Download Understanding Decision Making: Processes, Phases, and Approaches and more Assignments Data Mining in PDF only on Docsity!
Chapter 2
Decision Making , Systems , Modeling , and Support
True-False Questions
- Fast decision-making requirements may be detrimental to decision quality.
Answer : True Difficulty : Easy Page Reference : 48
- To determine how real decision makers make decisions, we must first understand the process and the important issues of decision making.
Answer : True Difficulty : Moderate Page Reference : 48
- Decision making is a process of choosing among two or more alternative courses of action for the purpose of attaining a goal or goals.
Answer : True Difficulty : Easy Page Reference : 48
- An important characteristic of management support systems is their emphasis on the computational efficiency of obtaining a decision, rather than on the effectiveness of the decision produced.
Answer : False Difficulty : Moderate Page Reference : 49
- For a computerized system to successfully support a manager, it should fit the decision situation and not the decision style.
Answer : False Difficulty : Moderate Page Reference : 50
- A major characteristic of a decision support system is the inclusion of at least one model.
Answer : True Difficulty : Moderate Page Reference : 51
- The collection of data and the estimation of future data are among the most difficult steps in the analysis.
Answer : True Difficulty : Easy Page Reference : 56
- Problem Identification is the conceptualization of a problem in an attempt to place it in a definable category, possibly leading to a standard solution approach.
Answer : False Difficulty : Hard Page Reference : 56
- A problem exists in an organization only if someone or some group takes on the responsibility of attacking it and if the organization has the ability to solve it.
Answer : True Difficulty : Moderate Page Reference : 57
- The process of modeling is pure art and not science.
Answer : False Difficulty : Easy Page Reference : 58
- The process of modeling involves determining the (usually mathematical, sometimes symbolic) relationships among the variables.
Answer : True Difficulty : Easy Page Reference : 58
- An intermediate variable or a set of intermediate variables describe the environment of the decision making.
Answer : False Difficulty : Moderate Page Reference : 58
- “Humans are economic beings whose objective is to maximize the attainment of goals “is one of the assumptions of rational decision makers.
Answer : True Difficulty : Easy Page Reference : 59
- The idea of “thinking with your gut” is a heuristic approach to decision making.
Answer : True Difficulty : Easy Page Reference : 59
- If a suboptimal decision is made in one part of the organization without considering the details of the rest of the organization, then an optimal solution from the point of view of that part is better for the whole.
Answer : False Difficulty : Moderate Page Reference : 61
- Rationality is bounded only by limitations on human processing capacities but not by individual differences.
Answer : False Difficulty : Moderate Page Reference : 64
- The choice phase is the one in which the actual decision is made and where the commitment to follow a certain course of action is made.
Answer : True Difficulty : Easy Page Reference : 68
- Solving the model is the same as solving the problem the model represents.
Answer : False Difficulty : Moderate Page Reference : 69
- The primary requirement of decision support for the intelligence phase is the ability to scan external and internal information sources for opportunities and problems.
Answer : True Difficulty : Easy Page Reference : 70
- There is a continuous flow of activity from one phase to the next phase in a decision making process, but at any phase there may be a return to a previous phase. __________ is an essential part of this process.
a. Testing b. Trial-and-error c. Experimenting d. Modeling
Answer : d Difficulty : Moderate Page Reference : 53
- The identification of organizational goals and objectives related to an issue of concern and determination of whether they are being met is the beginning of __________ of decision making.
a. initial phase b. intelligence phase c. brainstorming phase d. generation phase
Answer : b Difficulty : Moderate Page Reference : 56
- Which of the following involves finding or developing and analyzing possible courses of action in a decision making phase?
a. Consultation phase b. Communication phase c. Intelligence phase d. Design phase
Answer : d Difficulty : Moderate Page Reference : 57
- A(n) __________ is a criterion that describes the acceptability of a solution approach.
a. principle of choice b. acceptable criterion c. trade-off d. worst-case criterion
Answer : a Difficulty : Hard Page Reference : 58
- A(n) __________ describes the objective or goal of the decision-making problem.
a. decision variable b. result variable c. initial variable d. intermediate variable
Answer : b Difficulty : Moderate Page Reference : 58
- Finding the alternatives with the highest ratio of __________ is one of the ways to achieve optimization.
a. profits to cost b. margins to cost c. goal attainment to cost d. earnings to cost
Answer : c Difficulty : Moderate Page Reference : 59
- Which of the following, by definition, requires a decision maker to consider the impact of each alternative course of action on the entire organization because a decision made in one area may have significant effects in other areas?
a. Satisfaction b. Worst-case c. Feasibility d. Optimization
Answer : d Difficulty : Easy Page Reference : 61
- A(n) __________ checks the performance of the system for a given set of alternatives, rather than for all alternatives. Therefore, there is no guarantee that an alternative selected with the aid of this analysis is optimal.
a. analytical analysis b. descriptive analysis c. optimization analysis d. quantitative analysis
Answer : b Difficulty : Hard Page Reference : 62
- A __________ can help a decision maker sketch out the important qualitative factors and their causal relationships in a messy decision-making situation.
a. mathematical map b. cognitive map c. qualitative map d. narrative map
Answer : b Difficulty : Moderate Page Reference : 63
- The __________ involves generating alternative courses of action, discussing the criteria for choice and their relative importance, and forecasting the future consequences of using various alternatives.
a. initial phase b. generation phase c. brainstorming phase d. design phase
Answer : d Difficulty : Moderate Page Reference : 72
- All phases of the decision making process can be supported by improved communication by __________ through group support systems and knowledge management systems.
a. collaborative computing b. shared computing c. collective computing d. group computing
Answer : a Difficulty : Moderate Page Reference : 74
Fill In the Blanks
- Decision making is directly influenced by several major disciplines, some of which are behavioral , (which include anthropology, law, philosophy, political science, psychology, social psychology, and sociology), and some of which are scientific in nature.
Difficulty : Moderate Page Reference : 49
- A model is a simplified representation or abstraction of reality.
Difficulty : Easy Page Reference : 51
- A major characteristic of a decision support system and many business intelligence tools is the inclusion of at least one model.
Difficulty : Easy Page Reference : 51
- Mental models are the descriptive representations of decision-making situations that we form in our heads and think about.
Difficulty : Moderate Page Reference : 52
- Intelligence in decision making involves scanning the environment, either intermittently or continuously.
Difficulty : Moderate Page Reference : 55
- Problem classification is the conceptualization of a problem in an attempt to place it in a definable category, possibly leading to a standard solution approach.
Difficulty : Hard Page Reference : 56
- Problem classification is the conceptualization of a problem in an attempt to place it in a definable category, possibly leading to a standard solution approach. An important approach classifies problems according to the degree of structuredness evident in them.
Difficulty : Moderate Page Reference : 56
- A proper balance between the level of model simplification and the representation of reality must be obtained because of the benefit/cost trade-off.
Difficulty : Hard Page Reference : 58
- The process of modeling is a combination of art and science. As an art, a level of creativity and finesse is required when determining what simplifying assumptions can work, how to combine appropriate features of the model classes, and how to integrate models to obtain valid solutions.
Difficulty : Moderate Page Reference : 58
- A decision variable describes the alternatives a manager must choose among, e.g., like how many cars to deliver to a specific rental agency or how to advertise at specific times.
Difficulty : Moderate Page Reference : 58
- A normative model is a model that prescribes how a system should operate.
Difficulty : Moderate Page Reference : 58
- Suboptimization may also involve simply bounding the search for an optimum by considering fewer criteria or alternatives or by eliminating large portions of the problem from evaluation.
Difficulty : Hard Page Reference : 61
- A descriptive model is extremely useful in DSS for investigating the consequences of various alternative courses of action under different configurations of inputs and processes.
Difficulty : Moderate Page Reference : 62
- Simulation is the imitation of reality and has been applied to many areas of decision making.
Difficulty : Easy Page Reference : 62
- Discuss the importance of decision style.
Decision style is the manner in which decision makers think and react to problems. This includes their cognitive response, their values, beliefs, and perceptions. These factors can vary greatly amongst individuals; as a result decisions can vary greatly.
Difficulty : Easy Page Reference : 50
- Describe the different categories of models.
- Iconic. An iconic model is a physical replica of a system, usually on a different scale.
- Analog. An analog model is more abstract than an iconic model. It is a model that behaves like a system but does not physically look like the system.
- Mathematical. The complexity of relationships in many organizational systems cannot be represented by icons or analogically because such representations would soon become cumbersome, and using them would be time-consuming. Therefore, more abstract models are described mathematically.
Difficulty : Moderate Page Reference : 51
- (^) List five benefits of using models.
- Model manipulation is easier than manipulating the real system.
- Models enable compression of time.
- The cost of model analysis is less than the cost of a similar experiment using the real system.
- The cost of making mistakes during the trial-and-error experiment is less using a model.
- Models enable managers to estimate the risk of their actions.
- Mathematical models enable analysis of a large number of possible solutions.
- Models enhance learning and training.
- Models are readily available over the Web.
- There are many Java applets that readily solve models.
Difficulty : Moderate Page Reference : 52
- Briefly describe Simon’s four phases of decision making.
- Intelligence phase. Reality is examined, and the problem is identified and defined.
- Design phase. A model that represents the system is constructed by making assumptions that simplify reality. The model is then validated, and criteria are determined for evaluation of the alternative courses of action that are identified.
- Choice phase. Select a proposed solution to the problem.
- Implementation phase. Successful implementation results in solving the real problem. Failure leads to a return to an earlier phase of the process.
Difficulty : Easy Page Reference : 53
- Briefly describe the steps of intelligence phase of decision making.
- Problem identification. The intelligence phase begins with the identification of organizational goals and objectives related to an issue of concern, and determination of whether they are being met.
- Problem classification. Problem classification is the conceptualization of a problem in an attempt to place it in a definable category.
- Problem decomposition. Many complex problems can be divided into subproblems. Solving the simpler subproblems may help in solving the complex problem.
- Problem ownership. A problem exists in an organization only if someone or some group takes on the responsibility of attacking it and if the organization has the ability to solve it.
Difficulty : Moderate Page Reference : 55
- Briefly describe problem decomposition.
Many complex problems can be divided into subproblems. Solving the simpler subproblems may help in solving the complex problem. Also, seemingly poorly structured problems sometimes have highly structured subproblems. Just as a semistructured problem results when some phases of decision making are structured while other phases are unstructured, so when some subproblems of a decision making problem are structured with others unstructured, the problem itself is semistructured. Decomposition also facilitates communication among decision makers.
Difficulty : Moderate Page Reference : 56
- Describe the three assumptions of rational decision makers used in Normative decision theory.
- Humans are economic beings whose objective is to maximize the attainment of goals; that is, the decision maker is rational. (More of a good thing [revenue, fun] is better than less; less of a bad thing [cost, pain] is better than more.)
- For a decision-making situation, all viable alternative courses of action and their consequences, or at least the probability and the values of the consequences, are known.
- Decision makers have an order or preference that enables them to rank the desirability of all consequences of the analysis (best to worst).
Difficulty : Moderate Page Reference : 59
- Compare the normative and descriptive approaches to decision making.
Normative refers to models that tell you what you should do. These are prescriptive models that usually utilize optimization. Descriptive models are those that tell you "what-if." These are usually simulation models.
Difficulty : Easy Page Reference : 62
