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WorksheetsRAT 3: Ch. 9 Decision Making in Teams
Total questions: 98
Worksheet time: 52mins
What is decision making in teams?
The process of making choices
The process of avoiding choices
The process of ignoring outcomes
The process of delaying actions
Why is decision making important in teams?
To create confusion
To enhance teamwork
To discourage collaboration
To limit creativity
Which of the following is NOT an approach to individual decision making?
Leader decides autocratically.
Designated expert makes the decision.
Wisdom of the Crowd.
Consultative: Leader consults with the team and then decides.
In group decision making, what does the 'Consensus' approach entail?
Team discusses, votes, and decides by majority rule.
Aggregating team decisions without interaction.
All team members participate and agree to accept the decision.
Leader decides autocratically.
What does 'Prediction Markets' involve in the context of Crowd and Algorithmic decision making?
Use algorithms to identify patterns and make predictions.
Aggregate the response of a large, diverse group.
Participants make forecasts by buying and selling various probabilities of an event occurring.
Team discusses, votes, and decides by majority rule.
Which approach to decision making uses algorithms to identify patterns and make predictions?
Group decision making.
Individual decision making.
Consensus.
Artificial Intelligence.
Which of the following is NOT a way to arrive at the best decision according to the learning material?
Delegating the decision to a team leader
Deferring to an expert
Voting
Using an artificial intelligence algorithm
What is one of the interrelated criteria for evaluating a decision-making approach?
Cost-effectiveness
Quality
Simplicity
Time consumption
According to the learning material, what does facilitating productive task conflict help with?
Reducing the time taken to make decisions
Improving decisions
Decreasing the quality of decisions
Avoiding the need for consensus
What aspect of decision-making varies in importance as per the criteria for evaluating decision-making approaches?
Quality
Speed
Acceptance
Consistency
What is an advantage of decision-making techniques that combine unique information held by team members?
They are faster to implement
They produce higher quality decisions
They require less expertise
They are easier to manage
What can time pressure do to a team's decision-making process?
It can ensure a thorough discussion of information.
It can lead to a quicker convergence on a decision without full discussion.
It can prevent the team from making any decision.
It can increase the time spent on unimportant decisions.
What should a decision include to ensure acceptance?
It should be made quickly to avoid delays.
It should include inputs from team members.
It should be based on the opinion of the team leader only.
It should be made by external stakeholders.
How do teams often speed up the decision-making process?
By using consensus decision making.
By taking a lot of time to discuss.
By using majority voting.
By focusing on unimportant issues.
What is a potential downside of the voting method in decision-making?
It can improve the speed of decision-making.
It can enhance team collaboration.
It can limit the level of acceptance of the decision by the losing minority.
It can ensure that all team members are equally satisfied.
When is it important for teams to use consensus decision making?
When the decision needs to be made very quickly.
When acceptance of the decision is not important.
When the issue is not a priority.
When acceptance of the decision is important.
What does the cultural dimension of power distance in decision-making refer to?
The physical distance between team members when making decisions
The degree to which people accept unequal power distributions in a group
The amount of power a leader has over the team members
The time it takes to make a decision in a high power distance culture
When is a group-oriented approach to decision-making considered best?
When individual decision-making is preferred
When a high-quality decision is not important
When a high-quality decision is needed or team acceptance is required
When decisions need to be made quickly without team input
What is expected of a leader in a low power distance culture?
To make all the decisions without team input
To engage in more participatory decision-making practices
To discourage team members from participating in decision making
To focus on individual decision-making rather than team consensus
What factor influences the effectiveness of group decision-making approaches?
The cultural background of the team members
The time zone differences between team members
The skilled facilitation of the process
The size of the team
What type of decision making is typically used by a manager to make routine administrative decisions or by a leader?
Democratic decision making
Consensus decision making
Autocratic decision making
Laissez-faire decision making
When are autocratic decisions less likely to be accepted?
In high power distance cultures
When the leader is not the most knowledgeable person on the team
In low power distance cultures
When group acceptance is crucial to the implementation of the decision
When should autocratic decision making be used according to the text?
When the leader lacks expertise
When the team is highly knowledgeable
When group acceptance is unimportant to the implementation of the decision
When the decision is complex and requires input from the whole team
What is one disadvantage of having a designated expert in decision making?
Experts have a wide range of knowledge.
Expert decisions are always perfect.
Experts may have specialized but narrow knowledge.
Expertise is easily recognized by managers.
What can be a consequence of the group disagreeing on the expertise of the designated individual?
It can lead to improved decision making.
It can lead to conflict.
It can increase the acceptance of the decision.
It can make the expertise more recognizable.
Why might expert decisions be fallible in complex problem scenarios?
Because experts always have a complete view of complex problems.
Because experts are not specialized in their knowledge.
Because experts often have an incomplete view of complex problems.
Because managers are not confident in the capabilities of single experts.
What is a challenge in recognizing expertise according to the text?
Expertise is always recognized by managers.
Managers are not confident in their own decision-making skills.
Expertise is difficult to recognize and managers may be overly confident in the capabilities of single experts.
Experts are not confident in their own knowledge.
What is the judge-adviser system in consultative decision making?
A) A system where the judge makes a decision without any input from others.
B) A system where the judge relies solely on external advisors for making decisions.
C) A system where one person has the authority or responsibility to make a decision, but they ask for advice and comments from team members before deciding.
D) A system where decisions are made by majority vote among team members.
What is egocentric advice discounting?
A) The tendency to give more weight to an advisor's opinion over one's own.
B) The tendency to give more weight to one's own opinion over that of an advisor.
C) The tendency to seek advice from multiple advisors to make a decision.
D) The tendency to ignore all advice and make an independent decision.
When does the tendency to undervalue the opinions of others decrease in a judge-adviser system?
A) When the advisors are not known experts.
B) When the judges are less familiar with the domain of the decision.
C) When the judges are more familiar with the domain of the decision.
D) When the most influential advisor is necessarily the most accurate.
Which statement is true regarding the influence of advisors in a judge-adviser system?
A) The most influential advisor is always the most accurate.
B) The most influential advisor is necessarily the most accurate.
C) The most influential advisor is not necessarily the most accurate.
D) The least influential advisor is always the most accurate.
What can happen to true opinions in a consultative decision-making process?
A) They are always taken into consideration.
B) They may be silenced.
C) They become the final decision.
D) They are the only opinions that matter.
What might cause team members to silence their true opinions according to the approach mentioned?
Effective communication
Norms
Positive reinforcement
Constructive feedback
What is one of the drawbacks of the approach mentioned in terms of group commitment?
It fully develops commitment to the decision by the group.
It encourages individual accountability.
It does not fully develop commitment to the decision by the group.
It ensures all team members are heard.
How might the approach mentioned influence team dynamics?
It may reduce competition among team members.
It may encourage competition among team members to influence the leader.
It may eliminate all process conflicts.
It may foster a collaborative environment with no conflicts.
What is confirmation bias in the context of individual decision making?
The ability to make decisions quickly and efficiently.
Preconceived beliefs that affect how information is interpreted.
A strategy used to simplify complex decision processes.
The tendency to involve others in decision making to reduce personal bias.
What is decision fatigue?
The increased efficiency in decision making after making several decisions.
The tendency to delegate decisions to others when tired.
Impaired, impulsive, and irrational choices due to repeated decision making.
The ability to make decisions without any cognitive effort.
How do heuristics affect decision making?
They increase the accuracy of decisions by requiring more cognitive effort.
They eliminate the need for decision making in routine situations.
They distort information processing in a systematic and predictable way.
They ensure that decisions are always made in a rational and logical manner.
What does the availability heuristic lead people to do?
Underestimate the prevalence of events based on vivid information
Overestimate the prevalence of events based on vivid or frequently heard information
Accurately predict the prevalence of events based on statistical data
Ignore vivid or frequently heard information when making judgments
What is a consequence of relying on the availability heuristic according to the text?
Individuals make more accurate judgments
Individuals rely less on readily available information
Individuals rely too much on readily available information, even if it's insufficient for accurate judgment
Individuals always seek additional information before making a judgment
Group decision making is best suited for what type of decisions?
Simple and routine decisions
Decisions that are too complex for one individual to perform
Decisions that require quick responses
Decisions that are based on personal preferences
What is one of the primary advantages of group decision making?
Groups tend to make more mistakes.
Groups can collectively pool and process less information than an individual.
Groups are less committed to implementing the decision.
Groups can collectively pool and process more information than is possible by any single person.
How do heterogeneous members in a team improve decision making?
By limiting the amount of unique information available to the team.
By making the decision-making process slower.
By improving decisions by increasing the amount of unique information available to the team.
By reducing the quality of the decisions.
According to the text, teams make fewer errors because:
They rely solely on external information.
They are better judges of their own knowledge.
They avoid discussing the decisions.
They make decisions based on individual knowledge only.
What is one benefit of teams having a better collective memory?
It allows for faster decision-making processes.
It protects against misremembering details or repeating prior mistakes.
It increases individual accountability.
It reduces the need for team meetings.
How does involving team members in the decision-making process affect their commitment to implementing the decision?
It has no significant effect on their commitment.
It decreases their commitment due to increased responsibility.
It increases their commitment because they are more likely to accept the decision.
It makes them less likely to participate in future decisions.
What can be reduced by involving the team in the decision-making process?
The efficiency of the decision-making process.
The emergence of conflict and it can motivate members.
The need for external consultants.
The overall cost of the project.
What is one of the main benefits of aggregation without interaction in group decision making?
It requires direct information exchange among group members.
It can result in lower quality decisions.
It can result in high-quality decisions without any direct information exchange.
It is only suitable for individual decision making.
Aggregated group decisions are often considered superior to what?
The judgment of a single expert.
The judgment of individuals and interacting groups.
The average group decision.
Random selection processes.
For which kinds of decisions is aggregation without interaction well suited?
What is necessary to ensure the effectiveness of aggregation?
A small group of participants with similar perspectives.
A diverse set of participants independently contributing their preference.
Frequent meetings and discussions among participants.
A centralized authority to make the final decision.
Why is diversity of perspectives important in the aggregation process?
To ensure that the decision is made quickly.
To guarantee that the decision is legally binding.
To avoid amplifying biases rooted in shared perspectives.
To make the process more complex and thorough.
Why is independence considered necessary in the context of the text?
To ensure that team members contribute their preferences independently from each other.
To allow for social influence and conformity to affect preferences.
To make the decision-making process longer and more complex.
To ensure that all team members interact with each other.
What happened to the USS Scorpion in 1968?
It was found 220 yards away from the highest probability location.
It was successfully located by expert opinion and deliberation.
It disappeared on its way back to Virginia after a tour of duty in the Atlantic.
It was used to test Bayes' theorem.
What method did Dr. John Craven use to estimate the location of the USS Scorpion wreckage?
He used a single expert's opinion to determine the location.
He used a group's collective estimate without individual betting.
He aggregated guesses using Bayes' theorem after individual betting on scenarios.
He relied solely on the crew's response to determine the location.
What is one of the advantages of aggregation mentioned in the text?
It works best when group members interact frequently.
It requires no expertise for the decision.
It is less suited for complex problems.
It is considered fair, so the decision is often accepted by the team.
According to the text, what is a drawback of aggregation?
It amplifies biases and can produce high-quality decisions.
It is more suited for complex problems.
Critical information has less influence because each member's contribution is equally weighted.
It works best when group members do not interact.
What is the Nominal Group Technique in group decision making?
A) A technique that requires a true group to make decisions.
B) A method where the group interacts extensively to come to a decision.
C) A process that allows individuals to focus on the task of making a decision without developing any social relations.
D) A strategy where decisions are made based on the majority vote.
Why is it called 'nominal' in the Nominal Group Technique?
A) Because it is the most common technique used.
B) Because it involves only nominal or minor decisions.
C) Because it does not require a true group.
D) Because it is named after its creator, Mr. Nominal.
What is the first step in the selection of the preferred solution using the Nominal Group Technique?
A) Each person publicly states his or her answer.
B) The leader states the problem to the group.
C) The participants use a rank-ordering procedure to rate the value of the solutions.
D) The answers are recorded so everyone can see them.
What is an advantage of the Nominal Group Technique?
A) It allows for extensive group interaction.
B) It is a time-consuming process.
C) It is relatively quick.
D) It requires a true group to function.
What is one of the disadvantages of the technique mentioned in the learning material?
It encourages group members to socialize before making decisions.
It allows multiple problems to be addressed simultaneously.
It requires a trained facilitator to conduct the session.
It promotes pressure to conform.
According to the learning material, what does the technique NOT require from group members?
To have a trained facilitator.
To conform to peer pressure.
To know one another before decision-making.
To address several problems at once.
What is the Delphi Technique primarily used for in group decision making?
To conduct face-to-face meetings and discussions
To use a series of written surveys to generate ideas and make forecasting estimates
To vote on the best solution in a group setting
To delegate decision-making to a single expert
What is the first step in the process of arriving at a solution using the Delphi Technique?
The participants are asked to comment on the solutions based on the first survey
A group of experts is given a survey containing several open-ended questions about the problem to be solved
The results of the survey are summarized and organized into a set of proposed solutions by a facilitator
The process is repeated until the participants start to reach an agreement on a solution to the problem
According to the Delphi Technique, what happens after the survey results are summarized and organized into a set of proposed solutions?
A group of experts is given a survey containing several open-ended questions about the problem to be solved
The participants vote on the best solution
The solutions are sent to the participants, who are then asked to comment on the solutions based on the first survey
The process is terminated and the best solution is implemented
What is considered an advantage of the Delphi approach?
It is the fastest method for group decision making
It allows for a democratic voting system
It is useful when it is necessary to include a specific set of solutions to the problem
It requires less facilitation and organization
What is one of the advantages of the approach mentioned in the document when there is a large disagreement on an issue?
It is less time-consuming.
It requires no subjective judgments.
It is useful because it requires subjective judgments to resolve.
It allows for quick decision-making.
What is a disadvantage of the process described in the document?
It is not suitable for large groups.
It is time-consuming.
It does not require any surveys.
It is geographically limited.
According to the document, what is required in addition to time when using the approach described?
Developing and analyzing surveys.
Immediate decision-making.
Physical meetings.
No subjective judgments.
What is one of the benefits of teams interacting before making a decision?
It allows for greater information exchange and error reduction.
It allows individuals to focus solely on their tasks.
It reduces the need for coordination and social issues.
It speeds up the decision-making process.
Why are discussions in fully interacting teams asynchronous?
Because it allows for simultaneous communication by all team members.
Because only one person can effectively communicate at a time.
Because it prevents communication problems.
Because it ensures decisions are made quickly.
What is a potential issue that can arise from communication problems in team decision-making?
Improved coordination and social interaction.
Enhanced focus on individual tasks.
Emotional conflicts that damage the morale of teams.
More efficient sharing of relevant information.
Which of the following can be a consequence of having powerful or talkative team members in discussions?
Decisions are made more democratically.
Discussions and decision-making processes can be disrupted.
The team becomes more efficient in communication.
The team's morale is generally boosted.
What is one of the strategies for sharing relevant information during group discussions?
Encourage participants to quickly express their initial preferences
Establish a transactive memory system
Limit the record of information presented during discussions
Discourage the addition of new diverse members to established groups
What does establishing a transactive memory system do?
Decreases the information processing capacity of the team
Increases the cognitive load of each member
Reduces the cognitive load of each member
Prevents the sharing of unique information
What is recommended to do before making a decision in a group discussion?
Express individual preferences immediately
Gather information as accurately and thoroughly as possible
Make a decision based on the most vocal member's opinion
Avoid keeping a record of all information shared
How can forcing groups to continue a discussion improve the sharing of information?
It can lead to the repetition of already discussed information
It can prevent the sharing of unique information
It can improve sharing of unique information
It can discourage members from participating
What effect does adding a new diverse member have on established groups?
It makes the group less open to questioning their conclusions
It decreases the accuracy of decisions
It has no significant effect on the group dynamics
It can shift to a more accurate decision
What is the main goal of consensus decision making in teams?
To develop a solution that benefits only a part of the team
To follow the decision of the team leader without discussion
To develop a collaborative solution that allows all participants to win
To quickly make decisions without considering all team members' opinions
Which of the following is an advantage of consensus decision making?
It is the quickest way to make decisions
It allows for individual team members to dominate the decision
It is the best way to fully use team resources
It often leads to compromises that satisfy no one
Which question is NOT one that helps in achieving consensus?
Can you support this alternative?
Can you go along with this position?
What is the team leader's opinion on this?
Are you willing to agree that this is what the team should do next?
When should the consensus approach be used according to the text?
For simple decisions
For complex decisions
For individual decisions
Never
What is the likelihood of consensus decisions being implemented by the team?
Less likely than individual decisions
The same as any other decision
Greater likelihood of being implemented
Unlikely to be implemented
According to the guidelines to help reach consensus, what should you avoid doing when trying to resolve a disagreement in a team?
Encourage others to explain their position
Look for creative and collaborative solutions
Avoid arguing for your own position without listening to others
Assume that someone must win and someone must lose
What is recommended to do when team members have different opinions and need to reach a consensus?
Discuss the underlying assumptions and listen carefully to one another
Try to reach a quick agreement by using conflict reduction approaches such as voting
Change your position just to avoid conflict
Encourage the participation of only a few members
What is a key approach to finding a solution when a team is fully interacting to make a group decision?
Look for solutions that allow both sides to win rather than compromises
Encourage quick decision-making to avoid lengthy discussions
Focus on winning the argument rather than understanding different viewpoints
Discourage the participation of all members to streamline the decision process
What can make teams susceptible to influences in group decision making?
Strong leadership
Normative and informational influences
Individual expertise
Efficient time management
Which of the following is NOT a group stressor that can impede decision making?
Disagreements
Positive emotions
Negative emotions
Time pressure
How can group polarization affect a group decision?
By making the result less extreme
By reducing groupthink
By making the result more extreme because of interpersonal processes
By encouraging individual decision making
What does the term 'groupthink' describe?
A process where group decisions are made quickly
A number of group decision-making flaws caused by the group's desire to maintain good relations
The ability of a group to think creatively and innovatively
The collective intelligence of a group making decisions
What is one of the problems with group decision making discussed in the material?
Lack of information sharing
Superior decision production
Evaluation bias
Individual decision making
What does a negotiation focus in team discussions emphasize?
Avoiding discussion of any kind
Sharing opinions and identifying the majority preference for a decision
Suppressing unique information
Evaluating shared information differently
According to the material, what is a consequence of discussion biases in group discussions?
Unique information is brought up first
Shared information is repeated more often than unique information
Shared information is less credible
Unique information is validated as being correct
How do team members contribute to evaluation bias during group decision making?
By evaluating shared information differently
By not sharing any information
By not validating each other's information
By increasing the perception that unique information is more credible
Which of the following is NOT listed as a factor leading to disagreements in group decision making?
Politics
A domineering leader
Hidden agendas
Effective communication
According to the learning material, what is a potential benefit of disagreement in group decision making?
It leads to confusion.
It stimulates thinking.
It wastes time.
It creates hostility.
What can be a problem when there is too little disagreement in group decision making?
It can lead to a quicker decision.
It can lead to a more unanimous decision.
It can also be a problem.
It can lead to better norms.
