Reading Comprehension Questions & Answers - 4 | RBI Grade B Phase 2 Preparation - Bank Exams PDF Download

Based on the Passage, answer the following questions:
The majority of successful senior managers do not closely follow the classical rational model of first clarifying goals, assessing the problem, formulating options, estimating likelihoods of success, making a decision, and only then taking action to implement the decision. Rather, in their day-by-day tactical maneuvers, these senior executives rely on what is vaguely termed “intuition” to manage a network of interrelated problems that require them to deal with ambiguity, inconsistency, novelty, and surprise; and to integrate action into the process to thinking.
Generations of writers on management have recognized that some practicing managers rely heavily on intuition. In general, however, such writers display a poor grasp of what intuition is. Some see it as the opposite of rationality; others view it as an excuse for capriciousness.
Isenberg’s recent research on the cognitive processes of senior managers reveals that managers’ intuition is neither of these. Rather, senior managers use intuition in at least five distinct ways. First, they intuitively sense when a problem exists. Second, managers rely on intuition to perform well-learned behavior patterns rapidly. This intuition is not arbitrary or irrational, but is based on years of painstaking practice and hands-on experience that build skills. A third function of intuition is to synthesize isolated bits of data and practice into an integrated picture, often in an “Aha!” experience.
Fourth, some managers use intuition as a check on the results of more rational analysis. Most senior executives are familiar with the formal decision analysis models and tools, and those who use such systematic methods for reaching decisions are occasionally leery of solutions suggested by these methods which run counter to their sense of the correct course of action. Finally, managers can use intuition to bypass in-depth analysis and move rapidly to engender a plausible solution. Used in this way, intuition is an almost instantaneous cognitive process in which a manager recognizes familiar patterns.
One of the implications of the intuitive style of executive management is that “thinking” is inseparable from acting. Since managers often “know” what is right before they can analyze and explain it, they frequently act first and explain later. Analysis is inextricably tied to action in thinking/acting cycles, in which managers develop thoughts about their companies and organizations not by analyzing a problematic situation and then acting, but by acting and analyzing in close concert.
Given the great uncertainty of many of the management issues that they face, senior managers often instigate a course of action simply to learn more about an issue. They then use the results of the action to develop a more complete understanding of the issue. One implication of thinking/acting cycles is that action is often part of defining the problem, not just of implementing the solution.
Q1: According to the passage, senior managers use intuition in all of the following ways EXCEPT to
(a) speed up of the creation of a solution to a problem 
(b) identify a problem 
(c) bring together disparate facts 
(d) stipulate clear goals 

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Ans: (d)
Sol: The question requires you to recognize which of the choices is NOT mentioned in the passage as a way in which senior managers use intuition. The passage does not mention stipulating goals.

Q2: The passage suggests which of the following about the “writers on management” mentioned in paragraph 2? 
(a) They have criticized managers for not following the classical rational model of decision analysis. 
(b) They have not based their analyses on a sufficiently large sample of actual managers. 
(c) They have relied in drawing their conclusions on what managers say rather than on what managers do. 
(d) They have misunderstood how managers use intuition in making business decisions. 

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Ans: (d)
Sol: The author asserts that the writers in question “display a poor grasp of what intuition is” . The next paragraph presents a view that, according to the author of the passage, characterizes intuition more accurately than the writers on management do. Isenberg’s research is specifically described as showing the ways in which managers use intuition. Therefore, what Isenberg correctly comprehends, and the writers in question misunderstand, is how managers use intuition, as this choice states.

Q3: According to the passage, the classical model of decision analysis includes all of the following EXCEPT 
(a) evaluation of a problem 
(b) creation of possible solutions to a problem 
(c) establishment of clear goals to be reached by the decision 
(d) action undertaken in order to discover more information about a problem 

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Ans: (d)
Sol: The question requires you to recognize which of the choices is NOT mentioned in the passage as a component of the classical model of decision analysis. Only this choice, “action undertaken in order to discover more information about a problem,” does not appear in the passage.

Q4: It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following would most probably be one major difference in behavior between Manager X, who uses intuition to reach decisions, and Manager Y, who uses only formal decision analysis? 
(a) Manager X analyzes first and then acts; Manager Y does not. 
(b) Manager X checks possible solutions to a problem by systematic analysis; Manager Y does not 
(c) Manager X takes action in order to arrive at the solution to a problem; Manager Y does not. 
(d) Manager Y draws on years of hands-on experience in creating a solution to a problem; Manager X does not. 

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Ans: (c)
Sol: The question requires you to compare behavior based on intuition with behavior based on formal decision analysis. This choice specifies that the manager who uses intuition incorporates action into the decision-making process, but the manager who uses formal analysis does not. This distinction is made in several places in the passage. The passage emphasizes that decision-making and action-taking are separate steps in formal decision analysis: “making a decision, and only then taking action.” On the other hand, those who use intuition “integrate action into the process of thinking”. Again, the author mentions that in the intuitive style of management, “ ‘thinking’ is inseparable from acting”, and “action is often part of defining the problem”.

Q5: The passage provides support for which of the following statements? 
(a) Managers who rely on intuition are more successful than those who rely on formal decision analysis. 
(b) Managers cannot justify their intuitive decisions. 
(c) Managers’ intuition works contrary to their rational and analytical skills 
(d) Intuition enables managers to employ their practical experience more efficiently.

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Ans: (d)
Sol: The question requires you to identify a statement that can be inferred from information in the passage but is not explicitly stated. The author asserts that intuitive managers can “move rapidly to engender a plausible solution” and that their intuition is based on “experience that builds skill”. This implies that the combination of skill and rapidity enables managers to employ their practical experience more efficiently, as this choice states.