Before showing this slide, ask your students to
generate examples of decisions they have had to make at work, or decisions
workers have made that have been reported in the media.
These are a few examples of workplace decision making that have been
studied by researchers
flight diversion decisions-
When weather conditions change or accidents occur, private pilots may have
to divert a flight to an alternative airport. In order to do this successfully, pilots have to collect
information about the distance to each airport option, the length and
direction of the available runways in combination with windspeed and wind
direction, and the resources available at each airport.
This information needs to be combined in a way that leads to the most
appropriate action. Research
suggests that experts and novices collect information using different
Teams are typically composed of people with unique expertise who need
to depend on one another to get the job done (e.g., anesthesiologist,
technicians who monitor life support machines, head surgeon, assistant
surgeon). This means that
decisions are complicated by having to develop a common understanding of
each problem, resolve differences in opinion or values, share information
effectively, and maximize the use of each persons skills.
Here you could ask your students to think of experiences they have
had working in teams that illustrate good or poor coordination.
Emergency Dispatcher effort-
When performing their jobs, dispatchers need to know where to place their
effort. It is clear that
working quickly or maximize accuracy are both relatively more important than
telephone courtesy. However,
can speed and accuracy tradeoff with one another (in other words, can I
focus on one aspect to the exclusion of the other?)?
Research suggests that good performance relies on a fine balance
between important attributes. In
this case, speed and accuracy tend to depend on one another. In other words, if you send a fire truck to the wrong
location, it doesnt matter how quickly you get them there, but if you
send a fire truck to the proper location, the faster you get them there the
Rating employee performance on
Often managers must evaluate and make decisions about their subordinates.
Ask your students to provide examples of these kinds of decisions
(bonus, promotions, etc.) Because
managers have so many responsibilities they often construct their
evaluations based on incomplete information or use mental shortcuts
(heuristics). Multiple rater
peers, self, subordinate
Using interviews to choose
Many professionals have the task of finding new employees.
You could ask for a show of hands how many students have been through
a job interview. Most companies
use job interviews as a source for information.
However, not all interviews are effective for collecting RELEVANT
information. Many interviews
are unstructured and leave the interviewer with very little information to
go ona situation likely to induce the use of stereotypes and other mental