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 is being implemented?
In the nominal group technique, the following procedure is used: (1) One manager outlines
the problem to be addressed, and 30 or 40 minutes are allocated for group members,
working individually, to write down their ideas and solutions. (2) Managers take turns
reading their suggestions to the group. One manager writes all the alternatives on a flip
chart. No criticism or evaluation of alternatives is allowed until all alternatives have been
read. (3) The alternatives are then discussed in the sequence in which they were first
proposed. (4) When all alternatives have been discussed, each group member ranks all the
alternatives from most preferred to least preferred, and the alternative that receives the
highest ranking is chosen.
AACSB: Reflective Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Apply
Difficulty: 3 Hard
Learning Objective: 05-04 Explain the role that organizational learning and creativity play in helping managers to improve
their decisions.
Topic: Learning Organization