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2009-06-07 BACK
Decision-Making Made Easy, But Not Better
Decision-Making Made Easy, But Not Better This article originally appeared in the Texarkana Gazette on June 7, 2009 George Boger, Assistant Professor of Management, Texas A&M-Texarkana, College of Business In business schools we teach about how to apply analytical techniques to a complicated decision-making situation. Often the situation involves substantial uncertainty in that nobody knows if all of the factors were considered or what will happen after the decision is made. In the reality, few people engage in complex analysis, preferring instead to take shortcuts. However, there are times when we must make a more thorough analysis. Consider the candidacy of Federal Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. In a speech given in Berkeley, California, she said "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life." Based on this one statement, former speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich called Judge Sotomayor a "Latina racist." Other political pundits opposed to Judge Sotomayor's candidacy have picked up the "Latina racist" label. By attaching this label to her, the pundits aim to attribute Judge Sotomayor's judicial decision-making to that of a "Latina racist." They do this to generate opposition to her candidacy among the conservative political base. These pundits are practicing a form of bias in decision-making known as representative bias. Using representative bias means that a judgment is made by comparing the information known about a person - Judge Sotomayor's heritage - with the stereotypical member of a category - Latina women. Not being a Latina or a woman, I'm not sure how Latina women think. I don't know where Latina women stand on any critical issue that is projected to come before the Supreme Court. About the only thing I know is that the "Latina racist" label is not positive. Therefore, I find it difficult to see how anyone, especially us white males, could use the association of Judge Sotomayor with "Latina racist" as a basis for making a decision about the suitability of her candidacy. Can any of us white males predict the likelihood of how she would vote on an important issue based on her being a Latina woman? In the coming months, more level-headed minds will prevail. Senators will examine the record of Judge Sotomayor. They will look at cases brought before her while serving on the U.S. Court of Appeals to discern, based on her past decisions, how she would vote on critical cases projected to come before the Supreme Court. The senators probably won't use a decision tree or a decision table as we would in discussing a complicated decision situation in a classroom environment. However, they will identify critical factors and use them in making their decision, as we would in a classroom. Assuming that Judge Sotomayor is confirmed, she will probably follow in the footsteps of previous Supreme Court Justices, making decisions based on the facts presented and possibly the experiences of a life well lived. How those future decisions will be viewed - liberal or conservative - is uncertain. Recall that retiring Justice Souter was appointed by Republican President George H.W. Bush. Justice Souter was expected to be conservative, but now is considered part of the liberal wing of the court. Decision-making is difficult because of the inherent uncertainty in the situation. Probably the only thing certain about Judge Sotomayor is that she won't be a "Latina racist" when making decisions while sitting on the Supreme Court. Dr. Boger can be reached at George.Boger@tamut.edu.
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Decision-Making Made Easy, But Not Better
Decision-Making Made Easy, But Not Better This article originally appeared in the Texarkana Gazette on June 7, 2009 George Boger, Assistant Professor of Management, Texas A&M-Texarkana, College of Business In business schools we teach about how to apply analytical techniques to a complicated decision-making situation. Often the situation involves substantial uncertainty in that nobody knows if all of the factors were considered or what will happen after the decision is made. In the reality, few people engage in complex analysis, preferring instead to take shortcuts. However, there are times when we must make a more thorough analysis. Consider the candidacy of Federal Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. In a speech given in Berkeley, California, she said "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life." Based on this one statement, former speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich called Judge Sotomayor a "Latina racist." Other political pundits opposed to Judge Sotomayor's candidacy have picked up the "Latina racist" label. By attaching this label to her, the pundits aim to attribute Judge Sotomayor's judicial decision-making to that of a "Latina racist." They do this to generate opposition to her candidacy among the conservative political base. These pundits are practicing a form of bias in decision-making known as representative bias. Using representative bias means that a judgment is made by comparing the information known about a person - Judge Sotomayor's heritage - with the stereotypical member of a category - Latina women. Not being a Latina or a woman, I'm not sure how Latina women think. I don't know where Latina women stand on any critical issue that is projected to come before the Supreme Court. About the only thing I know is that the "Latina racist" label is not positive. Therefore, I find it difficult to see how anyone, especially us white males, could use the association of Judge Sotomayor with "Latina racist" as a basis for making a decision about the suitability of her candidacy. Can any of us white males predict the likelihood of how she would vote on an important issue based on her being a Latina woman? In the coming months, more level-headed minds will prevail. Senators will examine the record of Judge Sotomayor. They will look at cases brought before her while serving on the U.S. Court of Appeals to discern, based on her past decisions, how she would vote on critical cases projected to come before the Supreme Court. The senators probably won't use a decision tree or a decision table as we would in discussing a complicated decision situation in a classroom environment. However, they will identify critical factors and use them in making their decision, as we would in a classroom. Assuming that Judge Sotomayor is confirmed, she will probably follow in the footsteps of previous Supreme Court Justices, making decisions based on the facts presented and possibly the experiences of a life well lived. How those future decisions will be viewed - liberal or conservative - is uncertain. Recall that retiring Justice Souter was appointed by Republican President George H.W. Bush. Justice Souter was expected to be conservative, but now is considered part of the liberal wing of the court. Decision-making is difficult because of the inherent uncertainty in the situation. Probably the only thing certain about Judge Sotomayor is that she won't be a "Latina racist" when making decisions while sitting on the Supreme Court. Dr. Boger can be reached at George.Boger@tamut.edu.
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