bounded rationality
NEWCASTLE BUSINESS SCHOOL
& LEARNING DEVELOPMENT
GSBS6001
Assignment 1: OVERALL STRUCTURE The following is an example of how this assignment might look when finished. The word limits are indicated at the end of each section. This is neither an essay or a report; it is simply an assignment with 3 sections. It does not need to have an introduction or a conclusion. Clarity is achieved by clear section headings, and clear paragraphing.
NB: our example does not reach 1500 words; further paragraphs need to be written in sections 2 and 3.
The Decision
A mining claim of 60 miles had to be staked, and the project manager Tom Parker decided to budget 7 days and 3 assistants to do it. He based this decision on his own physical experience and skill. He was an outdoors man, skilled in all non-technical aspects of mining claims. He himself proved able to do 8 claims per day, and he assumed that each assistant would be able to do the same. The workers were poorly paid, but if they completed the job in 7 days they would receive a $300 bonus. Parker may have negotiated this bonus with the company when he budgeted 7 days.
The main outcome of this decision was that the job was not completed in time. There were several smaller consequences of the initial budgeting decision that resulted in this outcome. No planning of the details was done until after Parker and the men set up camp. Only at this stage did they consider differences in the terrain, the order of areas to be staked, and where the helicopter might land. Progress was uneven, and Parker seemed to lay most of the blame on Millar. Talbot suggested to Parker that he could give Millar the easier terrain, but Parker refused to make this change. Even when Millar completed more than required, Parker would not praise him. Parker was continually angry at Millar, but wasn’t angry at the other two even if they had done the same or less than Millar. Parker criticised Millar for taking too much
& LEARNING DEVELOPMENT
GSBS6001
Assignment 1: OVERALL STRUCTURE The following is an example of how this assignment might look when finished. The word limits are indicated at the end of each section. This is neither an essay or a report; it is simply an assignment with 3 sections. It does not need to have an introduction or a conclusion. Clarity is achieved by clear section headings, and clear paragraphing.
NB: our example does not reach 1500 words; further paragraphs need to be written in sections 2 and 3.
The Decision
A mining claim of 60 miles had to be staked, and the project manager Tom Parker decided to budget 7 days and 3 assistants to do it. He based this decision on his own physical experience and skill. He was an outdoors man, skilled in all non-technical aspects of mining claims. He himself proved able to do 8 claims per day, and he assumed that each assistant would be able to do the same. The workers were poorly paid, but if they completed the job in 7 days they would receive a $300 bonus. Parker may have negotiated this bonus with the company when he budgeted 7 days.
The main outcome of this decision was that the job was not completed in time. There were several smaller consequences of the initial budgeting decision that resulted in this outcome. No planning of the details was done until after Parker and the men set up camp. Only at this stage did they consider differences in the terrain, the order of areas to be staked, and where the helicopter might land. Progress was uneven, and Parker seemed to lay most of the blame on Millar. Talbot suggested to Parker that he could give Millar the easier terrain, but Parker refused to make this change. Even when Millar completed more than required, Parker would not praise him. Parker was continually angry at Millar, but wasn’t angry at the other two even if they had done the same or less than Millar. Parker criticised Millar for taking too much