Critical Thinking Simulation

The critical thinking simulation was a well thought out situation that placed me in a real world position I could see myself in as a manager. First of all, I made myself familiar with the background of the retail store; learning about the product line, the nearest competition, and the target customer. As I began reading about the issues the store had been experiencing, I was a bit overwhelmed. I immediately began looking at each issue to define what the true problems were and which issues were the results or symptoms of the true problems. I had a hard time deciphering the difference between the causes and effects at first. I had to read through the issues several times and begin to frame each problem. What I found was that when I framed the problems, I found that a few of the issues identified in the simulation could have been the effect of one of the other problems.

The decision-making tool I used to help frame the problems was the fishbone diagram. By using this tool, I was able to evaluate the cause/effect relationship between the problems, which gave me the knowledge I needed to begin isolating the true issues that were of an urgent and/or critical nature and needed to be addressed. In this case, the most critical problems I identified were:

1. The new store

2. Product mix

3. Employee pay (variable pay)

4. Legal action

The application of critical thinking components affected my decision-making in that I avoided my typical thinking process of incorporating assumptions. I looked at being accurate and precise when framing the problems. This is an area that has been one of my weaknesses in terms of thinking critically. I also avoided barriers such as short-term thinking and moving forward while lacking the relevant background information needed to make better decisions. The simulation emphasized four key points from the course reading assignments which were:

1. Identify and frame the problem

2. Make the decision

3. Implement the decision

4. Evaluate the decision

The key points mentioned above were required in this simulation. The process used in the simulation is what I need to implement for every decision I make in my job. The decision-making steps are critical and skipping any step could result in poor decision making and even more importantly, cost the company time and money. I think I can apply what I learned about supply and demand in my workplace by learning to better understand what people want. Regardless of price or convenience, if people no longer want a particular product, service, or thing, there is nothing you can do to make them want it. You must adapt to the changing desires of consumers or employees by tailoring your product supply to