Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 9— Decision Making, Creativity and Ethics
83) Individuals tend to be more creative in their decisions than groups.
a. True
b. False
84) Group decisions are generally less accurate than the decisions of the average
individual.
a. True
b. False
85) Individual team members who have participated in developing and making a decision
tend to be less inclined to accept the decision because it was not their own personal
decision to which they can be held personally accountable.
a. True
b. False
86) Groupthink enhances cohesiveness in groups.
a. True
b. False
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 9— Decision Making, Creativity and Ethics
87) Individuals whose intellectual and interpersonal abilities are weakest are most likely
to overestimate their performance ability.
a. True
b. False
88) Eva’s team is in the process of making a significant decision regarding how to
finance its latest project. Eva has decided to censor any negative or inconsistent
information that could potentially reach the team. Eva does not want this information to
shift the team’s focus. She is sure her action, which is part of the groupshift technique,
will benefit the group.
a. True
b. False
89) Brainstorming will likely overcome pressures for conformity within the interacting
group.
a. True
b. False
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 9— Decision Making, Creativity and Ethics
90) Creativity will likely make the difference in the success and failure of companies.
a. True
b. False
91) Most people have creative potential they can use when confronted with a decision-
making problem.
a. True
b. False
92) Intrinsic task motivation turns creativity potential into actual creative ideas.
a. True
b. False
93) Creativity can be enhanced with the use of intuition.
a. True
b. False
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 9— Decision Making, Creativity and Ethics
94) In business, most decision makers use utilitarianism to guide them.
a. True
b. False
95) Most adults are in the highest, principled, level of moral development.
a. True
b. False
96) A high locus of control indicates that people believe they are in control of their lives.
a. True
b. False
97) Organizational culture has a direct impact on ethical behaviour.
a. True
b. False
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 9— Decision Making, Creativity and Ethics
98) In making ethical decisions, one question to ask is how the decisions respect the
rights of other parties involved.
a. True
b. False
99) Organizations may engage in corporate social responsibility practices because they
may feel pressured to do so by society.
a. True
b. False
100) Everyone is in agreement that organizations have a duty to engage in socially
responsible practices.
a. True
b. False
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 9— Decision Making, Creativity and Ethics
101) Describe in detail the rational decision-making model. Use a decision you have
recently made or will be making to illustrate the steps in the model. Explain in what
situations this model is useful and when it should not be used.
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 9— Decision Making, Creativity and Ethics
102) Much theory exists with respect to decision making. Many times, however, there is
a difference between theories and how decisions are actually made in organizations.
Discuss in detail at least five different judgment shortcuts that are common in
organizational decision-making. Give clear examples to illustrate the theories and their
use.
103) Discuss in detail the strengths and weaknesses of group decision-making, including
the influences that help and hinder groups in this process. Support your answer by
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 9— Decision Making, Creativity and Ethics
illustrating the various techniques that can be used by groups in the decision-making
process.
104) You are an OB consultant who has been hired to provide advice to an organization
to encourage more creativity among its staff. The company views creativity as having the
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 9— Decision Making, Creativity and Ethics
potential to become a competitive advantage. Begin your analysis by describing in detail
at least four organizational factors that could favourably affect creativity and those that
could block creativity. Give specific examples to support your thesis.
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 9— Decision Making, Creativity and Ethics
105) Describe in detail the three-component model of creativity and how it can be used in
organizations to enhance creative potential. Give specific examples to support your
answers
Suggested answer:
106) Ethical decision-making in organizations is influenced by several factors. Discuss in
detail how the stages of moral development affect individual decision-making. Also
discuss how the organizational environment enhances or constrains ethical decision-
making. Give specific examples to support your answer.
Suggested answer:
107) Discuss in detail the four ethical decision criteria and relate them to issues and
decisions about corporate social responsibility. Give specific examples to support your
answer.
Suggested answer:
– The four ethical decision criteria are the utilitarian criterion, the rights criterion, the
justice criterion, and the criterion of care.
– Decision makers tend to feel safe and comfortable when they use utilitarianism, in
which decisions are made solely on the basis of their outcomes and consequences. This
view dominates business decision-making because it focuses on efficiency, productivity,
and profits. It is easy to justify decisions based on this criterion. Increased concern in
society about individual rights and social justice increase the need for organizations to
develop ethical standards based on nonutilitarian criteria.
– The rights criterion in decision making focuses on respecting and protecting the basic
rights of individuals in privacy, free speech, and due process. This criterion protects
whistle-blowers when they report unethical practices by their organizations.
– The criterion of justice deals with an equitable distribution of benefits and costs by
protecting the interests of the underrepresented and less powerful. Unions often focus on
the justice criterion in demanding concessions from organizations.
– The criterion of care demands morally correct actions by suggesting that individuals
focus on the needs, desires, and well-being of others. This criterion is also closely related
to being socially responsible in all actions.
– Organizations consider the impact of their decisions on society by consciously or
inadvertently falling back on these four ethical criteria in justifying the decisions they
make. Not everyone agrees that organizations should assume social responsibility.
However, increasingly the public and customers want businesses to give back to society
in visible ways.
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 9— Decision Making, Creativity and Ethics