Case Assignment

Even the most intelligent manager is prone to personal biases and pitfalls that can lead to bad decisions. We all carry biases based on our personal experiences. And we can all fall into various traps that lead to decisions that seem perfectly logical at the time but in retrospect, we see that we should have known better.

In the background materials, including Bolland and Fletcher (2012); Kourdi (2003); and Hammond, Keeney, and Raiffa (2008); several specific decision-making biases and pitfalls are discussed. Collectively these are known as cognitive biases. Some of the common pitfalls and biases discussed in these readings include overconfidence bias, confirmation (self-confirming) bias, sunk-cost bias, framing bias, and hindsight bias.

Carefully review all three of these readings and make sure you understand the different types of biases. Then read through the scenarios below and think about what kind of biases are demonstrated in each scenario. For each scenario, carefully explain which specific bias or biases is demonstrated by the decision and what can be done to avoid this bias in the future. Make sure to pick at least one specific bias that you read about for each scenario, and explain your reasoning. Use references to at least one of the three required readings from the background materials in your discussion of each scenario below. Your paper should be 4–5 pages in length:

Assignment Expectations

Include both a bibliography and in-text citations. See the Student Guide to Writing a High-Quality Academic Paper, including pages 13 and 14 on in-text citations.

Module 2 – SLP

Decision-Making Biases and Pitfalls

We’ve all had experiences where we have been frustrated by a decision that our supervisor made. You have probably blamed this decision on your boss being “closed-minded,” “stubborn,” or “pigheaded.” But after reading the background materials you should be able to more precisely examine and define the precise decision-making biases or pitfalls that your supervisor made.

For this assignment, think of three bad decisions that your current or past supervisors made. For each decision, explain what bias discussed in the background materials likely led to this bad decision. You must use biases specifically discussed in Bolland and Fletcher (2012); Kourdi (2003); or Hammond, Keeney, and Raiffa (2008). For each of the three decisions, include:

A) A brief description of the decision and why you think it was a bad one

B) What kind of bias you think lead to this decision, and why

C) A reference to one of the background readings from this module

Finally, conclude your paper with a discussion about which of the three readings from the background materials would be most useful for your supervisor to read in order to help make better decisions and avoid biases. Explain why you think this reading would be more useful than the other two readings.

The paper should be 2–3 pages in length.

SLP Assignment Expectations

Include both a bibliography and in-text citations. See the Student Guide to Writing a High-Quality Academic Paper, including pages 13 and 14 on in-text citations.

Decision-Making Biases and Pitfalls

Required Material

A good place to start is this short video that will give you an overview of decision making biases:

Lombardo, J. (2014). Common Biases and Judgment Errors in Decision Making Organizational Behavior. Education Portal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAbdmV3VOwA

Now go through the following three readings to get a deeper understanding:

Bolland, E., & Fletcher, F. (2012). Solutions: Business problem solving. (Available from Trident Online Library. Read only the relevant chapters.)

Kourdi, J. (2011). Chapter 10: Avoiding the pitfalls and developing an action plan. Effective Decision Making: 10 Steps to Better Decision Making and Problem Solving. London: Marshall Cavendish International [Asia] Pte Ltd. [eBook Business Collection]

Hammond, J. S., Keeney, R. L., & Raiffa, H. (1998). The hidden traps in decision-making. Harvard Business Review, 76(5), 47-58. [Business Source Complete]

When you are done reading the above materials, review and test your knowledge with the following interactive tutorial which includes a quiz on decision-making biases:

Improving creativity in decision making. (2014). Pearson Learning Solutions, New York, NY.

Optional Material

Trevis Certo, S., Connelly, B. L., & Tihanyi, L. (2008). Managers and their not-so rational decisions. Business Horizons, 51(2), 113-119.

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