DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Some have argued that people, not organizations, make decisions and that the study of
“organizational” decision making is therefore pointless. Do you agree with this argument?
Why or why not?
Students may or may not agree that the study of “organizational” decision making is pointless. Many
2. What information did you use in deciding to enter the school you now attend?
Students may have used information gathered from friends, family members, and college
3. When your alarm goes off each morning, you have a decision to make: whether to get up and go
to school or work, or to stay in bed and sleep longer. Is this a programmed or nonprogrammed
decision? Why?
Generally, when the alarm goes off each morning and the individual must decide whether to get up or
4. Describe at least three points in the decision-making process at which information plays an
important role.
Information is essential when the problem is identified at the beginning of the decision-making
5. How does the role of information in the rational model of decision making differ from the role
of information in the behavioral model?
The rational approach to decision making assumes the decision maker is able to gather and process all
the information required in the decision-making process. The behavioral approach assumes the
6. Why does it make sense to discuss several different models of decision making?
Discussing several models of decision making is quite useful because decision-making situations
differ in actual practice. One model of decision making may fit one situation, and another model may
7. Can you think of a time when you satisficed when making a decision? Have you ever
suboptimized?
Most people can think of situations where they have satisficed or suboptimized. Satisficing occurs
when the decision maker examines alternatives only until a solution that meets minimal requirements
is found. Examples of satisficing might include searching for a place to eat that accepts a credit card,
searching for a laundry or cleaners that is close to work or home, and deciding on a particular vendor
8. Describe a situation in which you experienced escalation of commitment to an ineffective course
of action. What did you do about it? Do you wish you had handled it differently? Why or why
not?
Escalation of commitment refers to the tendency to persist in an ineffective course of action when
evidence indicates that the project is doomed to failure. The textbook suggests four common reasons
9. How comfortable or uncomfortable are you in making risky decisions?
Differences will appear based on the strength of the respondent’s risk-avoidance propensity. In
10. Do you consider yourself to be relatively more or less creative? Recall an instance in which you
made a discovery using the four phases of the creative process.
People vary in their assessment of their own creativity. Some may have an inflated estimate of how
creative they are because creativity is considered desirable and it may flatter a person’s ego to be
GROUP EXERCISE – Superheroes
Learning Objective: Describe how managers can enhance decision-making creativity.
Summary: Each student should pick his or her favorite superhero. Now assume that a large earthquake
just hit a populated island. How could your superhero assist the island?
Task: Take 5 minutes to write down your ideas. Now form groups of 5–6 students. Share your
superheroes and the ideas you generated based on your superhero’s special abilities (e.g., Batman could
use his gadgets and tools to help free people trapped in rubble). The group should then work together to
identify true possible solutions based on the ideas generated for the superheroes (e.g., Batman’s grappling
hook might be adapted for use in moving large obstacles during rescues).
Questions to guide discussion:
1. How can managers enhance decision-making creativity?
2. What are the organizational challenges to creativity?
(We thank Professor Jim Gort of Davenport University for suggesting this exercise.)
VIDEO EXERCISE
City of Greensburg Kansas
Summary: A tornado devastated Greensburg Kansas. The mayor stated the tornado was actually an
opportunity to rebuild a ‘green town’. There was opposition from the town residents.
1. Cite reasons for and against rebuilding Greensburg as a “green town.” Which reasons do you
find most convincing and why?
Reasons in favor of rebuilding as a green town: a demolished town presented a once-in-a-lifetime
Reasons against building a green town: cost of materials was too expensive; the plan didn’t do enough
2. Do you think Greensburg’s decision-making process was effective? Explain.
Residents complained that Greensburg’s decision-making process was ineffective and unfair, and it
appears that important steps in the rational decision making process were neglected or altogether
3. What prevented the City of Greensburg from making purely rational decisions?
Decision making is never purely rational due to time constraints, limited knowledge of possible
alternatives, bias, and human error. In addition, people and groups encounter specific decision-related
Now What?
Imagine being part of a group with three other coworkers trying to make a decision about whether to
discontinue funding an underperforming product. The group has been working together on the product
line for three years, but the product is clearly a failure. When you start to question where the decision is
headed you are called disloyal and told to go with the team and give the product more time. One of the
team members calls for a final vote on the group’s decision, which appears to be to continue funding a
clearly awful and doomed-to-fail product. What do you say or do? Go to this chapter’s “Now What?”
video, watch the challenge video, and choose a response. Be sure to also view the outcomes of the two
responses you didn’t choose.
OB Concepts Applied: groupthink; stereotyping; conformity pressure; self censorship; mindguards,
escalating commitment
Discussion Questions
1. Is this decision a programmed or non-programmed decision and what is the basis for your
answer?
This appears to be a non-programmed decision. However, with new products rolling out every year,
Happy Time Toys should have some type of decision-making process in place for products that
2. How is groupthink and stereotyping illustrated in these videos? Explain your answer.
Groupthink is a mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive
in-group, when the members’ strivings for unanimity override their motivation to realistically
Symptoms of groupthink:
Direct pressure to conform placed on any member who questions the group, couched in terms of
“disloyalty”. When Alex questions the decision to go forward with the product, he is accused of
Mindguards – self-appointed members who shield the group from conflicting information. Ryan
Self censorship of ideas that deviate from the apparent group consensus. When Alex decides
to abstain from voting (incorrect response #2), the group criticizes him. Allison says, “Oh come
To counteract the effect of groupthink, the group gets an outside opinion (correct response). A
3. Would a rational decision-making approach work? Why or why not?
A rational decision-making approach works for this situation and is likely the approach used by the
outside manager. The team is not using the rational approach when they decide to ask for more
4. As a manager, how else might you handle this situation?
Because managers are often punished for failure, they are also more likely to persist in the face of