Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 9— Decision Making, Creativity and Ethics
Chapter 09: Decision Making, Creativity and Ethics
1) Decision making would be best described as an exercise in
a. establishing criteria and strategies to advance our goals.
b. evaluating and analyzing options.
c. making choices between two or more options.
d. making opportunities work.
e. focusing on advancement and progression through opportunities.
2) The catalyst for initiating the decision-making process is
a. a problem.
b. a solution.
c. rationalization.
d. a concept.
e. a change agent.
3) A potential customer has indicated that he is willing to buy a substantial amount of
your product, albeit at a lower price than is typically charged to existing customers. This
potential customer has further indicated that, if she is satisfied with the quality of the
product, more orders would follow in the future. Your company now has to consider
whether this unexpected order should be accepted. This situation represents a(n)
a. dilemma.
b. problem.
c. opportunity.
d. commitment.
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 9— Decision Making, Creativity and Ethics
e. catalyst.
4) What is the first step in the rational decision-making process?
a. establishing and evaluating alternatives to solve the problem
b. defining the problem
c. seeking out the reasons for the problem
d. determining the criteria that will be used to make the decision
e. doing the research necessary in order to define the problem
5) According to the rational decision-making model, factors affecting the decision and
their importance are identified and considered when
a. identifying decision criteria.
b. developing alternatives.
c. evaluating alternatives.
d. defining the problem.
e. selecting the best alternative.
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 9— Decision Making, Creativity and Ethics
6) If you calculate your monthly expenses and find that you are spending $50 more than
your monthly earnings, you have engaged in which step of the rational decision-making
model?
a. identifying decision criteria
b. developing alternatives
c. evaluating alternatives
d. defining the problem
e. selecting the best alternative
7) Allocating weights to the decision criteria is unnecessary if
a. all criteria are relevant.
b. all criteria are equally important.
c. there are only two decision criteria.
d. the decision is being made by an individual.
e. a team is making the decision.
8) The assumptions underlying the rational decision-making model include
a. unknown options.
b. unclear preferences.
c. time constraints.
d. cost constraints.
e. maximum payoff.
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 9— Decision Making, Creativity and Ethics
9) Decisions made using the rational decision-making model can be described as
a. value maximizing.
b. inconsistent.
c. being based on the most easily available information.
d. most important.
e. minimum acceptable.
10) Hiring the ________ person to do the job is an example of a(n) ________ decision,
while hiring a ________ person to do the job is an example of a(n) ________ decision.
a. best-qualified; satisficing; the perfect; optimal
b. best-qualified; optimal; competent; satisficing
c. best-qualified; good; competent; perfect
d. perfect; satisfactory; best-qualified; good
e. best-qualified; good; competent; limited
11) Bounded rationality involves identifying and evaluating a(n) ________ number of
alternatives and choosing ________ alternative.
a. limited; the perfect
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 9— Decision Making, Creativity and Ethics
b. limited; a satisfactory
c. unlimited; the perfect
d. unlimited; the first
e. limited; the first
12) Alison is trying to make a career choice, and she is having difficulty because there
are so many possible choices available to her: “I feel like my head is going to explode
because there are so many options, yet my ability to process them all in my mind seems
limited.” Alison is exhibiting
a. bounded rationality.
b. selective perception.
c. groupthink.
d. groupshift.
e. social responsibility.
13) Many of the decisions made in the “real world” don’t seem to follow a logical or
rational process, and thus are ________ decisions.
a. optimal
b. judgment
c. alternative
d. satisficing
e. creative
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 9— Decision Making, Creativity and Ethics
14) When Sophie makes decisions, she does so with incomplete information. Sophie is
making
a. irrational decisions.
b. rational decisions.
c. sharp decisions.
d. intuitive decisions.
e. bounded rationality decisions.
15) Ysanne uses intuition to make many of her decisions. Intuitive decisions are usually
a. based on experience.
b. “good enough.”
c. irrational.
d. ineffective.
e. optimizing.
16) Decision making that is fast and affectively charged is
a. using the rational methods.
b. using judgment shortcuts.
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 9— Decision Making, Creativity and Ethics
c. escalating commitment.
d. relying on intuition.
e. using risk aversion.
17) Studies show that intuitive decisions are best applied when
a. time is plentiful.
b. policies, rules, and guidelines give clear-cut advice.
c. there is a great deal of uncertainty.
d. detailed numerical analysis does not need checks and balances.
e. the decision maker is inexperienced.
18) Fred had a tight work deadline. Although the project was time-consuming with a lot
of unexpected “twists and turns,” he felt sure he would have his project completed by the
deadline. As it turned out, he was three days late. Fred has exhibited
a. anchoring bias.
b. overconfidence bias.
c. confirmation bias.
d. availability bias.
e. escalation of commitment.
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 9— Decision Making, Creativity and Ethics
Objective: 9-2 How do people actually make decisions?
19) Tina recently interviewed Don for a new position, and she was so impressed with
Don that she was ready to hire him without interviewing additional candidates. However,
Tina did interview other candidates, and the last person she interviewed was Mike, who
clearly was the best candidate. Nevertheless, Tina hired Don. Tina has exhibited
a. anchoring bias.
b. overconfidence bias.
c. confirmation bias.
d. availability bias.
e. escalation of commitment.
20) Kyle is known to be someone who finds it difficult to admit his mistakes. He
typically seeks out information that supports his decisions and ignores any information
that contradicts them, even if that information is more plentiful. Kyle is exhibiting
a. anchoring bias.
b. confirmation bias.
c. availability bias.
d. overconfidence bias.
e. escalation of commitment.
21) Sharon is really upset about her performance evaluation. Ellen, her boss, chastised
her for a recent error that she made and failed to acknowledge many of Sharon’s
successes, the majority of which occurred three to six months ago. Ellen has exhibited
a. anchoring bias.
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 9— Decision Making, Creativity and Ethics
b. confirmation bias.
c. availability bias.
d. overconfidence bias.
e. escalation of commitment.
22) Steve submitted a proposal to his boss for a new piece of equipment that his
department needed. He felt sure that his proposal would be approved even though it was a
difficult year financially for his company, and he predicted that it would be approved.
Unfortunately, to his surprise, his proposal was rejected. Steve has exhibited
a. anchoring bias.
b. confirmation bias.
c. randomness error.
d. overconfidence bias.
e. escalation of commitment.
23) Francine was at an auction, and, like many other bidders, she wanted to successfully
bid on an antique lamp. She managed to outbid 10 other bidders, but she ended up paying
$5000 more than it was worth. Francine has exhibited
a. overconfidence bias.
b. hindsight bias.
c. randomness error.
d. escalation of commitment.
e. risk aversion.
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 9— Decision Making, Creativity and Ethics
24) Ahmad was upset. The new product line that he introduced last year has been a total
failure. At the time that he had made the decision to go ahead with it, the economy was
strong. However, shortly after the line was launched, the economy weakened sharply, and
this contributed to its failure. He felt that he should have seen the downturn in the
economy coming, and, thus, he should not have launched the new product line. Ahmad is
experiencing
a. overconfidence bias.
b. hindsight bias.
c. randomness error.
d. winner’s curse.
e. confirmation bias.
25) Dante recently started his career and was concerned that he had already made some
decisions with a biased frame of mind. In order to reduce the chances that this will
happen in the future, when faced with new decisions, he plans to
a. generate fewer alternatives.
b. create meaning out of random events.
c. look for information that confirms his beliefs.
d. be more confident in his decision making.
e. generate more alternatives.
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 9— Decision Making, Creativity and Ethics
26) Your director stresses the value of making a decision on initial information. She
insists that what is initially considered in the decision-making process should be weighed
as most important throughout the implementation of the decision. She has instructed you
to ignore any subsequent information that you find since the decision was made. This is
an example of
a. risk aversion.
b. an overconfidence bias.
c. escalation of commitment.
d. the anchoring bias.
e. making an optimal decision.
27) The evidence indicates that, on average, groups make
a. less expensive decisions than individuals because of the optimal choices made.
b. more expensive decisions than individuals because of the lengthy time needed to make
the decisions.
c. less creative solutions than individuals because of time restrictions.
d. faster decisions than individuals because of the division of labour.
e. better quality decisions than individuals.
28) One of the symptoms of groupthink is
a. illusion of creativity.
b. illusion of conformity.
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 9— Decision Making, Creativity and Ethics
c. assumption of immorality.
d. illusion of unanimity.
e. irrational reason for decisions.
29) Groupthink would most likely happen in
a. heterogeneous groups.
b. groups where debate is encouraged.
c. groups where cohesion is paramount.
d. groups where members participate actively.
e. groups made up of members who think “outside the box.”
30) Wherever possible, groupthink should be avoided because it results in
a. conflict within the group.
b. more risky decisions.
c. an anchored bias.
d. reduced effectiveness.
e. representative heuristics.
31) SCENARIO 9-1
Your organization is considering the use of teams for decision making. You have read
and studied the topic extensively. Now you are trying to inform your manager about the
advantages and disadvantages of group decision-making.
Referring to SCENARIO 9-1, you should expect to find that an advantage is thata. group
decision-making will be faster.
b. group discussions will be shared equally.
c. there will be increased acceptance of the decision.
d. group decision-making will not be viewed as legitimate.
e. group decision-making will avoid risks.
32) SCENARIO 9-1
Your organization is considering the use of teams for decision making. You have read
and studied the topic extensively. Now you are trying to inform your manager about the
advantages and disadvantages of group decision-making.
Referring to SCENARIO 9-1, you should expect a weakness of group decision-making to
a. be less complete knowledge and information.
b. be that group decisions are more time-consuming than individual decisions.
c. be less acceptance of decisions because employees did not personally make the choice.
d. result in decisions of lower quality because of shared responsibility.
e. be less diverse in views and opinions.
33) SCENARIO 9-1
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 9— Decision Making, Creativity and Ethics
Your organization is considering the use of teams for decision making. You have read
and studied the topic extensively. Now you are trying to inform your manager about the
advantages and disadvantages of group decision-making.
Referring to SCENARIO 9-1, you have observed that the group tends to arrive at
consensus very quickly and you know that the group is very cohesive. You conclude that
they may be experiencing a. partiality in decision making.
b. groupshift.
c. the nominal group technique.
d. groupthink.
e. the anchoring bias.
34) Emery’s team must make a decision quickly in the next few days about which
marketing strategy to use in order to launch a new product. He has noticed that when the
team has been together making decisions in the past, the team members favour more
risky approaches than they do as individuals. Emery thinks that ________ is taking place
when the team makes decisions.
a. intuition
b. groupshift
c. brainstorming
d. groupthink
e. availability bias
35) Groupshift most often means decisions
a. are made by groups rather than individuals.
b. are more risky.
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 9— Decision Making, Creativity and Ethics
c. are made more quickly.
d. prove less effective.
e. are more conservative.
36) Irena is faced with a problem whose solution requires a high degree of creativity.
What is the best approach to solving this problem?
a. Solve it herself.
b. Let her most trusted employee solve it.
c. Ask a group of employees to solve it.
d. Outsource the problem to a consultant.
e. Ask her boss what to do.
37) Andre is very ambitious about his future in the company. He currently has a fairly
high level of power as a director of a division. Recently there is a noticeable tendency for
his decision making to be more
a. intuitive.
b. risk averse.
c. participative.
d. overconfident.
e. random.
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 9— Decision Making, Creativity and Ethics
38) When group members exaggerate the initial positions that they held concerning an
issue, the group has experienced
a. an anchoring bias.
b. groupthink.
c. group interaction.
d. groupshift.
e. group rationalization.
39) You are a supervisor at the nearby plant. You have been trying to explain to your
employees some of the benefits of group decisions. You want the group to try
______________ to generate more ideas and alternatives for the issue at hand.
a. the nominal group technique
b. brainstorming
c. intuition
d. groupthink
e. creativity
40) You are a supervisor at the nearby manufacturing plant. You have been trying to
explain to your employees some of the ways that group decisions can be made. You tell
them that when a group is developing alternative courses of action to solve a problem,
some decision-making techniques generate more alternatives than others. The decision-
making technique that will likely generate the most alternatives is
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 9— Decision Making, Creativity and Ethics
a. face-to-face interacting groups.
b. brainstorming.
c. the Delphi technique.
d. the nominal group technique.
e. electronic meetings.
41) Interacting groups are an effective in
a. building group cohesiveness.
b. restricting independent thinking.
c. generating many ideas.
d. coming to an agreement on a solution.
e. processing ideas quickly.
42) Which group decision-making technique results in the greatest number of ideas and
the most original ideas?
a. the interacting group
b. the nominal group
c. brainstorming
d. the electronic meeting
e. the Delphi technique
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 9— Decision Making, Creativity and Ethics
43) Which of the following group decision-making techniques minimizes social pressures
and conflicts?
a. the interactive group
b. brainstorming
c. the nominal group technique
d. the electronic meeting
e. the Delphi technique
44) SCENARIO 9-2
You know that the decision on which new product to produce must have widespread
acceptance and be of the highest quality. Having reviewed the literature, you decide that
this decision needs to be made by a group of your best managers.
Referring to SCENARIO 9-2, your managers are located in Taiwan, India, Brazil, and the
United States. Which group decision-making technique might be the easiest to arrange?a.
the interacting group
b. brainstorming
c. the nominal group technique
d. an electronic meeting
e. the general meeting
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 9— Decision Making, Creativity and Ethics
45) SCENARIO 9-2
You know that the decision on which new product to produce must have widespread
acceptance and be of the highest quality. Having reviewed the literature, you decide that
this decision needs to be made by a group of your best managers.
Referring to SCENARIO 9-2, you have decided to use the nominal group technique. This
will give you the advantage of a. groupshift.
b. participants being honest.
c. building cohesiveness.
d. generating many ideas.
e. processing ideas quickly.
46) SCENARIO 9-2
You know that the decision on which new product to produce must have widespread
acceptance and be of the highest quality. Having reviewed the literature, you decide that
this decision needs to be made by a group of your best managers.
Referring to SCENARIO 9-2, if you set up an electronic meeting, your team would be
able to a. build group cohesiveness.
b. groupshift.
c. keep social pressures to a minimum.
d. generate a large number of ideas.
e. maintain a high number of interpersonal actions.
47) SCENARIO 9-2
Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Fifth Canadian Edition
Chapter 9— Decision Making, Creativity and Ethics
You know that the decision on which new product to produce must have widespread
acceptance and be of the highest quality. Having reviewed the literature, you decide that
this decision needs to be made by a group of your best managers.
Referring to SCENARIO 9-2, if generating lots of ideas efficiently is important, you do
NOT want to use _________________ groups.a. interacting
b. brainstorming
c. nominal
d. electronic
e. optimizing
48) SCENARIO 9-2
You know that the decision on which new product to produce must have widespread
acceptance and be of the highest quality. Having reviewed the literature, you decide that
this decision needs to be made by a group of your best managers.
Referring to SCENARIO 9-2, if you wanted managers to meet face to face and pool their
judgments in a systematic but individual manner, which type of group decision-making
technique would you use?a. interacting groups
b. brainstorming
c. nominal groups
d. electronic meetings
e. task groups
49) When evaluating group effectiveness, it is important to consider group success
criteria. _________ stimulate ideas but, with many people talking at once, block the
thought process and eventually impede the sharing of ideas.