• Demonstrate understanding of the major decision making theories as they apply to various business, management, or real-life settings;
• Select and analyse a relevant real-world problem, evaluate data appropriately by identifying gaps, and making thoughtful assumptions;
• Identify and describe the mental models that underlie decision makers’ thinking processes;
• Recognise crisis situations and present appropriate strategies and techniques in handling them;
• Recognise the various processes that lead decision makers to be „less than rational” and suggest ways to overcome the limitations and inconsistencies in their decision making;
• Identify strategies for dealing with various levels of ambiguity and uncertainty in problem solving and display understanding of the role of intuition in the decision making process.

Having completed business or management education, most of us are searching for the keys to adaptive decision making in classrooms, textbooks and other controlled environments with clear metrics and practical tools. Rigorous analytical methods can help us in well-ordered situations. Frequently, however, what we were taught about making tough choices quickly falls apart, because the dynamic real-world situations are anything but well structured. We have to rely on our experiences, intuition and creativity instead, and look for a different set of approaches.

A major focus of this inter-disciplinary course is whether, or under what conditions, people deviate from normative rules of decision making that have been developed by other disciplines, such as economics or management. We will examine ambiguous situations which are difficult to comprehend, and where conventional methods may not lead to good solutions. We will explore assessments of risk and uncertainty, including research on heuristics and biases. We will approach decision situations from the individual’s perspective, through the different lenses of individual personalities and styles. We will see how decisions are actually made and how psychological processes can explain the apparent deviation from logic and rationality. 

This course will help students develop personal competencies in the following areas:
- Enhancing mental effectiveness by learning the psychology behind rational thinking, as well as its barriers;
- Identifying personal decision making styles and recognising the styles and strategies of others; 
- Strengthening problem solving, decision making and negotiation skills.

Class 1: Thinking about thinking: Mental models; tests, case study discussion 

Class 2:  Personality types; self-awareness, cultural values 

Class 3:  Stress and decision making, in-class experiment

Class 4:  Problem solving and decision making; Decision models

Class 5:  Are we rational? - concept of rationality; ‘quasi-rationality’

Class 6:  Limits to decision making; cognitive biases;

feedback activity:  short reflective analysis of a personal decision

Class 7:  Ambiguity; Crisis decision making

Class 8:  Creative problem solving. Intuition

Class 9:  Interactive decision making – negotiation

Class 10:  Negotiation styles, psychology of persuasion

Class 11:  Comprehensive Review

Preliminary Assignment: To help students get maximum value from ISUP courses, instructors provide a reading or a small number of readings or video clips to be read or viewed before the start of classes with a related task scheduled for class 1 in order to 'jump-start' the learning process.

Feedback Activity: A feedback activity defined by the course instructor will take place approx. half-way through the course.

Course timetable is available on http://www.cbs.dk/uddannelse/summer-university-programme/courses

PRIMARY LITERATURE (MUST-HAVE BOOKS):

Klein, G. (2009). Streetlights and Shadows: Searching for the Keys to Adaptive Decision Making. A Bradford Book The MIT Press.

Scott Plous (n.d.). The Psychology of Judgment And Decision Making. McGRAW-HILL.

Compendium:

Please note, I will use of the following additional resources during the semester:

Barry Schwartz: The Paradox of Choice – Why more is less (2004). HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN-13: 9780060005696

Kirby, L.  Psychological Type and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. in Developing Leaders:  Research and Applications in Psychological Type and Leadership Development.  Davies-Black Publishing. CA (30 p.)

Senge P. Mental Models (1992) adapted from Chapter 10, Senge: The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. New York: Doubleday/Currency. (12 p.)

Arnold, J. and Randall, R. (2010):  Stress and Well-Being ad Work.  in Work Psychology: Understanding Human Behavior at the Workplace. 5th Ed.  Pearson  (60 p.)

Matzler, K., Bailom, F., and Mooradian, T.A.(2007)   Intuitive Decision Making.  MIT Sloan Management Review. Cambridge: Fall 2007. Vol. 49, Iss. 1; p. 13  (3 p.)

Harvey, J. B. (1988). The Abeline Paradox: The Management of Agreement. Organizational Dynamics, 1988 Summer, pp. 17-43.

Hayashi, A. M. (2001). When to Trust Your Gut. Harvard Business Review, Feb 2001. pp 59-65.

Gigerenzer, G. (2005): I think, Therefore I Err. Social Research. Vol 72. No 1. pp195 -218.

Hammond, J.S., Keeney, R.L. and Raiffa, H. The hidden traps in Decision making. Harvard Business Review. 2006, January.

Bonabeau, E. (2003) "Don't trust your gut (in complex situations, intuition can be counter intuitive)". Harvard Business Review Vol. 81, Iss. 5, pp. 116 - 124.

Sadler-Smith, E., and Shefy, E. (2004) "The intuitive executive: Understanding and applying 'gut feel' in decision-making". The Academy of Management Executive Vol. 18, 4, pp. 76 – 91.

Trailer, J., and Morgan, J. (2004). Making ‘good’ decisions: what intuitive physics reveals about the failure of intuition. Journal of American Academy of Business Vol. 4, 1/2, pp. 42 – 48.

Cohen, H. B. (1998) The performance paradox. The Academy of Management Executive; Aug 1998; 12, 3

Frederick, Shane (2005) Cognitive Reflection and Decision Making Journal of Economic Perspectives—Volume 19, Number 4—Fall 2005—Pages 25–42

Weber, Elke U. and Johnson, Eric J., (2009).  Mindful Judgment and Decision Making Annual Review of Psychology, Vol. 60, p. 53.

Elster, Jon (1993), Some unresolved problems in the theory of rational behaviour,

Acta Sociologica 36 (3): 179-190] Some Unresolved Problems in the Theory of Rational Behavior Jon Elster

Leowenstein, G., and Lerner, J.S. The Role of Affect in Decision Making..  In R.J. Davidson, K.R.Scherer & H.H. Goldsmith (2003).  Handbook of Affective Sciences.  Oxford University Press.

Elster, Jon (1996), Rationality and the Emotions, The Economic Journal, 106 (438) : 1386-1397

SECONDARY LITERATURE (NICE-TO-HAVE BOOKS):

Harvard Business Essentials. (2006). Harvard Business Essentials, Decision Making: 5 Steps to Better Resultsby Business Essentials Harvard. Harvard Business Review Press.

Ariely, Daniel. (2010). Predictably irrational. Expanded Edition. Harper Perennial.

Stanovich, Keith E. (2010). Decision making and rationality in the modern world. Oxford University Press.

Baron, Jonathon (2008). Thinking and Deciding. 4th Edition. Cambridge University Press.