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
