...Printable Problem-Solving Aid STEP 1: Describe the Situation Before identifying the issues and opportunities in the scenario, examine the Mind Map and read the text materials carefully identifying the concepts on the map. Write several introductory paragraphs identifying the key course concepts and theories that are illustrated in the scenario and note why they are important (do remember to cite your references to the text and/or selected readings). Then describe how the situation at the subject organization reflects these concepts and theories as related to the issues and opportunities the organization in the scenario is facing. When identifying conflicts, start by comparing and contrasting the interests, rights and values of the different key stakeholders. One must consider ethical dilemmas. A good way to do this is to think about how the values of the different stakeholders compete with each other. Some values to consider might be social responsibility, integrity, accountability, fairness, respect, and honesty, among others. STEP 2: Frame the “Right” Problem The problem must be broadly stated so that it will lead to many possibilities, and must be one where there can be no single answer. A litmus test for a problem statement: 1. It should be short and easily understood (25 words or less). 2. It should be about realizing opportunities. 3. It shouldn't have a solution or suggest a specific tactic—it should lend itself to many solutions. One way...
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...seeing how behavior can be influenced by the thought, memory and planning from the cognitive perspective. An example is, analysing the study behavior and how overthinking can lead to self-doubt as it creates a need for perfection and internal chattering which will influence the studying in a negative way. Environmental and sociocultural level of analysis results in examining the trigger in the physical or social environment which represents a person's behavior thoughts and feelings, an article discussed in a tutorial shows how environment can influence our intelligence, through the comparison of different types of social gatherings a person has, as hanging out with smarter people that you, increase your intelligence and vice versa.(4 timeless ways to boost your...
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...decisions can be detrimental to just not the person’s life but also the lives of those in connection with the person. This paper will cover the steps in a decision-making process and how making the right choices will improve the whole outcome. When relocating from the southern region of the United States to the northern region, an individual must put various degrees of thought and make sure that the decision to make the move will benefit the individuals of the family and not cause any harm to those same folks. When making a decision for the move, the Gaffney family had to ensure that they would first have the money to make such a move, the timing of the move did not interfere with any school schedules, and there would be a place to live once the move was made. As discussed in the reading, there are many more steps involved in the decision making process that the Gaffney family overlooked while making such an important decision. The stages described in the book Management: Leading and Collaborating in a Competitive World are Identifying and Diagnosing the Problem, Generating Alternative Solutions, Evaluating Alternatives, Making the Choice, Implementing the Decision, and Evaluating the Decision (Bateman & Snell, 2010). There were several steps that the Gaffney family did not take into consideration when making such a large change in their lives. By following the steps in the decision making process, the Gaffney family identified and diagnosed the problem as living extremely...
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...an important way of thinking in a business setting. This type of thinking involves decision-making and thinking of all elements of a specific decision. When all of the elements of the decision are explored, and different alternatives are presented, the individual or group involved in the decision the best possible alternative is chosen (Natale & Ricci, 2006). The health insurance field uses critical thinking in all aspects of business decisions. Critical thinking includes understanding the concept of using critical thought and knowing the direction that thought is going to take the group or individual (Natale & Ricci, 2006). Thinking happens every second of every day, the best type of thinkers are the thinkers who think about what an individual is thinking (Paul & Elder, 2006). These thinkers think about what their thinking and may ponder on what one is thinking and then these thinkers act upon that thought (Paul & Elder, 2006). The best thinkers use critical thought in the workplace and create many solutions to different issues or problems within an organization. In organizations, it is important for an organization to develop employee’s critical thinking skills. Employees who think about what the individual is thinking and come up with the best alternative solutions can hold a competitive advantage over competitors (mindtools.com, 2010). Blue Shield of California (BSC) is a leading health insurance company in the state of California. There are many departments within this...
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...lease that was soon to expire, and owners that wanted to increase the monthly rate if a new lease were to be signed, it was time to make some decisions. Having lived in this house for five years, my family and I had made it our home, and the thought of having to leave weighed heavily on us all. Our first step was deciding if this home was worth the increased rate, or would we be better off financially by moving. We sat down and brainstormed pros and cons of staying in the house or leaving. This ranged from the cost of staying, the cost of moving, the needs the home met, the needs that it did not, and the availability of another possible house for our family. Once we evaluated the situation, and the availability of alternative housing, we decided to search for something that was in our budget and that possibly met more of our needs than what we currently had. It was not an easy decision, as the children would not live near all the friends they had become so close to, and we would have to endure the painful process of moving. After all of these factors were considered, the decision was made to move forward with the search for a new home. We tirelessly searched to find the best option for the budget and the family. We were successful in finding the perfect fit for everyone involved as we found a home the suited our family better, was even more budget friendly than our current rate,...
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...solving problems. One day, Tre’ and I were going to the mall, and all of a sudden I saw my son the floor. At that moment, I thought he was dead. I fell to my knees to see if he was breathing, however, within two minutes the ambulance was there. The distressing part of this was that I had no idea something was severely wrong with my son. That very moment I adopted the five- step model to solve my problem. Defining the problem is the first step to finding out what needs to be resolved. Tre' had a tough time with breathing, coughing, and his fever was very high. It was hard to get his fever down. Factors that could have contributed to the cause is a development of bacteria in the chest. The doctor that was caring for Tre' kept me informed of the details of Tre's case. Dr. Jones came up with possible solutions for this bacteria that caused this infection or virus in his lungs which was prednisone and antibiotics. The doctors thought this solution would help Tre’ get better. This solution was effective to treat the infection. However, it did not treat the disease. There were other steps that Tre had to take to try to help treat the disease. Exercising his lungs with breathing treatments and taking medicine would slow down the virus. A lung biopsy was the alternative solution to see what the cause was. Finding this alternative solution was crucial since time was of an essence to avoid Tre’ from getting pneumonia again. Doctor Jones had a series...
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...University of Phoenix Material Understanding the Research Process Resources: Ch. 1, 2, and & 7 of Psychology This required Portfolio assignment will provide you with the opportunity to practice and hone your research skills. It has been designed to help you think scientifically about real world problems and issues and to apply your knowledge of the research process to various topics in Psychology. This assignment accomplishes that goal by challenging you to: • Differentiate between the common use of the word research and the use of the word research in the social and behavioral sciences • Identify the major steps in the research process using a classic study in Psychology as an example. Part I: Defining Research The word research is used in many different ways. Consider the following examples: • Your friend tells you that he intends to research different hair products before deciding on one to buy. • A real estate agent advises you to research home values in your neighborhood before putting your house on the market. • A police officer reports that she is doing ‘some research’ on possible motives for a crime that was committed. • A writer states that he does ‘extensive research’ before beginning his fictional works. Answer the questions below: 1. How is research defined in the social and behavioral sciences? Behavior science is area of the science which concerns with the studying of human and animal behaviors...
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...rebuild the economy for the People of Kava. Wal-Mart’s presence in Kava would go through a series of decisions in order to make our presence successful. Decision-making is when we take our goals, find ways to implement them, and also make our goals achievable. There were many decision making process that we could have used in making our presence in Kava, however using the decision making that is most effective for a large corporation as Wal-mart would be rational style of decision making. Rational decision-making model “This is the most popular type of model and is based around a cognitive judgment of the pros and cons of various options. It is organized around selecting the most logical and sensible alternative that will have the desired effect. Detailed analysis of alternatives and a comparative assessment of the advantages of each is the order of the day” (decision-making confidence, n.d.). Using this decision making model was the most effective for a new company such as Wal-Mart. The Managerial departments would make the future decision whether it is based on warehouse and human resources. This would allow us to see how we would like our managerial and departments to be run and implementing the types of ethics and behavioral we would for our managerial departments to demonstrate into their daily roles. Keeping the ethics and cultural values of the people of Kava is important, as well as trying to maintain our business...
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...Healthy Work Environment Standards: Effective Decision Making Macy Gregory Florida State University Effective Decision Making While there are many factors that contribute to successful leadership and management, being able to effectively make individual and group decisions is the major action that defines who a leader is, what a leader does, and what a leader can accomplish for his or her organization. A successful organization must have effective leaders, and effective leaders must be able to make important decisions in a timely fashion. In order to achieve this, leaders must first possess essential qualities and characteristics, know different approaches to decision making, and overcome any difficulties during the process to make decisions that influence organizational approach and ultimately define their success. Managers and leaders are held accountable for the decisions they make, how those decisions were determined, and what data were collected and analyzed. In making decisions, leaders/managers must have a degree of adaptability so that options can be considered and made flexible (Smith, 2013, p. 1435). Employees rely on leaders/managers to make timely decisions. A leader/manager must be able to take ownership of their decisions. Although managers can delegate particular tasks, they ultimately take responsibility for the outcome. There are different types of managers. Some are cautious and prefer to analyze problems carefully, even routine ones, before taking...
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...Attribution Theory and Depression Mike E. Calderin Christopher Newport Attribution Theory and Depression Baron, Branscombe, and Byrne (2009) explain the attribution theory as not wanting to just know how ourselves and others act, but why we and others act that way. People assign attributes or reasons to why something happens to better perceive, justify, and understand why people act the way they do. The Attribution Theory can be applied to many different areas of peoples’ lives. In recent years the attribution theory has been applied to different areas including Depression (Baron, Branscombe, & Byrne, 2009). According to the Mayo Clinic Staff depression is defined as, “a medical illness that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest” (2013). Depression affects how you act and how you think. It is long-term and not just a momentary feeling. A variety of factors are linked to causing depression and a great deal of variance exists amongst the different variables (Mayo Clinc, 2013). Many different variables are linked to depression and treatment works different for different individuals. Depression covers a wide spectrum in both causes and treatment. The Attribution theory relates to how we see others’ behaviors in an effort to understand people’s motives, goals and intentions (Baron, Branscombe, and Byrne, 2009). The attributions we assign to others may be bias or misinformed based on other variables. Attributes can be stable...
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...MGMT 20124: Preparing a Report for a Case Study In addition to the correct format of your report there are content issues you need to consider. It is useful to read through the case a couple of times and get a feel as to what you will need to find before you go searching for articles. This is always problematic, but you do need to summarise the articles for support in your report, using the content, findings and conclusions. Therefore it is important that the articles are used in the detailed analysis, and argument in development of alternatives. The ‘knowledge & understanding, as well as “research skills” can be satisfied by finding arguments (through the literature) for and against, the issues that are raised within the facts of the case. That is, how well you critically analyze the facts and refer to theories, models and concepts. It will also have a bearing on how well the recommendation/s put forward will have the predictive likelihood of success. To get to that point means that you will have to put forward a range of options and on balanced argument make your decision as to what you recommend and why. Essentially it falls under what can be termed as, triangulation. (see the diagram below.) Your “Guide for Students” also gives good advice re this format. There is no “right or wrong” answer here. The marks to be gained will rise or fall based on the decision (recommendation) you make, as in the real world, and the quality of your ‘reasoned’ argument. Always...
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...situation and judge what is right or wrong through the use of logic and reasoning, beyond their own prejudices. According to Ennis (2001): ”Critical thinking is "reasonably and reflectively deciding what to believe or do. Critical thinking means making reasoned judgments. Basically, it is using criteria to judge the quality of something, from cooking to a conclusion of a research paper. In essence, critical thinking is a disciplined manner of thought that a person uses to assess the validity of something: a statement, news story, argument, research”. Critical Thinking plays a an important role in the case study analysis by giving us a foundation for a deeper learning and integration of the reading. Without thinking critically about what we are studying , we wouldn't be able to learn in a meaningful way or we wouldn't be able to learn deeply enough to have our thinking corrected and enhanced. The purpose of this case study analysis paper is to provide the case study background, identify key problems in the study, provide alternatives, propose solutions and offer a recommendation in the case of Carl Robins by utilizing the critical thinking skills. Background The case study presented in front of us is a case study of Carl Robins, a new campus recruiter for ABC, Inc., who in his first recruitment effort successfully hired 15 new trainees to work for Monica Carrolls, the Operations Supervisor (University of Phoenix, 2015). Carl Robins successfully hired 15 new trainees and scheduled...
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... second step is to generate alternative solutions, evaluate alternatives, making the decision choice, and lastly to implement the decision. I recently came across a problem that truly changed my life. I am twenty five years old and experienced many unpredictable obstacles while trying to complete my degree. The decision to go to University of Phoenix has been a blessing in disguise but the process was quite a learning experience. From the moment I learned about the school to finally being enrolled took many steps. The steps I took were a lot like the five steps that follow the decision making process described in the textbook. First and foremost I identified and diagnosed the problem which in my case was an incomplete college degree. I wanted to find a school where I could apply without having my transcripts on hand due to an issue with a block on my record at my previous school Secondly, the next step of the process is to generate alternative solutions. Some solutions I’ve thought of is one, go to a junior college and see if I am able to take any courses there, til I pay back my previous university. Another option is finding another university that will transfer my courses without losing my previous credits. And sadly my last resort would be to quit school completely and work fulltime. These are all options that I would consider as my very last options if I wasn’t able to go to the University of Phoenix. The third step of the process is to evaluate each alternative solution. The...
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...Decision Making Process Decision making can be a complicated process that can have devastating results if not thought out carefully. Some decisions cannot be made within a few seconds…well they can but one might regret the outcome. It is amazing how much of difference a few seconds can make. In order to avoid conflict, some decisions must be well thought out. There are certain decisions that cannot be changed once they are made and the outcomes can be life changing. Sometimes one just has to deal with the consequences of their decision. Prior to deciding to further my education and pursue my degree, I had to make a decision to either work and delay my education (since my employer was not willing to accommodate my work schedule with my school schedule) or quit my job and focus on furthering my education and try to find other employment. Before a decision was made, I had to ask myself a few questions and find solutions for them. The first question was which college would be more convenient to attend. I wanted to stay near my house and not too far from possible employment opportunities so I would not have to worry so much about travel time from school to work. The second question was how many classes I would be able to take without it affecting my work schedule. I needed a job to support myself financially therefore; I had to find classes that would allow me to take a full schedule of classes and also work a full-time job. Lastly, I had to ask myself if I was stretching...
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...as well. This step is very important and if one was to archive and create some form of database or collective data source on what is readily at hand that will and can be applied to the "plan" which could be physical resources needed for production, actual employee numbers, types of employees and their special skills, infrastructure in place and any aspect that may be possibly become an asset or liability. Simply knowing all surroundings and creating a proper catalog readily available for management and others of leadership would be a extremely useful resource in pushing forward towards a goal with correct knowledge of what the current values of any situation may be. The third step is "Identifying the Alternatives" which can be understood as Plan B or any other number of alternative plans in case everything does not go quite as planned and the current plan is...
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