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Faculty
Kinga Konczey, Corvinus University of Budapest

Course Coordinator
ISUP Secretariat

Prerequisite/progression of the course

The course will build upon students’ knowledge and understanding of the following topics and subjects: Organisational Behaviour and/or Management and/or Human Resource Management.

Course content, structure and teaching

This interactive, pragmatic course focuses on the individual as a less than perfect decision maker in competitive and cooperative contexts. The course examines how individuals process uncertainty and make decisions based on information they obtain from the environment, and how they take risks. In-class simulations and out-of-class assignments will be employed to provide experience and understanding of decision making concepts and develop new skills in a variety of contexts.

Course content:

• thinking about thinking – discovering and understanding the way our mind works;
• mental models, ladder of inference, advocacy and inquiry – understanding our way of reasoning;
• stress and crisis management;
• problem solving and decision making; assessing uncertainty;
• rationality concept – are we “irrational”?; various rationality concepts;
• limitations and inconsistencies in decision making;
• concepts of fairness, preference reversals and heuristics;
• dealing with ambiguity, creative decision making

The course's development of personal competences

• Enhance mental effectiveness by learning the keys to rational thinking, as well as the barriers of optimal decision making;
• Identify personal decision making competencies and styles and recognize the styles and strategies of others within and across cultures;
• Achieve better outcomes by strengthening decision making skills;
• Determine how these concepts, skills and competencies can be applied in the workplace.

Learning Objectives

At the end of the course students should be able to:

• Understand the major decision making theories as they apply to various business and management settings, and be able to apply these theories to the analysis of problems, situations and develop effective problem solving strategies.

In particular students should be able to:

• Identify and describe the mental models that underlie our thinking processes;
• Effectively utilize the advocacy and inquiry method to understand our way of reasoning;
• Effectively prepare for team work or problem solving in interaction through situational awareness, self assessment, and the assessment of the other party(ies);
• Understand and effectively deal with stress situations, including the choice of appropriate stress management techniques;
• Recognise crisis situations and effectively approach them by using appropriate crisis management strategies and techniques;
• Identify problem situations and assess uncertainty;
• Recognise the various processes that lead us to be „less than rational” in our decision making;
• Recognise and overcome the limitations and inconsistencies in our decision making;
• Effectively deal with ambiguity and develop strategies to deal with different levels of ambiguity in problem solving;
• Understand the role of intuition in the decision making process;
• Develop creative problem solving strategies both individually in team settings, and apply them.

Teaching methods

Class sessions will consist of a variety of activities including lectures, team work and discussions, projects, and in-class exercises. There will be significant emphasis on experiential learning processes including small group discussions, inventories and tests, problem solving exercises, games, case studies, role plays, along with home assignments designed to apply concepts to work situations. Students play an active part as they plan, simulate, negotiate, obtain feedback, evaluate their own decision-making problems, and discuss decision, and competitive strategies.

Since personal and professional development (i.e., awareness and skill building) through in-class and out-of-class activities is the ultimate objective of the subject, attendance and continuous work is very important. On each session significant individual, team and class work will be performed which cannot be substituted with checking others’ notes or any other means of ‘catching up’ with the missed class. I will expect that students come to each class having completed the readings and skill-building assignments, with comments and questions in hand. Asking questions, challenging theories, each other (and the lecturer), defending own arguments, offering examples, acting as a spokesperson are all essential to the learning process. The lecturer is a facilitator and students need to be an important part of the learning model.

Examination

Mandatory mid-term feedback assignment: In order to be allowed to present the final assignment, each student must have submitted one mandatory feedback assignment (approximately 3-4 pages) on individual problem solving or decision making experiences. In this paper course concepts should be applied in the analysis of the situation. With these papers students will practice the depth of analysis required in the final project.

Final exam: Project/home assignment (written individually), 15 A4 pages.

The project requires students to perform an independent piece of research and in doing so, understand and apply the concepts of the course. Students will be given a complex case and they will need to solve and analyse the case with the use of course concepts and theories. Students need to select and critically apply relevant theories in their attempt to provide alternative solutions. Each proposed solution should be cross checked for feasibility and potential failures.

Re-take exam: Project/home assignment (written individually), 15 A4 pages.

Recommended literature

• Harvard Business Essentials, Decision Making: 5 Steps to Better Results by Business Essentials Harvard (Paperback - Jan 31, 2006).
• E. Frank Harrison;Monique A. Pelletier; 2000; The essence of management decision. Management Decision; London.
• Mintzberg, H.; Westley, F.; 2001; Decision making: It's not what you think, Sloan Management Review; Cambridge; Spring 2001; Volume: 42; Issue: 3; Page: 89-93.
• Harlow B Cohen 1998 The Performance paradox The Academy of Management Executive.
• Brousseau, K.R., Driver, M. J. Hourihan, G. and Larsson, R. (2006) The seasoned executive decision making style. Harvard Business Review. 2006 February.
• Robert, B. and Lajtha, C. (2002) A New Approach to Crisis Management. Journal of Contingencies & Crisis Management; Vol. 10 Issue 4, p181, 11p.
• Jon Aarum Andersen (2000): Intuition in managers Are intuitive managers more effective? Journal of Managerial Psychology Vol 15. 1 .p 46.; Bradford.
• Michael A Roberto (2002): Making difficult decisions in turbulent times. Ivey Business Journal; London; Jan/Feb 2002; Volume: 66 Issue: 3 Page: 14-20.
• Kurt Matzler, Franz Bailom, Todd A. Mooradian.(2007) Intuitive Decision Making. MIT Sloan Management Review. Cambridge: Fall 2007. Vol. 49, Iss. 1; p. 13.
• Harvez, J. B. (1988). The Abeline Paradox: The Management of Agreement. Organizational Dynamics, 1988 Summer, pp. 17-43.
• Robert L Gross;Susan E Brodt; 2001; How assumptions of consensus undermine decision making MIT Sloan Management Review; Cambridge.
• Hayashi, A. M. (2001). When to Trust Your Gut. Harvard Business Review, Feb 2001. p. 51.
• Gigerenzer, Gerd (2005): I think, Therefore I Err. Social Research. Vol 72. No 1. p.195.
• Hammond, J.S., Keeney, R.L. and Raiffa, H. The hidden traps in Decision making. Harvard Business Review.2006, January.
• Bonabeau, E. (2003) "Don't trust your gut (in complex situations, intuition can be counter intuitive)". Harvard Business Review Vol. 81, Iss. 5, pp. 116 - 124.
• Sadler-Smith, E., and Shefy, E. (2004) "The intuitive executive: Understanding and applying 'gut feel' in decision-making". The Academy of Management Executive Vol. 18, 4, pp. 76 – 91.
• Trailer, J., and Morgan, J. (2004). Making ‘good’ decisions: what intuitive physics reveals about the failure of intuition. Journal of American Academy of Business Vol. 4, 1/2, pp. 42 – 48.

Case studies will be provided at the beginning of the course.

Last updated by ISUP Secretariat 29/01/2010