8

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (Oct/Nov 2020). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [8] Wedley and Field (1984) described the decision-making process, focusing on the pre-planning stage in organisations. This involves considering leadership type, involvement of others, information gathering, contacts, and alternative generation before offering solutions. They suggested that poor decisions can result if the process is not pre-planned effectively, advocating for more flexibility achieved through early planning.
2. [8] Janis (1971) proposed Groupthink, a phenomenon where the desire for group harmony and lack of critical evaluation lead to irrational or dysfunctional outcomes. This results in decisions individuals wouldn't make alone. Famous examples include the Bay of Pigs. Symptoms include illusion of invulnerability, illusion of morality, shared negative stereotypes, collective rationalisations, self-censorship, illusion of unanimity, direct conformity pressure, and 'mindguards'. Strategies to avoid groupthink include promoting open enquiry, using subgroups, admitting mistakes, and holding second-chance meetings.
3. [8] Forsyth (2006) discussed cognitive limitations and errors in group decision-making, which can occur before, during, and after meetings. These errors, or 'sins', are categorised as sins of commission (misusing information), sins of omission (overlooking information), and sins of imprecision (using inappropriate heuristics). Confirmation bias can also lead to errors in group thinking.
4. [10] Named issue – generalisations: Wedley and Field offer suggestions for improving decision-making, but these may not apply in all situations due to variations in decision type (short-/long-term, impact on few/many, important/trivial). It is not appropriate to treat all decisions identically. The concept of groupthink may not apply universally across all cultures or types of organisations, thus limiting its utility.
5. [10] Reductionism.
6. [10] Ecological Validity.
7. [10] Individual/situational explanations.
8. [10] Practical Applications.
9. [10] Methods.