MB021: Introduction to Organizational Behavior

1
MB021 Introduction to Organizational Behavior

• Ian Walsh
• Fall 2005
• Individual and Team Decision Making

2
Agenda

• Topic Time
• Welcome 05
• Individual Decision Making 15
• Earthquake Exercise 35
• Group Decision Making 20

3
Individual Decision Making

• How would you describe your decision making
  process?

4
Rational Decision Making Model

• Great model to describe how decisions should be
  made
• Involves careful and complete evaluation of
  causes, alternatives consequences
• BUT.
• We have limited information processing capability
• Consequences of actions not certain and
  predictable
• How do we really make decisions?

5
General Decision Making Model
How were your decision processes in the Carter
Racing exercise rational or boundedly
rational? Are team decisions better than
individual decisions? Why? How are they
different?
6
Earthquake survival exercise

• See handouts (two pages)
• Teams
• Results 1 2 3 4 5 6
• Average Indiv 26 26.1 26 26 24
• Team Score 14 14 24 10 24
• Synergy Score 12 12.1 2 16 0
• Percent Change 46 46 7 61 0
• Lowest Indiv 18 18 14 18 20
• Indivs lt Team 0 0 3 0 2

7
Experts opinion

• 1. Shut off all utilities
• 2. Check for injuries and admin 1st aid
• 3. Assign someone to monitor radio for updates
• 4. Locate and secure water supply
• 5. Develop signaling techniques start signaling
  now
• 6. Discuss long-term survival strategies
• 7. Divide sandwiches and eat them this evening
• 8. Purify water source (optional)
• Definitely Dont
• 9. Pound pipes
• 10. Divide sandwiches and ration over few days
• 11. Try to remove rubble from entrance
• 12. Light candles

8
Interpreting the scores

• Content Scores
• Lower scores are closer to the experts ranks
• Individual total (A-B)
• Team total (D-E)
• Average of individual totals across team members
• Process Scores
• Synergy score (3-2) if positive, team did
  better
• Percent change accounts for good indiv scores
• Lowest individual score potential expertise
  within team
• Number of individualsltteam signals effective
  teamwork

9
Group decision making

• Strengths
• More complete information and resources
• Increased diversity of views
• Higher quality of decisions
• Increased acceptance of solutions
• Weaknesses
• More time consuming increased pressure to
  conform
• Uneven participation/domination ambiguous
  responsibility
• Increased cost
• Groupthink consensus trumps consideration of
  alternatives
• Competing perspectives or individual differences
  may encourage conflict

10
Obstacles to Effective Decisions

• Judgmental Biases
• Availability Representativeness
• Implicit favorite Loss aversion
• Selective perception Personal experience
• Escalation of Commitment
• Unwillingness to walk away from sunk investments
• Willingness to Take Risks
• Group polarization Taking more extreme positions
  (riskier or more cautious) than individuals would
  take
• Groupthink

11
Group Think

• Definition
• A mode of thinking in which premature striving
  for agreement and/or closure overrides the search
  for alternative views and courses of action
• Symptoms (Janis, 1972 and many since)
• Illusion of invulnerability
• Belief in morality of the group
• Rationalization
• Stereotypes of outsiders
• Censorship and self-censorship
• Direct pressure
• Illusion of uniformity

12
Putting it all together

• Recognize the limits to each individuals
  information processing including your own!
• What dont I know?
• Who else can help me?
• Creating decision making processes that foster
  open discussion and celebrate disagreements
• Framing decisions up front
• Setting up ground rules that establish a safe
  environment
• Individual cognitive biases can prevent us from
  seeking and detecting critical data group
  decisions offer potential to reach better
  decisions.