...Cliffside Holding Company of MASSAPEQUA Danny Gonzalez 20 January 2015 20 January 2015 Cliffside Holding Company of MASSAPEQUA Introduction This paper consists of analyzing a memorandum from Mr. Anil Ravaswami (Vice-President of Human Resources) address to Ms. Cynthia Castle, CEO of Cliffside Holding Company of Massapequa (CHCM). The memo was in regard to establishing and funding something that CHCM did not have before; a new leadership development program specifically design for junior insurance executives. Mr. Ravaswami is suggesting to Ms. Castle not to invest on the leadership training because it will a waste of time and the money can be spent more wisely. I analyzed Mr. Ravaswami’s memo using the ten steps of critical thinking model from the book Asking the Right Questions. The way I accomplished this task was by asking one question at a time and explaining my results. What are the issues and the conclusion? The first step of the critical thinking model asks what are the issues and the conclusion with Mr. Ravaswami’s memo. After a senior executive meeting, the director of operations has suggested that it will be a good investment for CHCM to start a leadership development program for their junior financial executives. Mr. Ravaswami wrote a memo to Ms. Castle explaining his beliefs that CHCM should not proceed with the request because the program is not necessary and he concluded that the money could be spent better. What are the reasons? ...
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...The authors define a critical thinking method by creating a 10-step strategy process that can be used to evaluate a memo from Mr. Anil Ravaswami, Vice-President of Human Resources of Cliffside Holding Company of Massapequa. The memo expressed his opinion about the junior leadership training program to Ms. Cynthia Castle, CEO of Cliffside Holding Company of Massapequa. Step 1: What are the issues and the conclusion? Finding the issue is raising questions about what is right and wrong, good or bad (Browne & Keely, 2010). The company want to send employees off-site each year for leadership training. (The request was for his office to evaluate the merit of the request.) The twelve senior executives hadn’t want to attend the seminar and yet the company was successful. They think that it is a waste. Mr. Anil Ravaswami, vice president of Human Resources believes that leadership traits are innate. The issue set forth in Mr. Anil’s memo is whether to invest financially in the junior executives for annual leadership training. The conclusion set forth by Mr. Anil is not to invest in the training program. He said: “Cliffside Holding Company of Massapequa should not invest in the proposed initiative to send its junior executives for annual leadership training.” (Cliffside Holding Company of Massapequa, 2014). He believes that it would be a wasteful programs. Step 2: What Are the Reasons? It’s similar to Six Sigma. The...
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... Forsythe’s, The Director of Operations, proposal to fund a new leadership development program. He expresses to the CEO of Cliffside Holding Company of Massapequa, Ms. Cynthia Castle, his dilemma which is, “Is it necessary to invest in a leadership development program?” (A. Ravaswami, personal communication, October 10, 2012). In which he states that the senior executive members never attended a leadership seminar but on average, the company's growth continues to excel. He challenges the proposition by stating that “leaders are born, not made”. He points out that leadership comes from within and that you cannot make someone become a leader. For one, to be a leader, he/she must possess qualities such as intelligence, motivation, and the ability to be influential. He goes on to list a group of leaders who possess similar qualities in comparison to one another. His theory disputes that it would be meaningless to train those who aren't natural born leaders as opposed to those who are. The methodology of Asking the Right Questions was used to analyze the memo which involves ten critical analysis steps to analyze and evaluate the author's argument. What are the issue and conclusions? The issues in the memo are that the Cliffside Holding Company of Massapequa are mulling on the decision to budget on a leadership training program. According to Mr. Anil Ravaswami, Vice- President of Human...
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...Asking the Right Questions-11 Step Analysis Introduction “I know it’s good to be a critical thinker and to be able to ask lots of good questions, but I don’t know what questions to ask or how to ask them.” (Browne & Keeley, 2011) In our text “Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking (10th Ed.) The authors explore the benefits and necessity for critical thinking as it relates to the process of asking the right questions to make an informed decision and conclusion to an argument. The authors Browne and Keeley (2011) give two different approaches that can be taken in order to achieve success in critical thinking; the Interactive approach which involves evaluation of what is being read or heard and the sponge approach which involves little thought because you are simply absorbing everything you read and hear. With a good combination of the two one can successfully go through the critical thinking process and ask and answer all the right questions. So what are the right questions? Browne and Keeley give 10 questions that create a stairway to successful critical thinking. I am going to go through the 10-question model and examine a Memo written by Ms. Mary Ford the Director of Human Resources of APEU to Mr. Hector Fuentes the President of APEU local No. 121. I. What are the Issues and Conclusions? An issue is a question or controversy responsible for the conversation or discussion. It is the stimulus for what is being said (Browne & Keeley, 2011). There are...
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...Cynthia Castle (CEO, CHCM) dated October 10, 2012 . Mr. Ravaswami strongly disagrees with the need for a leadership program for the company that was proposed by the director of operations Ms. Florence Forsythe. Mr. Ravaswami stated that Ms. Forsythe was not at all concerned about the company’s interest but her concerns were more of a personal agenda to discredit him personally and push the theories of the Aspen Institute. In this paper I will analyze and evaluate the business proposal by applying the 10 step model of critical thinking that was discussed in the, Asking the Right Questions (Browne & Keeley, 2012). The steps that was discussed was 1) Finding out what are the issues and the conclusions; 2) Identifying What are the reasons; 3) Identifying which words or phrases are ambiguous; 4) What are the values and descriptive assumptions; 5) Checking to see if there are any fallacies in the reasoning; 6) How good is the evidence; 7) Are there any rival causes; 8) Are the statistics Deceptive; 9) What significant information is omitted; and finally 10) what reasonable conclusions are possible. Issues and Conclusions The issue that was discussed in the Memo sent by the vise president of Human Resource[s] Mr. Anil Ravaswami dated October 10, 2012 to the CEO Ms. Cynthia Castle was to decide if Cliffside Holdings Company of Massapequa should or shouldn’t develop a leadership development program for its Junior Financial Executives in order for future advancement....
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...Analysis Using Critical Thinking Model: Cliffside Holding Company Memo University of Maryland University College Introduction Amidst this barrage of information in today’s world, it is often difficult to make a decision and stand by it, assured that it was the most advantageous to all those involved. Fortunately, critical thinking is a tool available to assist in making well thought out decisions in the face of contradictory opinions and impulsive actions. In Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking, Browne and Keeley (2013) explain that critical thinking is “reacting with systematic evaluation to what you have heard and read” (p. 4). They further assert that critical thinking “requires a set of skills and attitudes that are built around a series of related critical questions” (p. 4). By asking the right questions, we employ the skill of critical thinking to enhance what and how we process information. To examine the concept of critical questions, this paper will analyze a business document from Cliffside Holding of Massapequa using the critical thinking model outlined by Browne and Keeley (2013) in Asking the Right Questions. Analysis Mr. Anil Ravaswami, Vice-President (VP) of Human Resources (HR) of Cliffside Holding Company of Massapequa (CHMC), wrote a memo to CEO Cynthia Castle in response to her request for the evaluation of a proposal for a new leadership development program to be designed for Cliffside’s junior insurance executives (personal...
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...this method, systematic evaluation is completed by asking yourself ten different questions that help to identify things such as bias opinions, false statements or fallacies, attitudes, omitted information and even help to identify rival causes for reasons given or evidence used. By using this method of critical thinking, Cliffside Holding Company of Massapequa (CHCM) will have a much more clear perspective as to whether or not a leadership development program should be created and funded for junior insurance executives. What are the issues and the conclusions? The first of Browne and Keeley’s ten step method is to ask yourself, “What are the issues and the conclusions” (Browne & Keeley, 2012 p. 18). When you read Mr. Ravaswami’s memo you can clearly identify the prescriptive issue at hand which is whether or not CHCM should establish and fund a new leadership development program for junior insurance executives. The issue here is clearly a prescriptive one as Mr. Ravaswami’s memo is attempting to persuade Ms. Cynthia Castle, CHCM’s Vice President of Human Resources that choosing to establish and fund this program would be both wrong as well as bad for the company. Mr. Ravaswami’s conclusion is that CHCM should not invest in the proposed initiative to send its junior insurance executives for annual leadership training. Mr. Ravaswami attempts to prove this claim by providing his beliefs, personal opinions and...
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...the book Asking the Right Questions by Browne, N. and Keeley, S. My intend is also to assess a memo by Mr. Anil, Vice-President of Human Resources at Cliffside Holding Company of Massapequa (CHCM.) the operations director came with the idea of creating a leadership-development program for the future leaders of CHCM. The plan of the director of operations is to prepare the staff that is working for the company, for they are expected to take on executive positions in the future. In a memo, Mr. Anil argues why a developmental program is not necessary. Mr. Anil’s memo is a response from a formal request of the installment and investment of the leadership development program for junior executives. The identified issue is: Should CHCM invests on establishing a leadership development program to train junior financial executives? According to Mr. Anil, Vice-President of Human Resources, it is a waste of resources for CHCM to invest on establishing a leadership development program and to send the junior executives for annual training. There are five reasons for Anil to decline the formal request by Ms. Forsythe. First, he highlight the high cost that would involve sending 20 staff members yearly. If CHCM were to send the junior financial executives to the training, the expense for the company would be $100,000.00. Moreover, the company would be at lose labor wise given that part of the personnel would be out of their workstations. Secondly, Mr. Anil concurs that the company’s experience...
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...Critical Thinking Analysis of Cliffside Holding Company Memo Lisa A. Farinelli University of Maryland University College 1209 AMBA 610 9043 10/9/2012 Professor Bonnie Peter Abstract This paper demonstrates the application of the critical thinking and systems thinking models to analyze complex organizational issues. To illustrate the benefits of using such a model, one sample memo originating from a Cliffside Holding Company of Massapequa will be referenced. The 10-steps of Critical Thinking defined in asking the Right Questions, Browne (2012) will guide this discussion. A summation of findings and suggestions for future readings concludes this discussion. Asking the Right Questions What are the issue and conclusions? The first step to appreciating the authenticity and credibility of the work is to identify the issue as well as the conclusion purported by its author. Browne (2012) defines the issue as the question or controversy that is responsible for the discussion, the actual stimulus (p. 19). In the memo by A. Ravaswami to one of his colleagues, the issue raised is whether a leadership development program is even necessary (A. Ravaswami, personal communication, October 10, 2012). This is an example of an explicitly stated prescriptive issue. The author is raising the question as to what is the proper route for training his top-level executives. The answer to this will involve ethical, moral and personal viewpoints and is therefore a prescriptive issue...
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...series of process, that actively and skillfully conceptualizing, evaluating, applying, and analyzing information to reach an answer or a conclusion. This allows the reader to process the information received to come to a reasonable conclusion based on a reasoned process. This process involve the utilization of the ten step methodology presented in Browne and Keeley’s book called “Asking the Right Questions”. These steps are used to achieve a clearer understanding of the issues being evaluated. In this paper, I will be using Browne and Keeley’s ten step methodology presented in “Asking the right questions” to analyze the memo title “Leadership Development Program” writing by Mr. Anil Ravaswami to Ms. Cynthia Castle (CEO of Cliffside Holding Company of Massapequa CHCM). I will be analyzing the memo by going through each steps of the critical thinking model. This is to show my level of understanding of the intended messages being conveyed by Mr. A. Ravaswami’s memo. Critical Thinking: Leadership-Development Programs In Browne and Keeley’s book “Asking the Right Question”, Browne and Keeley discuss what the characteristics of an active reader or listener is. Browne and Keeley indicated that an active reader or listener is one who possesses the ability to utilize the search strategy, which explains or reveal an in depth answers to the question asked by the writer. These involves a process of asking certain powerful questions in order to reach a personal decision based off of an author’s...
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...Critical Thinking And Asking the Right Questions Mark Buscemi Introduction: To survive in such a complex and diverse world we as people must possess the ability to think critically in highly complex situations. The world is an extremely challenging place, all of us are forced to adapt by constantly challenging existing principles and performing certain methods to ensure our growth both physically and mentally. Many claim that contemporary society needs a skill called critical thinking to adapt and survive. Critical thinking is a higher level of intellectual progression that makes use of diverse information, skills and attitudes in interpreting situations and confronting problems. Critical thinking is done by everyone, it is all around us. But how many of us actually understand the critical thinking model created by Browne and Keeley? Critical thinking can only be effective if the one who engages in the process understands the 11 questions and steps created by Browne and Keeley while adapting them to each situation. This paper is an attempt to evaluate and converse the nature of critical thinking as an intellectual process based on the given situation (ex. the memo to evaluate the merit of Ms. Forsythe’s proposal to establish and fund a new leadership development program for junior insurance executives). Critical Thinking: According to Brown and Keeley (2007) critical thinking is an organized intellectual process that an individual undergoes while using...
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... According to the University of Maryland University College (UMUC) Crit-Think-Audio, critical thinking model helps in the analyzation and finding solution to complex organizational problems that affect decision making ability of managers. By definition, critical thinking means making reasoned judgement that are logical and well thought-out. That is, a way of thinking that you don’t just accept all argument and conclusions, but rather you have an attitude by questioning every notion which raises the question of how and why? According to the UMUC Crit-Think-Audio, people who asked questions on how get a job and the people that ask question why be there bosses. However, this paper is for the analyzation of the Cliffside Holding Company of Massapequa (CHCM) Memo, and also, using the critical thinking model as described in the textbook, asking the right questions and applying the several steps as reveled by Browne and Keeley (Browne & Keeley, 2015, to measure up the argument described in the CHCM memo. The critical thinking model was prepared and applied in a memo by CHCM in evaluating the effectiveness of management improvement and development program that will enhance a leadership development program of junior financial executives for the future advancement. The organization proposes to examine the issues associated with staging cost price of the program which is it going to cost the organization $5000.00 on each individual sent off-site for the this...
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...enable you to reach a personal decision that would eventually give credit to both sides of a discussion. Critical thinking is, in essence, the analysis, synthesis and evaluation of one’s experience, as it relates to the worth of the discussion at hand. The authors define critical thinking as, “the awareness of a set of interrelated critical questions, the ability to ask and answer critical questions in an appropriate manner; and the desire to actively use the critical questions” (p. 4). This paper will evaluate the nature of critical thinking as an intellectual process and apply that to the memorandum date October 10, 2012 to Cynthia Castle from Anil Ravaswami to determine if the issue stated of whether the CEO of the company, Cliffside Holding Company of Massapequa (CHCM) should invest $100,000 per year in leadership training program for junior insurance executives. Browne and Keeley (2010) make it clear that a critical evaluation cannot be done until the conclusion is found and instructs the critical thinker to find this by asking “What is the writer or speaker trying to prove”, and defines a conclusion as “inferred”, that is, derived from reasoning (p.26). DISCUSSION The 10 steps of the critical thinking model as discussed by Brown and Keeley (2010) include the following: 1. “What are the issues and the conclusions? 2. What are the reasons? 3. What words or phrases are...
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