Deck 7: Team Decision Making: Pitfalls and Solutions

Question 1

The confirmation bias is best described as the tendency for people to:

A) seek and consider evidence that supports their preferred hypothesis, and discount or ignore information that refutes their beliefs.
B) want others to agree with them because of their need to be liked.
C) not want to act as a devil's advocate in a group, even though it would help the group.
D) put unwarranted confidence in their decisions.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which of the following is NOT a behavioral consequence of decision fatigue:

A) spending more money.
B) making more accurate decisions.
C) making harsh decisions.
D) avoiding decision-making altogether.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

There are four key processes involved in the escalation of commitment cycle. Which of the following is NOT one of those processes?

A) Psychological determinants
B) Project-related determinants
C) Risk determinants
D) Structural determinants

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Group polarization is best described as the tendency for:

A) people in groups to follow the crowd, and, in some cases, engage in mob behavior.
B) groups to ostracize members who do not agree with them.
C) group discussion to mitigate group opinion; producing less extreme judgment than might be obtained by pooling individuals' views separately.
D) group discussion to intensify group opinion; producing more extreme judgment than might be obtained by pooling individuals' views separately.

Question 5

Key symptoms of groupthink take root and blossom in groups that succumb to the pressures of reaching unanimity. Which of the following is one of those symptoms?

A) Members of the group regard themselves as invulnerable, morally correct, and exempt from organizational standards.
B) The group's process of creating ideas and reaching decisions is balanced, and out-group member opinions are respected.
C) There is a diversity of opinions within the group.
D) Group members constantly discuss their reservations about the group's controversial viewpoint.

Question 6

All of the following are TRUE about conformity EXCEPT:

A) conformity is greater when people make difficult judgments.
B) conformity is greater when the rest of the group is unanimous.
C) conformity is greater when people value and admire their team.
D) conformity is greater when people have high social status in their team.

Question 7

A demonstrable task is a task that:

A) can be demonstrated to a group.
B) demonstrates the skill of the person who completes it.
C) has an obvious, correct answer.
D) demonstrates the cohesion of a group.

Question 8

The two psychological explanations for group polarization are: informational influence and normative influence. Informational influence is best described as the need __________; normative influence is best described as the need __________.

A) to have power influence) over others; to fit in with the group
B) for cognition; for emotion
C) to be right accurate); to be liked accepted)
D) to be liked accepted); to be right accurate)

Question 9

Regarding ways to avoid groupthink, what is the goal of using the risk technique?

A) It allows groups to adopt different perspectives in order to create a mechanism that will instigate thinking more carefully about problems.
B) It creates an atmosphere in which team members can express doubts and raise criticisms without fear of rejection or team hostility.
C) It allows team members to assume the perspective of other constituencies with a stake in the decision.
D) It gives teams an opportunity to identify a second solution as an alternative to their first choice.

Question 10

Research has found that instigating and upholding task-oriented conflicts in the decision-making process can be a strategy to counteract biased information seeking. One conflict-stimulating procedure involves assigning a counterargument role to a group member. When consensus on a particular decision solution has emerged, the contrary employee tries to identify all weaknesses inherent in it. The group must then react to this criticism, and see if the arguments put forth can be invalidated. This procedure is an example of what type of dissent?

A) Devil's advocate procedure
B) Abilene paradox
C) Escalation of commitment
D) Confirmation bias

Question 11

Which situation best illustrates the escalation of commitment?

A) A marketing manager fails to state the disadvantages of a product, and only states the positive benefits of that product.
B) A marketing manager does not give credit to a team member whose idea was instrumental for the product development.
C) A marketing manager makes decisions using a majority voting technique, and does not listen to the minority viewpoint.
D) A marketing manager continues to promote a specific brand, despite clear evidence that the brand is losing market share to competitors.

Question 12

All of the following can help minimize the escalation of commitment EXCEPT:

A) setting limits.
B) continuing to invest based upon how many resources have already been invested.
C) recognizing and accepting sunk costs.
D) seeking external review.

Question 13

All of the following may help a group avoid or minimize groupthink EXCEPT:

A) increasing the size of the team.
B) inviting outsiders who have a different perspective.
C) appointing a devil's advocate.
D) establishing procedures to protect alternative viewpoints.

Question 14

Groupthink occurs when team members place the goal of __________ above all other decision priorities.

A) good judgment
B) ethical decisions
C) efficiency
D) consensus

Question 15

The framing bias makes specific predictions about how people will behave when faced with a sure course of action versus a gamble. Which of the following best describes the effects of the framing bias?

A) People are risk-averse i.e., preferring a sure thing) for both gains and losses.
B) People are risk-seeking i.e., preferring a gamble) when choosing among gains and losses.
C) People tend to be risk-averse when choosing among gains, but risk-seeking when choosing among losses.
D) People tend to be risk-seeking when choosing among gains, but risk-averse when choosing among losses.

Question 16

An example of the overconfidence bias is:

A) Bill's tendency to consider evidence that supports his position on illegal immigration, but disregards evidence that refutes his beliefs.
B) Carol and her team have been working on a new product for several years and one expensive prototype has become their main focus. When evaluating the choices for launch, the group judges the top prototype as the best one for launch over less expensive options.
C) Joe makes a stock price prediction and believes that there is only a 5% chance that his estimate is wrong; overlooking recent articles about the bad financial health of the business.
D) a judge in a criminal court hears over 80 cases a day. The defendants whose cases are heard late in the day were given harsher sentences.

Question 17

Marilyn, Bob, and Carl all believe a certain defendant is probably guilty and should be sentenced. Individually their recommendations for a sentence are 3,5, and 7 years. When they meet as a group however, they recommend 10 years. This change and collective shift is called:

A) groupthink.
B) group polarization.
C) the Abilene paradox.
D) an escalation of commitment.

Question 18

Groups perform better than individuals on a wide range of demonstrable tasks. What is a key reason why groups outperform individuals faced with the same task?

A) Groups are much more overconfident than individuals, regardless of their actual accuracy.
B) Groups are more likely to exacerbate some of the shortcomings displayed by individuals.
C) Groups outperform individuals due to a process in which group members become more accurate during the group interaction.
D) Groups are more likely to neglect case-specific information and ignore base-rate information.

Question 19

Related to the confirmation bias, an example of "tunnel vision" would be:

A) In advance of the board meeting regarding the company's decision to move their offices, Ken has made up his mind to move the office to Wisconsin. He spends a lot of time finding information on the tax benefits of doing business in Wisconsin and overlooks similar tax benefits in Indiana.
B) Carl hasn't made up his mind about moving the company to a new location. He spends most of his time researching the lowest tax rates nationwide, and looking into what states are the least restrictive in terms of environmental compliance.
C) Mary feels secure in her viewpoint to move the company headquarters to Wisconsin, but also spends time researching cities such as Kansas City, Minneapolis, and Columbus, to inform herself of the quality of life and opportunities for business growth in these locations.
D) Kim feels pressured by the group to conform to the majority viewpoint of where to move the company headquarters. She limits her group input, and instead focuses on improving the company's product prototype.

Question 20

The Abilene Paradox is a bias that was initially described by what kind of situation?

A) A family continues a trip across the hot desert even though nobody wants to take the trip.
B) A football game in Texas results in conflict when the teams cannot play fairly.
C) U.S. President Kennedy decides to invade Cuba, despite clear evidence that the plan won't work Bay of Pigs).
D) A famous financier defrauds thousands of people by committing fraud, theft, and money laundering in a huge Ponzi scheme Bernie Madoff).

Question 21

In regard to how accountability effects organizational decision making, accountability for __________ leads to greater escalation behavior, whereas accountability for __________ increases decision-making effectiveness.

A) group mood; group performance
B) planning; rewards
C) failure; success
D) outcomes; process

Question 22

In terms of creating conditions that encourage ethical decision making in organizations, all of the following are valid EXCEPT:

A) rewarding people based upon their bottom line profitability.
B) making people accountable for their behavior.
C) having appropriate organizational role models.
D) eliminating conflicts of interest.

Question 23

A situational example of the False Consensus Effect is:

A) Mitchell has a tendency to overestimate the degree to which others share his views on ethical matters.
B) Emily has seen so many of her coworkers behave rudely to customers that she is no longer shocked by it, and at times is rude to customers too.
C) Carl is more likely to express his prejudiced attitudes in his office, even though his coworkers' past behavior has established a non-prejudiced workplace.
D) Jessica feels that it is acceptable to participate in slightly unethical behavior if it could help her be more successful in her career.

Question 24

Because individuals who deviate from their team's opinion are more harshly evaluated than those who conform to it, which of the following is a reason why team members are more likely to conform to the majority viewpoint?

A) The team member is confident in his or her own opinion.
B) Team members anticipate future interactions with other group members.
C) The team member can express their opinion in a non-public forum.
D) The team member's individual reward is independent from the group's reward.