MODULE HANDBOOK

BUSI1702 Organisational Decision Making

2021-22
Contents

1. Welcome message from your Module Leader.......................................................................2

2. Key contacts.......................................................................................................................... 2
3. Module details and learning outcomes..................................................................................2
4. Enquiry-Based Learning and Research-Led Teaching..........................................................3
5. Employability......................................................................................................................... 4
6. Key Dates.............................................................................................................................. 4
7. Schedule of teaching and learning activities.........................................................................4
8. Assessment........................................................................................................................... 5
9. Resit assessments................................................................................................................ 8
10. Reading recommendations.................................................................................................. 8
11. Additional module information.............................................................................................. 9
12. Changes to the module........................................................................................................ 9
13. Other Details...................................................................................................................... 10

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 1. Welcome message from your Module Leader

Welcome to BUSI1702 Organisational Decision Making.  This module aims to

help students establish a fundamental understanding of the complex nature of
decision making in the organisational context with an evidence-based
approach to exploring behavioural, organisational, and social factors. Students
are expected to dedicate a minimum of five hours per week to the learning
activities, including the following with estimated time:
o Attend lectures OR watch lecture videos 50min
o Read assigned texts & keep a learning journal (formative activities in
support of the formal assessment) 120min
o Tutorial preparation 60min
o Tutorial participation 50min

This handbook provides essential information about this module including the
aims and learning outcomes, the schedule of teaching and learning activities,
assessment tasks, reading recommendations and, if applicable, any additional
resources that you will need. Please read it at the start of term so you are aware
of key details and important dates.

2. Key contacts

The list below provides contact details of the module team.

Module Leader: Dr Minjie Cai

Location: Queen Anne Court 159

Email: [email protected]
Tel: +44(0)2083317880
Office hours: To be confirmed

photo

Module Tutor: insert name

Location: insert details

Email: insert address
Tel: insert number
Office hours: insert details

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 photo

Module Tutor: insert name

Location: insert details

Email: insert address
Tel: insert number
Office hours: insert details

Department Administrator: Robina Yasmin

Location: QA155
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +44(0)20 8331 8356

3. Module details and learning outcomes

Host Faculty: Business

Host School: Human Resources and Organisational Behaviour
Number of Credits: 15
Term(s) of delivery: 2
Site(s) of delivery: Maritime

Module aims:
1. To help students establish a fundamental understanding of the complex
nature of decision making in the organisational context with an evidence-
based approach to exploring behavioural, organisational, and social
factors.
2. To provide students with a practical opportunity to develop their decision-
making skills in both personal and professional context through an
enquiry-based approach to solving organisational challenges.
3. To encourage student to cultivate ethical organisational citizenship in the
workplace through examining the negative individual and organisational
consequences.

Learning Outcomes:
On successful completion of this module a student will be able to:
1. Describe and explain the key models of decision making;
2. Identify, evaluate, and interpret the information required for specific
managerial decisions in an analytical manner;
3. Diagnose judgemental errors and biases as well as the immediate
environment that affect individual and group decision making;
4. Apply relevant theoretical perspectives to evaluate individual and managerial
decision-making processes and relevant consequences;
5. Professionally communicate individual and group decisions in difficult
workplace situations.

Glossary:

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A learning outcome is a subject-specific statement that defines the learning to
be achieved through completing this module.

4. Enquiry-Based Learning and Research-Led Teaching

Enquiry-Based Learning (EBL)

Defined as ‘an approach based on self-directed enquiry or investigation in which the

student is actively engaged in the process of enquiry facilitated by a teacher. EBL uses
real life scenarios (for example, from case studies, company visits, and project work)
and students investigate topics of relevance that foster the skills of experimental
design, data collection, critical analysis and problem-solving’.

The enquiry-based approach to learning in this module is manifested in requiring

students to apply theoretical perspectives to real-life examples as well as to conduct
independent research for their assignment.

Research-Led Teaching (RLT)

An element of Enquiry Based Learning links to RLT, which involves faculty

introducing students to their own research where it is relevant to the curriculum being
taught as well as drawing on their own knowledge of research developments in the
field, introducing them to the work of other researchers. RLT sees students as active
participants in the research process, not just as an audience. This is achieved by
discussing such developments in lectures and classes and setting reading lists,
including recent research publications at the frontier of the field. The definition of a
diverse assessment regime at the programme level (incorporating an expectation of
familiarity with, and use of, such
publications in assignments) and the inclusion of projects at every level of the
programme is also fundamental to achieving these objectives.

This module uses both classic and recent research publications as teaching and
learning material. The assessment includes elements based on the module leader’s
own research. The teaching and learning materials are in line with the inclusive
curriculum design with organisational contexts that are relatively easy to grasp and
identify with.

5. Employability

By undertaking this module students will develop these employability skills and
competences:
 Cognitive skills: opportunity to practise complex decision-making in
organisational context with exercises of gathering and assessing relevant
information to assist and justify judgements independently. Reflection on
skills gained and the impact of the decisions.
 Organisational awareness: opportunities for research into current
development of complex decisions in real organisations and
understanding how individual, organisational, sectoral, and social factors
are linked in these decisions.

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 You can find out more about the Greenwich Employability Passport at:
Greenwich Employability Passport for students
Information about the Career Centre is available at: Career transition and job search

6. Key Dates
2021/22 Term Dates

Please note that dates may differ depending on when you start your programme of study, and
where you are studying. Please refer to https://docs.gre.ac.uk/rep/sas/term-dates for full
details, and details of University closure dates.

Welcome Week 13th September 2021 24th September 2021

Term 1 27th September 2021 17th December 2021
Examination Period 10th January 2022 14th January 2022
Term 2 17th January 2022 8th April 2022
Examination Period 3rd May 2022 20th May 2022
Resit Examination Period 18th July 2022 22nd July 2022

7. Schedule of teaching and learning activities

Please refer to the Moodle page for further details.

Week Week Topic

No. beginnin
g

1 27 Sep Introduction to organisational decision making

2 04 Oct Rational decision making
3 11 Oct Rational decision making
4 18 Oct Rational decision making
5 25 Oct Evidence-based decision making
6 01 Nov Assessment support: source & review evidence
(Evidence-based decision making)
7 08 Nov Evidence-based decision making
8 15 Nov Bounded rationality
9 22 Nov Behavioural decision making
10 29 Nov Behavioural decision making
11 06 Dec Behavioural decision making
12 13 Dec Assessment support: constructing & structuring arguments

In addition to the teaching and learning activities within the module, additional study
support can be seen at: Academic Skills

8. Assessment

First sit Deadline or Weighting Maximum Marking Learning

assessments exam period out of length type outcomes
100%* mapped to this

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 assessment.
Management 17th December 100% 3,000 Stepped and 12345
report 2021 words numerical
11.30pm

*The weighting refers to the proportion of the overall module result that each
assessment task accounts for.
Your assessment brief:

Management report – 3000 words

You are required to write a 3000-word management report to review decisions and make
recommendations for future decisions and actions in ONE of the following live business
case studies.

Live Case Study Option A

WeWork is an American commercial real estate company that offers workspace rental
service to individuals and organisations. The company reported a loss of $2.1b in the first
quarter of 2021 due to losing 200,000 customers amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the
restructuring costs that includes scaling back from unprofitable locations and paying a
settlement the co-founder Adam Neumann (Hammond, 2021). The company has made
strategic decisions to reduce its global expansion and costs since Sandeep Mathrani
replaced Adam Neumann as the new Chief Executive Officer.

You are expected to step into the role of the General Manager for WeWork UK, Ireland,
and Emerging Markets to produce a report for the executive team and the investors. The
executives and investors are concerned with the financial losses, the history of
problematic decisions, and the negative coverage of the company in the media.

You are tasked with (1) evaluating the strategic decisions your company recently
made (1a) to restructure the organisation that involved making staff redundant (Nast,
2020), and (1b) to attract and retain customers, including expanding the membership
benefits, focusing on city centres, and developing a new ‘Growth Campus’ initiative that
targets UK university students and Small Medium Enterprise employees (Thomas, 2021).

Your report should (2) review evidence relevant to these decisions with a focus on (2a)
the external, organisational, managerial, and behavioural factors that influenced these
decisions and (2b) the impact of these decisions on different stakeholders.

You are required to (3) recommend future actions to improve the business
performance, decision making, and publicity in the operational environment of the UK
and/or Ireland.

References
Hammond, G. (2021) WeWork loses $2.1bn and sheds members as lockdowns bite, Fi-
nancial Times, 20 May. Available at: https://www.ft.com/content/60ea2f72-586f-4f3e-
b153-3455b93539b8 (Accessed: 9 June 2021).

Nast, C. (2021) WeWork triggers second wave of mass layoffs in the UK, Wired UK,
Available at: https://www.wired.co.uk/article/wework-redundancies-uk-restructure (Ac-
cessed: 30 July 2021).

Thomas, D. (2021) WeWork offers UK tenants greater flexibility to tempt them back, Fi-
nancial Times, 15 February. Available at: https://www.ft.com/content/d540a330-d64c-
4ae7-bd03-6e6ec0ad651b (Accessed: 12 March 2021).

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Live Case Study Option B
Asda is one of the largest supermarket chains in the UK by market shares. The company
was previously owned by Walmart but recently acquired by EG Group and TDR Capital.
Asda focuses on customer satisfaction and engagement as two key HR measures in
managing its business performance. With over 160,000 employees, Asda has a
recognised union GMB. The company reported a 16.7% decline in operating profit in the
first quarter of 2021, losing £486.5m due to the costs related to the COVID-19 pandemic
(Reuters, 2021). The company has made strategic decisions to meet the changes to work
and consumer demand that were accelerated by the pandemic.

You are expected to step into the role of an HR Manager at ASDA to produce a report for
the executive team following the recent acquisition. The executives are concerned with
the HR implications of the changing consumer behaviours and the employee expectation
of work.

You are tasked with (1) evaluating the HR decisions your company recently made (1a)
to layoff 1,200 staff to meet the changing customer demand that shifted from traditional
in-store to online grocery shopping (Butler, 2021) and (1b) to adopt a hybrid model that
allows its 4,000 head office staff to decide where they would like to work (Partridge,
2021).

Your report should (2) review evidence relevant to these decisions with a focus on (2a)
the external, organisational, managerial, and behavioural factors that influenced these
decisions and (2b) the impact of these decisions on different stakeholders.

You are required to (3) recommend future actions to improve the business
performance, decision making, and talent management in the operational environment of
the UK.

References
Butler, S. (2021) Asda to cease baking in stores, with 1,200 jobs at risk, the Guardian, 14
April. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/apr/14/asda-to-cease-bak-
ing-in-stores-with-1200-jobs-at-risk (Accessed: 21 May 2021).

Partridge, J. (2021) Asda to let head office staff choose where they work, the Guardian, 2
July. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jul/02/asda-to-let-head-
office-staff-choose-where-they-work (Accessed: 11 June 2021).

Reuters (2021) Asda sales growth accelerates in latest quarter, Reuters, 10 June. Avail-
able at: https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/asdas-sales-growth-accelerates-under-new-
ownership-2021-06-10/ (Accessed: 03 July 2021).

Report content
Your report should evaluate at least one of the assigned organisational decisions and
recommend actions with reference to (1) the key concepts and theories covered by
this module and (2) different types of evidence from reliable sources recommended
by your tutors. The number of decisions that you choose to evaluate does not affect
your grade. You should focus on the range of evidence, the relevance of evidence
and conceptual ideas, and the level of critical thinking that you demonstrate in
evaluating the decisions and reviewing the evidence. Your tutorial preparation and
participation will help you develop your report and obtain formative feedback from you
tutor.

Report structure

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Introduction approx. 300 words
o Briefly describe the organisational context and decisions
o Outline relevant concepts

Evaluation approx. 1500 words

o Identify the external organisational, managerial, and behavioural factors that
influence the decisions based on different types of evidence including practitioner
reports (i.e. CIPD, CMI articles), academic journal articles, stakeholder values and
concerns (i.e. news articles or report), organisational data (i.e. statista etc)
o Discuss the impact of the decisions on different stakeholders based on evidence

Recommendations approx. 1200 words

o Identify the ways to improve business performance, decision making, publicity OR
talent management in relation to the assigned decisions and operating
environment (see case study requirements)
o Explain the rationale behind your recommendations based on evidence
o Discuss the potential obstacles that might hinder the organisation from adopting
your recommendations

References
o Include only the references that you have cited in the report
o Use Harvard referencing system

Marking criteria
You should read the following criteria carefully in preparation of your report. You can use
the following information as a checklist to assess your report yourself before submission.

Criteria 1: Content 40%

o Does the report demonstrate an awareness of the key conceptual and theoretical
ideas covered by this module? 10%
o Does the report identify the contextual factors that influenced the assigned
organisational decisions? 10%
o Does the report present a sound evaluation of how the decisions affected different
stakeholders? 10%
o Does the report offer specific and relevant recommendations in the assigned
operating environment? 10%

Criteria 2: Research 40%

o Does the report draw on different types of evidence to support the arguments?
10%
o Does the report interpret the cited sources of information accurately? 15%
o Does the report interpret the cited sources of information critically? 15%

Criteria 3: Communication 20%

o Does the report have a logical structure overall? 5%
o Is the report well-written, grammatically correct, and spell checked? 5%
o Does the report present logical, concise, and well-developed arguments? 5%
o Does the report use Harvard referencing correctly? 5%

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 Important note: Coursework is marked on the understanding that it is the student’s
own work on the module and that it has not, in whole or part, been presented
elsewhere for assessment. Where material has been used from other sources,
this must be properly acknowledged in accordance with the University’s
Regulations regarding Academic Misconduct.

Marking, feedback and next steps

To pass this module, students must achieve an overall mark of 40 for the
assessment.

For coursework, the marks and feedback will normally be provided to students
within fifteen working days of the submission deadline. In exceptional
circumstances, where there is a delay in providing feedback, you will be informed
by the module leader.

If you do not pass a module at the first attempt, you may be eligible for a resit
opportunity on the failed assessments. This will be confirmed after the
Progression and Award Board (PAB). Note that marks on resit assessments are
capped at 40% unless extenuation has been applied for and granted.

For further details on resit assessments, please see section 7 below.

The assessment and feedback policy can be accessed at Assessment and

Feedback Policy

Extenuating circumstances and student support

The University recognises there are times when serious and unexpected matters
which are beyond a student’s control (such as serious illness or injury, death in
family) impact on their academic performance and ability to complete
assessments by the deadline. Guidance on claiming extenuation can be found at:
Extenuating circumstances

External Examiner

The External Examiner for this module is:

Name: insert
Institution: insert
Please note that the role of the External Examiner is to evaluate the overall
standard of assessments on the module. They are unable to correspond with
individual students about their work. If you need to discuss your marks or
feedback, please contact the module leader.

9. Resit assessments
Assessment Schedule
Resit Deadline Weighting Maximum Marking Learning

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 assessments out of length type outcomes
100%* mapped to this
assessment.
Management report 11th July 100% 3,000 stepped 12345
2022
Q&A sessions to support resit will be held in due course.

10 Reading recommendations
The following are suggested readings for the module. Additional, more detailed
reading recommendations will be provided for the module topics.

Required reading:
In line with the learning aim 1, students must read these articles repetitively to establish
a basic understanding of the complex nature of decision making in the organisational
context.

Artinger, F., Petersen, M., Gigerenzer, G. and Weibler, J. (2015) Heuristics as adaptive decision
strategies in management, Journal of Organizational Behavior, 36(S1), pp. S33–S52.

Briner, R.B. and Walshe, N.D. (2014) ‘From passively received wisdom to actively constructed
knowledge: Teaching systematic review skills as a foundation of evidence-based management’,
Academy of Management Learning & Education, 13(3), pp. 415–432.

Brodbeck, F. C., Kerschreiter, R., Mojzisch, A. and Schulz-HARDT, S. (2007) Group Decision
Making Under Conditions of Distributed Knowledge: The Information Asymmetries Model.,
Academy of Management Review, 32(2), pp. 459–479.

Rousseau, D.M. (2020) ‘Making Evidence-Based Organizational Decisions in an

Uncertain World’, Organizational Dynamics, 49(1) p. 100756.

Simon, H. A. (1987) Making Management Decisions: the Role of Intuition and Emotion, Acad-
emy of Management Perspectives, Academy of Management, 1(1), pp. 57–64.

Smith, G. F. (1989) Defining Managerial Problems: A Framework for Prescriptive Theorizing,

Management Science, 35(8), pp. 963–981.

Tversky, A. and Kahneman, D. (1974) Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases,
Science, 185(4157), pp. 1124–1131.

Tversky, A. and Kahneman, D. (1981) The framing of decisions and the psychology of choice,
Science, 211(4481), pp. 453–458.

Supplementary reading:
In line with the learning aim 2, students should read the following articles to develop their deci-
sion-making knowledge and skills in both personal and professional context.

Bowman, H. (2005) ‘It’s a year and then that’s me’: masters students’ decision‐making, Journal
of Further and Higher Education, 29(3), pp. 233–249.

Bazerman, M. H. and Sezer, O. (2016) Bounded awareness: Implications for ethical decision
making, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Celebrating Fifty Years of
Organizational Behavior and Decision Making Research (1966-2016), 136, pp. 95–105.

Cabantous, L., Gond, J.-P. and Johnson-Cramer, M. (2010) Decision Theory as Practice: Craft-

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 ing Rationality in Organizations, Organization Studies, 31(11), pp. 1531–1566.

Calabretta, G., Gemser, G. and Wijnberg, N. M. (2017) The Interplay between Intuition and Ra-
tionality in Strategic Decision Making: A Paradox Perspective, Organization Studies, 38(3–4),
pp. 365–401.

Kahneman, D. and Klein, G. (2009) Conditions for intuitive expertise: a failure to disagree, The
American Psychologist, 64(6), pp. 515–526.

Keeney, R. L. (1982) Feature Article—Decision Analysis: An Overview, Operations Research,

30(5), pp. 803–838.

Pendleton, A., Lupton, B., Rowe, A. and Whittle, R. (2019) Back to the Shop Floor: Behavioural
Insights from Workplace Sociology, Work, Employment and Society, 33(6), pp. 1039-1057.

Rousseau, D.M. and Barends, E.G.R. (2011) ‘Becoming an evidence-based HR practitioner’,

Human Resource Management Journal, 21(3), pp. 221–235.

Slaughter, J. E., Bagger, J. and Li, A. (2006) Context effects on group-based employee selection
decisions, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 100(1), pp. 47–59.

Advanced reading:
In line with the learning aim 3, students should read the following articles to cultivate an aware-
ness of the ethical issues related to the individual and organisational consequences produced by
different decision-making approaches.

Almeida, S., Fernando, M., Hannif, Z. and Dharmage, S. C. (2015) Fitting the mould: the role of
employer perceptions in immigrant recruitment decision-making, The International Journal of
Human Resource Management, 26(22), pp. 2811–2832.

Dane, E. and Pratt, M. G. (2007) Exploring Intuition and its Role in Managerial Decision Mak-
ing, Academy of Management Review, 32(1), pp. 33–54.

Leicht-Deobald, U., Busch, T., Schank, C., Weibel, A., Schafheitle, S., Wildhaber, I. and Kasper,
G. (2019) The Challenges of Algorithm-Based HR Decision-Making for Personal Integrity,
Journal of Business Ethics, 160(2), pp. 377–392.

Morrell, K. and Learmonth, M. (2015) ‘Against evidence-based management, for management

learning’, Academy of Management Learning & Education, 14(4) pp. 520–533.

Rousseau, D.M. (2020) ‘The Realist Rationality of Evidence-Based Management’, Academy of

Management Learning & Education, 19(3) Academy of Management, pp. 415–424.

Simon, H. A. (1991). 'Bounded Rationality and Organizational Learning', Organization Science,

2(1), 125–134.

Smith, G. F. (2003) Beyond Critical Thinking and Decision Making: Teaching Business Students
How to Think, Journal of Management Education, 27(1), pp. 24–51.

Thaler, R. H. (1999) Mental accounting matters, Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 12(3),
pp. 183–206.

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 11. Additional module information

12. Changes to the module

At the University of Greenwich, we value feedback from students as well as External
Examiners and other stakeholders and we use this information to help us improve our
provision. Some students suggested that they would like to have more options in
assessment case study. Therefore, an additional case study of an organisational context that
many students should be familiar with is added to this year’s assessment.

Important note: The University of Greenwich will do all that it reasonably can to deliver
the module and support your learning as specified in our handbooks and other information
provided. However, under some circumstances, changes may have to be made. This may
include modifications to the:

 content and syllabus of modules, including in relation to placements

 timetable, location and number of classes
 content or method of delivery of your module
 timing and method of assessments.

This might be because of, for example:

 academic changes within subject areas

 the unanticipated departure or absence of members of university staff
 where the numbers expected on a module are so low that it is not possible
to deliver an appropriate quality of education for students enrolled on it.
 industrial action by university staff or third parties
 the acts of any government or local authority
 acts of terrorism.

In these circumstances, the University will take all reasonable steps to minimise disruption
by making reasonable modifications. However, to the full extent that it is possible under
the general law, the University excludes liability for any loss and/or damage suffered by
any applicant or student due to these circumstances.

13.Other Details
The majority of information relevant to you while you study at the University has been
brought together into your programme handbook. Please refer to your programme
handbook for any further information you might require including:

 Deadlines and extenuating circumstances,

 Plagiarism and referencing,

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  Who to go to for advice or if you are concerned,

 How to provide us with feedback,

 Key administrative procedures.

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