Management, 9e (Kinicki)
Chapter 7 Individual and Group Decision Making:
How Managers Make Things Happen
1) Max is in the marketing department with Loose Leaf Teas. He was given the responsibility of
determining if customers liked the new calming chamomile. According to Loose Leaf’s sales data,
over 4,000 customers purchased the new tea last month. If Max surveys 25 of those customers to
determine if they like the tea or not to base his marketing campaign on, he will most likely suffer
from confirmation bias.
2) Decision making is the process of identifying and choosing alternative courses of action.
3) When evaluating the alternatives of a decision, managers need to base decisions strictly on cost,
quality, and feasibility.
4) With satisficing, managers look for alternatives until they find one that is satisfactory, not
optimal.
5) Managers with a low tolerance for ambiguity and an orientation toward task and technical
concerns when making decisions have an analytical decision-making style.
6) Shayla, the electronics department manager at a local Best Buy store, has a good working
relationship with her employees. She believes in an open-door policy, and she encourages the open
exchange of opinions in her department. Shayla utilizes the directive style of management.
7) A decision tree, which is the hierarchy or chain of command used by many organizations when
discussing alternatives, must be followed when getting decisions approved.
8) Eduardo’s new company wanted to be transparent about all their products, so he chose to market
his cleaners as 30 percent toxic and 90 percent effective. His brother, Marco told him that his idea
would not work, but Eduardo said he was going to stick to his idea. He is using his hindsight bias.
9) Tyrone is always on time for work and stays late whenever he is needed. Last week though, he
was late three days and asked to leave early on two other days. When it was time to post the
schedule for the next week, Marie, the manager, reduced Tyrone’s hours and when asked, she told
him, “I just can’t count on you.” Marie has availability bias.
10) The dialectic method calls for managers to foster a structured dialogue or debate of opposing
viewpoints prior to making a decision.
11) ________ is the tendency for people with strong prior beliefs, when confronted with a choice,
to make their decisions based on assumptions they’ve already made.
A) Information bias
B) Narrow-minded perception
C) Tunnel vision bias
D) The curse of knowledge
E) Single-vision stereotyping
12) A ________ is a choice made from among available alternatives.
A) decision
B) plan
C) goal
D) consensus
E) value statement
13) Nicholas, a longtime hotel manager for Wyndham, was meeting with Sophie, a regional
manager, and telling her about his recent decision not to fire a front desk employee about whom
several guests had complained. Nicholas discussed the four stages of the decision process. He said,
“I first identified the problem, and then I gathered alternative solutions. I evaluated each choice
and selected a solution. I then implemented my decision to not fire the employee but instead to
provide him with additional training. Finally, I followed up with an evaluation of the solution I’d
chosen.” Nicholas is using the ________ process.
A) employee relations model
B) focused decision-making model
C) interpersonal-decision agenda
D) solutions agenda
E) rational decision-making model
14) The model of decision making that explains how managers should make decisions, assuming
managers will make logical decisions that will be the optimum in furthering the organization’s best
interests, is known as the ________. For example, a manager who uses this model may be
personally opposed to outsourcing jobs overseas, but she nonetheless decides to outsource
customer-service operations to India because doing so is in the company’s best interests.
A) employee relations model
B) focused decision-making model
C) interpersonal-decision agenda
D) solutions agenda
E) rational decision-making model
15) Glenn is the R&D manager with Quick Print Inc. The company is having a problem with one
of its most popular copiers jamming. The vice president of marketing told Glenn that “we need to
quickly discover how to turn this problem into a desirable situation. You need to determine the
underlying cause of the problem and perhaps even make improvements to the copier.” When
Glenn analyzes the underlying causes of the paper-jam problem, which function is he performing?
A) synergy
B) diagnosis
C) analytics
D) feasibility
E) MBO
16) If a decision doesn’t turn out as well as you’d hoped,
A) review the steps you took to arrive at your decision.
B) start by forgiving yourself.
C) identify the weak spot in your process.
D) load up on new facts and information.
E) keep an open mind.
17) In the third step of rational decision making (evaluating alternatives and selecting a solution), a
manager needs to evaluate each alternative not only according to cost and quality but also
according to which of the following questions?
A) Is it efficient, and how will it affect our marketing strategy?
B) Is it feasible, effective, and efficient?
C) Is it ethical and will it hurt diversity?
D) Is it ethical, feasible, and effective?
E) Is it feasible and profitable?
18) Rosie, the sales manager for a software development firm, is working on the problem of
increasing sales by using the rational model of decision making. In the first step she identified the
problem of her employees needing more training. In the second step she thought of alternative
solutions; and in the third step she evaluated alternatives and selected a solution. Rosie needs to
________ in the fourth and final step.
A) do more research to look at types of training
B) select a contingency plan
C) implement and evaluate the training program chosen
D) determine how costly the solution will be
E) set up a diversity and synergy training plan to increase the chances of success
19) The rational model of decision making is also called the ________ model.
A) focused
B) analytical
C) decision
D) classical
E) logical
20) How does the text suggest prioritizing your decisions?
A) Become a good and patient listener.
B) Load up on new facts and information.
C) Organize your decisions into three categories.
D) Identify weak spots in your process.
E) Keep an open mind.
21) ________ are difficulties that inhibit the achievement of goals. For example, the lack of
parking may be the main reason why a new restaurant is failing.
A) Objectives
B) Synergies
C) Values
D) Problems
E) Alternatives
22) Grace is the owner of a local trinket shop. A successful global candle company approached her
about selling its products in her shop. Grace knows this product and company can help her exceed
her existing goals. Selling candles is a(n) ________ for Grace.
A) problem
B) opportunity
C) synergy
D) ethical dilemma
E) diagnosis
23) With the community interested in eating healthy, Mary Catherine, a restaurant owner, is
considering adding more gluten-free dishes to her menu. This decision is uncertain and risky, and
she finally decides to go with her gut feelings. Mary Catherine is exhibiting
A) rational decision making.
B) MBO.
C) nonrational decision making.
D) analytics.
E) a code of ethics.
24) ________ is the idea that proposes that the ability of decision makers to be rational is limited
by numerous constraints, such as complexity, time, cognitive capacity, values, skills, habits, and
unconscious reflexes.
A) Rational decision making
B) MBO
C) Nonrational decision making
D) Analytics
E) Bounded rationality
25) Christin, the CEO of a national IT manufacturer, was approached by Ultimate Phones, a new
company that is marketing a new type of phone, to partner with the company on a project. The
results of the partnership are uncertain because the company (Ultimate Phones) and its technology
are new. Christin is uncertain what to do because she is limited by numerous constraints, such as
the uncertainty and complexity of the technology, the management success of Ultimate Phones,
and time (because other companies are interested in the partnership). Christin is experiencing
A) an ethical dilemma.
B) bounded rationality.
C) groupthink.
D) a bounded dilemma.
E) limited scope.
26) Gloria, the controller of Luna Pizza, is purchasing several new delivery vehicles. Gloria has
numerous work responsibilities, so she has limited time to shop for cars. Because of the time
constraints, she cannot make an extensive search for the best alternative, so she looks for cars until
she finds a model that is satisfactory. Gloria is following the ________ model.
A) dilemma
B) rational
C) limited focus
D) satisficing
E) limited scope
27) Scott and his partner, Greg, have decided to update their computer network, although they
have no expertise in this area. During a meeting with Greg, Scott commented that “Our decision is
limited by numerous constraints, such as our understanding of the complexity of technology, time
and money, imperfect information, and our conflicting goals.” These limitations are hindrances to
A) satisficing.
B) rational decision making.
C) intuitive decision making.
D) MBO.
E) nonrational decisions.
28) Simon has been in the landscaping business for over 40 years. When Jorge, his business
partner, suggested adding snow removal as an extra service, Simon responded with “My gut
feeling is to say yes because of my experience in the past and what I have seen other companies do
over the years, both successfully and not.” Simon is acting on ________ in his response to Jorge.
A) a knowledge dilemma
B) a business reaction
C) a knee-jerk reaction
D) unbounded rationality
E) intuition
29) Which of the following is an example of the “curse of knowledge”?
A) A writer with a large vocabulary writes a novel using many words that the average reader
cannot understand.
B) A plumber brings every tool he owns to a job, just to make sure he has everything he could
possibly need to do the job in one visit.
C) An experienced programmer points out a sequence of code that is likely to cause problems
when the program is running.
D) A developer of iPhone apps develops several apps that nobody wants.
E) An experienced physician leaves private practice and becomes an X-ray technician.
30) Which of the following is not a hindrance to perfectly rational decision making?
A) complexity
B) intuition
C) managers’ different values
D) information overload
E) conflicting goals
31) Isabel, the owner of The Daily Dispatch, a small city newspaper, started her business two years
ago, believing that there was still enough demand for her product. However, because people are
busy and because so much news is now available online, she has seen the demand for her paper
drop steadily. Isabel made a decision to change the original direction of the company and focus
more on an Internet news service. Isabel is relying on ________ by demonstrating that managers
need to think and act as if their company is an unfinished prototype, and by seeing her business as
outsiders do.
A) a decision tree
B) a knowledge dilemma
C) the knee-jerk reaction theory
D) evidence-based decision making
E) intuition
32) Despite your best intentions, it’s hard to bring the best evidence to bear on your decisions.
Why?
A) It is too expensive; and it’s not ethical and there’s not enough good evidence.
B) It will hurt diversity and synergy within your organization.
C) There’s no competition, or there’s too much competition.
D) There’s too much evidence; and there’s not enough good evidence and the side effects outweigh
the cure.
E) People are trying to mislead you; and the evidence will not allow MBO.
33) Party Supply uses time-series forecasts, such as past holiday sales and the strength of store
sales this year, to predict future sales based on patterns of historical data. Party Supply is using
A) analytics.
B) the synergy trend.
C) decisions by trends.
D) focused trend.
E) Big Data.
34) ________ is a data-mining technique used to predict future behavior and anticipate the
consequences of change.
A) Data digging
B) The decision tree
C) Decisions by trends
D) Predictive modeling
E) GIGO
35) Climax Medical Technology, a fast-growing global research firm, has accumulated so much
client information that conventional database management systems cannot handle its customers’
needs. Therefore, Climax purchased very sophisticated analysis software and
supercomputing-level hardware. Climax Medical Technology is tapping the power of
A) cyber-age databases.
B) mega IT.
C) super data.
D) new age computing.
E) Big Data.
36) Which of the following is NOT recognized as a key implementation principle of
evidence-based management?
A) No brag, just the facts.
B) See yourself and your organization as outsiders do.
C) If all else fails, slow the spread of bad practice.
D) Treat your organization as a closed system.
E) The best diagnostic question is: “What happens when people fail?”
37) A person’s ________ reflects the combination of how he or she perceives and responds to
information.
A) location on the introvert/extrovert scale
B) decision-making style
C) time orientation
D) Big Data perception
E) ambiguity index
38) ________ is the process of studying large amounts of data of a variety of types to uncover
hidden patterns, unknown correlations, and other useful information.
A) Cyber-age research
B) Mega research
C) Super market data mining
D) New age computing
E) Big Data analytics
39) Erin likes working in the banking industry because it has a lot of structure and certainty, and
the daily work is routine. Erin probably
A) has a high tolerance for ambiguity.
B) has a large need for ambiguity.
C) has a low tolerance for ambiguity.
D) is in the middle ambiguity range.
E) thrives on ambiguity.
40) Daniel loves sales because he responds well to the pressure he faces in the many new or
uncertain situations he encounters as a salesperson. Like most successful salespeople, he is high in
his tolerance for ambiguity, yet he struggles with making decisions quickly. Daniel likely has a(n)
________ decision-making style.
A) directive
B) conceptual
C) ambiguous
D) behavioral
E) analytical
41) Nora is a small-business owner who loves to take risks. She also enjoys going out and meeting
customers and potential clients—the social aspect of her job. Nora relies on intuition and
discussions with others to acquire information. As an interior decorator, Nora utilizes her
imaginative strengths, taking a broad perspective to problem solving, and she likes to consider
many options and future possibilities. Nora’s decision-making style is best described as
A) directive.
B) conceptual.
C) ambiguous.
D) behavioral.
E) analytical.