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Student name:__________
1) What is the difference between programmed decisions and nonprogrammed decisions?
Give an example of each.
2) Identify the steps in the decision-making process.
3) Discuss the elements of a problem that should be considered in determining its
significance.
4) Describe the conditions governing alternative-outcome relationships.
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5) Explain the role of behavioral influences on decision making.
6) Describe the influence of values on the decision-making process.
7) What are four of the most cited reasons why decision makers still make unethical
choices? Which of these do you believe presents the strongest motivator to act unethically?
8) Many individuals are reluctant to admit that they have made a wrong decision. List some
of the methods that these individuals might use to reduce their dissonance.
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9) Compare individual and group decision making. What are some of the positives and
negatives of each approach?
10) Identify three specific techniques for stimulating creativity. Which one of these
techniques is best?
11) What are the basic differences between Delphi technique and NGT? Provide examples
when each method may be effective in promoting improved decision making.
12) All of the following apply to non-programmed decisions except:
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A) Necessity for creativity or intuition
B) Repetitive
C) Tolerance for ambiguity
D) Purchase of experimental equipment
13) Periodic reordering of inventory to maintain preset levels would be classified as which of
the following decision types?
A) Nominal
B) Nuanced
C) Programmed
D) Process
14) Which of the following is the best example of a programmed decision?
A) Procedure for admitting patients
B) Diversification into new products and markets
C) Deciding how to clean up after a flood
D) Construction of new classroom facilities
15) Problems typically result from a determination that a discrepancy exists between current
reality and _______________.
A) prior reality
B) future reality
C) a desired state
D) an optimum state
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16) A necessary condition for a decision is _______________.
A) a resource scarcity
B) an organizational need
C) self-confidence
D) a problem
17) The first step in the rational decision-making process is _____________.
A) problem identification
B) establishing specific goals and objectives
C) development of alternatives
D) problem cognition
18) The last step in the rational decision-making process is _____________.
A) alternative selection
B) implementation
C) follow-up and evaluation
D) communication of decision
19) Problems usually are of three types. Which of the following is not one of those types?
A) Opportunity
B) Crisis
C) Routine
D) Recurring
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20) ___________ problems present themselves and must be attended to by the managers.
A) Crisis but not routine
B) Crisis and routine
C) Crisis and opportunity
D) Crisis, opportunity and routine
21) Determining problem significance involves consideration of all of the following except:
A) Urgency
B) Similarity to previous problems
C) Impact
D) Growth tendency
22) _______________ describes the seriousness of a problem’s effects.
A) Impact
B) Urgency
C) Immediacy
D) Growth tendency
23) When determining problem significance, urgency _____________.
A) relates to impact
B) relates to time
C) refers to potential for negative outcomes
D) All of the above.
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24) As it pertains to choosing a solution, the alternative-outcome relationship is based on all
of the following conditions except:
A) Certainty
B) Uncertainty
C) Risk
D) Cost
25) Certainty is possible in most decision-making _______________.
A) at home
B) at work
C) in the stock market
D) None of the choices are correct.
26) Under conditions of uncertainty, the decision maker has ____________ of the probability
of the outcome of _____ alternative(s).
A) absolutely no knowledge; each
B) absolutely no knowledge; most
C) partial knowledge; each
D) partial knowledge; of a portion of the
27) A _____________ is an appointed critic of proposed group actions whose role is to
uncover underlying issues with the prevailing direction of the group.
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A) “detail devil”
B) “decision devil”
C) “devil’s advocate”
D) “decision advocate”
28) In the bounded rationality approach, all of the following assumptions are made except:
A) The consequences of alternative decisions can be predicted
B) Decision makers rarely have all the information they need or want
C) The organization’s goals constrain decision making
D) Conflicting goals can force a compromise solution
29) __________ offered a descriptive approach that has described as the administrative
decision-making model.
A) Drucker
B) Smith and Howell
C) March and Simon
D) I.H. Caffie
30) An intuitive decision maker uses _______________ to process information, data, and the
environment or to address a problem or solution.
A) experience
B) self-confidence
C) self-motivation
D) All of the choices are correct.
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31) Intuitive decision making is likely to take place under all of the following conditions
except:
A) The environment is chaotic
B) The situation is changing rapidly
C) There is a history or past experience to draw upon
D) There is intense pressure to come up with a solution
32) Intuitive decision making occurs due to all of the following except:
A) High levels of uncertainty
B) Having no history or past experience to draw upon
C) A lack of time pressure
D) An excessive number of alternatives
33) The administrative decision-making model incorporates which of the following concepts?
A) optimizing
B) satisfying
C) unbounded alternative generation
D) Both B and C are correct.
34) Heidrick & Struggles identified all of the following traits that can sabotage an executive’s
approach to decision making except:
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A) angst
B) intellectualizing
C) overconfidence
D) paralysis
35) In _______________, it is necessary to make value judgments regarding the selection of
opportunities and the assignment of priorities.
A) establishing objectives
B) developing alternatives
C) choosing an alternative
D) the evaluation and control phase
36) In the context of decision making, ______ can be thought of as the guidelines a person
uses when confronted with a situation in which a choice must be made. They are acquired early
in life and are a basic (often taken-for-granted) part of an individual’s thoughts.
A) heuristics
B) values
C) likings
D) conventions
37) Many decisions have an ethical dimension that requires all of the following except:
A) Thought
B) Reflection
C) Caution
D) Confession
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38) Asking “If this decision was published in the newspaper, would the reader consider the
decision ethical?” is subjecting a decision to a(n) _______________ test.
A) ethics
B) morality
C) sunshine
D) publicity
39) Dissonance is often _______________ by admitting that a mistake has been made.
A) increased
B) reduced
C) unaffected
D) completely resolved
40) According to the text, all of the following contribute to decision-making anxiety except:
A) The decision is psychologically or financially important
B) There are a number of alternatives
C) The alternatives have many favorable features
D) One of the alternatives has been successful in the past
41) The consequences of decisions that deal with _______________ leave leaders
particularly susceptible to cognitive dissonance.
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A) life and death
B) money
C) layoffs
D) hiring
42) Which of the following the following is a method to reduce dissonance?
A) Seek information that supports the wisdom of their decision.
B) Selectively perceive (distort) information in a way that supports their decision.
C) Minimize the importance of the negative aspects of the decision and exaggerate the
importance of the positive aspects.
D) All of the choices are correct.
43) The potential for dissonance is influenced by _______________.
A) the ability to be persuaded
B) personality
C) self-confidence
D) All of the choices are correct.
44) Gamblers who place larger and larger wagers in an effort to recoup earlier losses are
displaying a decision-making behavior called _______________.
A) reverse pyramiding
B) load balancing
C) escalation of commitment
D) stacking the deck
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45) Decision makers who _______________ are likely to be candidates for escalation of
decision making.
A) are unclear of their goals
B) have a fear of failure
C) work in a culture of low trust
D) Any or All of the choices are correct.
46) In high power-distance cultures such as India, decisions are made at the _______ level of
the organization.
A) highest
B) middle
C) lowest
D) None of the above. Power-distance is not related to organizational decision-making.
47) Groups usually require _______________ to make decisions, compared to individuals.
A) more time
B) less time
C) the same amount of time
D) None of the above, there is no relation between decision time and groups
48) The success of the Green Berets is determined by their ability to collectively and
creatively implement solutions to _______________ situations.
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A) training
B) novel
C) repetitive
D) every day
49) Research has shown that consensus decisions with five or more participants are superior
to _______________.
A) individual decision making
B) majority vote
C) leader decisions
D) All of the choices are correct.
50) When it comes to evaluating alternative solutions, _______________ make superior
judgments.
A) individuals
B) groups
C) neither individuals nor groups
D) both individuals and groups
51) In solution selection, group interaction and the achievement of consensus usually results
in the acceptance of more _______________ than would be accepted by an individual decision
maker.
A) risk
B) novelty
C) accountability
D) innovation
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52) As we move from “individual” to “consensus” decisions, the _______________ of the
decision typically improves.
A) quality
B) implementation
C) cost savings
D) simplicity
53) _______________ thinking is a process of generating novel ways to solve problems
faced by an individual or group.
A) Bilateral
B) Lateral
C) Diagonal
D) Horizontal
54) Creative decision makers have been found to have all of the following characteristics in
common except:
A) Type C personalities
B) Perseverance
C) Risk-taking propensity
D) Tolerance of ambiguity
55) _______________ creative potential.
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A) Groups have the most
B) Individuals have the most
C) Groups and individuals are equal in
D) The youngest members of a group have
56) _______________ occurs when a team member has to wait for his/her turn to provide an
idea that contributes to a brainstorming session.
A) Social loafing
B) Conformity
C) Idea production blocking
D) Downward norm setting
57) _______________ includes a strict series of rules by which participants must abide.
A) The Philadelphia process
B) The normal group technique
C) Brainstorming
D) The IM process
58) The tendency of people in a team to not work as hard mentally or physically as they
would alone is called _______________.
A) downward norm setting
B) conformity
C) idea production blocking
D) social loafing
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59) The Delphi technique has the advantage of having several _______________ while
removing the biasing effects that might occur during face-to-face interaction.
A) “Delphs”
B) possible solutions
C) communication methods
D) judges
60) The nominal group technique employs all of the following except:
A) A structured group meeting
B) Verbal brainstorming
C) One person who acts as the recorder
D) Group voting on or ranking of ideas
61) All of the following are techniques for stimulating creativity except:
A) Brainstorming
B) Delphi technique
C) Nominal group technique
D) Downward norm setting
62) Provide an example of a nonprogrammed secession that may face a university.
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63) What should you measure to determine how critical a problem is for the organization?
64) How can an organization focus management attention away from crises and routine
problems and toward longer-range issues?
65) Problems usually are of three types; what are they?
66) When does an uncertain situation exist?
67) What does risk mean in the context of the alternative-outcome relationship?
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68) Why would an organization consider appointing a “devil’s advocate”?
69) What are the basic assumptions of the bounded rationality approach to decision-making?
70) What does the intuitive decision maker use to address problems or opportunities?
71) How do values impact the establishment of objectives?
72) What characteristic or situations may make individuals likely to be candidates for
escalation of decision making?
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73) Why may nonprogrammed decisions be more suited for group rather than individual
decision-making?
74) What are the three basic rules of brainstorming?
75) What is the advantage of the Delphi technique?
76) The management of most organizations faces primarily nonprogrammed decisions during
daily operations.
⊚ true
⊚ false
77) Problems can be expected to arise in organizations where top management expends too
much time and effort on nonprogrammed decisions.
⊚ true
⊚ false
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78) Every decision is the outcome of a static process.
⊚ true
⊚ false
79) Defining problems in terms of solutions is really a form of jumping to conclusions.
⊚ true
⊚ false
80) A problem with low urgency and little impact will not grow if left unattended.
⊚ true
⊚ false
81) When a “good” decision is identified immediately, alternatives do not need to be
developed.
⊚ true
⊚ false
82) Decision makers should allow previously established goals and objectives to guide their
decisions.
⊚ true
⊚ false
83) Gathering information and/or studying a situation can help a decision maker reduce the
degree of uncertainty in decision-making.
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⊚ true
⊚ false
84) Group decision-making outcomes are typically improved by merging the identifying
solutions and problem identification processes into one activity.
⊚ true
⊚ false
85) Typically, once a group determines they have found a “perfect” solution, a “devil’s
advocate” need not be appointed.
⊚ true
⊚ false
86) In managerial decision making, optimal solutions are always possible.
⊚ true
⊚ false
87) A poor implementation will have no effect on a good decision.
⊚ true
⊚ false
88) The decision itself is always more important than the implementation.
⊚ true
⊚ false
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89) Two objectives can typically be optimized simultaneously.
⊚ true
⊚ false
90) As decision implementation typically involves people, the test of the soundness of a
decision is the behavior of the people involved relative to the decision.
⊚ true
⊚ false
91) It is not necessary to reactivate the entire decision-making process if the original
objective is revised.
⊚ true
⊚ false
92) There is some degree of “satisfying” in almost all decisions that people make.
⊚ true
⊚ false
93) Decisions are typically made without the benefit of perfect information and unlimited
time to search for and evaluate alternative solutions.
⊚ true
⊚ false
94) To a large extent, a decision maker’s willingness to make ethical or unethical decisions
will be influenced by his or her values.
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⊚ true
⊚ false
95) Most decision makers are very similar in their willingness to take risk.
⊚ true
⊚ false
96) What kind of risk taker you are and your potential for anxiety following a decision are
very closely related.
⊚ true
⊚ false
97) Escalation of commitment is typically caused by a need to turn a poor decision into a
winning decision.
⊚ true
⊚ false
98) In some countries, it is inappropriate for senior executives to consult subordinates before
making a decision.
⊚ true
⊚ false
99) Team- or group-based decision-making is especially good for nonprogrammed problems.
⊚ true
⊚ false
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100) The nominal group technique compares anonymous judgments on a topic through a series
of sequential questionnaires.
⊚ true
⊚ false
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Answer Key
Test name: chapter 14
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