INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT BANGALORE
Decision Making
Instructor: Mukta Kulkarni
Office:
D-002
Phone:
3029
Office Hours:
Class Time:
________________________________________________________________________
Course description and objectives:
Wise people make them for themselves, while others follow public opinion. High
achievers make them quickly, while stragglers plod on without ever making them. Less
effective managers wait until they are certain before they make them, while effective
ones only wait until they have clarity. Some postpone them until they are no longer
relevant, while others are willing to make them when they are necessary.
Decisions.
From paying for coffee to losing weight; from buying a car to choosing a spouse - our
decisions shape our destiny. If we are to be high achievers, effective managers or leaders,
we must understand how to make decisions. And we must understand even better how to
avoid the traps that cause intelligent people to make bad decisions. This course aims to
help you understand both.
Reading material:
Reading material is provided for all sessions, and is contained in the course packet.
Additional readings may be suggested in class, and will be posted on Moodle if required.
A softcopy of PowerPoint slides, if used, will be available on Moodle for downloading.
Pedagogy:
The instructional format adopted for this class is a mix of lectures, case studies, group
work, and assignments. Classes will be interactive. Guest lecturers may be called sessions
if applicable.
In-class participation:
Given the participative nature of this course, participants are expected to add value
through quality (not quantity) of discussion, listening respectfully to other’s
contributions, not monopolizing in-class conversations, and sticking to relevant points
being discussed. We will discuss several decision making cases, and go through decision
making exercises.
Performance assessment:
Performance will be judged based on the following components –

In-class surprise quizzes: Four in-class quizzes will be conducted during the
course. The best three scores out of these four quizzes will be considered for final
grading. Quizzes will contain multiple choice questions, and will cover material
we have covered until date. This implies that material for quizzes is cumulative.
All quizzes will be announced 2 to 3 minutes before administration. Since grade
points for N-1 quizzes will be considered for final evaluation, there will be no
make-up quizzes if you miss class on the day of the quiz. Quizzes are not open
book.

Participation and assignments: You may be required to submit answers to cases or
assignments individually or as a group. In-class and homework assignments will
be announced as we progress through the semester.

Movie analysis (Group project): You will be watching two movies. You have to
analyze the decision making processes in these movies. These are two separate
assignments. For each assignment, in five pages, you are to assess the decision
making process, drawing on concepts and ideas discussed in class and covered in
course readings. What conceptual explanations can you offer for what happened
and how the characters went about the task of deciding?

Final Paper: Each student will write a five page (double spaced) paper on their
analysis of decision making process in the group project mentioned above. You
should integrate what you learned from the interviews, with any ideas from the
readings from this class, as well as experiences and conversations in class.
Grading scheme:
Component
Quizzes
Participation and
assignments
Movie analysis
Number
4 (points considered for 3)
Variable, depending on
class progress
2
Final paper
1
TOTAL
Points
30 (10 per quiz)
70
100 (50 per
movie)
50
250
Class schedule*
Session(s)
1
Topic
Introduction to decision making
2
How do people make decisions:
Decision making models
Readings/Cases
 Nutt. Surprising but true: Half the
decisions in organizations fail.
Academy of Management Executive
 Russo and Schoemaker. Deciding
how to decide. Winning Decisions


3-4
Biases in Judgment





5
6
Case
Are you Lorenz’s gosling:
Anchoring and framing



7
8
Are you a decoy:
Relativity in decision making
To argue or not to argue:
Managing agreement and
disagreement




9
Bounded rationality and
information asymmetry


Daft. Decision making processes.
Understanding the Theory and Design
of Organizations
Brousseau et al. Decision styles.
Harvard Business Review
Hammond et al. Hidden traps in
decision making. Harvard Business
Review
Busenitz and Barney. Differences
between entrepreneurs and managers.
Journal of Business Venturing
Certo et al. Managers and their not-so
rational decisions. Business Horizons.
Forbes. Are some entrepreneurs more
overconfident than others? Journal of
Business Venturing.
Staw. Escalation of Commitment.
Academy of Management Review
Growing pains
Airely. The fallacy of supply and
demand. Predictably irrational
Airely. The effect of expectations.
Predictably irrational
Airely. The truth about relativity.
Predictably irrational
Harvey. The Abilene Paradox: The
Management of Agreement.
Organizational Dynamics.
Eisenhardt et al. How management
teams can have a good fight. Harvard
Business Review
Garvin and Roberto. What you don’t
know about making decisions. Harvard
Business Review
Bazerman and Chugh. Decisions
without blinders. Harvard Business
Review
Brodbeck et al. Group decision making
under conditions of distributed
knowledge. Academy of Management
Review.
10
Case
11-12
Movie 1 and analysis
13-14
Five frogs on a log:
Why we don’t act on what we
know

Rural development institute: landless
poor in India

Pfeffer and Sutton. The smart-talk trap.
Harvard Business Review
Bazerman and Watkins. Cognitive roots
–The role of human biases. Predictable
surprises.
Bazerman and Watkins. Organizational
roots. The role of institutional failures.
Predictable surprises.
Mini cases


15
16-17
Decision making and leading
through crisis
Five smart frogs on a log:
Effective decision making








18
How to create a good frame

Charan. Solving a culture of indecision.
Harvard Business Review
Etzioni. Humble decision making.
Harvard Business Review
Malhotra et al. When winning is
everything. Harvard Business Review
Mankins. Stop wasting valuable time.
Harvard Business Review
Mankins. Stop making plans. Harvard
Business Review
Martin. How successful leaders think.
Harvard Business Review
Snowden and Boone. A leader’s
framework for decision making.
Harvard Business Review
Russo and Schoemaker. Power of
Frames, and Creating winning
frames. Winning Decisions
19
20
Case
Would you ‘borrow’ a pen from
your classroom when no one was
around?
Ethics in Decision making




21-22
Launching the war on terrorism
Ariely. The context of our character.
Predictably irrational
Trevino. Ethical decision making in
organizations. Academy of
Management Review.
Wrap-up
Movie 2 and analysis
* The instructor may modify the schedule as the class progresses