Managers satisfice their benefits instead of maximizing them

perscriptive

ecnomic modle

What is a heurisitc?

a labor saving device, mental short cut, or rule of thumb

What are the advantages/disadvantages of a heuristic?

Advantages: time saving and produce more good decisions than bad makes more effectiveness and efficiency

Disadvantages: lead to faulty conclusions, can lead to error in judgement (bias- good thing gone bad)

What is the availability heuristic?

Used when managers assess the frequency of an event by the degree to which those instances of that event are easily recalled in memory (easily remembered and frequent)

What factors cause you to overestimate the frequency of an event? (problem)

events that evoke emotion, are vivid, recent, and easily imagined. (anything that makes it more memorable)

What is the representative heuristic?

reflects the tendency of managers to assess the likelihood (stereotype/categories) of an occurrence by matching it with a preexisting category

What's the problem with the representative heuristic?

Can lead to behavior that is irrational and morally reprehensible. Causes you to miss opertunities

Under what decision making conditions do decisions get made in the behavioral model?

Risk and uncertainty (most likely risk)

what was sauleys first and favorite car he saw

1971 black cutless supreme

What does the irrational/implicit favorite model of decision-making say about decision making?

decision makers select a favorite early on in the evaluation of alternatives and gauge their decision towards that favorite (their gut choice, makes other alternatives less describable, other alternatives don't have as good of a chance)

What types of decisions are made irrationally?

nonprogrammer decisions

What is the basic purpose of a brainstorming session?

This technique is designed to generate ideas, not evaluate them...presented with a problem and are asked to identify as many potential solutions as possible

What are the four rules in brainstorming?

1. Criticism prohibited

2. "freewheeling" is welcomed; the more off the wall ideas the better

3. Quantity is wanted; don't worry about quality

4. Combination and improvement of ideas to make them better

Can inhibitions be totally eliminated in brainstorming sessions?

It is very difficult to eliminate the evaluation of ideas when they are generated. No

intervert hold back _____ than extavert

more

What two creativity techniques do synaptic use in helping the group to generate better ideas?

Fantasy and analogy

What is the superhero technique?

play like your favorite superhero to get the desired results you want

In synectics, what is the job of the facilitator?

formulates the problem of the group; members respond by stating the problem as they see it (understand)

In synectics, what is the job of the technical expert?

presents to aid the group in the evaluation of the feasibility of ideas

What's the problem with synectics?

It is costly and time consuming; less widely used than brainstorming; does not seperate evaluation from generalization (should generate then evaluate)

What research is NGT (Nominal Group Technique) based on?

Inspired by research that discovered more and better ideas are discovered by several persons working alone/separate than by the same persons working in an interacting group (5 individuals performed worse then a group of 5)

How is NGT different from brainstorming and synectics?

Does not rely on free association of ideas; purposely restricts verbal interaction

What in NGT does one try to eliminate to improve decision making process?

To eliminate process losses in group decision process

What are the steps in NGT? (5)

1. Group members are familiarized with the problem

2. Group members working alone generate solutions

3. group members share solutions in a round robin

4. group members evaluate solutions in a round robin

5. group members have private voting ranking from best to worst

(probably will change 2 or 5 on the exam. act alone in 2 and 5)

What are the defining characteristics of the Delphi technique?

experts are not brought together to discuss their ideas/views to avoid judgements of ideas; tries to eliminate group process in creative problem solving as much as possible. (group never meets) (NGT but virtual)

What is the reasoning behind the Delphi technique?

eliminate negative aspects of group process of revising the ideas (more extreme than NGT)

delphi name came from

technical fore casting (uncle clarence smoked weed)

What is the stepladder technique? DONT DO

Form 2 person group out of five people and they make decision...then 3 person group challenges to re-think and form own solution...then 4 person group ???; used when decision has to be right on the first time

What is the stepladder technique designed to prevent? Promote? DONT DO

social loafing; everyone needs to carry their own weight; allows groups multiple chances to reconsider decision

What are operations research techniques? What kind of data do they require? Are they an aid or substitute? What do managers need to think critically about when they use these techniques? Are they applicable to all decisions?

useful as an aid for evaluating alternatives; require quantitative(number) data; they are an aid; viewed as an aid to less systematic techniques; For many problems where factors can seldom be quantified, may not be applicable. most used in the first line

confirmatory bias

We tend to look for positive info about our decision; looking for negative makes it seem like a bad decision; we tend to accept information that confirms what we already believe

What is the gamblers fallacy?

After 10 bad hands of poker, they believe 11 has to be good; chance doesn't correct itself

Do people pay more attention to descriptive qualitative, information or statistical, quantitative information?

Descriptive qualitative information

People often violate the laws of large numbers. What does this mean? Why does it occur?

Ignore large samples of data and go with their own brief superficial experience as bias for choice; small sample set=less accurate, less reliable

How does the framing of a decision affect decision making?

People associated with loss are far greater than pleasure in gaining; Positive=gain=conservative (less risk)

Negative=loss= (more),risk seeking

What is group decision making (GDM) a function of?

individual contributions + assembly effects-process losses

Assembly Effect

positive consequences of bringing a group together such as synergy, more info, diverse viewpoints, checking errors, and substantive conflict

Process Loss

negative consequences of bringing a group together such as destructive, interpersonal conflict, free-riding or social loafing, domination by a few, and more time and expenses

What is the optimal size of a decision making group?

5 to 7 people; odd number groups used to break ties

What are the advantages of group decision making?

provides a greater sense of control for the employee

What are the conditions under which managers utilize individual decision making?

little time, relevant knowledge/expertise, acceptance of decision isn't an issue, group doesn't get along, and doesn't share the organizations goals

Disadvantages of GDM

takes longer; indecisivness; domination by few; free-riders are a problem; escalation of demands

Leveling Effect

Compromise that takes place in GDM that lower quality of decision but increases acceptance; both assembly effect and a process loss (all of the above?)

#50

Rank the following i terms of decision making accuracy: group, average individual, best member

1. Best Member

2. Group

3. Average Individual Member

What one is more efficient (short run, Long run)

Short- Individual (quick in the begging long in the end)

Long- group (slow in the begging qiuick in the end)

What is more efficient, group or individual decision making? Consider both short and long term efficiency

Short Term: individual; quick at first but slow in the long run

Long Term: group b/c implementation of decision is quicker here but it is slow in the beginning

Where do you have greater creativity: five individuals generating ideas along or five individuals generating ideas in a group?

Alone (NGT)

Which leads to greater acceptance of the decision and better implementation of the decision: individual or group decision making?

GDM

What function of management is concerned with job design and organizational design?

Organizing-dividing up work and coordinating

What are the three aspects of job design?

1. A jobs content (what to do)

2. The work methods or procedures to be used in its performance

3. How it's related to other jobs in the oranization

What is skill variety?

the degree to which a job requires the employees to perform a wide range of operations in their work

LOW=specialization

HIGH=craft jobs

Task Identity

the extent to which employees do an entire/whole piece of work and clearly identify the results of their effort

Task Significance

refers to the extent to which job and its performance exert a considerable impact on the lives of others

Autonomy

extent to which employees have a major say in scheduling their work, selecting their equipment and methods they will use, checking their own works, and deciding the procedures to be followed; JOB DEPTH

What is feedback?

the degree to which employees as they are working receive info that reveals how well they are performing on the job

crafsmen rate high on the

assembly rate low on the but what one

a-feedback shallow on breadth and depth

What is job breadth?

refers to the number of tasks that a jobholder performs

What is job depth?

amount of discretion that an individual has to decide job activities and job outcomes (meaningful-autonomy)

What job design is least prevalent today? Which one is most prevalent to today?

Least=craft jobs

Most=Specialized jobs

What is a specialized job and how does it load on the five task characteristics?

Results from the division of labor into smaller and smaller task elements; low breadth, depth, autonomy, task significance, task identity, and skill variety and high on feedback

What are the advantages of a specialized job?

+Less skilled employees can be hired because of the simplicity of job assignments/can pay them less

+Jobs can be learned in less time/reduces training costs

+Constant repetition leads to an area of limited expertise, which increases productivity

+More opportunities for utilizing the primary talents of the employee

+Work is performed quicker b/c the employee does not lose time shifting from one activity to another

+Dependence o particular employee skill is minimized

What are the disadvantages of specialized jobs?

+Low Employee motivation

+Low job satisfaction

+Low quality job performance

+High absenteeism/withdrawing behavior

+High turnover (quitting)

+Sabotage and strikes b/c not in control

+Alcohol and drug abuse

**Not all negative effects happen; depends on the person in the job

What is the purpose of job enlargement?

allocation of a wider variety of similar tasks to an employee in order to make the job more of a challenge; to keep one from getting bored so quickly of one job. increasing breath but not depth

What two task characteristics does job enlargement increase

Increased breadth and increased task identity

The motivational benefits of job enlargement are short-lived or long-lived?

Short lived

Job Rotation

shifting workers thorugh a set of jobs in planned sequence in order to increase their capabilities and understand various aspects of the operation. Benefits are short lived and new jobs can be more boring

What is job enrichment and how is it different from job enlargement?

A move backwards towards craft jobs where employees perform a larger and more complete segment of work; to increase the meaningfullness of work and the experienced responsibility of work outcomes; difference is depth

What are the advantages of job enrichment?

High employee motivation, job satisfaction, job performance, and low absenteeism and turnover

What are the three moderators that influence the effectiveness of job enrichment?

-Ability

-Motivation

-Surroundings

How do the three moderators influence the effectiveness of job enrichment?

Weak skill level=advantages disappear; dissatisfied w/work environment=job enrichment decreases and will reduce effectiveness of job enrichment

What are the five steps in redesigning a job so it will be enriched?

-Form natural work units

-Combining Tasks

-Establishing Client Relationships

-Vertical Loading

-Opening Feedback Channels

What step in the redesign process is most important? (gives atonomy) 360-feed back. Make a team-form work units

Vertical Loading- if taken away you have an enlarged job

What step in the design process is job enlargement?

Combining Tasks

What are the disadvantages of job enrichment?

Some workers may not want enriched jobs and even if they want it they may not have the skills to do it....training costs go up

How does strategy influence job designs?

-Defender strategy competes on overall cost leadership and keeps prices low, therefore you need specialized jobs

-Prospector Strategy constitutes freedom and derives a need for enriched or craft jobs

What employee factors should be taken into consideration when designing jobs?

Ability, motivation, (economic factors, technological, union cooperation and management support)-know these kinda well didnt mention

What type of motivation is best suited to specialized jobs? Enriched jobs?

Specialized=motivation (means to a paycheck)

Enriched=expressive motivation (means to personal fulfillment)

What is instrumental motivation?

job having a means to an end; better or specialized jobs

What is expressive motivation?

do the job because they want to; the job is the end

What is the Yerkes-Dodson Law?

relates performance and arousal with an inverted U...too low arousal and performance decreases...to high arousal and performance decreases....want moderate level of arousal

When someone is hyper-sensitive to their environment, what type of job design should they be given?

need relatively little stimulation to get them to activation level to get high performance.....specialized jobs