Learning and Decision Making Chapter 8

Learning Defined Permanent changes in an employee’s knowledge or skill that result from experience Employees learn two types of knowledge: Explicit - easy to communicate and teach Tacit - more difficult to communicate; gained with experience

Methods of Learning How do employees learn? Reinforcement

Methods of Learning

Methods of Learning

Methods of Learning How do employees learn? Reinforcement Observation

Methods of Learning

Methods of Learning Some people learn differently, as a function of the goals and activities that they prioritize Goal orientation Learning Performance-prove Performance-avoid

Decision Making The process of generating and choosing from a set of alternatives to solve a problem. Learning has a significant impact on decision making

Decision Making Identify the problem Is the problem recognized? Has it been dealt with before? Yes No Programmed Decisions Nonprogrammed Decisions (Rational decision making model) (Intuition, “Gut feeling”)

Decision Making Nonprogrammed decisions Rational decision- making model

Decision Making Problems Common reasons for making bad decisions Limited information Faulty perceptions Faulty attributions Escalation of commitment

Limited Information

Faulty Perceptions Heuristics and decision-making biases Availability Anchoring Framing Representativeness Contract Recency Ratio Bias

Faulty Attributions

Escalation of Commitment The decision to continue to follow a failing course of action Throwing good money after bad

How Important is Learning?

Application Training Transfer of training Behavior modeling Communities of practice Transfer of training Climate for transfer