Decision Making Concept & Questions

Decision Making Questions are a part of Verbal Reasoning and a common topic for all major Government exams conducted in the country.

Logical analysis and reviewing the questions carefully are the key factors to answer questions based on this topic. The weightage of marks, however from this section varies between 3-5 marks.

In this article, we shall discuss at length the concept of decision making, tips to answer decision making questions and some sample questions for candidates assistance.

To know the detailed syllabus for logical or verbal reasoning and the exams in which this section is included, candidates can visit the logical reasoning page. 

Decision Making Questions and Answers PDF:-Download PDF Here

The Concept of Decision Making 

Under the decision making questions, candidates need to analyse and review the given information and based on the same need to answer the question. 

There two types of questions which may be asked as a part of decision making. These include:

• Direct Questions: In such questions, a condition may be given and based on the same the final decision has to be made
• Complex Questions: In such questions, a set of eligibility criteria are given. Candidates need to analyse the eligibility details given and based on it, answer what candidates can qualify/ appear/ register for an exam or a post

With the increased competition, the complex variety of questions have become more common. These type of questions are lengthy but if reviewed carefully, they are easy to answer. 

Candidates can go through the video on decision making to understand the concept better-

Candidates can also check the Tips to Solve Decision Making Questions in UPSC CSAT at the linked article.

Decision Making Questions & Answers

Given below are sample questions based on decision making. Candidates can practise them and analyse the types of questions and the format in which they may be asked. 

Directions (Q1 – Q2): Refer to the information given below and answer the following questions:

In a school in New Delhi, a panel of three senior teachers has been formed to elect the Head Boy of the school. Thre probable candidates have been selected by the students: Ajay, Veer and Nitin. Each teacher has to vote either in against or for each student. 

The following criteria are known to us about the selection:

• Exactly two teachers vote for Ajay
• Exactly one teacher votes for Veer
• Exactly one teacher votes for Nitin
• Teacher 1 votes for Ajay 
• Teacher 2 votes against Ajay and Nitin
• Teacher 3 votes against Nitin

Q 1. Which of the given statements is definitely true?

1. Teacher 2 votes against Nitin
2. Teacher 3 is in support of Ajay but against Nitin
3. Teacher 1 is against Ajay
4. Teacher 3 is against Veer
5. None of the above

Q 2. Based on the given information, which of the statements is completely false?

1. If Teacher 3 votes against Veer, then Teacher 2 would have voted for Veer
2. Teacher 1 was against making Veer the Head Boy of the school
3. Teacher 3 voted for Ajay
4. Veer was not supported by Teacher 1
5. None of the above

Directions (Q3 – Q4): Analyse the information given below about an election campaign strategy and answer the following questions:

You are supposed to prepare a strategy for election campaigning which is going to start in 6 months time. This is to be done at multiple constituencies involving many agencies. There would be a huge amount of logistical support which would be required once the format has been decided. The Minister has called for a meeting to hear your action plan and you need to be prepared for it.

Q 3. What would be the most effective answer?

1. Concentrate on coordinating with the different agencies and having them approve the strategy
2. Concentrate on setting deadlines, targets and checkpoints in order to meet the deadlines.
3. Concentrate on getting an immediate feel for the contents design and layout of the strategy.
4. Concentrate on logistics: how to move people and equipment from one place to another smoothly

Q 4. What would be the least effective answer?

1. Concentrate on coordinating with the different agencies and having them approve the strategy
2. Concentrate on setting deadlines, targets and checkpoints in order to meet the deadlines.
3. Concentrate on getting an immediate feel for the contents design and layout of the strategy.
4. Concentrate on logistics: how to move people and equipment from one place to another smoothly.

Direction Q5: You have been using a certain computer system to perform your role for years and it has proved to be stable and reliable. Recently, you were informed that it is to be updated next month with new functionality and applications. You are concerned about the time it would take to have a trouble free system as the current system took six months to become trouble free. You now need to decide your response to this news. 

Q 5. What would be the least effective answer?

1. Find out all you can about the system and volunteer to be the first to trial run it.
2. Voice your concern to your superior and recommend that all possible upgrades be delayed until all possible issues have been identified and resolved.
3. Ask All other colleagues to run the new systems for errors so that the quality of your work is not compromised, but seek their reviews.
4. Believe that the appropriate checks have been carried out and wait for the introduction of the upgrade so that you can assess its functionality.

Q 6. As a relatively small part of your role, you are responsible for the maintenance of a database of statistical information regarding meteorological data and its link to road traffic levels at the Indian met department. This is drawn upon every three months for analysis, although for the past few years the results have been consistent and predictable and some people have questioned the need for such detailed data. In order to compile the information, you rely on daily input of information from a number of people in different localities. One day, one of these individuals comes to you to request that data be submitted on a weekly rather than daily basis, to save time. Your boss is on holiday and you are left to make the decision. Which of the given options must not be considered by the employee?

1. Inform them that you cannot authorize it until your boss is back from leave.
2. Make the change as it seems more sensible, and inform your boss when he returns.
3. Inform him that there is no chance of any change in the reporting pattern.
4. Ask the other person involved in it and what is their take and tell this to your boss once he comes back.

Q 7. You are new to your department and your boss has handed you a brief for a presentation that covers what you should tell your department about the new IT system that is being introduced. Your boss would have done it himself, but he has annual leave for the next few days. It contains a lot of facts and you are aware that your boss prefers a more factual dry presentation style. However, you are concerned that the audience would find the content dull and you want to make a good first impression on them. What would be the least effective answer?

1. Respect the approach that your superior would have taken and present just the facts, but try to do so quickly so that the audience doesn’t get too bored.
2. Introduce a range of interactive, entertaining elements to the briefing that increase audience engagement with the content prepared by your boss, but might not reflect the style of your boss.
3. Send a brief around in email form prior to the meeting and then engage in a two-way discussion with the audience about the system.
4. Suggest to your boss that he may like to present the content when he returns, as this will ensure that it is delivered in the way he intended.

Q 8. You have been asked by your boss to meet with a representative from another unit to present the findings from your team’s latest piece of research. After giving you the briefing, your boss advises you to ‘tone down’ your ‘usual style’ as she thinks this will work better. You are not quite sure what she meant by this and feel a little offended: your style has always worked well in the past. How would you respond? What would be the most effective answer?

1. Make your boss understand that your tone is good for the presentation.
2. Ask your boss for more detail on what they meant by the comment.
3. Ask your colleagues what they meant by the comment.
4. Self-reflect upon what your boss meant then change your behaviour accordingly.

Q 9. The public sector where you are working for is to be included for a major restructure. Some posts will vanish, some roles will change and there will be some new opportunities created. The announcement has created some concern within the PSU, especially as it has been performing well up to this point. Your CMD has arranged for a one on one meeting with everyone to discuss the restructuring. You need to decide how best to prepare for the meeting. Which of the given statements must definitely be followed with reference to the information?

1. Spend time planning how accurately to convey your strengths so that your position is safe within the firm.
2. Plan to ask questions about what new opportunities are available and how you can position yourself to take advantage of it.
3. Aim to get as much information from your CMD about the restructure: timescale and impact.
4. Prepare a convincing case concerning why the company should not be included in the restructuring.

Q 10. You work in an office where the work being carried out in different departments is visible. You have noticed that an engineering trainee in another department spends most of the time ‘lost’ with little work to do. You have already brought this issue to the notice of your head of the department but nothing seems to have happened to solve the situation. In addition, the boss is often out of office so does not see it himself. What would be the least effective answer?

1. Go over to the person in question and set them tasks to complete for your department.
2. Speak to someone else in the department and ask them if there is any work the person could complete for them.
3. Speak to the person in question and tell him to find some work to do as they are currently giving a bad impression.
4. Schedule a meeting for tomorrow with the person’s head of the department where you can suggest some work for him.

Q 11. You have sent a survey to multiple units in order to gauge levels of job satisfaction as part of a wide internal survey across the organization. When the results arrive back, you see that by far the biggest cause of dissatisfaction seems to be the pay levels. However, your manager has suggested that in reality staff are content with their pay: this survey is just seen as an opportunity to ask for more. There is no time or budget to repeat the survey and you need to decide how to proceed. What would be the most effective answer?

1. Conduct some online research into other surveys of this nature to see whether this is a common pattern: include this observation in the report and recommendations.
2. Accept your manager’s views and highlight this in your summary report and recommendations
3. Accept the original data and avoid including your manager’s interpretation when collating the summary report and recommendations.
4. Declare the results of the survey around pay levels to be ‘ambiguous’ and instead concentrate on the second most important area of the survey.

Q 12. A new director was recently appointed to manage your directorate after being managed by the previous person for a couple of years. In her introductory speech, the new director states that there will be a number of changes to be made now she has arrived: some will happen quickly and others will be introduced over the next few months. She does not give more detail than this but reassures everyone that people will be informed as soon as possible about the changes. Which of the following is the best step that any employee working under her must take?

1. Request a meeting straight away with the new director and say that you need to know more about the planned changes.
2. Wait a few weeks and then request a meeting with the new director and find out more about the planned changes.
3. Be alert to the news about the changes, but continue to work as usual until more is announced.
4. Try to find out more about the changes that the new director made in other parts of the organization in order to gain an insight into what she might be planning for your area.

Q 13. You are working on a complex project when one of the members of your department gives you some negative feedback about your way of working that comes as a complete surprise to you. You have never received feedback on this area before and you had previously considered it a moderate strength of yours. It has been playing on your mind for the past week as you are keen to be seen in a positive way by others. Choose the most effective answer.

1. Try to improve your image in the eyes of the person who gave you the feedback by describing to them why you acted in the way you did and how it has brought you success in the past.
2. Ask the person who provided the original feedback for more detail about why they think the way they do.
3. Ask a selection of other people for feedback on the area concerned to see if this corroborates the original negative feedback.
4. Self-reflect some more and read up on how to develop in the area identified.

Q 14. You are in the middle of speaking to an audience about some work that had a successful outcome and that you are very proud of about ten minutes into your speech, you notice that a couple of the audience members are yawning and looking at their watches. Choose the most effective answer.

1. Pause at an appropriate point and ask for audience feedback on what you have covered so far.
2. Look directly at them and ask ‘am I keeping you awake?’ in order to embarrass them and make them pay more attention.
3. Speed up your pace of talking and vary your tone in order to re-engage your interest.
4. Make greater use of visual aids and props in order to stimulate their interest.

Q 15. You have been given two weeks in which to review a large body of data, spot certain types of errors and inconsistencies and then produce a corrected and improved version as a result. Your Superior has asked to meet with you after four days to review your progress. Three days into your review you realize that there are also several other types of errors and inconsistencies in the data and you will not have the time to review it all in two weeks, let alone in time for your meeting with your Superior tomorrow. You feel a more realistic timescale would be four weeks. However, you know that a lot of people are awaiting the outcome of your review and corrections and if it is delayed this will hold up the work of other Units. Pick the least effective answer.

1. Use the two weeks to focus on correcting those types of errors that the original assignment called for and complete the assignment on time.
2. Use the meeting with your Superior to argue for an extension of the deadline so that you can correct the further errors you discovered as well.
3. Start correcting all discovered errors and complete as much as you can in two weeks.
4. Start correcting all discovered errors but arrange to feed the results of your review through in stages to other units so that they can begin work.

Candidates can check the answers to these questions in the PDF given below and check how correctly they have answered all the questions:

For clarity on the strategies to take Reasoning Decision Making Questions in the exam, aspirants should go through the following video-

Decision Making Questions and Answers PDF:-Download PDF Here

Emphasizing on each and every topic under the reasoning ability section will help candidates score more not just in one subject but also increase the overall marks. 

Aspirants can also check the detailed Preparation Strategy for Competitive Exams at the linked article.

For any further updates regarding the upcoming Government exams, candidates can visit BYJU’S and keep themselves updated with the latest exam information, preparation tips and study material.