The exercise, which adapts a famous experiment conducted by psychologist Thomas Gilovich experimental, is designed to show both the ubiquity of analogy or associative thinking more generally and its potential dangers. Students are presented with a scenario in which an oil company is deciding which of the two investment options to follow. The first is a site that involves technically difficult and costly R & D and production (eg, in the Gulf of Mexico). In the second scenario, these costs are lower and yields are higher, but the company faces potentially corrupt parties (eg, Russia). Half the class is presented with a standard or a problem of “neutral”. The other half is made to the same standard with the exception of some differences that are not relevant to the problem of the structure of the problem. These differences involve superficially similar indexes that are associated with Enron. For example, instead of being in the neutral problem: Atlanta, but Houston, where Enron was headquartered in the problem of Enron, the name of the fleet of oil company in the neutral case, and Raptor (the name of a of the many ad hoc Enron) entities in the Enron case. Students receiving the Enron problem often unconsciously associate their problem with the Enron debacle, which leads to favor the more technically difficult than do students who receive neutral option problem.
by
Giovanni Gavetti
Source: Exercises
4 pages.
Release Date: April 4, 2011. Prod #: 711511-PDF-ENG
Raptor Oil Company: A solution of the case of the exercise
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