In a dynamic environment, using consensus to arrive at a strategic decision is not recommended. Why? What two techniques can strategic managers use to avoid the consensus trap?

What will be an ideal response?

The best decisions actually involve a certain amount of heated disagreement, and even conflict. Many diverse opinions are presented, participants trust in one another's abilities and competencies, and conflict is task-oriented, not personal. Two techniques to help strategic managers avoid the consensus trap are the devil's advocate and dialectical inquiry. A devil's advocate is assigned to identify potential pitfalls and problems with a proposed alternative strategy in a formal presentation. The dialectical inquiry involves combining two conflicting views — the thesis and the antithesis — into a synthesis. It requires that two proposals using different assumptions be generated for each alternative strategy under consideration.

Business

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Determine the minimum distance required to connect all nodes in Figure 4

A) 22 B) 24 C) 26 D) 30

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Which of the following, if true, strengthens the report's claims about the ethical culture at Macmoo?

A) No employee who has failed to meet all of his or her corporate responsibility goals is eligible for promotion. B) Employees who apply for the tuition reimbursement program must agree to work at Macmoo for at least three years after their studies are completed. C) Determining the ethical culture in an organization is more difficult than determining that organization's culture with respect to risk and innovation. D) Macmoo's efforts toward establishing an ethical culture are similar to those taken by other organizations in Macmoo's industry. E) The real estate industry is subject to specific responsibilities that go beyond the normal client-agent relationship.

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