Management: A Focus on Leaders, 2e (McKee)
Chapter 6 The Human Side of Planning: Decision Making and Critical Thinking
1) Decision making almost always includes both a logical and an emotional component.
2) Many of the decisions you make each day are automatic programmed decisions.
3) Choosing which college to attend is a programmed decision for students.
4) When you say a decision is a “no-brainer,” you are talking about a nonprogrammed decision.
5) A schema is a mental file where you store a thought or a memory.
6) Accommodation is the act of force-fitting new information into an existing schema.
7) Stereotypes can facilitate easy decisions about how to behave if they are based on accurate
and non-harmful assumptions.
8) A celebrity spokesperson can provide a “halo effect” for a product.
9) People exclusively use their sympathetic nervous system when they are being nice to one
another.
10) Intuitive decision making is always illogical.
11) Because brain cells that regulate emotion link up with pattern-recognition brain cells,
scientists warn people not to trust emotions in decision making.
12) A problem exists whenever a desired state is not in line with the actual state.
13) The first step of the decision-making process is to list alternatives for solving a problem.
14) The final step of the decision-making process is to see if your solution to the problem
worked.
15) One reason that our decisions are made under conditions of bounded rationality is that we
can never get all of the information that a situation requires.
16) When you satisfice, you will accept only the perfect solution to a problem.
17) A good example of the 80/20 rule is that 80 percent of sales come from 20 percent of clients.
18) Deduction involves starting with a specific case and using it to formulate a generalized rule.
19) The “status quo” thinking trap contends that people are always trying to introduce changes
and new items into their daily routine.
20) Mindfulness involves paying more attention to the factors that affect your decision making.
21) Decision making is a(n) ________ process.
A) unbiased
B) unbiased cognitive, emotional, and neuropsychological
C) cognitive, emotional, and neuropsychological
D) cognitive, non-emotional, and neurophysiological
22) Programmed decisions are typically ________.
A) complex
B) difficult
C) routine
D) nonroutine
23) Which of the following is an example of a programmed decision?
A) deciding which shoes to wear to the gym
B) deciding which job candidate to hire
C) deciding which computer to buy
D) deciding which country to go for travel
24) Nonprogrammed decisions are typically ________.
A) straightforward
B) uncomplicated
C) unexciting
D) unique
25) How does Ivor D’Souza of the National Library of Medicine believe leaders can get
employees involved in innovation?
A) by tapping into their intuition
B) by asking them open-ended questions
C) by listening to the top-performing 20 percent of staff
D) by running mindfulness training programs
26) Deciding what to do in an ethical dilemma is a ________ decision because ________.
A) programmed; it involves ethics
B) nonprogrammed; it is simple
C) nonprogrammed; it requires analysis
D) programmed; it requires analysis
27) Pure, formal logic is frequently used in ________.
A) nonprogrammed decision making
B) programmed decision making
C) both programmed and nonprogrammed decision making
D) computer programming and mathematics
28) A schema is ________.
A) a metaphor
B) a cognitive map of your entire brain
C) the mental “file” of a thought or memory
D) the filing system that cognitive scientists use
29) When a piece of information fits in with a mental category that you already have, you are
likely to ________.
A) store the information in a new schema
B) store the information in an existing schema
C) destroy an existing schema
D) ignore the information
30) When a piece of information does not fit in with an existing mental category, you are likely
to ________.
A) store the information in a new schema
B) discard the information from the existing schema
C) destroy an existing schema
D) ignore the information
31) The process of adapting one’s cognitive categorization system to allow for new information,
new schemas, and new ways of understanding information is called ________.
A) reconciliation
B) accommodation
C) assimilation
D) integration
32) Forcing a completely new and unique piece of information into an existing schema is called
________.
A) integration
B) accommodation
C) assimilation
D) manipulation
33) Stereotypes are ________.
A) simplistic generalizations
B) overly complex schemas
C) pieces of information that don’t fit into schemas
D) over-stuffed schemas
34) Which statement is most accurate?
A) Stereotypes are never useful.
B) Stereotypes are always useful.
C) Stereotypes can be useful.
D) Stereotypes do not affect decisions.
35) Which types of stereotypes are most likely to be harmful?
A) stereotypes about companies
B) stereotypes about products
C) stereotypes about ethnic groups
D) stereotypes about technologies
36) The halo effect is a kind of stereotype that ________.
A) sees a person in a positive light based on a previous positive experience
B) sees a person in a negative light based on a previous positive experience
C) associates a person with an ethnic group
D) only focuses on the positive aspects of future decisions
37) What does the devil effect typically focus on?
A) the group that a person belongs to
B) a single positive trait that is the first thing noticed by an observer
C) the unethical nature of stereotypes
D) a single negative trait that is the first thing noticed by an observer
38) Attractiveness creates ________ bias because it causes a person to confer ________ traits to
that person.
A) stereotype, positive
B) halo effect, positive
C) devil effect, negative
D) halo effect, positive or negative
39) Decision making ________ has an emotional component.
A) frequently
B) never
C) always
D) rarely
40) The sympathetic nervous system controls ________.
A) conscious thought
B) things like heart rate and blood pressure
C) all bodily processes
D) perceptions
41) Intuition employs ________ knowledge.
A) conscious
B) unconscious
C) purely programmable
D) illogical
42) Which statement is TRUE about intuition?
A) Intuition is usually logical and useful.
B) Intuition is usually logical but not useful.
C) Intuition is usually illogical but still useful.
D) Intuition is usually illogical and not useful.
43) A chess player typically relies on which kind of decision making when considering a chess
move?
A) logical only
B) intuitive only
C) both logical and intuitive
D) neither logical and intuitive
44) What is the first step in the decision-making process?
A) ask the question
B) identify the problem
C) list alternatives
D) choose an alternative
45) Which sentence best defines a problem?
A) A problem exists when your current state is not in line with an ideal state.
B) A problem exists when your ideal state is not properly defined.
C) A problem exists when your current state is not in line with your desired state.
D) A problem exists when it is not possible for you to reach your ideal state.
46) In the decision-making process, when you allocate weights to decision criteria you are
________.
A) identifying the satisficing categories
B) identifying possible solutions
C) evaluating possible solutions
D) rating the categories by importance
47) Which kinds of decisions are hardest to evaluate?
A) a decision made by a single person
B) unemotional decisions
C) a decision made by an organization
D) emotionally charged group decisions
48) Which statement best describes a key assumption of bounded rationality?
A) Information is never complete.
B) Information is never completely accurate.
C) Information is never complete nor is it completely accurate.
D) Information is either complete or completely accurate, but not both.
49) When people satisfice, they select ________.
A) a less than optimal choice
B) the optimal choice under any conditions
C) the second-best choice
D) a choice that is likely to be inadequate
50) The 80/20 rule holds that ________.
A) small inputs result in small outputs
B) small inputs often result in large outputs
C) large inputs often result in large outputs
D) inputs are completely unrelated to outputs
51) An inference uses ________ to draw a conclusion.
A) subconscious information
B) evidence or known information
C) presuppositions and assumptions
D) pure logic
52) A decision maker is using deduction when he or she begins with a ________ and uses it to
________.
A) specific conclusion; create a general rule
B) specific conclusion; draw another specific conclusion
C) general rule; create another general rule
D) general rule; draw a specific conclusion
53) When a manager uses a spreadsheet, charts, and graphs to analyze sales data, which critical
thinking skill is he or she using?
A) recognition of assumptions
B) evaluation of arguments
C) interpretation
D) deduction
54) Favoring new choices that are similar to the current situation refers to which thinking trap?
A) status quo
B) anchoring
C) sunk costs
D) confirming evidence
55) Which of the following describes the “sunk costs” thinking trap?
A) Let sleeping dogs lie.
B) Your first impression is usually right.
C) Don’t throw good money after bad.
D) Always start with the low-hanging fruit.
56) Selectively seeking out information that supports your point of view refers to which thinking
trap?
A) sunk costs
B) confirming evidence
C) framing
D) anchoring
57) Participants in the first stage of a brainstorming session typically ________.
A) offer ideas without any critiquing
B) critique each others’ ideas harshly
C) prioritize ideas that have been suggested in previous sessions
D) listen to suggestions from experts
58) The Delphi technique is essentially a focus group of ________.
A) ordinary citizens
B) employees
C) experts
D) managers
59) ________ is a state in which we are awake, aware, and attuned to ourselves, others, and our
environment.
A) Single-loop learning
B) Intuition
C) Mindfulness
D) Double-loop learning