2023/24 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

LUBS1785 Introduction to Effective Decision Making

10 creditsClass Size: 90

Module manager: Edika Quispe-Torreblanca
Email: e.quispe-torreblanca@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable

Year running 2023/24

Pre-requisite qualifications

IMPORTANT: students on BA Business Management and BA Business Management with Marketing cannot choose LUBS1785 as a Discovery module as it is mutually exclusive with LUBS2785 which is a compulsory module in year 2 of those programmes.

This module is mutually exclusive with

LUBS2785	How Managers Make Decisions
LUBS3885	Management Decision Making

This module is approved as a discovery module

Module summary

This module reflects a growing research field on decision making, giving you insight into the thinking processes that underlie your own and others’ judgment and decision making, the errors and biases that can arise in thinking, and some ways to improve decisions. The module does not assume any prior knowledge and can give insight into decision making that is useful in both personal and professional contexts. Decision research has influenced policy worldwide to help people to make better decisions in different applied domains, including finance, health , and sustainability.

Objectives

This module aims to teach effective management decision making on the basis of evidence-based approaches from risk management, cognitive psychology, and behavioural economics. It aims to provide students with an understanding of the thinking processes that underlie their own and others’ judgement and decision making, the judgmental errors and decision biases that commonly arise, and strategies for improving decisions. The module does not assume any prior knowledge and will give insight into effective decision making that is useful in both personal and professional contexts.

Learning outcomes
Upon completion of this module students will be able to identify and recognise:
- Different types of decisions and the theories used to explain how they are and should be made
- The thinking processes which underlie participants own and others’ judgement and decision making, including the distinction between System 1 and System 2 thinking.
- The different types of errors / biases in human judgement/decision making and how these can be overcome
- The influence of motivation, stress and emotion on judgement and decision making

Skills outcomes
On completion of this module students will be able to:
Subject Specific
- Reflect on their own thinking processes and those of others, including the ways in which such processes can be improved.
- Assess the relevance of the issues presented above for personal and managerial decision making, as appropriate.

Transferable
- Analyse and think critically
- Communicate effectively in writing

Syllabus

Indicative content:
- Normative theory of decision making under risk, maximisation of subjective expected utility (SEU);
- The importance of limited capacity processing, System 1 and System 2 thinking and their impact on decision making;
- Heuristics and biases to explain how decision makers deal with limited capacity processing, and implications of these for human decision making;
- Prospect Theory as an explanation of anomalies in human decision making, framing, the value function and probability weighting as ways of describing/explaining how people make decisions;
- Introduction to behavioural finance and mental accounting;
- Value-based and reason-based approaches to decision making;
- Motivational and emotional influences on decision making;
- Naturalistic decision making.

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Lectures	11	1.00	11.00
Seminar	5	1.00	5.00
Private study hours			84.00
Total Contact hours			16.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			100.00

Private study

Post-lecture reading: 22 hours
Seminar reading and preparation: 15 hours
Examination revision: 47 hours

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Teaching methods could include a variety of delivery models, such as face-to-face teaching, live webinars, discussion boards and other interactive activities. There will be opportunity for formative feedback throughout the module.

Methods of assessment

Exams

Exam type	Exam duration	% of formal assessment
Online Time-Limited assessment	48 hr 00 mins	100.00
Total percentage (Assessment Exams)		100.00

The resit for this module will be 100% by examination.

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 28/04/2023 14:49:13

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