Week 10

The latest book we read for our 640 class was titled, “Judgment in Managerial Decision Making.” There were a lot of good concepts in this book but the true downfall was the fact that we read a better book prior to reading this book. The book had some excellent examples and case studies.
I enjoyed chapter five that discussed motivational and emotional influences on decision making. I think this chapter provided some valuable insight into what types of things affect our decision making. It made you step back and think about how you can become a more effective communicator and leader by being aware of your emotions. I think this is one area all of us can improve upon.
The negotiating chapter was also one that stuck with me. I mean who doesn’t want to become a better negotiator? All of us want to get the best price for that car on the lot, or be fairly compensated. Negotiations are part of our daily lives and this information is valuable for anyone. Hey, we even negotiate with our loved one’s so who doesn’t want to become a top negotiator.
One other area in the book that sticks out is the implicit attitudes. This section talked about stereotypes and shared a very interesting example. I won’t bore you with the study but the net result of the study was that people react differently to seeing a white face versus a black face.
As I mentioned this was the second of two books we read in this class. What I did like was some of the case studies and exercises that the book shared. There were some interesting tidbits that sparked interest and made you think. I can’t say I’d endorse this book but there are certain chapters that are enjoyable. If you look at the chapters I outlined that may be a good start.

Bazerman, M.H; Moore, D. Judgment in Managerial Decision Making (2009). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Hoboken, N.J.