Decision making reflects relatively permanent changes in an employee's knowledge and skills that result from experience.
Decision making refers to the process of generating and choosing from a set of alternatives to solve a problem. The more knowledge and skills employees possess, the more likely they are to make accurate and sound decisions.
Decision Making: The process of generating and choosing from a set of alternatives to solve a problem.
Wes's employer has established a course of learning for him. From the standpoint of organizational behavior, this is particularly important because learning will help him to
- find other employment.
- make more money at his job.
- move up the corporate ladder.
- become a better decision maker.
- take greater authority in group situations.
Though learning may indeed help Wes to make more money and move up within the company, the importance of learning from the standpoint of organizational behavior refers to factors that go beyond his own interests. Learning reflects relatively permanent changes in an employee's knowledge or skill that result from experience. It has a significant impact on decision making, which refers to the process of generating and choosing from a set of alternatives to solve a problem.
Learning: A relatively permanent change in an employee’s knowledge or skill that results from experience.
As a team leader for C & C Engineering, Colin needs to choose the best possible candidate to head up a sensitive project. The client had worked with another engineering firm whose inexperience resulted in structural defects that need to be corrected, and now they have brought the project to Colin's firm. They want someone who can get up to speed on the project quickly and make sound decisions on the job. With little room for error, Colin's best choice for project manager would be
- Wayne, who is known throughout the industry for his hard-nosed commitment to his ideas and his "my way or the highway" stance as a team leader.
- Tori, who has proven to be a solid worker with the ability to work well with others, and who has shown up for work every day without fail for the past ten years.
- Gayle, who graduated from one of the finest engineering programs in the country at the top of her class, and who has been a stellar performer with C & C ever since she joined the company two years ago.
- Deborah, who has worked for the company for two decades and performed flawlessly, making herself known as someone who consistently delivers within her particular area of expertise.
- Roland, who experienced a number of failures early in his career two decades ago, but went back to school and set out to learn his trade from the bottom up, taking on new and different projects along the way.
Learning reflects relatively permanent changes in an employee's knowledge or skill that result from experience. The more employees learn, the more they bring to the table when they come to work. Learning is important because it has a significant impact on decision making, and an ability to make good decisions is crucial to the role of team leader on the new project. Although several of the candidates are reasonably good choices, Roland would be the best one. It is often said that failure is the best teacher, and Roland clearly learned from his mistakes, whereas none of the others has shown a great propensity for learning. Wayne is not open to new ideas, Tori is apparently comfortable in her role as a mid-level performer, Gayle is relatively inexperienced, and Deborah, despite being a strong candidate, has a narrow range of experience with few of the mistakes and failures that often provide the best opportunity for learning.
Needs: Groupings or clusters of outcomes viewed as having critical psychological or physiological consequences.
________ is the process of generating and choosing from a set of alternatives to solve a problem.
- Decision making
- Knowledge transfer
- Selective perception
- Escalation of commitment
- Continuous reinforcement
Decision making refers to the process of generating and choosing from a set of alternatives to solve a problem. The more knowledge and skills employees possess, the more likely they are to make accurate and sound decisions.
Decision Making: The process of generating and choosing from a set of alternatives to solve a problem.
Although Hal did not win the drawing for the statewide lottery, which sells thousands of tickets, he is much more confident of winning the drawing for the nationwide lottery, which sells millions of tickets. The reason is that whereas he bought just one ticket for the statewide game, he bought ten tickets for the nationwide one. Hal's reasoning is an example of
- representativeness.
- a self-serving bias.
- the ratio bias effect.
- the gambler's fallacy.
- fundamental attribution error.
The ratio bias effect is the tendency to judge the same probability of an unlikely event (such as winning the lottery) as lower when the probability is presented in the form of a ratio of smaller rather than of larger numbers. When offered an opportunity to win $1 if they drew a red jelly bean, people frequently elected to draw from a bowl that contained a greater total number of jelly beans, but a smaller proportion of red beans (e.g., 7 in 100 vs. 1 in 10). Participants knew the probabilities were against them, but they "felt" they had a better chance when there were more beans.
Cognitive Distortion: A reevaluation of the inputs an employee brings to a job, often occurring in response to equity distress.
Escalation of commitment refers to the decision to continue to follow a failing course of action.
Escalation of commitment refers to the decision to continue to follow a failing course of action.
Escalation Of Commitment: A common decision-making error in which the decision maker continues to follow a failing course of action.
The president of a country has dedicated the bulk of the country's military power to an invasion of a neighboring country. For a time, the war seems to be going his way. Then the enemy begins to take the offensive, conducting massive encircling movements, taking tens of thousands of prisoners, and forcing whole divisions into retreat. Still the president presses on, ordering more troops to the front, in spite of protests from his generals. This is known as
- transfer of training.
- communities of practice.
- escalation of commitment.
- a nonprogrammed decision.
- a fundamental attribution error
Escalation of commitment refers to the decision to continue to follow a failing course of action. The expression "throwing good money after bad" captures this common decision-making error. Why do decision makers fall victim to this sort of error? They may feel an obligation to stick with their decision to avoid looking incompetent.
Escalation Of Commitment: A common decision-making error in which the decision maker continues to follow a failing course of action.
________ describes the situation when someone decides to continue to follow a failing course of action.
- The ratio bias effect
- The self-serving bias
- The gambler's fallacy
- An escalation of commitment
- The fundamental attribution error
Escalation of commitment refers to the decision to continue to follow a failing course of action. The expression "throwing good money after bad" captures this common decision-making error.
Escalation Of Commitment: A common decision-making error in which the decision maker continues to follow a failing course of action.
The knowledge and skills that distinguish specialists from novices is referred to as
- learning.
- training.
- intuition.
- expertise.
- distinctiveness.
Expertise refers to the knowledge and skills that distinguish experts from novices and less experienced people. Research shows that the differences between experts and novices is almost always a function of learning as opposed to the more popular view that intelligence or other innate differences make the difference.
Expertise: The knowledge and skills that distinguish experts from novices.
Research shows that the differences between experts and novices are almost always a function of
- learning.
- intuition.
- expertise.
- intelligence.
- distinctiveness.
Research shows that the differences between experts and novices are almost always a function of learning as opposed to the more popular view that intelligence or other innate differences make the difference.
Learning: A relatively permanent change in an employee’s knowledge or skill that results from experience.
Whenever there is an errand to run around lunchtime, Abdul always volunteers. His boss thinks this is because Abdul is a highly motivated, ambitious worker, but in fact something quite different is happening: Abdul has a crush on a young woman from the same office complex who always eats her lunch in the courtyard, so those lunchtime errands give him a chance to see her and, if he is lucky, talk to her. The boss is subject to the
- anchoring error.
- ratio bias effect.
- self-serving bias.
- gambler's fallacy.
- fundamental attribution error.
The fundamental attribution error suggests that people have a tendency to judge others' behaviors as being internally motivated without considering the possibility of external factors driving the behavior.
Fundamental Attribution Error: The tendency for people to judge others’ behaviors as being due to internal factors such as ability, motivation, or attitudes.
Elaine is now a division manager, but for more than a decade she was the sales manager, and she tends to view all organizational problems based on the effect they will have on the sales department. Her decisions are flawed due to projection bias.
Selective perception is the tendency for people to see their environment only as it affects them and as it is consistent with their expectations. Projection bias is the belief that others think, feel, and act the same way we do.
Projection Bias: The faulty perception by decision makers that others think, feel, and act the same way as they do.
________ are simple, efficient rules of thumb that allow us to more easily make decisions.
- Nonprogrammed decisions
- Communities of practice
- Selective perception
- Stereotypes
- Heuristics
Heuristics are simple, efficient rules of thumb that allow us to make decisions more easily. In general, heuristics are not bad. In fact, they lead to correct decisions more often than not. However, heuristics can also bias us toward inaccurate decisions at times.
Heuristics: Simple and efficient rules of thumb that allow one to make decisions more easily.
________ defines the tendency of people to see their environment only as it affects them and as it is consistent with their expectations.
- Social identity theory
- Selective perception
- Self-serving bias
- Projection bias
- Consensus
Selective perception is the tendency for people to see their environment only as it affects them and as it is consistent with their expectations.
Selective Perception: The tendency for people to see their environment only as it affects them and as it is consistent with their expectations.
________ is the process of selecting, organizing, storing, and retrieving information about the environment.
- Intuition
- Learning
- Satisficing
- Perception
- Stereotyping
Perception is the process of selecting, organizing, storing, and retrieving information about the environment. Perceptions help us to make sense of the environment around us although they can often become distorted versions of reality.
Preparation: The first stage of the negotiation process, during which each party determines its goals for the negotiation.
________ judgments are emotionally charged, arising through quick, nonconscious, and holistic associations.
- Ideation
- Intuition
- Heuristics
- Consensus
- Stereotyping
Intuition can be described as emotionally charged judgments that arise through quick, nonconscious, and holistic associations.
Intuition: An emotional judgment based on quick, unconscious, gut feelings.