Decision Making Book Reviews Samples For Students

A review of Judgment in Managerial Decision Making by Max Bazerman

Books on management and decision making usually talk about logic, realism, forecasting, and unbiased thought. However, Max Bazerman takes the opposite route in Judgement in Managerial Decision Making by first of all acknowledging first hand that managerial decisions are almost always influenced by personal biases . This is the first point that grabbed my interest. The management textbooks pertaining to decision making that I have read, although discussed individual preconception, they did so in the fashion of a cursory glance. Bazerman covers the subject with such depth and breadth that the book gives the reader several ‘I didn’t know that’ ...

One of the prominent features, which separate well-managed organizations from poorly-managed firms, is the caliber of leadership within the organization. From time to time, a business leader has to make vital decisions to steer the growth of an organization forward. As a result, the leader has to be equipped with effective decision making skills. Bazerman’s book, Judgment in managerial decision making, offers an insight into some of the behavioral skills which make brilliant decision maker. Broadly speaking, Bazerman’s book is full of fascinating ideas on the common decision making biases but falls short of ideas that elaborate rational negotiating ...

How we Decide Book Review

The Author, John Lehrer dwells on the subject of how the human mind, regarded as the most complex object known to man, makes decisions. Reading the book, I have learnt that the human mind consists of several messy networks of different parts of the brain that are majorly involved in synthesis of emotion. Most importantly, the author uses stories and anecdotes to illustrate the core point of the book: the rational side of the brain justifies human decisions. This is after the emotional side of the brain makes the decisions in the first place (Lehrer 7). The author is ...

What Is Your Attitude Being a Manager?

A manager in any field is deemed to have all the required attributes of being a manager. The manager is responsible for planning and then directing the duties allocated to individuals. They are expected to act in an effective manner through coordinated monitoring the work done and carrying out the necessary and sufficient correction of the failed actions. This is done when it is deemed necessary. Ideally, the management posts fit the individuals who have supervisory abilities. In most areas, the managers are expected to have the proceedings in the organization or firm that they are allocated the responsibilities. That ...

“Thinking, fast and slow” by Daniel Kahneman was among the best-selling books of the year 2011. Kahneman is Nobel Memorial Prize winner in Economics for his work in prospect theory in 2002. He and his collaborator, Amos Tversky, one of the cognitive as well as mathematical psychologist from Israel, have revolutionized the way we think about economy in the book. This book has achieved numerous honors and awards such as New York Times’ one of the best books of 2011 and Best Book Award from National Academy of Sciences in 2012.

Kahneman has humbly yet brilliantly and non-technically ...

Barry Nalebuff and Avinash Dixit wrote a very accessible and engaging work on Game Theory, which they support as a “Guide to success in business and life“. Game theory is the psychology and mathematics of social interactions in strategic situations. Drawing from their experience and professionalism, these authors sought to ensure that their audiences learn the concepts of their book. Avinash Dixit, an economics professor at Princeton University where he offered his popular freshman course in game theory for many years, and Nalebuff a professor of management and economics at Yale School of management both practiced their preaching. While Dixit is well ...

Practicing Greatness Book Review

The book “Practicing Greatness: 7 Disciplines of Extraordinary Spiritual Leaders,” written by Reggie McNeal is one of the famous literary works on seven fundamental disciplines for religious leaders. The author portrays a complete picture of a spiritual leader, by reaching multiple aspects that comprise an individual. From his long years of experience as the leader of the Church, McNeal illustrated several practical examples to examine the positive and negative aspects of leadership. The seven key disciplines stated by the author are self-awareness, self-management, mission, decision-making, belonging and aloneness. McNeal describes perfecting the strengths of leadership in the chapter called self-development by ...

Demian is a novel that explores the inner mind of the narrator, a young man named Emil Sinclair (Hesse, 2009). Throughout the novel, Hesse explores the nature of good and evil through the use of philosophy that transcends the traditional understanding of good an evil; Sinclair spends much of the novel searching for emotional and spiritual guidance.
Traditionally, good and evil have been the root concepts of morality. Christian morality and ethics have long been the basis of morality in the western world (Ziolkowski, 1973). However, in the text, Demian encourages Sinclair to transcend these traditional understandings of morality ...

Introduction

The book Blink by Malcolm Gladwell is about how we think without thinking. This can be further explained by illustrating that the choices made instantly in the blink of an eye without actually thinking why they are made. The world around us requires that decisions should be footnoted. This means that if we say how we feel about something we must be ready to elaborate about why we feel a certain way. Blink discloses that a quality of good decision maker is not who can spend time providing deliberate answers or process the information effectively but the one who has perfected ...

Judgment in Managerial Decision Making

Question 1
Max Bazerman’s book, Judgment in Managerial Decision Making, has a lot of positives that could be captured from its main topic. The topic teaches readers different concepts and practices of leadership that exist in different settings (Bazerman & Moore, 2008). According to critics, whereas numerous leaders show distinct characteristics, great leaders have similar characteristics of success. Prominent leaders should inspire motivation and confidence in their followers. Above all, researchers suggest that community building and shared values are the basis or grounds for great leadership. This book offers insight to this topic of the concepts and practices of ...

Introduction

The book “Greed and Fear” is a very powerful account of the impacts of psychology on economics. This book takes an insight overview of the investor irrationalities and its effects on the market prices and returns. The author gives an account of how the effects contradict the efficient market hypothesis. According to the author, the phrase “hope and fear” gives a better description of the reactions and the behavior of different market players. From the book it can be established that all financial practitioners eventually let bias, overconfidence and emotion influence their judgment and actions. The author uses the latest psychological ...

Wayland Baptist University

Public Administration Capstone PUAD 5340vc01
Abstract
This review presents the book Managing performance in the Public Sector by Hans de Bruijn, summarizes and analyzes it. The book discusses the issues that arose from ineffective performance measurement and offers ways to handle these issues and mitigate their negative impact. Having analyzed the real-life cases and the extensive literature on the topic, Hans de Bruijn describes the perverse effects of performance measurement on public organizations and the quality of their services. The author proposes the use of design principles that will improve the system of performance measurement. These principles are variety, ...

This paper describes the social movements that Blacks participated in during the period from 1900 to date. It tackles the ways in which the movements can be described as one long civil rights movement, and also how were they distinct movements. The paper further assesses their goals and the manner in which they have effected change in the United States. The paper also points out prominent civil rights activists that played an important role in spearheading the civil rights movements.
Most of the black social movements from 1900 to date have basically been fighting against racism. The 20th Century ...

The play Anna in the tropics is written by Cuban – American writer Nilo Cruz. The action in the play revolves around an ageing cigar factory owned by Santiago a man in his late fifties of Cuban origin. The workers in the factory are majorly relatives of Santiago with Cheche, the supervisor being Santiago’s half brother. The lives of the characters in the play are intertwined with the action in the story Anna Karelina and most characters find their mirror in the story. The plot kicks off with the arrival of a new lector in the factory welcomed by Ofelia, Santiago’ ...

Summary : Managing business ethicsLinda K. Trevino & Katherine A. Nelson. Wiley; 5th edition

Chapter 4 – Addressing individuals’ common ethical problems

Ethical issue when people work together (privacy, discrimination, sexual harassment or simply how people get along. Key is fairness meaning equity, reciprocity, impartiality
- Equitable is when something is divided between 2 people according to the worth & inputs of the 2 individuals. Most people think it’s unfair when 2 people have performed the same duty but receive a different share of the reward
- Reciprocity: “if you do this for me I’ll do this for you”. Most ppl think it’s unfair if ...

The moral choices during war begin at the first choice of deciding whether to go into war. In this regard, war has different outcomes, which include victory or loss. These decisions affect the functioning of an individual during war because if the mind does not support the war, the body may not put in its full strength into the war. Greater deals of the choices that face an individual during war depict their leadership skills and the choices they would make as leaders. Going to war shows courage and bravery as well as a belief in a purpose while the opposite ...

Management

Listening is an art and the power of listening has been a point of discussion among experts in the field of communication and decision-making. Ferrari (2012), in ‘Power Listening: Mastering the Most Critical Business Skill of All,’ says that “If you’re like I was, you’ve probably never thought very carefully about listening before; but I’ve realized that listening is a skill that demands conscious attention and constant practice, because only through good listening can any of us gather the information we need to do our jobs well.” This is a fact as in many business dealings, a lot of business ...

The chapter basically covers crucial issues in the transportation field, precisely the plans that have been tabled for the transport sector and how financing will be executed. Focus is put on regional financial planning, local transportation planning, the current transportation funding challenges, and transportation and land use (Fulton, 2001). All this intertwine to develop an integrated system meant to achieve a common goal. Transport is an integral component in the contemporary world. The globe has transformed to present itself as a global village, meaning that all regions worldwide are unified. This unity has been duly facilitated by transport, which has enabled ...