Dr Barbara Fasolo NAB 3.15

This course is available on the MSc in Management, MSc in Management (CEMS MIM), MSc in Management Science (Decision Sciences), MSc in Management Science (Operational Research), MSc in Management, Organisations and Governance and MSc in Public Management and Governance. This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

This course introduces students to the fascinating field of behavioural decision science. We will explore a selection of current research topics relevant to personal and managerial decision making as well as policy-making. For each topic students will gain an understanding of central behavioural concepts through lectures. Students will read pre-assigned scientific articles and in class discuss lessons learned, limitations and implications of these concepts for the development of decision making competence (e.g. via design of policies, training programmes, or tools). Content will vary depending on the status of the field. Topics for 2010/2011 provisionally include: Origin of Behavioural Decision Science; the Building Blocks; : Preferences, Utility and Value; Probability, Uncertainty and Risk; Choice Architecture and Nudges; Emotions in Decision Making; Decisions about Money; Decisions about Health; Decisions about Things (consumers and choice tyranny); Decisions about People.

20 hours of lectures and 6 hours of seminars in the MT.

One 800 word written report.

All teaching and reading material will be available electronically via Moodle.
For a general background, the following books are recommended:

Baron, J. (2000), Thinking and Deciding (3rd edition), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; Beach and Connolly (2005), The Psychology of Decision Making: People in Organizations, (2nd Edition), Sage; R Hastie & R M Dawes (2001), Rational Choice in an Uncertain World, Sage; Plous, S. (1993), The Psychology of Judgment and Decision Making, New York: McGraw Hill.

Project (30%, 800 words) in the MT.
Essay (70%, 5000 words) in the LT.
The course is examined during the year as follows: one 800 word written report (30%) and one essay of about 5,000 words (70%).