ManagementLesson 3 of 6 in the course Managerial Decision-Making

Programmed and Nonprogrammed Decisions in Management

5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 5 match pairs · 5 fill-in sentences · English

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Summary

Managers make many decisions, but not every decision needs the same amount of time or analysis. This lesson explores programmed decisions: recurring decisions that can be guided by known rules and criteria. It also explains how heuristics help managers make these decisions efficiently.

A programmed decision is a decision that occurs repeatedly and can be guided by an established set of rules or procedures. The decision may be simple or complex. What makes it programmed is that the relevant criteria are known, or can be estimated with reasonable accuracy, and the decision is made regularly.

All flashcards

What is a programmed decision?
A recurring decision guided by established rules or criteria that are known or can be estimated with reasonable accuracy.
What is a heuristic?
A mental shortcut or rule of thumb, often developed through experience, that helps a manager reach a decision efficiently.
What is one benefit and one limitation of a heuristic?
It saves time and can produce a good, adequate solution. However, it does not guarantee the optimal solution.
What is a nonprogrammed decision?
A novel, unstructured decision with unclear criteria and potentially incomplete or ambiguous information.
What are the six steps in the decision-making process for unfamiliar decisions?
Recognize the need, generate alternatives, analyze them, select one, implement it, and evaluate its effectiveness.

Quiz questions

  1. What characterizes a nonprogrammed decision?Answer: It is novel and unstructured, with criteria that are unclear.
  2. What best distinguishes a programmed decision from a nonprogrammed one?Answer: Whether it recurs and can use established criteria, rather than its complexity.
  3. After analyzing alternatives, what should a manager do next in the six-step decision process?Answer: Select the alternative that seems most suitable given the analysis.
  4. In the six-step decision process, what does generating alternatives involve?Answer: Identifying several possible courses of action.
  5. When should a manager evaluate a decision's effectiveness in the six-step process?Answer: After implementing the selected alternative.

Based on Principles of Management by David S. Bright, Anastasia H. Cortes, Eva Hartmann, K. Praveen Parboteeah, Jon L. Pierce, Monique Reece, Amit Shah, Siri Terjesen, Joseph Weiss, Margaret A. White, Donald G. Gardner, Jason Lambert et al. (OpenStax), licensed CC BY 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.

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