CQUniversity MGMT20135: Critical Thinking and Decision Making Essay

This reflective essay for CQUniversity's MGMT20135 course critically reviews key concepts and theories from weeks 1-8, focusing on critical thinking and managerial decision-making. It explores self-awareness and leadership skills, discussing theories like Kuhn's paradigm shifts, Popper's falsification, Prospect theory for risk assessment, and Psychological Contracts. The essay emphasizes how these theories can improve decision-making, risk analysis, and employee motivation in a managerial context. It highlights the importance of introspection, communication, and adapting to different situations. The student applies these concepts to enhance their own leadership and decision-making abilities. The essay also explores the Johari Window and other leadership skills, providing a comprehensive overview of the course material.

Running head: CRITICAL THINKING AND MANAGERIAL DECISION MAKING
CRITICAL THINKING AND MANAGERIAL DECISION MAKING
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction: This essay is emphasizing upon several prospects through which I can develop
myself. There are some strategies which help me to create my efficiency and this will help me in
making the managerial decisions. I will be able to make some strategies through which I can
analyze the risks and upcoming threats. The strengths of the essay are the essay is consists of
several theories and approaches which are very much important to be a manager. There are also
some strategies and approaches which are also very much important like Vroom’s theory, XY
motivational theory and others, these are not emphasized here.
Self-awareness and Leadership: My first week started with the introduction of some theories.
Better knowledge and one’s own abilities and weak nesses should be first taken into observation
to make it perfect. It will enhance one’s self awareness and it will assist to develop self-accuracy.
In self-awareness we pay our attention to us only (Proust, 2013). It can be done through
introspection. Here we judge our thinking, intellectuality, our strengths and weaknesses. Through
the introspection one can improve his or her behavior and other attributes of life which he or she
possessed to meet the self-esteem (Nilson, 2013). The introspection is essential for own
development and it is done through looking inward to inspect the thoughts, motives and feelings
of us. Though there are so many things which can draw our attention to the outer world but inner
mind haunting is the key principle of self-awareness and introspection. It is as same as one is
walking in his or her own house to sightsee and to explore something new. Introspection will
obviously help to gain the self-motivation. It is very necessary thing to know about you and to
explore one’s abilities and disabilities. After recognizing one’s power and infirmities that people
will be able to know that how he or she can improve self-efficacy. It will create a better
understanding with our inner mind. We will be able to understand our unique things, which is

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enough to create the separation from others. On other hand introspection will empowered us to
reduce our weaknesses and to introduce some changes to develop our abilities.
To be a good leader one has to gain some special kinds of attributes. The leader is the
person who is followed or whose idea and thinking are shadowed by the people around him or
her (Daft, 2014). There are some skills which should be possessed by the leader, those are
honesty, loyalty and integrity, the leader has to be inspiring enough to make people motivated.
The leader should be passionate enough and should be committed towards his people. He or she
should not break the level of trust of others (Goleman, Boyatzis & McKee, 2013).
Communication is the most and imperative thing that should be maintained by the leader always
(Conger, 2015). Sometimes leader have to take some sudden decisions for the betterment of the
people around him. The leader should possess the skill of sudden decision making.
Accountability is another aspect of leader ship and this should be take care by the leaders. The
leaders have to be very accountable towards his or her fellows. Empowerment and giving
empowerment to the companions of the leader and making them well motivated every time
should be done by the leader. Creativity should be there in every prospect of the leader’s life and
the ideas given by the leader should be innovative and new one so that it can enhance the
betterment of others. Johari Window is an important tool to understand several aspects related to
leadership. Here Johari emphasizes that the conversation with the people should be informed into
an open space and that is very important. If the leader keeps things hidden from the employees
then it will be difficult for them to understand what the leader actually wants. The leader should
always assure some environment based safety and trust for the employees. From the help of
Johari Window, leaders will be able to understand their issues and will be able to identify the
areas upon which he or she has to give focus.

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Kuhn Theory: Thomas Kuhn was the innovator of Kuhn cycle and that is described in the year
of 1962 in the seminal work organized by him. It may call as a cycle of progress. The modern
concept of science is challenged by Kuhn. He revealed that the new ideas are the steadily
progressed and accumulated. The Kuhn cycle is consisted by 5 steps and Kuhn elaborated the
sustainability development which is based on the environment. Kuhn gave focus on the term
that is “paradigm” which states the characteristics of scientific revolution and scientific work
that was framed in a prevailing frame work through system thinking we can think the
organization as holistically, which is able to connect and examine the links between the parts of
the organization (Bird, 2014). To create a process which is efficient then we have to examine
the organization in a practical way and through proper observation. Normal science is identified
as a task which is based on observation and experiment. Normal science is the process of
accumulating the details of science researches without making any noise against it and without
making any questions of its underlying thought. Kuhn divided the scientific theories in three
classes, in the first class the problems related to the science is at first recognized and then the
inner should be taken into account. In the second class the theories and the facts are verified and
in the third class the theories are articulated to introduce a new theory and concept. Through
enjoyment science keeps its stability in long run basis. This revolution is called “paradigm
shifts”. Paradigm shift assists to explain the phenomenon of science and its theories. It also acts
as a guide for researchers. Researchers who are trying to innovate something new, they are able
to get the assistance of paradigm shift to make the confirmation of their research. Through
paradigm shift researchers are to get the pre-determined research report. It is an important tool
for the researchers to innovate something new research report.

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Popper Theory: Karl Popper established the principle of falsification. It is one of the scientific
principles and it is one of the basic principles that should be taken into account. It describes that
false theories of science should be eliminate first to develop something new because it may turn
the researcher to a wrong route. If old theories can be discarded then only science can reveal its
revolution (Bailey, 2018). Truth should haunt and science should move towards to seek the truth.
Popper’s theory is based on the pragmatic facts and follows the evidence and tests. According to
Popper the paradigm should only use to seek the truth (Magee, 2013). According to Popper
rejection of null hypothesis should be the eliminated (Popper, 2014). After testing the theories
the rejection should be introduced if required or make some changes if necessary. This learning
will assist me to take the right decision and will also help me to select the right way. This theory
is emphasizing upon the rejection of useless researches or upon the rejection of the null
hypothesis. Before implement a new idea the idea should be tested and if that shows negative
result then the idea should be rejected or any changes should be implemented upon the idea to
give it positivity.
Prospect Theory: The Prospect theory was developed by the Professors Daniel Kahneman and
Amos Tversky in the year of 1979. This theory is called as an analysis based upon any decision
which is done under risk (Barberis, 2013). It opens the door of behavioral economics. Prospect
theory deals with human behavior and it assists to make the decision between the alternatives
(Kahneman & Tversky, 2013). The result based on controlled studies. It emphasizes that the
assessment should be done after analyzing the upcoming loss and gain. However this theory can
apply to the behavior and to make decision. It emphasizes on the difference between people’s
reaction when they potentially loss something and potentially gain something. In this way people
make their decisions, which are related to the gains and losses. The theory focuses on people’s

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decisions that are based on probability. People give their focus on probabilistic decision rather
than that decision which is optimal. The bias should be first analyzed and the level of risk should
be also taken into account to get the best result. This theory focuses on the steps of people to
understand the people’s perspective and cognitive biases through which the consumers or the
people can be identified in a rational way. The theory focuses on mental accounting to analyze
the unexpected losses (Tomprou, Rousseau & Hansen, 2015). This theory is emphasizing on the
human behavior that depends on the weight of losses and gains made by them. People actually
calculate the losses rather than the gain. Through prospect theory I will be able to analyze and
determine the forth coming consequences of any decision. So that before taking any kind of
decision I will seek its impacts upon us and if the decision will become fruitful then that thing
will be taken into account. This theory will help me to make the plan which will give me the best
output and that will be riskless.
Psychological Contracts Theory: The psychological theory was established by Rousseau in
the year of 2004. According to this theory belief occurs when there is a promise and there is
exchange of thoughts between individuals and in between the employees of any organization.
The theory has six characteristics that are existence of voluntary choices; the belief should be
kept through mutual agreements, incompleteness, and contract makers by multiple people,
handling the losses if contract fails, the contract should be dealt as an employment contract. The
motivation acts as a factor to retain the employees in the organization. The mutual belief or the
commitments between the employees act as a contract of understanding. Recruitment of more
experienced people may interpret as the probes of mutual understanding. It is hard to define the
commitments of the employees in the very first stage and that should be re-defined in the next
stage. Because the natures of the employees are different from each other so it will be hard to

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get a concrete contract from them. Top management people can be included for gather the
information from the sources (Holub, 2013). The co-workers also can be the source of any facts
and information. Losses should be managed in smooth and intellectual way. Losses may arise if
any commitments become failure. Failure should be handled in a smart way because it can
create negativity in the mind of the employer and the employees. The reactions of the failure are
always negative and that thing should be managed. Management should involve any one in an
interesting project. New innovations of new strategies should be implemented by the authority
to introduce some changes in the old contracts which are not relevant and which should be
changed. There are three types of psychological contracts can be made between the people those
are rational, transactional and balanced. Rational includes loyalty, stability, support, motivation,
and grievance tackling. Transactional contracts emphasizes upon the tasks of the employees,
working atmosphere and environment as well as in the industrial relations. Balanced contract
elucidates collective bargaining, career planning of the employees, compensation, bonus,
incentives and future growth of the job that is the source of the job satisfaction for the
employees. After knowing this theory I will be able to determine the internal factors which have
very strong impacts upon the mind of the employees and I have also come to know about all the
factors which are essential to make the employees loyalty and to retain the efficient employees
in the organization.
Conclusion: In the conclusion part I want to say that all the theories are very essential to make
the employees stable and loyal (Benton, 2014). It will also assist the employer to know the
contact made in between the employer and employee and to make some changes in the strategies
if required. The risk analysis is also an important fact that should be taken into account before
implementing something new in the process (Tekleab, Orvis & Taylor, 2013). The self-

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awareness is much more important to build one’s mentality positive and to think in a positive
way. Leadership and the motivation have very strong impacts upon the employees mind and
these make them very influencing and energetic. Motivation is very essential to make the
employees productive (Wakker, 2013). The whole session was very fruitful and taught me the
core things to make the organization strong and to make the working atmosphere cooperative and
generate a well influenced team of workers and employees.
References:
Bailey, R. (2018). Education in the open society-Karl Popper and schooling. Routledge.
Barberis, N. C. (2013). Thirty years of prospect theory in economics: A review and
assessment. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 27(1), 173-96.
Benton, T. (2014). Philosophical foundations of the three sociologies (RLE Social Theory).
Routledge.
Bird, A. (2014). Thomas kuhn. Routledge.
Conger, J. (2015). Charismatic leadership. Wiley encyclopedia of management, 1-2.
Daft, R. L. (2014). The leadership experience. Cengage Learning.
Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R. E., & McKee, A. (2013). Primal leadership: Unleashing the power of
emotional intelligence. Harvard Business Press.
Holub, R. C. (2013). Reception theory. Routledge.

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Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (2013). Prospect theory: An analysis of decision under risk.
In Handbook of the fundamentals of financial decision making: Part I (pp. 99-
127).
Magee, B. (2013). Popper Cb: Popper. Routledge.
Nilson, L. (2013). Creating self-regulated learners: Strategies to strengthen students? self-
awareness and learning skills. Stylus Publishing, LLC..
Popper, K. (2014). The two fundamental problems of the theory of knowledge. Routledge.
Proust, J. (2013). The philosophy of metacognition: Mental agency and self-awareness. OUP
Oxford.
Tekleab, A. G., Orvis, K. A., & Taylor, M. S. (2013). Deleterious consequences of change in
newcomers’ employer-based psychological contract obligations. Journal of
Business and Psychology, 28(3), 361-374.
Tomprou, M., Rousseau, D. M., & Hansen, S. D. (2015). The psychological contracts of
violation victims: A post‐violation model. Journal of Organizational
Behavior, 36(4), 561-581..
Wakker, P. P. (2013). The data of Levy and Levy (2002)“Prospect theory: Much ado about
nothing?” actually support prospect theory. In HANDBOOK OF THE
FUNDAMENTALS OF FINANCIAL DECISION MAKING: Part I (pp. 145-147)

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