Chapter 16 - The Processes of Organizations, Organizations
Chapter 16
The Processes of Organizations, Organizations
True / False Questions
1. (p. 459-460) Operations researchers have facilitated the making of non-programed decisions
through mathematical models.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
2. (p. 460) Modern technology has improved non-programed decision making more than it has
improved programmed decision making.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Modern technology has most improved programmed decision making.
3. (p. 460) Middle managers in most organizations deal primarily with programmed decisions.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
4. (p. 460) The real value of technology will not be realized until managers can use it to improve
the quality of their decisions.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
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5. (p. 462) As part of the goal and objective-setting process, top management must communicate
their tolerance for failure on the part of subordinates.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
6. (p. 462) Zeroing out risk will ensure superior organizational results.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Zeroing out risk will ensure mediocre results.
7. (p. 463) As a rule, there are time and cost restraints associated with developing alternative
solutions to a problem.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
8. (p. 463) Managers are wise to automatically apply existing problem-solving approaches to
new problem-related information.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: According to Karl Weick, managers should not try to automatically apply their existing problem-solving approaches to new
information.
9. (p. 463) Scenario analysis, although beneficial, can cause managers to develop tunnel vision.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Scenario analysis allows managers to compensate for tunnel vision.
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10. (p. 464) The purpose of choosing a problem solution is to achieve a new objective.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: The purpose of choosing a problem solution is to achieve a predetermined objective.
11. (p. 464) A decision is not an end in itself, only a means to an end.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
12. (p. 464) Objectives that are internal to an organization can have no impact on societal
objectives.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: In certain situations, an organizational objective may have a negative impact on a societal objective. This is shown in the rise of
ecology groups, environmentalists and the consumer movement.
13. (p. 464) In managerial decision making, optimal decisions are possible more often than not.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Optimal decisions are often impossible to achieve.
14. (p. 464) A decision must be effectively implemented to achieve the objective for which it
was made.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
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15. (p. 464) The test of the soundness of a decision is the behavior of the people affected by the
decision.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
16. (p. 464) A technically sound decision is hard to undermine.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: A technically sound decision may easily be undermined by dissatisfied subordinates.
17. (p. 465) Once a decision is made and implemented, it is safe to assume that the outcome will
meet the original objective.
FALSE
Difficulty: Easy
Rationale: Some system of control and evaluation is needed to ensure that the actual results are consistent with the results planned when the
decision was made.
18. (p. 467) Gender and level of education have been linked to ethical decision making.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Gender, level of education, work experience and level of awareness have not consistently been related to decision making.
19. (p. 467) The culture of an organization has a direct influence over how individuals make
ethical decisions.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
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20. (p. 468) When establishing objectives, values have no affect on one's selection of an
opportunity.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Values do affect one's selection of opportunities, as well as the assignment of priorities.
21. (p. 468) In the control and evaluation phase of decision making, value judgments cannot be
avoided when corrective action is decided on and taken.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
22. (p. 468) Values are reflected in the decision maker's behavior before making a decision and
in putting the decision into effect.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
23. (p. 468) Decision makers' personalities are strongly reflected in their choices.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
24. (p. 468) One person is not likely to be equally proficient in all aspects of the decision-making
process.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
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25. (p. 469) In general, decisions that are made under conditions of uncertainty are more likely
to fail than are decisions made under conditions of risk and certainty.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
26. (p. 469) In general, the personality traits of the decision maker combine with situational and
interactional variables to influence the decision-making process.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
27. (p. 470) Dissonance can be reduced by concealing a mistake that has been made.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Dissonance can be reduced by admitting that a mistake has been made.
28. (p. 470) Those managers who tend to see every problem as a "do or die" scenario will tend to
take smaller risks.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Those managers who tend to see every problem as a "do or die" scenario will tend to take larger risks, even when the potential
return is quite negligible.
29. (p. 471) Personality has very little impact on the potential for dissonance.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Personality heavily influences the potential for dissonance.
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30. (p. 472) Many managers spend up to 80 percent of their working time in committee
meetings.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
31. (p. 473) Group members may show a negative bias toward advice given by nongroup
members, regardless of value.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
32. (p. 473) The best decisions are always made by groups of individuals.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Certain decisions are better made by groups, while others are better suited to individual decision making.
33. (p. 473) Programmed decisions are better suited to group decision making than are nonprogramed decisions.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Non-programed decisions are better suited to group decision making.
34. (p. 473) In establishing objectives, individuals make better decisions than do groups.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: Groups make superior decisions because of the greater amount of knowledge available to groups.
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35. (p. 473) In evaluating alternatives, the judgment of an individual decision maker is superior
to the judgment of a group.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: In evaluating alternatives, the collective judgment of the group, with its wider range of viewpoints is superior to that of the
individual decision maker.
36. (p. 473) A group decision is more likely to be accepted because those affected by its
consequences participated in the decision making.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
37. (p. 474) Increasing the creative capability of a group is especially necessary when individuals
from diverse sectors of the organization must pool their judgments to create a satisfactory
course of action for the organization.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
38. (p. 474) When subordinates believe that the manager in charge of their group is nonbiased,
they are less likely to express their viewpoints freely.
FALSE
Difficulty: Easy
Rationale: When subordinates believe that the manager is nonbiased, they are more likely to express their viewpoints freely.
39. (p. 474) Brainstorming often inhibits the creative output of a group, although it generates an
ample number of ideas.
FALSE
Difficulty: Easy
Rationale: Brainstorming often enhances the creative output of the group.
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40. (p. 475) Basically, the Nominal Group Technique (NGT) is a structured group meeting in
which 7 to 10 individuals sit around a table, but don't speak to one another.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
41. (p. 475) Brainstorming groups normally produce fewer ideas than do the equivalent number
of individuals working by themselves.
TRUE
Difficulty: Medium
42. (p. 475) The Delphi process promotes creativity by encouraging idea generation through
noncritical discussion.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: The Delphi process promotes creativity by using anonymous judgment of ideas to reach a consensus decision.
43. (p. 475) The Delphi process has proven to be less productive than brainstorming.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: The Delphi process has proven to be more productive than brainstorming, as has the nominal group technique.
44. (p. 476) Some decisions have no effect on the organization at all.
FALSE
Difficulty: Medium
Rationale: All decisions have some effect on the organization.
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Chapter 16 - The Processes of Organizations, Organizations
45. (p. 476) One must make some wrong decisions to learn how to make right ones.
TRUE
Difficulty: Easy
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Multiple Choice Questions
46. (p. 459) Which of the following is a programmed decision?
A. Procedure for admitting patients
B. Diversification into new products and markets
C. Reorganization of a government agency
D. Purchase of experimental equipment
Difficulty: Easy
47. (p. 459) Regardless of organizational variations and the degree of employee participation,
who is ultimately responsible for decision outcomes?
A. The employees
B. Everyone
C. The shareholders
D. The managers are
Difficulty: Easy
48. (p. 460) The ____________________ is the group that should be most concerned with
making non-programed decisions.
A. Top management team
B. Middle management team
C. Lower management team
D. Employee workforce
Difficulty: Medium
49. (p. 460) Managers make non-programed decisions by using ____________________.
A. General problem solving processes
B. Judgment
C. Intuition
D. All of the choices are correct
Difficulty: Medium
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50. (p. 461) All of the following are steps in the decision making process except:
A. Identifying problems
B. Developing alternative
C. Assigning personnel
D. Choosing an alternative
Difficulty: Medium
51. (p. 461) ____________________ is the most typical organizational response to a problem.
A. Delegation of authority
B. A decision
C. A price increase
D. A layoff
Difficulty: Easy
Rationale: Decisions are a typical organizational response to a problem.
52. (p. 462) A sales manager says, "I think sales are down because we don't provide enough sales
training." This is an example of:
A. A perceptual problem
B. Defining a problem in terms of a solution
C. Identifying symptoms as problems
D. Negative reinforcement
Difficulty: Medium
53. (p. 462) Organizations need goals and objectives in each area where performance influences
____________________.
A. Customers
B. Brand image
C. Employee morale
D. Effectiveness
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 16 - The Processes of Organizations, Organizations
54. (p. 462) Problems are usually of three types: opportunity, crisis and
____________________.
A. Routine
B. Maintenance
C. Impulse
D. All of the choices are correct
Difficulty: Hard
55. (p. 463) According to the text, failure to generate enough ____________________ can end
up costing an organization time and resources.
A. Sales
B. New products
C. Advertising
D. Alternative solutions
Difficulty: Easy
56. (p. 463) A decision maker has complete knowledge of the probability of the outcome of each
alternative solution. This is a condition known as ____________________.
A. Risk
B. Certainty
C. Uncertainty
D. None of the above
Difficulty: Easy
57. (p. 463) Scenarios compel managers to consider:
A. What has been, not what could be
B. What could be, not what has been
C. What currently is, not what could be
D. All of the choices are correct
Difficulty: Medium
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Chapter 16 - The Processes of Organizations, Organizations
58. (p. 463) The objective in every decision-making situation is to choose the alternative with
the:
A. Lowest cost
B. Least unfavorable outcome
C. Fastest implementation
D. Most management support
Difficulty: Easy
59. (p. 464-465) Which of the following statements about control and evaluation is incorrect?
A. Changes must be made if deviations between actual and planned results exist
B. If the original objective must be revised, part of the decision making process is reactivated
C. Results must be periodically measured
D. If the original object is unattainable, changes must be made in the solution chosen, in its
implementation or to the objective itself
Difficulty: Medium
60. (p. 464) A decision maker cannot possibly know ____________________.
A. All of the available alternatives
B. The consequences of each alternative
C. The probability of these consequences occurring
D. All of the choices are correct
Difficulty: Easy
61. (p. 465) If a change is necessary to achieve an objective, it should be made to any of the
following except:
A. The solution chosen
B. The implementation of the solution
C. The person who authorized the solution
D. The original objective
Difficulty: Medium
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62. (p. 466) ____________________ help individuals evaluate alternatives to a problem in terms
of right or wrong.
A. Morals
B. Ethics
C. Controls
D. Attitudes
Difficulty: Easy
63. (p. 466) All of the following were cited by human resource professionals as being the most
common types of workplace misconduct except:
A. Lying to supervisors
B. Conflicts of interest
C. Falsifying drug test results
D. Stealing
Difficulty: Medium
64. (p. 466) On a day-to-day basis, unethical decisions and behavior from employees, coworkers and supervisors can lead to ____________________.
A. Distrust
B. Conflict
C. A less productive work environment
D. All of the choices are correct
Difficulty: Easy
65. (p. 467) The least common type of workplace misconduct cited by human resource
professionals was ____________________.
A. Stealing or theft
B. Conflicts of interest
C. Abuse of drugs or alcohol
D. Lying to supervisors
Difficulty: Medium
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66. (p. 467) Which of the following has been linked to ethical decision making?
A. Gender
B. Education level
C. Age
D. Work experience
Difficulty: Medium
67. (p. 468) ____________________ variables are external, observable situations in which
individuals find themselves.
A. Personality
B. Interactional
C. Situational
D. All of the choices are correct
Difficulty: Medium
68. (p. 468) Peer's opinions ____________________ persons facing important decisions.
A. Have little effect on
B. Have no effect on
C. Can heavily influence
D. All of the choices are correct
Difficulty: Easy
69. (p. 467-468) Lockheed Martin launched an ethics awareness program that included all of the
following except:
A. Installing metal detectors in theft-prone areas
B. Issuing a book on ethics to every employee
C. Providing every employee with an ethics questions card
D. Offering an in-house ethics training program
Difficulty: Easy
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70. (p. 468) The relationship of personality to the decision-making process may vary for
different groups on the basis of such factors as ____________________.
A. Sex
B. Social status
C. Cultural background
D. All of the choices are correct
Difficulty: Easy
71. (p. 469) A decision maker with a low aversion to risk ____________________ than a
decision maker in the same situation who has a high aversion to risk.
A. Establishes different objectives
B. Selects different alternatives
C. Evaluates alternatives differently
D. All of the choices are correct
Difficulty: Easy
72. (p. 470) The intensity of decision anxiety is likely to be greater in the presence of any of the
following conditions except:
A. This is the first decision ever made
B. The decision is psychologically and/or financially important
C. There are a number of foregone alternatives
D. The foregone alternatives have many favorable features
Difficulty: Medium
73. (p. 471) In most organizations, decisions related to non-programed problems are rarely made
by ____________________ on a regular basis.
A. A single department
B. A team of individuals
C. A single individual
D. More than one individual
Difficulty: Medium
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74. (p. 471) The increasing _______________ of problems often requires specialized knowledge
in numerous fields.
A. Cost
B. Frequency
C. Complexity
D. Severity
Difficulty: Easy
75. (p. 472) ____________________ involves a process of joint decision making among key
stakeholders of a problem domain.
A. Collaboration
B. Deliberation
C. Orientation
D. Consideration
Difficulty: Medium
76. (p. 474) All of the following are basic rules of brainstorming except:
A. No idea is too ridiculous
B. No idea can be criticized
C. Each idea belongs to the group
D. No one can speak until each idea has been presented
Difficulty: Medium
77. (p. 474) All of the following are basic rules of the brainstorming process except:
A. No idea is too ridiculous
B. Ideas must be submitted in writing
C. Each idea belongs to the group
D. No idea can be criticized
Difficulty: Easy
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Chapter 16 - The Processes of Organizations, Organizations
78. (p. 475) The ____________________ retains the advantage of having several judges, while
removing the biasing effects that might occur during face-to-face interaction.
A. Brainstorming process
B. Delphi process
C. Nominal group technique
D. Both B and C
Difficulty: Medium
79. (p. 475) Brainstorming is widely used in:
A. Automobile manufacturing
B. Advertising
C. Software development
D. Employee evaluations
Difficulty: Easy
80. (p. 475) When it comes to evaluating ideas during the Delphi process, studies have shown
essentially no significant change after the ____________________ round of anonymous
group judgment.
A. First
B. Second
C. Third
D. Fifth
Difficulty: Medium
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Fill in the Blank Questions
81. (p. 459) Decisions are ____________________ when they are novel and unstructured.
non-programed
Difficulty: Medium
82. (p. 462) A necessary condition for a decision is a ____________________.
problem
Difficulty: Medium
83. (p. 464) Effective management involves periodic measurement of ____________________.
results
Difficulty: Medium
84. (p. 468) ____________________ variables include the attitudes, beliefs and needs of the
individual.
Personality
Difficulty: Hard
85. (p. 469) ____________________ occurs when information about alternatives is available,
but little is known about the outcomes associated with these alternatives.
Risk
Difficulty: Medium
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86. (p. 470) What was called cognitive dissonance more than 35 years ago is called
____________________ today.
regret theory
Difficulty: Hard
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Short Answer Questions
87. (p. 459) Herbert Simon proposed two broad categories of decisions. What are the
categories?
Programmed decisions and non-programed decisions.
Difficulty: Medium
88. (p. 461) What is the advantage of establishing a policy regarding the handling of frequently
recurring problems?
It saves time and resources because managers don't need to develop and evaluate alternatives
each time the problem arises.
Difficulty: Medium
89. (p. 462) The text identifies three factors than can hinder the identification of a problem. What
are the factors?
(1) Perceptual problems. (2) Defining the problem in terms of solutions. (3) Identifying
symptoms as problems.
Difficulty: Hard
90. (p. 467) Texas Instruments suggests that managers think through four questions before
deciding if a course of action is ethical. The first question is "Is the action legal?" What are
the three remaining questions?
Does it comply with our values? If you do it, will you feel bad? How will it look in the
newspaper?
Difficulty: Hard
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91. (p. 471) After a setback of some sort, decision makers often escalate their commitment of
resources to the same course of action. Why?
In an effort to recoup the losses. And, because they don't want to admit that they were wrong
(self-justification).
Difficulty: Medium
92. (p. 473) Implementing a decision that was made by a group is normally the task of individual
managers. Who, then, bears responsibility for the implementation?
The individual managers do.
Difficulty: Easy
93. (p. 474) What is the difference between brainstorming and group decision making?
The point of group decision making is to brainstorm and then choose a best idea/solution. The
point of brainstorming is to generate ideas only; no decision is ever reached.
Difficulty: Medium
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Essay Questions
94. (p. 458) The text presented six "best practices" to follow when making decisions. Name three
of them.
Any three of the following:
1. Establish specific goals and objectives for the organization and measure results.
2. Identify problems that impede the realization of these goals and objectives.
3. Develop multiple alternatives to solve these problems.
4. Evaluate the alternatives and choose the one that comes closest to optimizing the
objectives.
5. Implement the decision by using effective communication.
6. Measure and evaluate the decision on a periodic basis.
Difficulty: Hard
95. (p. 469) According to one management researcher, the amount of risk in any given decision
depends on the answers to three questions. What are the questions?
(1) Have clear goals been established? (2) Is information about possible alternatives known?
(3) Have future outcomes associated with the possible alternatives been identified?
Difficulty: Hard
96. (p. 469) What is the difference between certainty and uncertainty, as they pertain to risk?
Certainty is having all the information the decision maker needs to make a decision.
Uncertainty refers to situations in which managers have little or no information about possible
alternatives or their associated outcomes.
Difficulty: Medium
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97. (p. 469) Identify at least three things that may encourage managers to make less than optimal
decisions.
According to the text, time pressures and deadlines caused by changing market conditions,
demanding customers and interactions with coworkers and supervisors can contribute to less
than optimal decisions. Other answers may also be correct, such as being ill, being distracted
by home-related issues, wanting to extract revenge.
Difficulty: Medium
98. (p. 470) The text presented four methods that an individual can use to reduce their
dissonance. List three of them.
Any three of the following:
1. Seek information that supports the wisdom of the decision.
2. Selectively perceive (distort) information in a way that supports the decisions.
3. Adopt a less favorable view of the forgone alternatives.
4. Minimize the importance of the negative aspects of the decisions and exaggerate the
importance of the positive aspects.
Difficulty: Medium
99. (p. 475-476) What are the three basic differences between the Delphi process and the nominal
group technique?
(1) Delphi participants are typically anonymous to one another, while NGT participants
become acquainted. (2) NGT participants meet face-to-face around a table, while Delphi
participants are physically distant and never meet. (3) In the Delphi process, all
communication between participants is by way of written questionnaires and feedback from
the monitoring staff. In NGT, participants communicate directly.
Difficulty: Hard
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100. (p. 476) Practical considerations often influence which type of group decision making
process (Nominal Group Technique, Delphi, Brainstorming) is used. Identify some of those
considerations.
Practical considerations that can influence the choice of a group decision making process
include the number of working hours available, costs and the physical proximity of
participants. Other considerations may also be applicable, such as having a previous bad
experience with a particular process, familiarity with some processes but not others or the
known personality types and behaviors of team members.
Difficulty: Medium
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