Fallacy Summary and Application Paper 1

Fallacy Summary and Application Paper

Critical Thinking and Decision Making in the Corporate Culture

Chenista Rae Straubel

Prof. Ed Robinson
MGT 350
October 27, 2004
 Fallacy Summary and Application Paper 2

Abstract

“The purpose of an organization is to enable common people to do uncommon

things.” Peter Drucker, Management consultant & author.

When it comes to decision-making, the ability to focus on the real or true problem is

essential in formulating real solutions to dilemmas in order to preserve an ethical and honest

corporate culture. Decisions based upon sound and ethical reasoning provide a foundation

for organizational learning as well as solid corporate cultures, effective company policies,

and fair-minded procedural practices and rules. Danger is inherent when making policy and

procedural rules that issues have been properly identified and analyzed for their complexity

and that all solutions have been carefully reviewed prior to making a formal policy that will

later define the operating culture. An ethical operating culture within any organization helps

to define “how things are done”, the “prevailing climate”, and the organization’s values and

beliefs.” According to Dean L. Bottoroff (1999-2004), “Management is not only part of the

problem, but the ultimate cause of a poor operating culture.”

This paper identifies the skills required of management staff to promote sound

business decisions and organizational learning. The need for informed business decisions

and properly implemented processes and “practices” based upon logical and ethical

reasoning is paramount in today’s competitive corporate cultures. Lack of organizational

logic and fallacies in decision making can lead to corruption, poor individual performance,

unclear goals and objectives, costly ambiguous or duplicate efforts, retaliation, deliberate

sabotage, and employee mutiny (bandwagon).

 Fallacy Summary and Application Paper 3

Fallacy Summary and Application Paper

Critical Thinking and Decision Making in the Corporate Culture

Employing Competent Leadership

In his article How to differentiate top business leaders and organisations of tomorrow,

author Rick Helliwell (2002) discusses that two core competencies distinguish successful

business leaders: the ability to empower and to influence management teams, and the ability

to create an "empowerment reciprocity" culture where staff members have strong critical

decision making skills to drive the goals and mission of organization forward. Helliwell

continues that it is essential that "business managers see critical decision making skills as

essential to a company's success." He encourages organization to assess the psychometrics

(critical thinking skills). The author stresses that before appointing final contenders; you

must analyze leadership styles (psychometrics, interviews and 360 degree reference

checking) and look for evidence that the individual has the ability to influence others

positively. The importance of reviewing examples and illustrations of past successes and

discussing the impact on a team's exceptional achievements is important when considering

appointments to management staff.

Organizational Learning, Decision-making, and ‘Best Practices’

Organizational effectiveness and learning is tightly integrated with corporate or

company strategy, structure, leadership, culture and the workforce. Offering insight into

critical thinking and its relationship to decision making skills when implementing strategic

processes and defining corporate structure, author Dr. Yogesh Malhotra (2002) explains:
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Archival and the subsequent referral of information are believed to

facilitate efficient problem solving and prevent unnecessary allocation of

resources to inefficient search processes. Incidentally, in due course, the

archived ‘best practices’ tend to define the ‘company way’.

Business solutions characterized by memorization of best practices

might define the assumptions that are embedded not only in information

databases, but also in the organisation’s strategy, reward systems and resource

allocation systems.

Within a changing business environment, such organizations may be

doing ‘more of the same’ better, but with diminishing marginal returns.

Competent managers and an empowered staff create the foundation for

organizational learning through the application of critical thinking skills and problem

solving, decision-making models. Berends, Boersma, and Weggeman (2001) suggest, “that

organization[al] learning is more than a simple aggregation of individuals learning”.

According to quoted resources, “individual learning” is a “necessary but insufficient

condition for organizational learning.” Critical thinking as a system and process welcomes

diversity, employs intellectual skills that question false analogies and rationale, and explores

alternatives and possible resources in new and refreshing ways.

Fallacies in Decision Making

Programmed decisions.

When exercising a programmed decision, managers believe they have an objectively

correct answer that can be used or relied upon by applying “simple rules, policies, or

numerical computations” (Bateman-Snell, 2004, pp. 66). While using programmed decisions
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may provide an expedient solution, if you are constantly using programmed decisions to

solve the same problem this is an indication that faulty reasoning may have been applied and

that the true problem and/or its cause have not been identified. Faulty reasoning can be the

result of logical fallacies such as hasty generalizations, questionable cause, inconsistency,

and division.

Implications of applying faulty reasoning to program decisions can forfeit the need to

review processes and procedures and can therefore lead to the adherence of policies that are

outdated, fallacious, or worse – corrupt in that they are unethical or discriminatory. In his

essay Patterns of Organizational Corruption, Kent Heiner (Retrieved 2004) offers:

It can be no coincidence that it is organizations such as these in which corruption

seems to flourish. Innocent individuals in the corrupt organization can be kept

unaware of any activity connected to the corrupt practices. Even for those involved in

some less sinister aspect of the unethical activity, wrongdoing is harder to discern

without knowledge of the greater picture.

The consequence of faulty reasoning applied to program decisions found in corporate

policies and procedures can be unethical or discriminative practices resulting from

improperly documented policies or inappropriate application of properly documented

policies or procedures. This identifies an underlying flaw in the corporate culture that is

ultimately the responsibility of top-level management and the Board of Directors. Evidence

of these decisions can be found in the failure to promote certain individuals who would

otherwise be qualified to fulfill a position of greater authority; large turnovers of a certain

race or gender in the workforce; poor performance or apathetic natures within the corporate
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culture; strife or the attitude that individuals must watch their own back; and individuals who

pursue their own agenda (corruption). Once a corporate culture becomes corrupt, individuals

in that culture will adjust their attitudes, performance, and behaviors accordingly.

Non-programmed decisions.

Complex decisions have elements of uncertainty and risk and are often reflective of

conflict and pressures from differing sources. Strategies for solving complex issues requires

decision-making skills and an acceptable approach that is ethical and employs solid

reasoning. Berends, Boersma, and Weggeman (2001) offer the following insight:

But when we want to look inside an organization, we will have to find out

how individual practices contribute to what can be described as organizational action.

“It is important to understand that ‘The government decided …’ or

‘The government acted …’ are shorthand statements because in some

situations it may matter a great deal which individuals were the main

initiators or executors of whatever decisions were taken (or not taken)

and whatever policies followed (Giddens 1984: 221).”

Whenever we say that organizations experiment, experience, reflect, reason or

perform other activities associated with organizational learning, we implicitly refer to

practices carried out by individuals within an organizational context.

In his article Reflections on Leadership: Two Common Fallacies, Edward D. Miller

(2002) points out two mistakes that managers tend to make: “When something goes wrong,

they look for someone to blame; they seldom search for systemic causes” and “When they

want to change someone, they begin by trying to change that person’s attitudes”.
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The author offers that the underlying assumptions that we make when finding blame

are: 1) our observation is true, accurate, and relevant; and 2) behaviors are consistent.

Situational factors are overlooked and hence systemic causes are not identified. Avoiding

judgments about people and their behaviors will help managers identify and to remedy the

real issue with real solutions. These behaviors are generally found when we engage in hasty

generalizations, false analogies, begging the question, division, and black and white fallacies.

When attempting to change attitudes we fallaciously believe that “attitude

adjustments have to precede change. The conventional wisdom decrees that a change in

attitude leads to a change in individual behavior, which, when multiplied by many people,

will lead to organizational change.” The same author argues that “action that will begin to

shape attitude, not the other way around”. He suggests mentoring as a solution to

effectuating stable character traits and for transforming habits and routines. Logical fallacies

that can be identified in attitudes can be common belief, past belief, and false dilemma.

Conclusion

Best management practices can often be the worst management practices when they

are built upon flawed assumptions and logical fallacies. Organizational learning takes place

when individuals within an organization analyze, summarize, and realize that change must

come from action and that decisions must clearly identify the true nature of the problem.

Leadership must be empowered to initiate a fresh approach through a solid

framework for problem solving and decision-making skills. Empowered leadership has the

ability to influence others positively helping to shape corporate cultures into a synergized

engine focused on the corporate mission and goals.

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References

Bateman, Thomas S. and Snell, Scott A. (2004). Management: The New Competitive

Landscape (6th ed.). I. Foundations of Management, 3. Managerial Decision Making.

McGraw-Hill, New York, NY.

Berends, H., Boersma, F.K., and Weggeman, M.P. (November 2001). The structuration of

organizational learning. Eindhoven Centre for Innovation Studies. Retrieved

10/27/2004 http://fp.tm.tue.nl/ecis/Working%20Papers/eciswp45.pdf

Bottorff, Dean L. (1999-2004). Ethics and Culture Management. Retrieved 10/27/2004

http://www.ethicsquality.com/about.htm#whatoc.

Giddens, A. (1976). New rules of sociological method. New York: Basic Books.

Heiner, Kent. Patterns of Organizational Corruption. Retrieved 10/27/2004

http://www.memresearch.org/econ/patterns.htm.

Helliwell, R. (2000, July). Keys to critical thinking. Management, 47(6), 44-45.

Malhotra, Dr. Yogesh (September 29-30, 2002). When best becomes worst. How can

organisatios prevent best practices from impeding their progress during ‘interesting

times’? Retrieved 10/27/2004, http://www.brint.org/bestpractices.pdf.

Miller, Edward D. (2002). Reflections on Leadership: Two Common Fallacies. Retrieved

10/27/2004 http://www.newsroomleadership.com/Reflections/e-021110-

TwoCommonFallacies.html