Thinking outside the box, inviting outsiders to look at the problem and create alternatives, asking team members to abstain from their traditional roles, not underestimating mixed choices, being willing to discuss different views are among the tips that manager can benefit to create alternative solutions to a problem.

The rational approach presents a systematic and analytical point of view for managers to make decisions. However, the rational decision-making approach has been criticized and considered to be non-realistic; thus, it has been argued that this approach should be reviewed and made as practical and realistic as possible because the limited capacity of the manager is insufficient to analyze the complexity of business relations in the modern world and to completely clear up problems. It is also impossible to create a rational model for each decision. Time pressure, internal and external factors affecting decisions, ill-defined problems do not allow a systematic analysis every time. Even if we assume that managers have the cognitive capacity to solve each problem, they cannot evaluate every problem and every alternative. 

Jargon is particular words or expressions used by a profession or group that are difficult for others to understand. If you don’t have education in medical sciences, language spoken at the emergency room may have no meaning. Every profession has its jargon. Doctors, lawyers, accountants have all use their particular language that others can often find it hard to understand.

Programmed decision-making involves the most efficient and easily repeatable routine operations. Thus, constant value creation processes of the organization can be effectively managed. In general, this decision-making mechanism includes a set of written rules and standards that enable the organization to operate in the most efficient manner. Organizations arrange boards, policies and detailed procedures for decisions to be taken in such repetitive situations. This type of solution eliminates a very time-consuming process of identifying and evaluating alternatives and making new decisions. Managers, thus, have the opportunity to devote their time to solving more complex problems. In such pre-programmed decisions about a range of actions, it is mainly certain at the decision stage which actions to take, which persons to include, which resources and means to use, and which outcomes to be achieved.

There are constraints and trade-off experienced during nonprogrammed decision-making processes. 

Bounded Rationality: Limited time, information, resources to deal with complex, multidimensional issues

Organizational Constraints: Need for agreement, shared perspective, cooperation, support, corporate culture and structure, ethical values

Personal Constraints: Desire for prestige, success; personal decision style; and the need to satisfy emotional needs, cope with pressure, Or maintain self-concept

What was the reason behind the rise of organizational culture as a concept for understanding organizations? Of course, it was not coincidental. Many social, field and individual-level developments triggered the increase of awareness in the 90s. These factors are explained below:5 • Individualism and alienation: By the end of 1970s modern societies witnessed widespread diffusion of individualism that alienated people from the society. Lonely people searching for an identity celebrated organizational culture as a haven. Organizational culture allowed people to answer aching questions for raison d’etre! “Who am I, what is my reason for being in this world? what this organization stands for?” are all examples of questions asked and generally found an explanation within the concept of organizational culture. • Technically advanced production and the rise ofservice industry: Production process was upgraded to an advanced level in which automation became widespread. Moreover, the volume of service industry gradually surpassed goods production in many developed countries.Thus,employees had to be more customer-focused and technically qualified. Consequently, skillful and welltrained employees preferred independent working conditions. Organizational culture, as a way of controlling employee behavior, allows members to use their judgment, and act morefreely within defined organizational norms. Once members of the organizations cultivated with organizational values, close supervision will be redundant.• Machine bureaucracy gradually became less useful in managing people: Scientific management was the paradigm relevant to 1960s and 1970s. During 1980s validity of scientific management as the only paradigm for managing people started to be scrutinized. The effectiveness of objective and mathematical management techniques like time-and-motion studies was challenged. This movement led scholars focusing on the human aspect of management, or in other words, “soft” aspects of organizations. • Innovative production techniques: Mass production techniques increase the level of efficiency. But these techniques usually decrease the overall flexibility of the organization. To balance the level of efficiency with the degree of flexibility, organizations should employ people who have a sense of active belonging and commitment. Organizational culture is providing a cognitiveschemethroughwhich members can agree upon collective values, and thus elevates the level of organizational commitment. • Japanese miracle: After the devastation experienced by Japan following the 2nd World War, Japan’s reborn as an economic power found to be related to the Japanese management style. Globalization which is generally equated with getting rid of economic, political, cultural, and technological barriers led to an increase in awareness and curiosity in the global west for the east. It was self-evident that Japanese miracle was mostly related to the Japanese cultural value system and its reflections within Japanese organizations. Other countries also tried to understand and encapsulate these reflections for themselves, and hence the interest in the cultural aspect of organizations tend to strengthen. 

Both S-Curve and Stage-Gate can be used for the identification process. The correct option is C.

What bank should we use? Should we sell bonds or stocks? Should we buy back some of our company’s stock? 

This type of questions are the ones about finance managers, not sales managers. 

Contingency Theory is an important approach in modern organization and it brings a new dimension to the relations of organizations with their environment. This approach completes the given explanation. The right answer is B.

Disruptive innovation requires a new business model but not necessarily a technological breakthrough. For that reason, it also challenges or disrupts, the business models of other companies. For example, ride-hailing companies, streaming media companies, and web-based book retailers are disrupting taxis, television networks, and book retailers at physical locations, respectively.

Inputs may be abstract and concrete things such as end products semi-products money, capital, machine and equipment, human resource and knowledge, which are acquired from organizational environments and used as resources during the value-creation process. So, choice (e) is the correct answer.

Some essential characteristics of healthy organizational culture are listed below: • All members of the organization are empowered and held accountable. • Employees are encouraged to take risks within set limits. • Searching for better alternatives about how jobs to be done is the norm • Mistakes are tolerated to some degree and treated as a learning opportunity.

One of the most accepted, comprehensive and common definitions is the one made by C. I. Barnard, which argues that “organization is a system of consciously coordinated activities of two or more persons.” This very definition by Barnard is used commonly since it encompasses all organizations with different features. This definition increasingly emphasizes the coordination created among individuals. The common side of all organizations is to act in coordinated ways to reach their aims within a certain frame of aims.

Daft groups the dimensions of organization design into two basic categories. He sorts structural dimensions as formalization, specialization, the hierarchy of authority, centralization, professionalism and personnel ratios, while he labels contextual dimensions as size, technology, environment, goals and strategy, and culture. These dimensions cannot be dissociated since there is a connection between them and they mutually influence one another. While structural dimensions are about internal features of an organization, contextual dimensions influence a whole organization, which also shape and create an impact on structural dimensions. As also understood from the information given, the correct answer is “E”. Goals and strategy and culture are among the contextual dimensions. On the contrary, formalization, specialization and personnel ratios are among structural dimensions.

Strategic change refers to alterations in a company’s corporate, business-level, and/or functional strategies. Mergers and acquisitions, outsourcing, and entering strategic alliances (franchising, equity alliance, joint venture, etc.) are the most common corporate change attempts.

Under the rational approach to decision-making, decisions are generally made based on the quantitative data through a linear process. These models are quantitative and normative and tend to observe, identify, explain and predict choices3. They involve the logical completion of the stages including the identification and systematic analysis of the problem, right choice, and implementation. An important number of decisions made by managers in a day include repetitive decisions. Well-designed rational decision-making processes, especially in such decision-making activities, enable managers to engage in effective management. If this process is written and made accessible to everyone, it is turned into an important tool for others who deal with similar problems.

Herbert Alexander Simon is the founder and the most prominent name of the rational decision-making approach. However, some sources also refer to Chester Barnard, one of the most prominent figures in the behavioral school, as the pioneer of decision-making theory.

Programmed:

Duncan lists the following examples:

Stable-simple: Soft drink bottlers, food, processors, container manufacturers.

Stable-complex: Universities, appliance manufacturers, chemical companies.

Unstable-simple: E-commerce, fashion clothing, music industry. 

Unstable-complex: Computer, airlines, aerospace firms. 

Based on this, Hepsiburada.com, as an e-commerce company, is an example for unstable-simple dimension; Turkish Airlines is an example for the unstable-complex dimension; Anadolu University is an example for the stable-complex dimension; Kızılay Mineral Water, as a soft drink bottler, is an example for the stable-simple dimension; and Apple Company, as a computer company, is an example for the unstable-complex dimension. Therefore, choice (a) is the correct answer.

The metaphor ‘Organizations as Machines’ emphasizes the given information. Organizations mostly defined by classical organizational approaches are defined by this metaphor. The correct answer is D.