ORGB 364 LATEST 2026 EXAM TEST QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS SURE A+
✔✔define decision making - ✔✔decision making is a conscious process of making
choices among one or more alternatives with the intention of moving towards a desired
state of affairs
✔✔describe the rational choice paradigm - ✔✔the notion that the best choice is the one
that offers the greatest satisfaction or utility
follows the logical process of identifying problems/ opportunities, choosing the best
decision style, developing alternative solutions, choosing best solution, implementing
selected alternative, and evaluating decision outcomes
✔✔what are some factors that affect our ability to objectively identify problems and
opportunities? - ✔✔-stakeholder framing (employees, suppliers, customers, etc. frame
the situation in the way they want it to be perceived)
-perceptual defense (fail to become aware of problems because they block out news as
a coping mechanism)
-mental models (decision-makers are victims of their own problem framing due to
previous mental models)
-decisive leadership (executives are evaluated on how quickly they can be decisive)
-solution focused problems (finding a solution to a problem that has not been
adequately diagnosed)
✔✔define intuition - ✔✔the ability to know when a problem or opportunity exists and to
select the best course of action without conscious reasoning. it is both an emotional
experience and a rapid unconscious analytic process that involves both pattern
matching and action scripts.
✔✔define creativity and its four stages - ✔✔creativity is the development of original
ideas that make a socially recognized contribution. The four stages are:
-preparation (investigating the problem or opportunity in many ways)
-incubation (period of reflective thought)
-insight (experience of suddenly becoming aware of unique ideas)
-verification (provides the essential final state of creativity where we flesh out the
illuminated ideas/ subject them to detailed logical evaluation)
✔✔what are the four main features of creative people? - ✔✔-intelligence (to synthesize
information, analyze, and apply ideas)
-persistence (strong motivation, high need for achievement, and fairly high degree of
self-esteem)
-knowledge and experience (needed to acquire new knowledge)
-independent imagination (cluster of personality traits and values that support high
openness to experience, low need for affiliation, and strong values around self-direction/
stimulation)
,✔✔when is creativity strengthened in an organization? - ✔✔when the environment
supports a learning orientation, the job has high intrinsic motivation, the organization
provides a reasonable level of job security, and the project leader provide appropriate
goals, time pressures, and resources
✔✔what are three activities that encourage creativity? - ✔✔-redefining the problem
-associative play
-cross-pollination
✔✔define employee involvement - ✔✔the degree that employees influence how their
work is organized and carried out
✔✔identify four contingencies that affect the level of optimal employee involvement -
✔✔decision structure, source of decision knowledge, decision commitment, and risk of
conflict
✔✔what is subjective expected utility? (SEU) - ✔✔is it the probability (expectancy) of
satisfaction (utility) for each alternative. the rational choice paradigm selects the choice
with the highest SEU.
✔✔what are two outcomes that all decisions rely on to some degree? - ✔✔-the
expected value of outcomes (utility)
-the probability of those good or bad outcomes occurring (expectancy)
✔✔list the systematic process of the rational choice paradigm - ✔✔1. identify the
problem or recognize the opportunity
2. choose the best decision process (solve alone or with others; assume whether the
decision is programmed or not)
3. identify and/or develop a list of possible choices
4. select the choice with the highest SEU
5. implement the selected choice/ utility
6. evaluate whether the gap has narrowed between the current situation and the goal
✔✔define a problem and an opportunity - ✔✔a problem is a deviation/gap between the
current and desired situation
an opportunity is a deviation between current expectations and a potentially better
situation that was not previously expected
✔✔how to improve problem identification - ✔✔-can be avoided by being aware of
human limitations (being aware of the 5 biases)
discussing the situation with colleagues
✔✔define bounded rationality. what more often used than? - ✔✔states that people
process limited and imperfect information and rarely select the best choice
, it is more often used than the rational choice paradigm
✔✔what are 2 incorrect assumptions that the rational choice paradigm makes? - ✔✔-
assumes that decision makers can process info about all alternatives and
consequences
-assumes decision makers typically evaluate alternatives sequentially rather than at the
same time (results in implicit favourite)
✔✔define implicit favourite - ✔✔a preferred alternative that the decision maker uses
repeatedly as a comparison with other choices
✔✔define biased decision heuristics and the three most widely studied biases -
✔✔biased decision heuristics automatically distorts either the probability of outcomes or
the value. 3 biases:
-anchoring and adjustment heuristic
-availability heuristic
-representativeness heuristic
✔✔define anchoring and adjustment heuristic - ✔✔We are influenced by an initial
anchor point and do not move away sufficiently when new info is provided. affects the
value we assign to choices and their outcomes
✔✔Define availability heuristic - ✔✔items that are more readily available in memory are
judged as having occurred more frequently
(overestimate how often traumatic events occur)
✔✔define representativeness heuristic - ✔✔states we pay more attention to whether
something resembles (is representative of) something else than on precise statistics
about its probability
- incorporates clustering illusion (see patterns in small sample of events when they are
actually random)
✔✔define satisficing and why it occurs - ✔✔people choose an alternative that is
satisfactory/ good enough
occurs when people select the first alternative that exceeds a standard of acceptance
for their needs/ preferences
✔✔decribe the 3 ways that emotions affect the evaluation of alternatives - ✔✔1.
emotions form early preferences- emotional markers shape our preferences for each
alternative as we consciously evaluate them
2. emotions change the decision evaluative process- moods/emotions influence how
much we pay attention to detail and evaluate alternatives
3. emotions serve as information when we evaluate alternatives- they way that they
influence evaluation of alternatives
ANSWERS SURE A+
✔✔define decision making - ✔✔decision making is a conscious process of making
choices among one or more alternatives with the intention of moving towards a desired
state of affairs
✔✔describe the rational choice paradigm - ✔✔the notion that the best choice is the one
that offers the greatest satisfaction or utility
follows the logical process of identifying problems/ opportunities, choosing the best
decision style, developing alternative solutions, choosing best solution, implementing
selected alternative, and evaluating decision outcomes
✔✔what are some factors that affect our ability to objectively identify problems and
opportunities? - ✔✔-stakeholder framing (employees, suppliers, customers, etc. frame
the situation in the way they want it to be perceived)
-perceptual defense (fail to become aware of problems because they block out news as
a coping mechanism)
-mental models (decision-makers are victims of their own problem framing due to
previous mental models)
-decisive leadership (executives are evaluated on how quickly they can be decisive)
-solution focused problems (finding a solution to a problem that has not been
adequately diagnosed)
✔✔define intuition - ✔✔the ability to know when a problem or opportunity exists and to
select the best course of action without conscious reasoning. it is both an emotional
experience and a rapid unconscious analytic process that involves both pattern
matching and action scripts.
✔✔define creativity and its four stages - ✔✔creativity is the development of original
ideas that make a socially recognized contribution. The four stages are:
-preparation (investigating the problem or opportunity in many ways)
-incubation (period of reflective thought)
-insight (experience of suddenly becoming aware of unique ideas)
-verification (provides the essential final state of creativity where we flesh out the
illuminated ideas/ subject them to detailed logical evaluation)
✔✔what are the four main features of creative people? - ✔✔-intelligence (to synthesize
information, analyze, and apply ideas)
-persistence (strong motivation, high need for achievement, and fairly high degree of
self-esteem)
-knowledge and experience (needed to acquire new knowledge)
-independent imagination (cluster of personality traits and values that support high
openness to experience, low need for affiliation, and strong values around self-direction/
stimulation)
,✔✔when is creativity strengthened in an organization? - ✔✔when the environment
supports a learning orientation, the job has high intrinsic motivation, the organization
provides a reasonable level of job security, and the project leader provide appropriate
goals, time pressures, and resources
✔✔what are three activities that encourage creativity? - ✔✔-redefining the problem
-associative play
-cross-pollination
✔✔define employee involvement - ✔✔the degree that employees influence how their
work is organized and carried out
✔✔identify four contingencies that affect the level of optimal employee involvement -
✔✔decision structure, source of decision knowledge, decision commitment, and risk of
conflict
✔✔what is subjective expected utility? (SEU) - ✔✔is it the probability (expectancy) of
satisfaction (utility) for each alternative. the rational choice paradigm selects the choice
with the highest SEU.
✔✔what are two outcomes that all decisions rely on to some degree? - ✔✔-the
expected value of outcomes (utility)
-the probability of those good or bad outcomes occurring (expectancy)
✔✔list the systematic process of the rational choice paradigm - ✔✔1. identify the
problem or recognize the opportunity
2. choose the best decision process (solve alone or with others; assume whether the
decision is programmed or not)
3. identify and/or develop a list of possible choices
4. select the choice with the highest SEU
5. implement the selected choice/ utility
6. evaluate whether the gap has narrowed between the current situation and the goal
✔✔define a problem and an opportunity - ✔✔a problem is a deviation/gap between the
current and desired situation
an opportunity is a deviation between current expectations and a potentially better
situation that was not previously expected
✔✔how to improve problem identification - ✔✔-can be avoided by being aware of
human limitations (being aware of the 5 biases)
discussing the situation with colleagues
✔✔define bounded rationality. what more often used than? - ✔✔states that people
process limited and imperfect information and rarely select the best choice
, it is more often used than the rational choice paradigm
✔✔what are 2 incorrect assumptions that the rational choice paradigm makes? - ✔✔-
assumes that decision makers can process info about all alternatives and
consequences
-assumes decision makers typically evaluate alternatives sequentially rather than at the
same time (results in implicit favourite)
✔✔define implicit favourite - ✔✔a preferred alternative that the decision maker uses
repeatedly as a comparison with other choices
✔✔define biased decision heuristics and the three most widely studied biases -
✔✔biased decision heuristics automatically distorts either the probability of outcomes or
the value. 3 biases:
-anchoring and adjustment heuristic
-availability heuristic
-representativeness heuristic
✔✔define anchoring and adjustment heuristic - ✔✔We are influenced by an initial
anchor point and do not move away sufficiently when new info is provided. affects the
value we assign to choices and their outcomes
✔✔Define availability heuristic - ✔✔items that are more readily available in memory are
judged as having occurred more frequently
(overestimate how often traumatic events occur)
✔✔define representativeness heuristic - ✔✔states we pay more attention to whether
something resembles (is representative of) something else than on precise statistics
about its probability
- incorporates clustering illusion (see patterns in small sample of events when they are
actually random)
✔✔define satisficing and why it occurs - ✔✔people choose an alternative that is
satisfactory/ good enough
occurs when people select the first alternative that exceeds a standard of acceptance
for their needs/ preferences
✔✔decribe the 3 ways that emotions affect the evaluation of alternatives - ✔✔1.
emotions form early preferences- emotional markers shape our preferences for each
alternative as we consciously evaluate them
2. emotions change the decision evaluative process- moods/emotions influence how
much we pay attention to detail and evaluate alternatives
3. emotions serve as information when we evaluate alternatives- they way that they
influence evaluation of alternatives
