Chapter 1. Critical thinking. Definitions. Critical thinking is deciding what to and what not to believe.

ve. Critical thinking is the formation of logical inferences. Critical thinking is the development of cohesive and logical reasoning patterns. Critical thinking is careful and deliberate determination of whether to accept, reject or suspend judgment. Critical thinking is consciously observing, analyzing, reasoning and evaluating according to a standard. Thinking that proceeds in the basis of careful evaluation of premises and evidence and coming to a conclusion as objectively as possible through the consideration of all pertinent factors and the use of valid procedures from logic.

Critical thinking standards. Clarity. Accuracy. Precision. Relevance. Completeness. Fairness. Soundness.

Inquiry skills used in critical thinking. To observe. See and notice.

To describe. Say what somebody or something is like. To compare. Examine people or things. To identify. Show or prove who or what something is like. To associate. Link people or things together. To infer. Reach an opinion based on available information or evidence. To predict. Say something in advance. To apply. Make use of something.

Sore critical thinking skills. Interpretation. Comprehend and express the meaning and significance. Analysis. Evaluation. Assessment. Inference. Conclusion. Explanation. Self regulation.

Attributes of a critical thinker. Ask pertinent questions. Assess statements and arguments. Admit lack of understanding or information. Sense of curiosity. Clearly define a set of criteria. Examine beliefs, assumptions and opinions. Listen carefully.

Self assessment. Examines problems closely. Reject incorrect information.

Cost of fallacious (mistakes) reasoning.???

Importance of critical thinking. Helps to solve real world problems. Provides quantitative results. Guidelines to achieve business goals/ provides direction. Prepares companies for competitive strategies. Minimizes business uncertainties. Builds up positive attitudes. Development of total quality people.

Relationship between critical thinking and problem solving vs decision making. Critical thinking generates unlimited number of feasible solutions. Its goal is to find supporting reasons behind the solution. Problem solving generates limited number of solutions. Identify the problem. Specify the objectives and decision criteria for choosing a solution. Develop alternatives. Analyze and compare alternatives. Select the best alternative. Its goal is to find out optimal solution. Decision making is the selection of best alternatives.

Implement the selected alternative. Monitor to assure desired results.

Chapter 2. decision theory. Decision making is the process of identifying and selecting a course of action to solve a specific problem.

Problem finding process. Deviation from past experiences. Deviation from standards/ expected goals. Complaint from other people. Unable to meet competitive advantage.

Problem and opportunity findings. Expected performance > actual performance : problem. Expected performance < actual performance : opportunity. Chance to exceed objectives.

Types of decision. On the basis of frequency. Programmed (procedures, rules, policies). Day to day activities. Non programmed (intuition, judgment, experience). Top level management, strategic decisions. On the basis of importance. (major and minor) Degree of futurity of decisions. Long range impact. Impact of decision on other functional areas.

 Qualitative that enter the decision. Subjective factors important. Recurrent decisions. On the basis of nature. Routine. Strategic. On the basis of number of persons involved. Individual. Group. On the basis of complexity (Simple, complex). Simple complex Certainty mechanistic/routine analytical uncertainty. judgmental adaptive.

Models of decision making process. Problem avoider. Problem solver. Problem seeker.

Decision theories. Classical theories. Decision making is a rational process where decision maker seeks out and choose the course of action that is most likely to attainment of their goals and objectives. The decision making process can be broken down into a series of sequential steps. Assumptions. The problem is clear and unambigious.

 A single well defined goal is to be achieved. All alternatives and consequences and known. Preferences are clear. Preferences are constant and sable. No time or cost constraints exist. Final choice will maximize the economic payoff. Behavioral theory. A more realistic description of decision makers behavior. Two important concepts in this theory. Bounded rationality. Satisfying outcome.