Critical Thinking and Managerial Decision Making for Workshops

Question: Discuss about theCritical Thinking and Managerial Decision Making for Workshops. Answer: Introduction Critical thinking becomes a fundamental element when managerial decision-making is considered (Facione and Gittens, 2015, p.183). Every manager and his team are expected to possess strong critical thinking ability, so that they can be able to run the organization and companies in the right direction. The course that I have gone through; Critical Thinking and Managerial Decision-Making, has helped me in developing skills that are directly applicable in improving my levels of critical thinking, applying managerial and organization leadership theories in the managerial reflections and in workshops. The skills I have developed in this learning environment and practices will be directly applied in my future career to make sure that I will be able to work well as a manager (Kinicki et al., 2014, p. 53). Week 1: Introduction to Problem solving and Managerial Decision Problem solving abilities and communicating effectively is what people in businesses relate to as critical thinking. Use of logic and brain to understand all the life situations will depend on how someone thinks critically. Managerial decision making on the other hand involves solving problems and making resolutions, which leads to good management skills (Goetsch and Davis, 2014, p. 106). Critical thinking and managerial decision making will therefore help one be a good manager by ensuring that all what happens within is because of thoughtful conclusion. Any good learner will apply the two to ensure success in everything in future that is after joining them with the educational knowledge. As a learner, I am also able to plan my time and manage it. In exam, I am needed to think critically so that I can score well. I am capable of solving all the problems, which I come across in life because in mind I know that any decision I make should aim at ensuring peace of my mind. Any conclusion I come to should always be welcomed by the people I lead or in the society, as I should always solve my problems observing that I do not harm other people after what I do now and in future. Week 2: Reflection on Prospect Theory and Application of the Theory in Making Managerial Decisions People choose alternatives in life through probabilities, which may result to risking with unknown outcome. Daniel Kahneman describes this as Prospect theory. Use of this theory is evident in how people risk in their real life as they try to work and make a living through businesses. Daily routine of working hard to put something on the table makes them toss or risk their lives and property with an intention of gaining more not knowing that they may end up making losses (Wang, Zhang and Wang, 2015, p.68). All this is due to the decisions made based on assumptions of gaining which is the mentality of every businessperson. Failure to know the outcome makes the person put more effort to make profit or achieve the target in the business. With this in mind, any risk I take is geared towards attaining what is worthy. I have been able to understand that alternatives I take requires critical thinking and making wise decisions. Knowledge will also enable me accept losses because they can be b ecause of risking without knowing the outcome. This has helped me in knowing that in risking I should always be prepared for different results, which may be favorable or unfavorable. Bearing this in mind, I can always be prepared in future for anything worth taking risks. Week 3: Reflection on Science of Personality and Automatic Thinking Science of personality help people understand and manage time. It helps one become an important member in any business. People learn about themselves and about other people hence making it very easy for them to relate well. This knowledge leads to healthy living whereby one can understand the other ensuring peace between them. In business, all the participants will transact their businesses well because they are aware of each others personality. Automatic thinking entails thinking fast while critical thinking requires reasoning and that is why it can also be referred to as slow thinking. The knowledge of the two has helped me make rational decisions. Through fast thinking, I can make quick decisions and especially in moments, which require quick actions to be taken. I am capable of managing stress through the knowledge of automatic thinking. Knowledge of inductive reasoning has also helped me in predicting about my future and everything that I do in life. Conclusions I make are out o f it hence shaping up my behavior because I can well predict my future (Jackson and Schuler, 1995, p.237). Week 4: Reflection on Self-Awareness and the Core of Good Leadership Self-awareness being the ability to recognize oneself leads to an individual having a clear view of his or her personality. This awareness has helped me learn more about myself and other people hence being able to relate well with them. Sometimes I can work to improve my awareness through practicing. It makes it possible for to understand leaders and who they are because I have the ability to know their personality. I am able to manage a large group of people because I have learnt how to interact, lead and relate well with people. This improves my leadership skills, which helps me create a good rapport with people now and in future. It has also helped me practice decorum in my leadership. Talking to people politely makes them respect you despite your age or height because of the good approach to them. Having learnt this, I have been able to practice it because I am aware that is what people likes. Therefore, in leadership I can apply all what I have learnt by reflecting back to the c ontent taught and the knowledge I have gained after studying. Week 5: Reflection on Innovation and Creativity Innovation and creativity are important skills in critical thinking and decision making as they serve to improve what one is doing and give the results of someones thoughts. Thinking outside the box also is part of creativity because someone has to engage his or her mind in critical thinking. I have learnt that through innovation and creativity I can come up with something, which can help me in living a good life. Am able to help many people out of my innovation hence creating friendship among the people. Any situation, which seems to be difficult, I am able to think outside the box and be able to solve the problem because I have the ability to. Sharing with other people my innovations, which are out of my creativity because of critical thinking, has helped me lead people well without rough heads. This will also help me in future in leading people and in managing everything that I do. Response on Context Analysis and Making Quality Conclusion The decision-making and contexts are interlinked because decision making involves the process of having or gaining clarity together with the elements based on conclusion and the identification of quality conclusions (Helfat and Peteraf, 2015, p.831; Bratton and Gold, 2017). The reflection based on the decision making in the context as well as developing strong conclusion has helped me in my managerial skills and in making right decisions. The lesson for the week engaged me fully and I was able to realize that there is a close relationship between decision-making process and context. On the aspect of the context, I learnt about understanding the people in the workplace, identification of the needs at a particular time; when, following the right criteria, approximating when and the area where the risks may happen. Understanding the context will help me decide where I will make adjustments and it will positively influence my decision. The issue of understanding setting had not been so m uch familiar to me as I did not have a clear grasp of the organization, or the business decision making in context (Rothaermel, 2015, p.94). However, with the current knowledge of the same. I am therefore, challenged to practice context analysis before making any decision in any workplace. Week 7: Critical Thinking and Managerial Decision Making 7 weeks Course The significant or important concepts learnt in each week are crucial to all the people. Personally, they are very important to me because they have helped and guided me in everything I do and will do in future (Liu, Fan and Zhang, 2014, p.75). For instance, the prospect theory and science of personality have helped me know that risking can be done with an aim of gaining only to get a loss at the end. This has helped me to know that I must psychologically be prepared to any outcome because anything can happen on the process. Self-awareness has also in living well with people because I have known that people have different personalities. This knowledge is what has enabled good relationship between me and the other people. Conclusion Conclusively, critical thinking and managerial decision-making are very important skills, which every human being is entitled to have. The two help one in managing himself or herself and then in managing other people. I can bet that the knowledge I have gained in studying the two skills has helped me a lot from the way I view issues and conduct myself to the way I also view other people. Applying the skills in my daily life has created a good rapport, which gives me peace of mind. Therefore, it is very important for everybody to get to know them and live well with other people because as one is solving his or her problem, he or she solves other peoples problems too. References Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2017. Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave. Facione, P. and Gittens, C.A., 2015. Think critically. Pearson. Gherardi, S. and Murgia, A., 2014. What makes a good manager? Positioning gender and management in students narratives. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, 33(8), pp.690-707. Goetsch, D.L. and Davis, S.B., 2014. Quality management for organizational excellence. Upper Saddle River, NJ: pearson. Hatch, M.J., 2018. 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