Collective Decision Making

Catalog description

Application of theories of decision making to work-related issues in groups and organizations requiring collective resolution and action. LHR 465 Collective Decision Making (3)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. This course presents a broad overview of theories, research, and practices in decision making as related to work-related choice making in groups and organizations and is open to students majoring or minoring in Labor and Industrial Relations, as well as to students who may wish to use the course as an elective. The course is offered once each academic year and has an enrollment limit of 40 students per offering. It requires no special facilities. LHR 465 extends to other courses in the major, primarily in the areas of Industrial Relations and Human Resources. It is also complementary to courses dealing with decision making in groups and organizations in sociology, psychology, and management. Of particular interest are decision making practices, as well as theories that account for them, in single-motive situations (in which participants in the process are pursuing a common goal) and mixed-motive situations (in which two or more of the participants are competitively related, but must cooperate to achieve their objectives). Hence, the course deals both with (1) conventional decision making, as in the case of boards, task forces, problem-solving groups, and quality circles or teams, appropriate to single-motive situations and (2) processes, such as bargaining, negotiation, and dispute management/resolution, appropriate to mixed-motive situations. The course also deals with the influence of organizational culture on decision-making in both types of situations. Upon completing LHR 465 , students will have been exposed to a broad array of theoretical perspectives on decision making in groups and organizations, will be familiar with research testing these theories, and be aware of decision making practices suggested by theory and research that are useful in situations requiring collective choice and action. These terminal outcomes of the course reflect the objectives.