Description

Homes 4 Pets nonprofit organization is planning a big fundraising gala in hopes of raising enough money to lease a building and provide a no-kill shelter for pets waiting to find their forever homes. The COO of the company, John Shul, has asked the marketing director, Darla Williams, to work with the board and the development team before drafting a marketing and promotion plan for the big fundraising gala. Darla, who has over 15 years of experience in nonprofit event marketing tells John he should trust her judgment and let her work alone instead of having her depend on majority rule or groupthink decisions. John Shul highly recommends that Darla work with the board and asks her to put together a team by tomorrow.

Darla presents her team to John Shul for approval without letting her coworkers know she’s selected them for the team. The team gets approved, however Darla still strongly believes she can get the work completed without any assistance as she already has a plan in place and has initiated communication with her contacts. Darla is the direct boss for 3 of the 5 coworkers she selected, so she is confident they will agree with her decisions. The team has been given 3 weeks to plan and execute the fundraising gala for Homes 4 Pets.

Answer each question

1. Discuss the individual decision-making biases in your chapter. Explain which bias(es) you think is/are best matched to Darla’s thinking?

2,Define groupthink and explain the three key symptoms of groupthink. What are some ways this team can reduce groupthink? (Exhibit 7-6)

3. Assume that Darla is going to have a change of heart and do her best to make the final product a true team effort.  Explain three group decision rules (Exhibit 7-4) she might use in these efforts and recommend the one the team should use.