Assignment

Step 1

Your manager Dan visits your office. I'm meeting with Carla. Would you mind joining us for a minute? You grab a notepad and pen and follow him. Dan and I have been talking about the workplace dispute in the trust construction department. Have you heard about it? It's a serious situation. An employee was injured and it could affect our ability to complete overseas orders. We've got the legal department involved, but we want to make sure we're looking at this from all angles. We need to know what we know and don't know about this situation. More information will help us remedy the current dispute and develop future market strategies. Your critical thinking and analytical skills are going to be key for this assignment. Write up an analysis and deliver it to me by the end of the week. Let's get started

Step 2: Identify the Problem

Now that you have reviewed the process, apply that to the problem by reviewing the case, "Trouble in the Truss Construction Shop." Your first task is to figure out how the incident resulted in a problem in the truss construction shop.

Remember the direction from your boss is to "apply your critical thinking and analytical skills to figure out what happened, what we know and don't know, and how the organization might remedy this situation."

So, what is the problem that resulted from the incident, and why might there be different interpretations of the facts?

Outline the points that you want to make in the first two sections of your paper (introduction, explanation), and draft those sections.

Next, you will analyze the information.

THIS IS THE CASE

Trouble in the Truss Construction Shop Two weeks ago, during a QA truss load test, the truss being tested fragmented along a horizontal axis, causing a large piece of the truss to break part and fall on a hoist operator supporting the test. The hoist operator sustained head injuries and remains in an induced coma in a local hospital. This accident sent shock waves through the Truss Construction Department because the company has heavily invested in a new engineering and manufacturing process to produce a cost-effective truss that has been touted to be on the "cutting edge" of construction technology, especially for low cost housing in overseas markets.

A report by the Safety Officer, QA manager, and engineer verified that the test being conducted pushed the load testing slightly beyond the high threshold of acceptable load-bearing, though the extra load was not expected to cause the truss to fail. In fact, the trusses were advertised to meet "commercial-high" load requirements.

Employees in the engineering shop have been asking if the manufacturing or engineering process is flawed and if the trusses being produced could fail under load.

Company memos have focused on production and more testing at lower thresholds, and members of management are encouraging employees to continue the current production schedule to meet orders for the trusses.

The Sales department is highly concerned that if there is any delay in shipping, customers will pull their orders, which would have a disastrous result on revenues.

Faruch Habib, a production line worker, leaked the details of the accident and test thresholds to the press. Two weeks later, he was terminated for documented poor performance, according to managers.

The company Public Relations department has issued a general statement that the company has taken all action to ensure that this type of workplace accident would not be repeated.

Step 3: Analyze the Information

Once that you have some understanding of the issues of the event, gather and analyze information. The Problem Analysis resources will further aid your analysis and development of the third section of your paper.

Outline the points that you want to make in Section 3: Analysis of the Information of your paper, and draft that section.

Step 4: Consider and Analyze Other Viewpoints, Conclusions, and Solutions

Once you have completed your analysis of the incident, the next step is to analyze alternative viewpoints, conclusions, and solutions. To do this you will need to apply Ethical Decision-Making and Reasoning.

Outline the points that you want to make in Section 4: Analysis of Alternative Viewpoints, Conclusions, or Solutions of your paper, and draft that section.

Step 5: Develop Well-Reasoned Conclusions

You considered alternative viewpoints in the last step. Now you're ready to develop your personal conclusions and suggest remedies so that your boss is well-equipped to brief her leadership about the situation.

Remember, you may need to consult outside references but this is not a research paper. It is more investigative in nature about the facts of the case. Please cite outside sources carefully.

Now, outline your argument and draft Section 5: Conclusions and Recommendations, the final sections. Your boss is expecting to receive a concise, focused paper to prepare her for further meetings. Stay to the main points, although you may have more facts to answer any questions. You will submit your paper in the final step.

Step 6: Submit Critical Thinking Paper

Your final paper should be no more than 5 double-spaced pages, excluding the cover page and References page(s). Please organize your paper in accordance with your preparatory steps, using these subheadings:

1. Introduction
2. Explanation of the Issue
3. Analysis of the Information
4. Consideration of alternative viewpoints and conclusions
5. Conclusions and Recommendations

Here are some tips for success:

• Consider outside sources if they inform your case. However, stay on task.
• Use APA style for "in text" and reference citations. At this point, your citations should be error-free.

Consider these Best Practices for a paper:

• An effective introduction that grabs the reader's attention and sets the tone and direction for the rest of the paper;
• Supporting paragraphs that move the reader from the general introduction to the more specific aspects of your analysis;
• Body paragraphs that provide support; and,
• A conclusion that leads to a natural close to what you have presented in your paper.