Running head: CRITICAL THINKING AND DECISION MAKING

Individual Paper: Critical Thinking and Decision Making by Daniel Palliparambil
DMBA610 – Ethical Leadership in Organizations & Society
University of Maryland University College
September 16, 2011

Individual Paper

Introduction

Outsourcing is a relevant and arguable issue in the United States. Jobs that were previously handled by American workers are already being handled by workers located in other countries that offer lower wages and lower costs of living. The case study describes the Department of Transportation of Illinois plans to outsource the management of information management systems. Ms. Barbara Glenn makes several arguments against this outsourcing in her memo to Mr. Cesar Padilla, the President of the FSEU (FSEU Memo, 2011).

In the book, “Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking (Tenth Edition), by M. Neil Brown and Stuart M. Keeley”, the authors examine the benefits of critical thinking as it relates to the process of asking the right kinds of questions. The authors define critical thinking: “as the awareness of a set of interrelated critical questions, the ability to ask and answer critical questions at appropriate times; and the desire to actively use the critical questions” (Brown & Keeley, 2010, p. 2). In my examination of the Memo by Ms. Barbara Glenn, I will apply the various steps developed by Brown and Keeley, to examine the arguments made.

Conclusions and Issues Involved

Ms. Glenn stated that the proposal to outsource the information management system of the Department of Transportation is a straight assault on the Union and will not be favorable to the members of the Union, the employees in the U.S. and also to the overall condition of the domestic economy. Consequently, her recommendation was to fight this move with the maximum amount of effort that they can assemble. The plan to outsource would increase the slow destruction within the information management system division of the Department of Tourism, depriving them of jobs that they have performed for long years already. Ms. Glenn’s memo also calls out the governor as being a bully who does not consider at all the long term jobs of the Union members in the name of cost savings and efficiency. The action of the DoT will spread to other departments and should be opposed while it can still be opposed.

The Reasons Offered in the Memo

Ms. Glenn provided several reasons supporting her arguments for going against the proposed outsourcing of information management system of the DoT. The chief reason for opposing the outsourcing move is that the management is attempting to guide the Union and the rest of the employees to a position which would leave them no choice but to accept lower wages comparable to those being received by their counterparts in other countries with lower wages. The decision could also be a way to push away older employees with higher tenure. Learning new tasks and jobs would not be easy for these types of Union members and therefore, would be displaced with no jobs to absorb them. She also mentions that outsourcing is the cause of the recession in the American economy and that if Mr. Padilla would adhere to Ms. Glenn’s arguments; he would enjoy greater popularity and his re-election would be guaranteed (FSEU Memo, 2011).

Finally, outsourcing of information management systems will compromise confidential information of the citizens of Illinois because this data would be in the possession of foreigners who may have additional benefits in using the information for purposes other than what they were intended for. She also stresses that the major focus of corporations is profit and will proceed only for that without consideration of the public interest.

Ambiguous Words and Phrases

When examining someone’s argument one must be critical in understanding the pros and cons of their argument (Brown & Keeley, 2010). Some words and phrases were ambiguous and would need further explanation to reach a better understanding. For example, Anti-American is a very strong term that could bring to mind conflicting images such as terrorism and religious extremism. This will then affect the reader as if the whole national interest of the U.S. is at risk because of the ambiguity and vagueness of the term.

“Losing control of information systems” and “compromised data” can also be viewed as ambiguous terms (FSEU memo, 2011). While the phrases were used in the framework of corporate responsibility and outsourcing, their implications are a little unclear in relation to the outsourcing matter and the Union members. The term “Communication and culture crash problems” is also ambiguous and generates the perception that there are contradictory disparities between and among peoples coming from different countries (FSEU memo, 2011).

Value Conflicts and Assumptions

The ambiguous words and phrases could perhaps be explained better by looking at the core value conflicts and assumptions. Ms. Glenn seems to identify that the moves of the management are based on the Union and forming scenarios for “bullying” the Union into subservience. Her arguments necessarily draw upon a basic observation that management and Union will in no way be like-minded. Since the management is lobbying for outsourcing, the argument she presented follows that the stage for management-union divergence is set. Things can only be resolved therefore with conflict and direct confrontation.

Another assumption, which also gives away the underlying value conflicts, is the claim that Mr. Padilla will win the approval of the Union members and will assure him his re-election. This is a big assumption in the perception and views of the Union members that may be hard to quantify or back up with information. Ms. Glenn’s memo also presumed that with outsourcing, foreign companies and agents will be the ones who will win the bidding. This does not take into account that there may also be U.S. companies that might also bid on the contract of outsourcing.

Descriptive Assumptions

In terms of descriptive assumptions, she assumed that older inexperienced workers do not want to learn new tasks or jobs and are content in doing the tasks that they feel proficient in performing. While it is difficult to learn new tasks and proficiencies, there are older workers who welcome the challenge of learning new things in their jobs for their personal and professional growth and development.

She assumed that corporations are only interested in profits and if they are no longer enjoying profits, corporations would compromise the interests of their clients, which in the case of the memo is the State Department of Transportation. She also assumed that the government would do well to let go of other wasteful projects and instead leave the Union alone. This assumption means that the Union should be free of the interference of the management, which would not be a viable scenario.

Fallacies in Reasoning

The discussion section of the memo has several misleading notions in reasoning that deteriorate the arguments put forth. In the memo, Ms. Glenn engages in name-calling as she calls the governor a bully, which brought to light her outlook that the management and Union are continuously locked in conflict. Name-calling does not add to her argument for her case and should not be included. This erroneous belief is demeaning the source and attacks the person who instigated the outsourcing without striking down the move itself.

Ms. Glenn also appeals to the possible re-election of Mr. Padilla. This could be considered as deceptive reasoning because the decision would be based on appeal to the crowd. Although the majority of people may hold an outlook, it does not necessarily mean that theirs is the correct position. By stating that “corporations are accountable only to the bottom line,” (FSEU Memo, 2011) the author commits the fallacy of broad oversimplification. While many companies are largely focused on profit, there are companies that exist who use profits to pursue unselfish aims. The author also engages in a quick generalization by considering the author’s brother in law as the source for the attrition and downsizing of the American economy. While this case may be true, it is too small a sample to make such an important generalization.

Evidences for the Arguments

For the arguments to stand, proof and support should be presented. The author of the memo provides several claims. Ms. Glenn claims that outsourcing is the cause of recession and uses as evidence her brother-in-law who is still unemployed. This evidence does not successfully sustain the argument put forward by Ms. Glenn because there might be other intervening factors to explain why her brother-in-law is still not working.

Wikipedia is also cited as a source for the arguments of Ms. Glenn against the advantages of privatization. Although the Wikipedia article may have cited authoritative sources such as laws, books and academic journals, Wikipedia, itself, is far from being an authoritative source due to the fact that anyone with a free account at Wikipedia can edit an article. In addition to this, the author did not even list down the relevant provision of the Pendleton Act of 1883 to help bolster her arguments.

Alternative or Rival Causes

A further contingent substantiation she presented is an article published by an unnamed Wall Street newspaper claiming that there is an extra 20% cost to government’s contract with a third party vendor or service provider. While this may be true, there may be other causes for the additional 20% charge and the overall cost might still be more efficient and valuable than other options available.

Statistics in the Memo

The author did not present statistical data for her arguments. Actually, the lack of statistics is an evident weakness in the arguments put forward in the memo. The author used her brother in law’s experience with a Michigan company and articles lifted from the Internet and some vague newspaper. If the author presented statistics or research studies conducted that support her arguments, the arguments would have been stronger.

Information Omitted

The memo presented only the side of Ms. Glenn and the perspective of the Union. Hence, it is unbalanced given the interests of the Union took the center stage in the written memo. What was not provided was the government’s prospective and the arguments associated with the move that they are making. The government does have reasons to proceed with the outsourcing project, and this may or may not include the direct attack on the Union as was understood by Ms. Glenn.

The current cost of operations and maintenance of the government would have been a great addition to a better understanding of the issue at hand and not only the possible savings that the State department could enjoy. By itemizing the disputes of the government point by point, Ms. Glenn could have confronted the arguments one by one and went on to establish her case against the outsourcing move by the government. The alleged benefits of outsourcing could also have been presented. Yet, such benefits were removed altogether. Statistics on attrition rate, the outsourcing industry and the employment rate in the U.S. could also have helped the case be presented more strongly.

Alternative and Reasonable Conclusions

Outsourcing may have its negative aspects yet its benefits should not be discharged altogether. The outsourcing move could generate thousands, if not millions of dollars in savings for the benefit of the government. Such savings, in turn could be used for the greater public good. Yet, outsourcing could also be detrimental to the employees and to the Union in general.

Outsourcing can lead to extensive unemployment because the Department would have to release workers that will no longer have active roles to play in the company. Given the economic recession in the United States, these workers may not be hired by other companies. In addition to this, learning new tasks and proficiencies may be a big challenge for most of them. If unemployment will rise, then the quality of life of Americans will be compromised and the government will then have to spend more in response to the difficulties that will arise in response to this. Outsourcing also poses big challenges in terms of data management, confidentiality and cultural exchange between and among those who provide service and the American consumers. The Union will have to challenge the decision of the government on the basis of its impact on the workers and on the overall situation of the Department of Transportation.

References

Browne, M. N., & Keeley, S.M. (2010). Asking the right questions: A guide to critical thinking (10th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.

FSEU Memo. (2011). Memo Sent to Mr. Cesar Padilla by Barbara Glenn, FSEU Local No. 343.