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MGMT20135week1.pptxMGMT 20135: CRITICAL THINKING AND MANAGERIAL DECISION-MAKING
Week 1- Lecture 1
6/30/2018
MGMT20144 – Management and Business Context
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Christiana Liang Lecturer in HRM
School of Business and Law [email protected] (Best way to contact me, reply within 48 hours) Specify Unit, Date/Time of Tutorial, name, issue. 03 9616 0677 Yourselves?
Where are you from?
What major?
Which year of study?
Why this unit?
Introduction
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Outline
Unit objectives
Teaching staff around Australia
Assessment requirements
Forming groups for Assessment 3
Expectations
Introduction to critical thinking and managerial decision-making
Workshop, including getting to know each other, experiential exercises, etc.
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Unit objectives
Introduce key concepts and theories and explain how they are applied in the real-world
Explain how we solve more complex problems and then make decisions
Help students become better thinkers and managers, including manage:
Knowledge better
One’s own and other’s comprehension limitations
Methods of analyses
Argument development
Decision-making
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Teaching staff
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Melbourne
Christiana Liang
Unit Coordinator
Email address: [email protected]
Brisbane
Edward Hudson
Lecturer, Tutor
Email address:[email protected]
Sydney
Reyaz Jeffrey
Lecturer, Tutor
Email address:[email protected]
Unit profile
You should read the Unit profile from beginning to end, contact your lecturer or Unit Coordinator if you have questions or bring your questions to class
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Assessment Overview
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| Assessment 1: Practical and Written Assessment-Article Review | Assessment 2: Written Assessment- Reflective Essay | Assessment 3: Presentation and Written Assessment |
| 30% | 40% | Presentation 15% Essay 15% |
| Due week 4 5.00 PM on Monday, 30th. July, 2018 AEST Individual | Due week 10 5.00 PM on Monday, 17th. Sept. 2018 AEST Individual | Presentation due in week 11-12 Essay due in week 12, 5.00 PM on Monday,1, Oct. 2018 AEST Group |
Visit Moodle for further details
Detailed descriptions and marking rubrics for each assessments are available on Moodle under the Assessments Tab.
Just a quick summary:
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Assessment 1 requirements
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| Assessment 1: Practical and Written Assessment-Article Review |
| 30% |
| Due week 4 5.00 PM on Monday, 30th. July, 2018 AEST Individual |
A list of articles are available on the unit’s Moodle site for you to choose from. You will then write a critical article review based around your responses to the following questions.
Critical Analysis
What is the background of the research? (Background)
What is the research problem? What do we know about the research problem? What do we not know? (Research objective and literature review)
What are the core research questions the article addresses? Why are they important to address? (Research questions)
How was the research conducted? (Methodology)
What where the major findings? (Findings)
What are the significance of the findings for future research or management practice? (Significance/implications)
Critical evaluation
In your view, are there any limitations with this research?
What are some of the assumptions that the authors have made in this research? Do you agree with them?
What is your overall evaluation of the article's effectiveness and credibility?
Assessment 2 requirements
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| Assessment 2: Written Assessment- Reflective Essay |
| 40% |
| Due week 10 5.00 PM on Monday, 17th. Sept. 2018 AEST Individual |
Minimum number of concepts/theories/themes (from week 1-9) required to pass: 6
To successfully complete this assessment task, students should answer the following reflective essay questions:
Which concepts/theories from which week’s learning activities are significant or important to you?
Why are these concepts/theories you have identified important or significant to you? (Theoretical review)
How are the concepts/theories you have learned influencing/impacting your decision-making in relation to your current interpersonal relationships, professional workplaces and/or personal life? (Practical Application)
What have you learned about yourself through the unit activities? What skills do you possess and what skills are you lacking? How are you going to improve your decision-making in the future? (Self-knowledge and self-development)
You should tie all your arguments/insights together at the end of your paper, highlighting how you think you will be able to use your learning in your future career and in life generally.
Assessment 3 requirements
| Assessment 3: Presentation and Written Assessment |
| Presentation 15% Essay 15% |
| Presentation due in week 11-12 Essay due in week 12, 5.00 PM on Monday,1, Oct. 2018 AEST Group |
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As a group, you are expected to choose any one of the following debating topics.
Innovation is more successful in small companies.
Technological change creates economic disparity.
Corporate Mission and vision statements are a waste of time and energy.
Boards of Directors need quotas for women.
Women employees should put their focus on their families rather than their career development after marriage.
Employees should not be given a voice at workplace because it generates problems for the management
Education kills creativity
Emotional intelligence is more important than technical capabilities in a manager
Regulation is stifling business
MBAs are a waste of money
Ethics and business are not compatible
People who are smokers should not be employed
People who are working in the same company should not have romantic relationships with each other
CEOs deserve the big salary package that they get
Globalization has exacerbated poverty rather than alleviating it.
You will need to organize your arguments into an argumentative essay. Then you will need to put on a presentation/debate/show in class illustrating the entire arguments featuring both sides.
Start formulating groups now…
3 students per group
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| Group Number | Group members | Student ID | Mobile number |
| 1 | |||
| 2 | |||
| 3 | |||
| 4 | |||
| 5 | |||
| … |
I EXPECT:
Attend workshops
Not afraid to speak and engage in all classes
Take ownership, complete the readings and activities
Put effort into your assignments (Pull your weight in group work)
REFERENCING!! Academic Misconduct
Assignment Extension
Find out Support available to you (e.g., Academic learning center)
WHAT DO YOU EXPECT FROM ME?
Expectations
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Unit Profile: READ IT!
Unit schedule
Assessment and assessment procedures
The workshop structure
Learner-centered learning philosophy [role of tutor; responsibility of learner]
Proactive and interactive
Moodle: USE IT!!!
Lecture notes, assessment information (marking criteria), APA manual, readings, deadlines!
Assignments submission (All in-semester assignments)
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Week 1. Learning Objectives
What is critical thinking?
What is a statement?
What is an argument?
What is argumentation?
Logic of argument
What are premises and conclusions?
How to recognise premises and conclusions?
Implicit premises and conclusions
Critical thinking defined by Kallet
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Introducing the Unit
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What is critical thinking in your opinion?
Critical thinking in University context
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Following Alexander, Argent & Spencer that we remove the problematic term, critical thinking, and simply see this as thinking, but as a style of thinking that is questioning and transformative.
This kind of thinking, valued in university settings, is also a thinking that reflects and considers its own basis, its background and its reasons as well as considering these things in others' thinking, a thinking that seeks to make original connections between ticks and points of view, but always supported by reasons and evidence, and a thinking that aims to be objective and free of personal bias.
Wrestling with an idea, and expression of the idea
Multiple perspectives, how your idea overlay with them
Ability to scrutinize the relation between evidence and claim
Self-critical, personal biases etc.; method critical
the ability to think systematically and objectively through decision making processes and problem solving processes.
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Define Critical thinking
---A ‘slippery eel” (Molinary & Kavanagh, 2013)
---Complex
---Context-dependent
--
Three linked terms
Critical thinking
Argument
Argumentation
While critical thinking is more related to thinking and learning, argumentation and argument are more closely related to communicating critical thinking to others.
Argument
What do arguments consist of?
Conclusion
What the author wants you to believe
Signal words: hence, thus, therefore, so, consequently, as a result…
Can be either beginning or end of the argument
Premises
Statements that are used as evidence
Signal words: because, since, due to…
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Important concepts in Critical thinking
Argument disagreements
Argument = presenting a set of reasons that show that a conclusion is correct or valid, in other words, the smallest observable unit of critical thinking.
Argumentation= process of linking arguments together, or taking a certain position or stance in relation to a topic. This position is one supported by critical thinking.
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Exercise
Argument: An attempt to defend, validate or explain a conclusion using specific reasons or evidence.
Are the following statements arguments?
1. I like CQuniverisity.
2. I do not like being a vegetarian.
3. She is late because she missed the tram.
4. The unit is practical, interesting, hence, I recommend it to you.
5. It is a common held belief that female students work harder than males.
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This is actually a statement, not an argument. An argument must have premises and conclusions.
N
Y
Y
Y
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Statement
A statement is any sentence that is either valid or invalid. For example, the sky is blue. Your blood is purple.
It is not a question, nor instructions. E.g., have you eaten yet? Wake up!
Statements can function as either premises or conclusions.
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Example
“Students already have enough work to do. What I really mean is that students do not have to face the difficulties of homework. Teachers should not give out homework because students cannot spend time with their family, students have no time to have fun and students have responsibilities to do at home”
source: http :// avoca37.org/18tobiasd/2014/02/21/teachers-should-not-give-out-homework/
Which one is the conclusion?
Which ones are premises?
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Brainstorm with the class
What makes an argument stronger?
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Strong argument use structure of Logic
Premise 1: All international students are foreign.
Premise 2: Patel is an international student.
Conclusion: Therefore, Patel is foreign.
Logic structure:
All A are B,
C is A,
Therefore, C is B.
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B
A
C
Logic
Argument=conclusion + reasoning you have used
The conclusion is only as strong as the evidence/reasons you have used.
In formal logic, if premises are valid, conclusion must be valid. If any of the premises are invalid, the conclusion will be invalid.
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Implicit premises and/or conclusion
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When premises and/or conclusion is left unsaid, because it is common knowledge, or implied by the situation or when we do not want to overstate the point.
All ads are arguments with conclusion: Buy this product
Introducing the Unit
What is critical thinking?
Critical thinking is disciplined thinking that is clear, rational, open-minded, and informed by evidence
Conscious and deliberate
With purpose
Involves being critical of your own thought processes
Best processes or tools are used to aid thinking
Objective is to make better decisions than if just used “gut feel” to inform decision-making
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Kallet’s definition
Purposeful method for enhancing your thoughts beyond your automatic, everyday way of thinking. It’s a process that uses a framework and tool set.
Some examples?
What have you learned to do in your working/student life that was improved by critically thinking through a problem?
Context: Thinking about problems and critical issues in the wider world,
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Benefits of critical thinking
Kallet:
Clear understanding of the problems of situations
Faster and accurate conclusions and quality decisions
A richer variety of explanations and solutions
Opportunity recognition
Mistake avoidance
Thought-out strategies and early elimination of dead ends
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Overview
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Clarity
Conclusions
Decisions
Clear headscratcher (more serious thought and/or process required)
Problem, Issue, or Goal (headscratcher)
Reach conclusions abut the headscratcher (Solution + To Do)
Make a decision (take action on a conclusion)
Automatic versus critical thinking
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Decisions
Conclusions
Clarity
Critical Thinking
Clarity
Conclusions
Decisions
Automatic Thinking
Weak foundations for decisions, less time getting clear, and more time needed for decisions
Strong foundations for decisions, more time getting clear, and less time needed for decisions
Section III: Conclusions
Section IV: Conclusions & Innovation
Section V: Decisions
Section II: Clarity
Critical thinking framework: The textbook
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Clarity
Conclusions
Decisions
Discovery information and ideas
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Critical thinking framework: This Unit
Clarity
Conclusions
Decisions
Week 1: Module 1: Introduction to critical thinking
Week 3: Module 1:
Accessing and synthesising information, and forming views
Week 2: Module 1: Framing and scoping
Week 4: Module 2:
Understanding and development of self
Week 5: Module 2:
Making major decisions
Week 6: Module 2:
Balancing rational and non-rational approaches
Week 7: Module 3: Decision-making in uncertain or difficult situations
Week 8: Module 3: The nature of the contract
Week 9: Module 3: Working collaboratively
Week 12: Module 4: Managing for all
