Year
2012
Season
Spring
Paper Type
Master's Thesis
College
College of Arts and Sciences
Degree Name
Master of Arts in General Psychology (MAGP)
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Dr. C. Domink Guss
Second Advisor
Dr. Paul Thoreck
Department Chair
Dr. Michael Toglia
College Dean
Dr. Barbara A. Hetrick
Abstract
The modern business environment requires managers to make decisions in a dynamic and uncertain world. In the current study, experimenters investigated the effects of a brief training aimed at improving dynamic decision making (DDM) skills on individual performance in a virtual DDM task. During the training, experimenters explained the DDM process, stressed the importance of self-reflection in DDM, and provided 3 selfreflective questions to guide participants during the task. Additionally, experimenters explored whether participants low or high in self-reflection would perform better in the task and whether participants low or high in self-reflection would benefit more from the training. Participants were 68 graduate business students. They individually managed a computer-simulated chocolate production company called CHOCO FINE and answered surveys to assess self-reflection and demographics. Results showed that students trained in DDM made decisions leading to better management performance in CHOCO FINE compared to untrained students. Self-reflection scores also predicted performance in this virtual business, and participants low in self-reflection benefitted the most from training. Organizations could use DDM training to establish and promote a culture that values selfreflective decision making.
Suggested Citation
Donovan, Sarah Jane, "Improving Dynamic Decision Making Through Training and Self-Reflection" (2012). UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 405.
https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/etd/405