ASSIGNMENT -II

• Suppose you are Sales Manager for Almarai-L’usine division. It has product such as Cup Cakes, muffins, croissant, Bread, Burger, Buns and Sandwich Rolls. Sales in your department are low. Overall revenue is down. And the big boss wants to know why. As the sales manager, it’s up to you to get to the bottom of the issue, to make changes, and to fix the problem so that your sales team doesn’t fall short of its goals. Define the problem and determine the root cause of the problem by using the 5 Whys?    [Marks 2]

• What is the ethical issue in the above case? As a manager what decision you will take for the problem and what are the steps you follow for implementing decision?  [Marks 1.5]

In the case above, there are two serious ethical issues from the case of Lucy in the banking sector. First of all, there is a conflict of interest as an ethical issue and fraud. According to Shaw & Barry, 2015 a conflict of interest is the situation where an employee of an organization is torn into choosing between the advancement of the interests of the organization, personal interests as an employee or those which are from third parties. In the case of Lucy, she had ethical issues whereas a bank operator; she signed without authorization a loan request which benefited her as a person. The benefit came in when she had to get money to aid the ailing husband who was due for surgery. As an employee who had worked with the organization for a long duration of time (15 years), it was very unethical for her to commit such crimes within the organization.

Additionally, she had the option of making an early application and waiting for the right signatories to arrive to get the loan. The second ethical issue that Lucy committed was fraud. She forged a signature of a colleague to benefit from a scheme that at the end would also incriminate her colleague thus creating an unhealthy working environment.

For the problem, I would decide to dismiss Lucy from the organization through her volunteer resignation to save her image having served the organization for 15 years. The decision to terminate the employment engagement with Lucy is an informed decision to ass the message to the rest of the employees that the organizational values and organizational culture are paramount and must be followed to the later. The ethical code of conduct signed by employees must be respected, and a breach of the same signals a breach of the contract. As such, employees are called to respect all rules and regulations of the organization. It is to advance the values of honesty and integrity within the working environment. Additionally, it is damage control in the public relations PR for the organization that dishonesty or fraud is not tolerated. The brand identity of the firm is critical in fostering consumer confidence and trust in the organization.

The critical steps to follow to implement the decision is first to serve Lucy with a letter of intent to dismiss. This would be intended to give her an opportunity to defend herself and give reasons why she should not be dismissed. The letter intends to give; Lucy a private and quiet environment so that word does not spread out of hand within the office gossips. The first instance, the letter would make it the prerogative of Lucy to resign from the organization and quietly deliver her letter to the manager. Should she refuse to resign, then the letter has other options. As such, the letter would give her a chance to defend herself within the disciplinary committee dealing with ethics and ethos of the organization.  The hearing of the matter would then be done in the presence of the Union official and her lawyers as to why she is being dismissed. It is from the meeting that an official dismissal letter shall be handed to Lucy for her gross misconduct and violation of the ethical code of conduct of the firm.

• “Critical thinking is the opposite of creative thinking.” Do you agree? Identify the differences between both. Provide examples of why you agree or disagree. [Marks 1.5]

There are some meanings and definitions which have been given to critical thinking and creative thing over the years by various scholars and think tanks. It is indeed true from their various perspectives that the two terminologies are opposite of each other and have entirely different meanings. Creative thinking is perceived to be how issues or things can be looked at from a new or fresh perspective to conceive an original idea. Creative thinking goes beyond the normal and creates imaginations, or generate creativity from the environment and other factors to generate originality. Creative thinking is mostly associated with getting new perspectives of solving a problem, original brands and logo designs for instance and making something credible from its uniqueness or originality (Ruggiero & Ruggerio, 2004). On the contrary, critical thinking is the sequential, logical and a disciplined way of analyzing, evaluating, rationalizing and interpreting of data and information to deduce informed decision or judgement.  

There are significant differences which have been established between creative thinking and critical thinking. McPeck 2016 asserts that while creative thinking is involved with the generation of new ideas, perspectives and solutions, critical thinking is involved with assessing existing information, data and records in making decisions and judgments or evaluating the validity of already existing phenomenon. Additionally, scholars have advanced the concept that creative thinking is often generative while critical thinking is associated with analytics, which means that creative thinking generates new ideas, concepts and avenues of solving problems or formulation of concepts that are new and can be used to arrive at certain ends. On the flip side, critical thinking is analytical to mean that it examines al already generated situation or concept. In the analysis, the critical thinkers use tools like facts, data, scenarios, and patterns which have been monitored over time to make certain decisions.

Additionally, creative thinking is distinguished for its focus on the possibilities while critical thinking is mainly focused on probabilities (Peak Performance Center, 2018). By stating that creative thinking is focused on possibilities, it means that all mechanisms are invested in making a dream a reality. The instruments form to formulate something that can be produced and used in judgment or decision making or the solution of a problem. However, the opposite is true for critical thinking which is a though of probabilities. It focuses on the probabilities of making certain situations possible to solve certain situations. It acts on rational choice where analysis and synthesis of issues form the key components of concept. Creative thinking is based on fantasy and speculation while critical thinking is based on reality and reasoning abilities. Speculations and fantasies help in the generation of new ideas, concepts and dimensions desired. However, in critical thinking, the reality is the basis of analysis with reasoning arriving at the right answers to the problems.

References

McPeck, J. E. (2016). Critical thinking and education. Routledge.

Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. M. (2017). Human resource management: Gaining a competitive advantage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.

Peak Performance Center (2018). http://thepeakperformancecenter.com/educational-learning/thinking/critical-thinking/critical-thinking-vs-creative-thinking/

Ruggiero, V. R., & Ruggerio, V. R. (2004). The art of thinking: A guide to critical and creative thought. Pearson/Longman.

Shaw, W. H., & Barry, V. (2015). Moral issues in business. Cengage Learning. https://studyco.com/db/files/images/pdf/1/757_3127699.pdf