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Team Decision Making

and Employee Involvement

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Learning Objectives

Explain and manage a Rational problem solving method

2.

Describe and improve a Creative process model

3.

Identify the better choices for a team decision making

approach and a group polarization

Ma

1.

4.

Discover the forms of employee involvement

Rational Decision Making Model

2. Choose
decision
style

1. Identify
problem

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6. Evaluate
decision

3. Develop
alternatives

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5. Implement
solution

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4. Choose
best solution

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Problem Identification Concerns

Perceptual Biases

Perceptual defense

Political influence by others

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Mental models

Poor Diagnostic Skills

Need to make sense
Lack of time
Complex situation
Defining solutions as problems

Identifying Problems Effectively

Be aware of perceptual
limitations

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Discuss the situation with

colleagues
Create early warning signs

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Use information technology

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Problems with Choosing Solutions

Goals problems

Ambiguous, conflicting
Biased by personal goals

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Info processing problems

Selective attention
Limited info processing
Sequential evaluation with
implicit favourite

Maximizing problems
Tend to satisfice

Choosing Solutions Effectively

Systematically evaluate

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alternatives
Decision Support Systems
Scenario planning

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Intuition (with caution)

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Intuitive Decision Making and

Characteristics of Creative People

Ma

Ability to know when a problem or opportunity exists and

select the best course of action without conscious
reasoning
Conduit for tacit knowledge
Logical reasoning that became habit
Intellectual abilities
Synthetic, general, practical

Relevant knowledge and experience

Motivation and persistence
Inventive thinking style

Creative Process Model

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Insight

Verification

Incubation

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Some people are more creative than

others due to their intelligence,
experience, inventive thinking style,
and persistence.

Preparation

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Creative Work Environment

Organizational support
Tolerates mistakes
Encourages communication

Ma

Offers job security

Intrinsically motivating work

Task significance, autonomy, feedback
Self-leadership
Flow align competencies with job

Sufficient time and resources

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Creative Practices

Chain story

Review past
projects

Artistic
activities

Tell me,
stranger

Metaphors

Diverse teams
In-house
presentations

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Jamming

CrossPollination

Associative
Play

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Redefine
the Problem

Morphological
analysis

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rco

De Bonos Six Hats

The quality of our thinking will determine

the quality of our future. Dr. Edward de Bono

Ma

Avoid impulsive behavior and snap judgments.

See alternatives not difficulties or dilemmas.
Improve decision making and idea generating skills.
Increase ability to consider the consequences before taking
action.
Work more productively when working with others in a group.

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The Hats
White Hat - Information Facts; what you have,
what you need and where to get it.

Red Hat - Feelings Intuition and instincts.

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Black Hat - Caution Dangers and potential

problems.
Yellow Hat - Benefits - Positive aspects and values.

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Green Hat - Creativity Alternatives, options, new

concepts and perceptions.

Blue Hat - Managing the thinking Ensuring rules

are observed, sequencing hats and decision taking.

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Ma

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Team Decision Making Constraints

Time constraints
Process loss
Production blocking

Evaluation apprehension
Belief that other team
members are silently
evaluating you

Conformity to peer pressure

Suppressing opinions that
oppose team norms
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Team Constraints: Groupthink

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is highly cohesive
is isolated from outsiders
faces external threat
has recent failures
leader tries to influence
decision

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Tendency in highly cohesive

teams to value consensus at the
price of decision quality
More common when the team:

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Ma

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Team Constraints: Group Polarization

Tendency for teams to make
more extreme decisions than
individuals alone
Riskier options usually taken
because of gamblers fallacy believe luck is on their side

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Group Polarization Process

High Risk

Decision Process

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Team Decision

Social Support
Persuasion
Shifting Responsibility

Individual
Opinions

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Team Decision

Low Risk

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Some Strategies

Generating Constructive
Controversy

Improving Team
Decision Making

Form heterogeneous
decision making team

Ensure neither leader

nor any member
dominates

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Ensure team meets often

to face contentious
issues

Maintain optimal team

size

Members should take on

different discussion roles

Team norms
encourage critical
thinking

Team thinks about the

decision under different
scenarios

Introduce effective
team structures

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2.

Encourage many ideas

3.

Speak freely

4.

Build on others ideas

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No criticism

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Features of Brainstorming

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Evaluating Electronic Brainstorming

Benefits

Less production blocking

Less evaluation apprehension
More creative synergy
More decision efficiency

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Problems

Too structured
May be costly
Lacks interpersonal dynamics
Candid feedback is
threatening

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Nominal Group Technique

Possible
solutions
described
to others

Write down
possible
solutions

Individual
Activity

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Team
Activity

Vote on
solutions
presented

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Describe
problem

Individual
Activity

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Escalation of Commitment and Causes

Ma

Escalation occurred when the British

government continued funding the
Concorde supersonic jet long after
its lack of commercial viability was
apparent. To this day, some people
refer to escalation of commitment
as the Concorde fallacy.
Self-justification
Gamblers fallacy
Perceptual blinders
Closing costs
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Forms of Employee Involvement

The degree that employees share information, knowledge, rewards, and

power throughout the organization: active in decisions previous outside
their control; power to influence decisions and knowledge sharing
Statutory

Direct

Codified practices

Required by law

Example: SDWTs at
TRW Canada

Example:
European
codetermination

Informal

Voluntary

Casual information
exchanges

No legal
requirement

Reps decide for

other employees

Example: Boss asks

for ideas

Example:
task force

Example: Employee
reps as directors

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Formal

Employees
personally involved

Example: Staff vote

against smoking in
the workplace

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Representative

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Strategic

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Levels of Employee Involvement

Ma

High

Medium

Low

High involvement Employees have

complete decision making power

Full consultation Employees

recommendations (e.g., gain sharing)

offer

Selective consultation Employees give

information, but dont know the problem
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How Involvement Improves Decisions

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Identify and define

problems better

Usually identify more

and better solutions

Employee
Involvement

ive

More likely to select

the best option

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Conclusions

Cultural Differences

Better in collectivist and low power distance cultures

Management Resistance

Ma

Educate/train managers to become facilitators

Employee and Union Resistance

Concerns about increased stress, giving up union rights,
and union power

Solution is trust and involvement

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ive

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Copyright

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rco

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This didactic material is meant for the personal use of the student only, and is
copyrighted. Its reproduction, even for a partial utilization, is strictly forbidden
in compliance with and in force of the law on Authors rights.

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