| CODE | MGT5916 | ||||||||
| TITLE | Cognitive Biases in Business Decision Processes | ||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | ||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | ||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Business and Enterprise Management | ||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The purpose of this unit is to provide the necessary understanding with regards to factors which limit and effect decision making in organisations. It looks at cognitive biases and heuristics from an evolutionary perspective and also provides a historical overview of cognitive biases and heuristics research development. It draws on theories from behavioural economics mainly bounded rationality, risk, attribution and prospect theory. It will delve into challenging questions such as the effect of experience on our memory. It will also discuss key cognitive biases and through examples and case studies highlight their influence on decision making. This study unit will also discuss judgement heuristics and highlight issues which hinder us from thinking rationally and refer to rational statistical evidence in decision making such as base rate, the endowment effect and mental accounting. The unit will also focus on biases in group decision making. A strategy of overcoming the shortcomings of heuristics and biases as in debiasing strategies and Nudge theory will also be included. This study unit should enable participants to arrive at clearer and more effective decision making in organisations. This study-unit shall cover: 1. How our mind works - our decisions are made; 2. An understanding of cognitive biases and how they affect decision making in organizations; 3. The most common types of cognitive biases; 4. The effects of social judgement biases in decision-making processes - case studies; 5. Evidence based management and cognitive biases; 6. Overcoming cognitive biases - a strategic approach. Study-unit Aims: The study-unit has the following aims: 1. To introduce students to the concept of cognitive biases; 2. To highlight the essential aspects of decision making and judgements in our lives; 3. to undertstand such biases, recognise them and develop a strategic approach to overcome them. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: 1. Define evidence and evidence-based management; 2. Explain the different sources of evidence including their pros and cons; 3. Point out the myths on evidence-based practice; 4. Describe the role of EBMgt as part of an organization's strategy. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: 1. Evaluate the effect of cognitive biases in decision making; 2. Develop an awareness of such biases; 3. Develop a personal plan to overcome such biases. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Essential text Rousseau, D. M. (Ed) (2012). The Oxford Handbook of Evidence-Based Management. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Additional texts Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, Fast and Slow. New York: Farrar, Strauss, Giroux. Apart from these books, students will be provided a number of paper and article resources as study packs. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Geltrude Spiteri |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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