Pokhara University

Pre-board Exam

Level: Bachelor                                               Year: Fall-2022

Program: BBA                                                Full Marks: 100

Semester: VII                                                 Pass Marks: 45

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

Section ‘A’

Very short Answer Questions

Attempt all the questions.                               10x2=20

1.      Write any four benefits of critical thinking.

2.   Write the structure of ‘a chain of reasoning’.

3.      Differentiate between a statement and an argument.

4.      Write the structure of ‘a causal explanation’

5.      What is a reasoning?

6.      In the given example, identify something which is implicitly assumed and say how making that assumption affects the inference.

A teacher is speaking to a colleague about a particular student just before an exam and says, ‘Sharan has worked hard so he will pass the exam’.

7.      What are flaws?

8.      Dictate any four types of statement.

9.      Define the word ‘fallacy’.

10.  What is error in reasoning?

 

Section ‘B’

Descriptive Answer Questions

Attempt any six questions.                                    6x10=60

11.  What is an assumption? Discuss with examples.

12.  Write an argumentative essay on ‘Animals should not be used for experimentation.’.

13.  What do you mean by argument indicators? Illustrate with examples.

14.  Briefly explain possible sources of clarification.

15.  Who is the audience? What background knowledge and beliefs can they be assumed to have?

16.  Briefly explain the importance of critical thinking.

17.  Judge which of the following arguments is deductively valid and which is not. Explain in each case why you make your decision.

a.       Tom hates everyone. Mary loves and Mary loves Tom. So Tom must hate himself.

b.      The butler was in the pantry, in that case he couldn’t have shot the master, who was in his study. So the butler couldn’t have done it!

Section ‘C’

Case Analysis                                                         20

18.  Write a critical evaluation of the argument which is presented below, introducing any further arguments you judge to be relevant.

In an increasingly complex and competitive business world, how is a company to generate the creative ideas needed for ongoing success? Many managers believe that forming teams with cross-functional diversity is the answer (Sethi et al., 2002), and this is becoming increasingly common (Mu & Gnyawali, 2003). However, while diversity in group membership may lead to the diversity of ideas needed for innovative problem solving, it is argued here that that managers need to be aware that there are many ways that diversity can in fact hinder team performance, though there are strategies that both teams and their managers can use to reduce the potential negatives and enhance the potential positives.

Aside from the cross-functional diversity, many other types of diversity can have effects on team performance and some of these types of diversity can have inherently negative effects. For example, any negative stereotyping by group members resulting from diversity in terms of gender, age or ethnicity will reduce team social cohesion and hence group performance (Fiske & Neuberg, 1990, as cited in Harrison et al., 2002) because a certain amount of social cohesion has been found to be correlated with effective group performance (Harrison et al., 2002). Other aspects of diversity, such as in attitudes towards the group’s tasks, in values, and in time management styles, can also negatively affect group social cohesion and hence group performance (Fiske & Neuberg, 1990, as cited in Harrison et al., 2002).

The sorts of diversity that are most likely to be beneficial to group performance, such as diversity in relevant knowledge, experience and skills (Harrison et al., 2002), can unfortunately also cause problems for group performance. Having too many diverse views and opinions to coordinate can, for example, cause cognitive overload amongst group members and so impede its decision making processes (Mu & Gnyawali, 2003; Sethi et al., 2002). This is especially likely to be a problem when the team has a limited amount of time to complete its tasks (Mu & Gnyawali, 2003). The cross -functional diversity mentioned above can also cause problems if group members have difficulty understanding and coordinating the differing world views and values of group members from different functional areas (Colbeck et al., 2000 and Gallos, 1989, as cited in Mu & Gnyawali, 2003).

Given all the above-mentioned problems associated with diversity, are there strategies that a team and its managers can implement to reduce the potential negatives and enhance the potential positives? Regarding cognitive overload, evidently a team needs to be given an adequate amount of time to complete its task. Scheduling frequent collaboration can also be used to build social cohesion and overcome the potential negative impacts of stereotypes (Harrison et al., 2002) provided “team psychological safety” is fostered in the group (Mu & Gnyawali, 2003). And since too much social cohesion can cause teams to avoid the robust debate needed to generate the best thinking in order to protect social relationships, management encouragement of the group to be “venturesome” in its work can also be helpful (Sethi et al., 2002).

In conclusion, it appears that if managers wish to create especially effective teams, they should seek to minimise diversity in terms of task and time management values, while looking to maximise differences in relevant knowledge and skills. They should further aim to foster as much collaboration as possible so as to develop team social cohesion, have rules about interactions which foster team psychological safety, and encourage the team to be venturesome. Unless these things are done, managers will likely find diversity more a hindrance than a help for group performance.

 

The End