Project One: Bias in Decision Making
Due Week 3
Purpose:
The purpose of this assignment is for you to demonstrate an
understanding of how bias affects the way people make decisions. The project is
specific to business and illuminates the seriousness of the effect that bias
can have on a business decision.
In this project, you will demonstrate research and writing
skills, the ability to identify and use primary and secondary source material,
use critical thinking skills in the application of bias to the decision and use
APA to support ideas, reasoning, and conclusions presented in the project.
Outcomes:
• Identify
various bias types
• Explain
how bias effects decision making
• Develop
research skills in the identification and retrieval of relevant information in
the completion of the assignment
• Develop
critical thinking and communication skills
NOTE: All submitted
work is to be your original work. You may not use any work from another
student, the Internet or an online clearinghouse. You are expected to understand the Academic
Dishonesty and Plagiarism Policy, and know that it is your responsibility to
learn about instructor and general academic expectations with regard to proper
citation of sources as specified in the APA Publication Manual, 6th Ed.
(Students are held accountable for in-text citations and an associated
reference list only).
Instructions:
Step 1: Research
You will read the following article that depict some of the
worst business decisions in the last century.
Once you read the article, using the two decisions related to George
Lucas and The Beatles, thoroughly research each decision. To thoroughly research the decisions, you
will closely and carefully review as many sources as possible to discover the
facts of the decision making process.
One to three sources probably will not lead to gaining a thorough
understanding of the bad decision.
Seemed Like a Good Idea at The Time.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikaandersen/2013/10/04/it-seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time-7-of-the-worst-business-decisions-ever-made/#524590d73e80
Once you have gathered the research, follow the steps below:
Step 2: Write an
Introduction
Create the introductory paragraph. The introductory paragraph is the first
paragraph of the paper and tells a reader the main points covered in the
paper. To help you know how to write an
introduction, view this website to learn how to write an introductory
paragraph:
http://www.writing.ucsb.edu/faculty/donelan/intro.html
Step 3: The Decision
and Associated Biases
Now it is time to use the research to answer the following requirements:
• Using the
two bad decisions, briefly discuss the decisions (one paragraph);
• In
detail, explain why and how the bad
decision was made;
• Identify
all of the biases from the list of biases that led to the bad decision
(Recency, Status Quo, Conservatism, Emotional, and Overconfidence);
• Define
each of the identified biases;
• Explain
how and why the bias(es) impacted the decision. Explain your reasoning for the selection and
explain what led to the conclusion that these particular bias were at play?;
• What was
the outcome of the bad decision? What
was the impact on the stakeholders?;
• In
addition to using a wide array of the course material and secondary sources
from your research, use at least one primary source for each decision that the
research revealed. Primary sources could
include an interview with the decision maker, historical or legal documents,
eyewitness accounts, statistical data, audio or video recordings, or
speeches. For instance, if you choose
Ross Perot’s pass on Microsoft be sure to use a quote from Perot himself about
the choice that supports the identification of the bias. To learn about primary
sources versus secondary sources, read
https://library.ithaca.edu/sp/subjects/primary.
Step 4: Write a summary paragraph
Step 5: Submit the
paper in the Assignment Folder (The assignment submitted to the Assignment
Folder will be considered the team’s final product and therefore ready for
grading by the instructor. It is
incumbent upon the student to verify the assignment is the correct submission. No exceptions will be considered by the
instructor).
===========================
Preparation for Writing the Memo
• Read the
grading rubric for the project. Use the
grading rubric while completing the project to ensure all requirements are met
that will lead to the highest possible grade.
• Third
person writing is required. Third person
means that there are no words such as “I, me, my, we, or us” (first person
writing), nor is there use of “you or your” (second person writing). If uncertain how to write in the third
person, view this link:
http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/first-second-and-third-person.
• Contractions
are not used in business writing, so do not use them.
• Paraphrase
and do not use direct quotation marks except for the direct quotes needed for
the primary source material. This means
you do not use more than four consecutive words from a source document, but put
a passage from a source document into your own words and attribute the passage
to the source document. Provide the page
or paragraph number. Note that a
reference within a reference list cannot exist without an associated in-text
citation and vice versa.
• Other
than the eBook for the course, you may not use any other books as source
material.
How to Set Up the Paper
Create a Word or Rich Text Format (RTF) document that is
double-spaced, 12-point font. The final
product will be between 3-5 pages in length excluding the title page and
reference page. Write clearly and
concisely.
The body of the paper should consist of a heading for each
of the decisions chosen.
APA and writing is a main focus of this paper and should be
executed with the utmost attention to detail. In this regard, note that the
project calls for at least one primary source. Be sure to include this as part
of your supporting material choices. Should
you need help in any these areas of APA or writing, please ask the professor
for guidance.
Use the grading rubric and instructions as guides. Be sure
to cover all that is asked of you in the assignment and do so in a way that
will guide the professor into giving a high grade. Finally, all work that you submit for this
project should be your own. Remember your pledge to uphold academic integrity
in all work that you prepare and submit.
riteria Excellent
Decision Selection Select 2 bad decisions and explain how
each significantly impacted the person or business negatively. 1.25 points
Selection of the decisions with brief description of
decisions were logically concluded using ideas and reasoning (justification),
thoroughly supported using the course material and case study facts, and showed
insightful understanding of of the decision and how the decision significantly
impacted the business or person negatively.
(1.125 – 1.25)
In detail, explain why and
how the bad decision was made 5
points
Explanation of why and how the bad decision was made was
logically concluded using ideas and reasoning (justification), thoroughly
supported using the course material and case study facts, and showed insightful
understanding of of the decision.
(4.5 – 5.0)
Identify all of the biases that led to the bad decision 2.5 points
Bias identification was logically concluded using ideas and
reasoning (justification) that were thoroughly supported by course material and
case study facts, and discussion of how biases led to bad decision showed
insightful understanding.
(2.25 – 2.50)
Correctly defined all of the biases that led to the bad
decision 1.25 points
All biases were correctly defined and was logically
concluded using ideas and reasoning (justification) that were thoroughly
supported by course material and case study facts.
(1.125 – 1.5)
Explain how and why the bias(es) impacted the decision. Explain reasoning for the selection and
explain what led to the conclusion that these particular bias were at play? 5 points
Explanation of how and why the biases impacted the decision
and reasoning for the selection of bias and what led to the conclusion of
biases was thoroughly discussed and
supported by course material.
(4.5 – 5.0)
What was the outcome of the bad decision? What was the impact on the stakeholders? 2.5 points
Outcome of the bad decisions and the impact on the
stakeholders were logically concluded using ideas and reasoning (justification)
that were thoroughly supported by course material and case study facts, and
discussion of how biases led to bad decision showed insightful understanding.
(2.25 – 2.5)
Uses a wide array of course material and secondary sources
from research 1.75 points
Uses a wide array of course material and secondary source material from research
throughout the paper and uses at least three primary sources for each decision
demonstrating appropriate application to the topic under discussion.
(1.575 – 1.75)
Attention to Instructions 2.3
points
The paper contains all major assignment tasks. The paper also includes completion of all
minor aspects of the assignment such as table creation if required, third
person writing, required use of course material, outside sources if needed,
inclusion of page and paragraph number, no use of books, assignment format and
avoidance of using direct quotes.
(2.025 – 2.25)
Writing Mechanics 2.3
points
Strictly adheres to standard usage rules of written English
using paragraphs and sentence rather than bullets, including but not limited to
capitalization, punctuation, run-on sentences, missing or extra words,
stylistic errors, spelling and grammatical errors. No contractions or jargon
used. Zero to two errors noted.
(2.025 – 2.25)
