‘Critical thinking’ has been touted as an essential skill in the workplace. However, what constitutes ‘critical thinking’ is often ambiguous. In this course, students will work through the stages of critical thinking and learn the basic principles of ‘clarity’, ‘precision’ and ‘reasoning’; culminating in a debate of complex, current issues affecting the workplace. This course is open to all pillars, but is specially designed for final year students who are interested in understanding management theory and contemporary management practices in a “VUCA” (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) environment.
Learning Objectives
- Demonstrate critical thinking skills through reviewing and critiquing a range of management texts and theories
- Evaluate the arguments for and against mainstream management theory and practice
- Develop an informed opinion on contemporary management issues through independent inquiry
Course Requirement
| Assessment | Percentage |
| WEC – Group project | 5 |
| WEC – Class participation | 20 |
| WEC – Online assignment | 15 |
| WEC – Case study | 30 |
| WEC – Debate | 20 |
| WEC – HBR stimulation | 10 |
Course Map
Week 1:Introduction to course
Identify claims, premises, conclusions & issues
Week 2: Identify popular management ideas
Week 3: Interrogating management theory p1: Buzzwords (what) and bullshit (who)
Analyze how buzzwords and bullshit operate
Week 4: Interrogating management theory p2: Rhetoric (how), Discourse (why)
From analyze to evaluate
Week 5: Interrogating efficiency: The case of Valve
Week 6: Interrogating rationality: Performance management
Week 8: Paradigms in management
Week 9: Debate practice
Week 10-12: Debates
Week 13: Reflect
Week 14: Final Consult
Instructor
Grace Dixon