Bias in Decision Making

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

Instructions:

You will read the following article that depict some of the worst business decisions in the last century.   Once you read the article, select two of the decisions.  You will then 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.

Once you have gathered the research, follow the steps below:

Step 1:  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 2:  The Decision and Associated Biases

Now it is time to use the research to answer the following requirements:

· Select two bad decisions and briefly describe the decisions

· In detail, explain why and  how the bad decision was made

· Identify all of the biases that led to the bad decision (Please note that hindsight bias does not apply since you are looking for biases that led to the decision)

· 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 3:  Write a summary paragraph

Step 4:   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).

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Preparation for Writing the Assignment

Before you begin writing the paper, you will read the following requirements that will help you meet the writing and APA requirements. 

· Read the grading rubric for the assignment.  Use the grading rubric while writing the paper 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 you are expected NOT to use contractions in writing this assignment. 

· You are expected to paraphrase and NOT use direct quotes.  You are expected to paraphrase, which can be learned by reviewing this link:   https://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/QPA_paraphrase2.html.

· You are responsible for APA only for in-text citations and a reference list. 

· The expectation is that you provide a robust use of the course readings to support ideas, reasoning and conclusions.  

· You may not use books as source material. 

· When using a source document, the expectation is that the information is cited and referenced with a page or paragraph number.   Note that a reference within a reference list cannot exist without an associated in-text citation and vice versa.   

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.