PHL
320 Critical Thinking and Decision Making in Business Entire Course
PHL 320 Critical Thinking and
Decision Making in Business Entire Course
PHL 320 Week 1 Critical Thinking
Discussion and Summary
Participate in a class discussion by responding to the following
questions:
- How would you define critical thinking? What makes a
person a critical thinker?
- Why is critical thinking important? Provide an example
of how critical thinking has helped you in your life.
- What do you expect to learn from this course?
Write a paragraph summarizing the discussion.
PHL 320 Week 1 Knowledge Check
PHL 320 Week 2 Globalization
Argumentative Paper
Review the Writing Argumentative Essays section in Ch. 3 of Critical
Thinking
Write an argumentative paper of no more than 750 words that
demonstrates why globalization is good or not good for a business. The paper
should define the term good, and should identify the premises and
conclusions.
Identify the premise and conclusion by placing a number in bold
at the beginning of the sentence with the word premise or conclusion.
For example: (1, Premise), (2, Premise), (1, Conclusion), (2,
Conclusion), and so on.
- Sentences labeled as “1, premise” are premises for the
sentence labeled as “1, conclusion.”
- All premises should be labeled for each conclusion in
the article. If a sentence is a conclusion and a premise for another
conclusion, place two labels.
- At the end of the paper, identify one example of how
you used deductive reasoning and one example of how you used inductive
reasoning.
Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.
PHL 320 Week 2 Re-organization and
Layoff Team Discussion & Summary
Review the linked articles and select one to review as a team.
Post responses to the following questions for the selected
article. Each team member should answer all of the questions:
- What is the problem presented in the article?
- Why do you think it is the problem?
- What are some possible solutions?
Discuss as a team, responding to your teammates’ posts.
Write a 3-paragraph synopsis that summarizes the team’s
discussion.
PHL 320 Week 2 Week 2 Knowledge
Check
PHL 320 Week 3 Rhetorical Strategies
and Fallacies Worksheet
Complete the University of Phoenix Material: Rhetorical Strategies
and Fallacies Worksheet.
PHL 320 Week 3 Re-organization and
Layoff: Issue and Problem Identification Paper
Review the discussion from Week 2.
Write a paper of no more than 1,050 words that incorporates
ideas from the discussion. The paper should do the following:
- Summarize the issue.
- Identify the problem.
- Explain why this is the underlying problem.
- Reflect on the group collaboration process in defining
the problem.
- Explain how a clearly defined problem could help you
find the solutions.
Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.
PHL 320 Week 3 Knowledge Check
PHL 320 Week 4 SWOT and Strategy
Evaluation Paper
Select an industry, such as the gambling industry, to
complete a SWOT analysis.
Access the profile overview for the
selected industry:
- In the University Library, click Company
Directory and Financials.
- Click Hoover’s First Research.
- Click Continue.
- Click Submit.
- Type gambling (or your selected
industry) in the search box, and click to continue.
- Gambling (or the selected industry of choice) should be
first in the list.
Read the industry profile overview, including the website
links, on the page.
Complete a SWOT analysis for the selected industry. The SWOT
analysis allows a business to understand how a competitor is positioned in the
environment by assessing its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
An understanding of a competitor’s position can be a key for a business to
determine where funding and resources should be allotted to create new products
or services.
Use information in the industry profile overview and other
scholarly sources as needed. The SWOT analysis should include each of the
following:
- Strengths
- Weaknesses
- Opportunities
- Threats
Write a 1,050- to 1,500-word paper, including the following
attributes:
- SWOT analysis, including a SWOT chart
- Identify opportunities (either product or service)
that could improve the customer experience.
- Strategy evaluation
- Define strategic tasks.
- Assess the industry’s capabilities.
- Identify the barriers to strategy implementation.
- A response to the following:
- Based on the SWOT analysis and strategy evaluation,
what are some creative actions the industry can pursue to include
innovation as a component of their strategy?
Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.
PHL 320 Week 4 Re-Organization and
Layoff: Solutions Paper
Select two potential creative solutions for the problems you
identified in the Re-organization and Layoff assignment in Week 2.
Write a paper of no more than 1,050 words to present the solutions
and explain why each will work.
Include a summary of methods your teams utilized to develop
the creative solution.
Describe how your team overcame barriers to deciding on the
solutions.
PHL 320 Week 5 Labor Practices Paper
A clothing company uses sweatshop
labor to manufacture clothing products that contribute to low pricing, which is
a consumer want.
Many companies have engaged in
sweatshop labor. Did the clothing company engage in unethical labor practices
by utilizing sweatshop labor?
Research sweatshop labor.
Write a paper of no more than 750 words to present your
position on sweatshop labor and provide justification. Include the following:
- How consumer demands affect a company’s business
decision
- How different ethical perspectives guide ethical
decision making
- How a company influences their ethical environment
Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.
PHL 320 Week 5 Re-organization and
Layoff: Decision Making Evaluation Paper
Write a paper of no more than 750 words to include the following
elements:
- Select a recommendation from the two creative solutions
identified in Week 4 for solving the problem.
- Explain why the solution would help the middle-income
customer. Provide credible sources to support your decision.
- Explain what business decision an organization should
make based on the solution.
- For the business decision chosen, explain the resources
an organization would need to implement that decision and factors that
might affect the implementation.
Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.
PHL 320 Final Exam Answers
1
Who among the following individuals
is most likely to exhibit event creativity?
An individual who establishes
win-win relationships with other people
An individual who settles a
disagreement quickly in an ingenious way
An individual who modifies the
strategies of a group in a creative manner
An individual who organizes annual
meetings and get-togethers innovatively
2
When does the incremental model of
decision making take place?
When individuals merely follow the
instructions of others who are experts in decision making
When individuals vie with one
another for resources or disagree with each other on goals
When individuals make quick
decisions based on their past experience in solving similar problems
When individuals make minor
decisions and move carefully toward a bigger solution
3
In the stages of decision making,
what should managers do immediately after identifying and diagnosing a problem?
Managers should create some
alternative solutions to solve the issue recognized.
Managers should select a solution,
from the options available, that offers the greatest benefit.
Managers should assign
responsibility to specific individuals for implementing the solution identified
to solve the problem.
Managers should think through the
outcomes that might result from implementing any of the plans identified to
solve the problem.
4
As a barrier to effective decision
making, when do framing effects occur?
When decision makers believe they
can influence events without having adequate control
When the selection of an
alternative is influenced by the way it is phrased
When decision makers choose the
first available alternative before proper evaluation
When the selection of an
alternative is completely based on one’s past experience
5
Which of the following acts
represents scapegoating?
Bringing a new topic into a
conversation so as to distract the original discussion
Hanging a scary picture in front of
a person to force him into doing something
Accusing a particular group of
people for all the troubles faced in one’s life
Permitting one’s wishes and hopes
to tint his or her views that affect judgment
6
How can organizational politics that
impacts organizational decisions be reduced?
By making the decision-making
process a collaborative task
By encouraging team members to
engage in affective conflict
By motivating team members to be
confrontational
By creating different goals for
individual team members
7
Which of the following is considered
a change-specific reason for employees’ resistance to change?
Group conformity pressures
Desire to maintain the status quo
Lack of clarity in the process
Inappropriate timing
8
What is true of the features used
to judge a person’s credibility?
Individuals can accurately
determine a person’s credibility based on physical characteristics.
Well-educated individuals can be
highly relied upon as guides to ethical values.
Ethnicity, gender, and accent are
inapt characteristics for judging credibility.
Mannerisms and age are two valid
features that can be used to judge a person’s credibility.
9
Which of the following is
considered a general reason for employees’ resistance to change?
Misleading information
Lack of clarity in the process
Inappropriate timing
Focus on one’s own interests
10
What is a fact related to
strategic planning?
It recognizes the explicit measures
essential at an organization’s lower levels.
It translates broad tactical goals
and objectives into specific operational goals.
It is the responsibility of the
frontline managers to develop strategic plans.
It has a time horizon that ranges
from 3 to 7 years to decades (at times).
11
Which of the following is most
likely to block new ideas from evolving within an organization?
Managers willing to vary the
existing hierarchical structure of the organization
Management eliminating bureaucratic
rules and procedures which in turn causes chaos
Employees being concerned about the
likely changes to the products, processes, and budgets
Workers fearlessly looking for ways
to break the monotony created by their jobs
12
Identify an example of spontaneous
creativity.
Organizing annual meetings and
get-togethers innovatively
Settling a disagreement quickly in
a simple way
Establishing win-win relationships
with other people
Modifying the strategies and
procedures of a group
13
In the context of moving people to
change, what should managers do to unfreeze?
Managers should enable employees to
realize that some of the old ways of doing things are still the best.
Managers should convey to employees
the difference that exists between their firms’ existing and expected
performance.
Managers should give employees all
details and facts about the change process regardless of whether it induces
anxiety in them.
Manager should communicate an issue
in such a way that it arouses defensiveness among employees which in turn
quickens unfreezing.
14
Which of the following is likely to
improve a group’s decision making process?
Group member staying focused on
short-term outcomes
Team members completely agreeing
with one another’s perspectives
Cognitive conflict that is personal
rather than task related
Differences in group members’
viewpoints on the issue being discussed
15
Identify a subjective claim from
the following examples.
”God exists.”
”Flu is contagious.”
”Italy has the best food.”
”Mars has two moons.”
16
When is a valid argument
considered as being sound?
When its premise is false
When its conclusion is supported
When its premise is true
When its conclusion is not
supported
17
Identify the drawback of
utilitarianism.
It gives less importance to the
consequences of actions.
It fails to weigh the pros and cons
of actions.
It fails to consider the intentions
of actions.
It is not suitable for choosing an
outcome that maximizes happiness.
18
Who among the following individuals
is most likely to be a victim of wishful thinking fallacy?
One who wishes to only use an
alternative that solves a problem completely
One whose beliefs and decisions are
affected by his or her needs and desires
One who blindly overestimates the
decision making skills of one’s own group
One whose decisions are made merely
based on past experience or expert advice
19
During internal resource
analysis of the strategic management process, what does operations analysis
involve?
An analysis of a firm’s strengths
and weaknesses in human resource planning and labor relations
An analysis of a firm’s financial
strengths and weaknesses through the use of balance sheet
An analysis of the strengths and
weaknesses of a firm’s manufacturing and production activities
An analysis of the strengths and
weaknesses of a firm’s marketing and promotional activities
20
How does a person reason
deductively?
By trying to demonstrate a premise
By trying to prove a conclusion
By trying to support a conclusion
By trying to negate a finding
21
When does the straw man fallacy
occur?
When a person considers only two
alternatives even when other options are available
When a critic falsifies or
overstates an adversary’s position
When a decision maker dismisses an
alternative that fails to solve the issue completely
When a person tries to disprove a
claim based on its source
22
Annie, an employee, who often
attributes her team’s failures to bad luck, attributes the failures of other
teams to their personal shortcomings. Which of the following cognitive biases
do Annie’s attributions exemplify?
Hindsight bias
In-group bias
Belief bias
Self-deception bias
23
Identify the statement that
accurately describes the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
Unlike other Acts, its violations
do not result in fines or prosecutions.
It was passed to promote business
ethics by creating legal requirements.
Complying with the Act saves time
and money, but deteriorates efficiency.
It requires businesses to have only
company insiders as board directors.
24
In the context of levels of
planning, what would be the responsibility of a frontline manager?
To translate broad strategic plans
into precise goals and objectives
To determine the organization’s
long-term strategic objectives
To develop and implement a tactical
plan for each organizational department
To recognize the explicit measures
essential at an organization’s lower levels
25
Which statement best describes a
conglomerate diversification strategy?
It is corporate strategy in which a
company vertically integrates to include supply chain activities.
It is a growth strategy in which a
company tries sell its products in new diverse markets.
It is a corporate strategy in which
a company expands its operations into unrelated businesses.
It is a growth strategy in which a
company tries to differentiate its products from that of rivalry.
26
Which of the following questions is
useful to be considered in the first stage of decision making?
What are the resources and activities
required to implement the decision as planned?
Is there a discrepancy between the
way things are and the way things ought to be?
What kinds of problems are likely
to be faced if the chosen alternative is implemented?
Are there any solutions implemented
previously to a problem similar to the present one?
27
What should a leader do to
effectively manage group decision making?
Encourage team members to engage in
groupthink
Promote the use of satisficing to
quicken the process
Avoid letting a team member to
dominate the discussion
Criticize team members who fail to
suggest good alternatives
28
In the context of cognitive biases,
when does the false consensus effect occur?
When one instinctively assigns a
probability to an event based on past experience
When one unconsciously aligns his
or her thoughts with that of others
When one assumes that one’s own and
others’ attitudes are shared by society at large
When one agrees with a generalized
statement based on a single report
29
Which of the following is an
objective claim?
“Math is easier than science.”
”Italy has the best food.”
”Rice vinegar is too sweet.”
”Mars has two moons.”
30
Sam, a marketing manager, often
makes ethical decisions based on what others feel about those decisions. He
often considers opinions from other managers and employees. Which of the
following ethical systems do Sam’s decisions follow?
Relativism
Utilitarianism
Egoism
Consequentialism
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