Critical Thinking Styles and Forces of Influence
Any choice or decision that a manager makes influences the organization's performance. It is one of an employee's job responsibilities to make decisions that are in favor of the organization. If the decision taken serves any personal interest of one person or a few people then it is bound to prove harmful for the organization. Therefore such decisions can bring devastating results for the entire company. However it cannot be ignored that any decision made by an employee is influenced by a number of factors since decisions are not made in a vacuum. These factors include the different thinking patterns that are employed by a person in making a choice and the various forces of influences that act upon him and determine the choice he is going to make.
Critical Thinking Patterns
One of the most important factor that determines the choice or a decision that an employee makes is the cognitive process that he is involved in. this is the first step that is taken in the process of making a decision (McCall and Kaplan, 1990). This cognitive process includes four different critical thinking patterns that an employee or a manager employs in reaching a decision. These patterns are logical, scientific, persuasive and creative. Employees or managers are expected to solve problems or handle situations using the logical scientific approach. Under the logico-scientific mode of decision making, all the required information is collected so that the employee becomes well acquainted with the situation and makes a logical and definitive decision. It is important to understand that under this type of critical thinking pattern, decisions cannot be based on one's opinion or even the opinion of the team; it must be based on hard evidence (McAulay, Russell and Sims, 1997). When decisions are based on personal perspectives or opinions without taking in consideration, the interest of the firm than the results usually turn out to be harmful for the organization.
Under the persuasive thinking pattern, managers tend to collect all data that supports their opinion or perspective with which they view the situation and take the decision based on it. Under the creative thinking pattern, managers make a decision that is very unusual and does not appear to be the solution to the situation. However such a decision is based upon creative thinking which has elicited such a result. One other factor that is definitely an influence and a thinking pattern, which can effect a decision-making process, is the manager's personality. Different personality types have been related to different thinking patterns (Waldersee and Sheather, 1996). They found that characteristics such as problem solving style, locus of control, the need for achievement, risk aversion and the degree of tolerance the manager has for ambiguity are all directly related to the patterns that go into the formation of a decision. Personality characteristics then incite the implementation of whatever decision has been made. For example, in firms, an internal locus of control is directly linked to innovations within the company as well as to a greater effectiveness in managing. In other firms, a willingness to accept risk and a high degree of tolerance for ambiguity are considered in being effective in building the company but not in maintaining it at any given level. However personality characteristics are not the only factors that determine the process of decision-making; there are also the factors of experience and the inter-relationship of personality within the specific context of the situation. Furthermore, the head of the department or the leader of the team of which the manager is a member plays a significant part in influencing the decisions made by the manager or the employee.
Forces of Influence
The foremost force of influence is the information available to a manager. This is because managers are basically "information workers" (McCall & Kaplan, 1990). They spend the majority of their time absorbing information and trying to process all the information in order to reach a decision of some sort or another. Secondly, managers are also influenced by the associates that surround him or her. The colleagues not only provide a manager with the information that is needed to complete a particular scenario, they also determine the decision that a manager will finally make. Thirdly, a manager's choice is also determined by the environment at work or the guiding values and beliefs within the organization.
Apart from the influences that present themselves at work,...
Critical thinking is the rationally closely controlled process of aggressively and competently conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and assessing information gathered from observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action. It involves the scrutiny of those structures or elements of thought implicit in all reasoning, purpose, problem, or question, assumptions; concepts; empirical grounding; reasoning leading to conclusions; implications and consequences; objections from alternative viewpoints; and frame
It would also create intensifying competition, which would force purveyors of e-books to increase the quality of their products and services. In all, it would have the ultimate positive benefit of supporting the development of virtual reading. Customer choices As it has been previously mentioned, Kindle is not the first electronic reader, but it is the most popular one. Having observed the triumphs of Amazon, other producers are striving to enter
Critical Thinking and Logical Fallacies Author and speaker Brian Tracy says that people do not make decisions rationally, or logically. He believes that individuals make decisions emotionally, and then only seek to justify them on a rational, logical, or rational thought basis. For example, purchasing a vehicle is less often the rational decision regarding what is needed, and more often influences by what the person wants to gain from an individual
Critical Thinking Case Study: Let it Pour - My First Assignment as Executive Assistant Key Problems and Issues The first of the problems are coming from the origin of the hospital as it is an organization with a lot of spiritual heritage and values. These have to be retained even while providing all the required services and satisfaction for the patients. The second problem that the hospital is facing is due to
Critical Thinking Case Study Faith Community Hospital is a not-for-profit hospital and has a mission statement which is interpreted by everyone the way the want to interpret it. Their mission statement compels them to provide health care services and work towards better health and well-being of the people who belong to the communities that Faith Community Hospital serves. It further includes that they are to provide these services in collaboration with
The decade-old system that specifies least standards for staffing in nursing homes need to be restructured, the report says. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services must call for nursing homes to have at least one RN within the facility during all times. Based on the departments' 2001 report to Congress on minimum staff-to-patient ratios for nursing homes, the HHS should mention the staffing levels that increased with
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now