INF 2149 Administrative Decision Making in Information Organizations
Course Schedule
1-2. January 9, 16. Individual Decision Making
Read:
- Introduction to decision making by individuals, groups, and organizations
- Cognitive biases and heuristics in human judgment and choice
- Tversky and Kahneman (1974), also in Kahneman (2011), Appendix A
- Gilovich, Griffin, and Kahneman (2002): Introduction, pg. 1-18
- Kahneman, D. (2004): Paper based on author's Nobel Prize lecture
- Choo (2006): Chap. 5
- Gigerenzer and Gaissmaier (2011)
- Video: Judgment and Choice (1990/2001)
3. January 23. Group Decision Making
Read before class:
- Decision making in groups
- Groupthink
Case Discussion. NASA Space Shuttle Challenger Launch Decision, January, 1986. Come to class prepared to discuss the dynamics of group decision making in this case.Read:
- Janis (1982): Chap. 1, 10
- Janis and Mann (1977) : Chap. 2
- Choo (2006): Chap. 5
- Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
Special Issue (Vol. 73, no. 2-3, Feb 1998) on the 25th Anniversary of Groupthink
- Video: Groupthink (1991)
4-8. Organizational Decision Making Models
Introduction to and comparison of major models of organizational decision making, including discussions of their implications for information seeking, information use, and information provision.
4. January 30. Rational Model
Read before class:
- Bounded rationality in organizations
- Decision premises, rules, and routines
Case discussion. Designing Decision Premises and Decision Routines - FI Admission ProcessRead:
- Simon (1997): Chap. 1, 3, 5
- March and Simon (1993): Chap. 6
- Choo (2006): Chap. 1 and 5
5. February 6. Strategic Decision Process Model
Read before class:
- Process model of organizational decision making
- Routines and dynamic factors in strategic decision making
Case discussion. AOL - Time Warner Merger. Read the following articles from the New York Times (Jan 16, 2000). Come prepared to discuss the events, phases, and cycles in the unfolding of the merger decision.
Read:
- Price of joining old and new was core issue in AOL deal [cache]
- How blind alleys led old media to new [cache]
- How the AOL-TW merger went so wrong - A retrospective [cache]
- Mintzberg et al (1976)
- Lindblom (1959)
- Choo (2006): Chap. 5
6. February 13. Political Model
Read before class:
- Conflict, coalitions, and procedural rationality
- Information and power in decision making
Case discussion. Cuban Missile Crisis. Read the case, and come prepared to discuss the events, players and actions in the development of the US response to the crisis. For a fuller account read "Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis" (Allison and Zelikow, 1999, Chapter 6, pg. 325-347).Read:
- Cyert and March (1992): Chap. 5, 7
- Allison and Zelikow (1999): Essence of Decision - Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis
- Forester (1984)
- Pfeffer (1992): Chap. 13
- Choo (2006): Chap. 5
February 20. Family Day - No class. Feb 21 - 26, Reading Week.
Assignment 1 due on February 22nd.7. February 27. Garbage Can Model
Read before class:
- Organizations as anarchies
- Technology of foolishness
Case discussion. Elimination of Speech Program in a University. Be prepared to discuss the flow of events, decisions, and decision makers in this case. For a fuller account read March and Olsen (1976) Ambiguity and Choice in Organizations: pg. 254-258.Read:
- Cohen et al (1972)
- March (1979, 1991)
- Choo (2006): Chap. 5
8. March 5. Contingency Decision Making Framework
Read:
- Multiple modes of organizational decision making
- Task and organizational variables
- Choo (2006): Chap. 5
- March (1991)
- Hickson et al (1986) : Chap. 6
- Perrow (1986): Chap. 4
Information Seeking and Use in Decision Making
Read:
- Information needs
- Information seeking
- Information use.
- McCall and Kaplan (1990): Chap. 6
- Choo (2005): Information Failures and Organizational Disasters
9. March 12. Special Topics in Decision Making
Read:
- Group decision making: hidden profile, cognitive influence, minority dissent
- Naturalistic decision making in expert intuition
- Escalation of commitment in organizational decision making
- Choo (2007): Social Use of Information in Organizational Groups (PDF)
- Sunstein (2003): Chap. 6
- Kahneman and Klein (2009)
- Ross and Staw (1986)
10-12. March 19, 26, Apr 2. Student Case Presentations
13. April 9. Course Summary
- Major themes from case studies presented
- Deciding how to decide