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Questions on Cognitive Limits on Rationality

March and Simon, “Cognitive Limits on Rationality,” from Organizations, 2^nd ed. (1993)

March and Simon see the “rational man” of economics as making “optimal” choices in a highly specified and clearly defined environment with four features or characteristics. What are they?

March and Simon see existing models of rational man as making “three exceedingly important demands upon the choice-making mechanism.” What are they?

March and Simon see most human decision making as being concerned with the discovery and selection of which kind of alternatives, “optimal” or “satisfactory?”

March and Simon see what portion of behavior in organizations as being governed by “performance programs?

1. some
2. about half
3. most
4. all

In organizations where various aspects of a whole complex problem are handled by different individuals and groups, what “fundamental technique” is used to simplify the problem?

What way to assign jurisdictions within organizations is often called “organization by purpose” or “departmentalization by purpose?”

March and Simon write that the tendency of members of an organizational unit to put subgoals ahead of the goals of the larger organization is reinforced by (at least) three cognitive mechanisms.  What are those three cognitive mechanisms?

In organizations, March and Simon see two principal types of in-groups as playing significant roles in filtering information.  What are they?

This in turn leads March and Simon to distinguish between two different types of “identifications.”  What are they?

Under what circumstances does it become likely that a decision will be reached by predominately bargaining processes?

To what extent do rational, analytic processes take precedence over bargaining processes?

What “condition of feasibility” must be met for rational, analytic processes to take precedence over bargaining?

March and Simon write that ‘the central theme of this chapter” is that the basic features of organizational structure and function derive from what?

March and Simon write that the “simplifications” that rational behavior calls for have a number of characteristic features.  What are they?

How do March and Simon define “organizational structure?”

What do March and Simon identify as the least stable parts of an organization’s structure?

What do March and Simon identify as the most stable parts of an organization’s structure?