Section A
A-1 Define group and work team.
A-2 Explain the benefits organizations and individuals derive from working in teams.
A-3 Identify the factors that influence group behavior.
A-4 Describe how groups form and develop.
A-5 Explain how task and maintenance functions influence group performance.
A-6 Discuss the factors that influence group effectiveness.
A-7 Describe how empowerment relates to self-managed teams.
A-8 Explain the importance of upper echelons and top management teams.
Section B
1) Identify the steps in the decision-making process.
The decision-making process involves programmed decisions and nonprogrammed decisions. The first step
is recognizing the problem or realizing a decision must be made. Second, the objective of the decision is
identified. The third step is gathering information relevant to the problem. The fourth step is listing and
evaluating alternative courses of action. Finally, the manager selects the alternative that best meets the
decision objective.
2) Describe various models of decision making.
The rational model of decision making contends that the decision maker is completely rational in his or her
approach. Bounded rationality theory suggests that constraints force decision makers to be less rational
and assumes that managers satisfice and develop heuristics. The Z problem-solving model capitalizes on
the strengths of four separate preferences (Sensing, Intuiting, Thinking, and Feeling), allowing managers
to use preferences and nonpreferences to make decisions.
3) Discuss the individual influences that affect decision making.
Decisions reflect the people who make them. The individual influences that affect decision making are
comfort with risk, cognitive style, personality, intuition, and creativity.
4) Explain how groups make decisions.
Group decisions are utilized for several reasons: to achieve synergy, to gain commitment to a decision, and
to maximize knowledge and experience in problem-solving situations. Seven techniques utilized in group
decisions are brainstorming, nominal group technique, devil's advocacy, dialectical inquiry, quality circles
and quality teams, and self-managed teams.
5) Describe the role culture plays in decision making.
Styles of decision making vary greatly among cultures and affect the way people view decisions. The
dimensions proposed by Hofstede in Chapter 2 that affect decision making are: uncertainty avoidance,
power distance, individualism/collectivism, time orientation, masculinity/femininity, cultural diversity,
functional background, and strategic decision making.
6) Explain how organizations can improve the quality of decisions through participation.
Participative decision making can include employees identifying problems, generating alternatives,
selecting solutions, planning implementations, and/or evaluating results. Participative management can
increase employee creativity, job satisfaction, and productivity, and improve a company's economic
performance.
Section C
1 Define differentiation and integration as organizational design processes.
2 Discuss the basic design dimensions managers must consider in structuring an organization.
3 Describe five structural configurations for organizations.
4 Describe four contextual variables that influence organizational structure.
5 Explain the forces reshaping organizations.
6 Identify and describe emerging organizational structures.
7 Identify factors that can adversely affect organizational structure.