...In this internal Cliffside Holding Company memo, Mr. Anil Ravaswami, Vice President of Human Resources of writes to Ms. Cynthia Castle, CEO to discuss the proposition of a leadership development program for junior insurance executives. Ms. Forsythe of Cliffside Holdings has proposed the new program and identified the total cost to be “$100,000.00 per year plus approximately the same amount for lost time on the job.” Mr. Ravaswami discusses the reasons he believes Cliffside Holding Company should not fund this new development program. The memo and rationale will be analyzed using the steps for Critical Thinking modeled in Asking the Right Questions by Brown and Keeley (2015). What are the issue and conclusion? The issue, or question being raised is apparent in the first sentence of the memo, “That we establish and fund a new leadership development program of our junior insurance executives.” Ravaswami writes that several of the senior leadership members at CHCM have not gone through such training and despite this, are all very “successful and effective without such programs” He goes on to point out that personality traits such as ambition, self confidence and intelligence were possessed by several known leaders throughout history show that leaders are not made, but born. The conclusion, as highlighted in the ‘Conclusion and Recommendations’ of the memo is “CHCM should not invest in the proposed initiative to send its junior executives for annual leadership training.” In...
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...Critical Thinking: Leadership-Development Programs University of Maryland University College Introduction Critical thinking is a process by which a thinker can improve the quality of their thinking through a process. It involves a 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...
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...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 all the information that is available from the environment to analyze situations, solve problems, develop logical conclusions, evaluate probabilities, and formulate decisions. Unfortunately, critical thinking is multifaceted and is not a simple process; rather it requires the ability for individuals make use of personal skills, perspectives and values to establish a frame of reference that...
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...Abstract In his memo, Mr. Anil Ravaswami, Vice-President of Human Resources, analyzes Ms. 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...
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...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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...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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...A Timely Analysis of Legal Developments ASAP Recent USCIS Memo on Employer-Employee Relationship Requirements for H-1B Visa Petitions: Regulation by Memorandum? By Jorge Lopez, Shin-I Lowe and Neil Grindstaff ® In This Issue: March 2010 The USCIS recently issued a guidance memo to its adjudication officers, “Determining Employer-Employee Relationship for Adjudication of H-1B Petitions, Including Third Party Site Placements.” The Memo clarifies what constitutes a valid employer-employee relationship, in the context of petitions for H-1B visas, which are commonly used by IT staffing agencies and consulting groups for placing skilled workers at third-party worksites. Donald Neufeld, Associate Director or Service Center Operations for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) recently issued a guidance memo to its adjudication officers, “Determining Employer-Employee Relationship for Adjudication of H-1B Petitions, Including Third Party Site Placements” (“Neufeld Memo” or “Memo”). The Memo clarifies what constitutes a valid employer-employee relationship, in the context of petitions for H-1B visas, which are commonly used by IT staffing agencies and consulting groups for placing skilled workers at third-party worksites.1 On February 18, the USCIS held a “Collaboration Session” in Washington, D.C., to address the growing concerns about the implications of the Neufeld Memo. Approximately 500 people (400 via teleconference) attended the two-hour session...
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...of asking the right kinds of questions. 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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...Restaurant Development Group’s Winston-Salem Project Paul E. Juras The Wayne Calloway School of Business and Accountancy Wake Forest University P.O. Box 7285 Reynolda Station Winston-Salem, NC 27109-7285 E-Mail: JURAS@WFU.EDU James F. Cotter The Wayne Calloway School of Business and Accountancy Wake Forest University P.O. Box 7285 Reynolda Station Winston-Salem, NC 27109-7285 Restaurant Development Group Memo To: Date: Re: Registered Students March 1st 2006 Restaurant Development Group’s Winston-Salem Project From: Mr. Bobbie Filet Introduction Restaurant Development Group (RDG) is considering opening a new restaurant in conjunction with the “Winston-Salem Partnership” group that is attempting develop a center of entertainment in downtown Winston-Salem, NC. As part of the project, the company plans to renovate an existing restaurant space in the downtown area and begin operations in six months. RDG has decided to hire several teams of professionals to handle various facets of the project. One team will work closely with city and county government officials to insure the project has strong support from all relevant government agencies. Another team will be responsible for developing the marketing plan and handling media and public relations to insure the project has a positive reception within the media. Finally, the finance and accounting team has responsibility for examining the financial viability of renovating the restaurant and developing a cash flow budget to...
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...if you can do in 4 hours and 30 mnts STEP 1: Review background information Review the case study on Acme Medical Data Storage LLC, given in the Scenario/Summary section above, paying careful attention to the characteristics of the company and its IS projects. NOTE: This is an individual, not a team, iLab. In your review, make notes specifying how you would rate the following characteristics of the company and project. These notes will not be turned in, but you will use them in conducting your analysis in Step 2 and preparing your memo in Step 3. 1. Is theproject technologyextremely stable, moderately stable, or experimental? 2. At the start of the project, are theproject requirementswell known, partially known, or mostly unknown (i.e., experimental)? 3. Is theproject domainheavily regulated, moderately regulated, or lightly regulated by government or other outside agencies? 4. Is thesize of the organizationlarge, mid-sized, or small? 5. Is theorganizational culturebureaucratic, mixed, or entrepreneurial? 6. Is theorganization's competitive environmentslow-paced, moderately paced, or fast-paced? STEP 2: Analyze SDLC suitability Based on the information given in the case study, analyze the suitability of a specific Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) model for Acme Medical Data Storage LLC: • If the last digit of your DSI Number is 0, 1, 2, or 3, use theWaterfall SDLC; • If the last digit of your DSI Number is4, 5, or 6, use theUnified Process; and • If the last...
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...if you can do in 4 hours and 30 mnts STEP 1: Review background information Review the case study on Acme Medical Data Storage LLC, given in the Scenario/Summary section above, paying careful attention to the characteristics of the company and its IS projects. NOTE: This is an individual, not a team, iLab. In your review, make notes specifying how you would rate the following characteristics of the company and project. These notes will not be turned in, but you will use them in conducting your analysis in Step 2 and preparing your memo in Step 3. 1. Is theproject technologyextremely stable, moderately stable, or experimental? 2. At the start of the project, are theproject requirementswell known, partially known, or mostly unknown (i.e., experimental)? 3. Is theproject domainheavily regulated, moderately regulated, or lightly regulated by government or other outside agencies? 4. Is thesize of the organizationlarge, mid-sized, or small? 5. Is theorganizational culturebureaucratic, mixed, or entrepreneurial? 6. Is theorganization's competitive environmentslow-paced, moderately paced, or fast-paced? STEP 2: Analyze SDLC suitability Based on the information given in the case study, analyze the suitability of a specific Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) model for Acme Medical Data Storage LLC: • If the last digit of your DSI Number is 0, 1, 2, or 3, use theWaterfall SDLC; • If the last digit of your DSI Number is4, 5, or 6, use theUnified Process; and • If the last...
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...other elements of the situational context. For a briefing memo, this should be no more than one paragraph. For a full case analysis, this may be 2-3 paragraphs. 2. Business Problem/Opportunity What business opportunities and thus major decision(s) are available to the Entrepreneur as well as to the reader of the memo or case analysis? This can usually be summed up in a few sentences. 3. Key Resources Identify those resources available to the entrepreneur in terms of Dollinger's resource-based model. If a resource is not relevant to the opportunity being examined, ignore it. Explain why each resource is important. This should comprise 30 -- 40% of either your memo or case analysis. 4. Options Develop a series of options (at least two) for the decision-maker to consider. Make arguments in favour of each, and list any risks of each as well. This should comprise about 30% of your memo or case analysis. Given the limited space in a briefing memo, point form may be used. The options could relate to specific decisions outlined in the case, or it could be related to the decision for you to invest or not to invest in the firm. 5. Recommendations Based on the objectives of the decision-maker and the relative strength of each option (above), make a recommendation as to which option should be chosen. Compare the favoured option to the ones that were not chosen. This should comprise 20-25% of your case or memo. Additionally, for the Group case, include an appendix...
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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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...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 on twelve seniors executives have proves that the training for development is not...
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...would 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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