Its all about writing a few question based on : Critical thinking and business decision-making.
(a) Identify the argument and write the thesis statement
(b) Identify implicit assumptions
(c) Discuss a set of data
(d) Describe flaws in an argument
(e) Create arguments and counter-arguments
(f) Identify missing evidence
A file is attached to complete the assessment. No reference is required, rather just need to answer the attached questions.
ASSESSMENT 2 Q4 2022
Business Writing Critical Review
Type of Collaboration: Individual
Submission: Sunday 30 October 2022, 11:59 p.m., via Turnitin
Curriculum Mode: Critical Review
Task: Critical thinking is the basis of business decision-making.
Use your critical thinking skills to:
(a) Identify the argument and write the thesis statement
(b) Identify implicit assumptions
(c) Discuss a set of data
(d) Describe flaws in an argument
(e) Create arguments and counter-arguments
(f) Identify missing evidence
You will be given word or sentence limits for each question.
Instructions:
1. Word file only
2. Font Times New Roman, 12pt, 1.5 spacing
4. Write your answer to each question under the question
NOTE: The University values academic integrity, honesty and ethical scholarship and provides support to students to study with integrity.
When you formally submit your assessment you are acknowledging that it is your own work.
This is an individual task. You are expected and trusted to undertake this work individually.
It is a breach of the Student Code of Conduct to submit work that is not your own. If plagiarism is found or suspected your case may be sent to Business Integrity as a breach of the Student Code of Conduct.
Resources:
1. https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/data/assets/pdf_file/0006/1082382/Critical_Thinking.pdf
2. https: //www.westernsydney.edu.au/studysmart/home/assignment_help/writing
3. Is English your second language?
Resources at: https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/careers/home/resources (bottom of the page)
Marking Criteria
This unit is about professional business communication, which means that we expect to see concise and clear communication in your answer.
50/100 CLARITY OF ENGLISH EXPRESSION
The writing must be clear and make sense. For high marks in this category the writing must achieve the professional standard expected by employers of WSU’s MBA graduates.
25/100 QUALITY OF ANSWER
The specific instructions for each question must be followed.
25/100 PRESENTATION
Critical review must be presented as a professional document and all instructions as to presentation and length followed.
Question 1 Identify the argument and write the thesis statement (one sentence only).
A union boss has hit out at the NSW government announcement that it is considering introducing higher-paid roles for teachers as part of a desperate bid to retain teachers and attract graduates. The “groundbreaking plans” announced by NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell suggest outstanding teachers could be paid annual salaries of up to $130,000. The minister said the move to incentivise current and prospective teachers would create stronger career pathways for teachers that would reward excellence.
ANSWER:
Question 2 Identify, and explain the significance of, the implicit assumptions being made by the armed protesters and their supporters (2-4 sentences).
Armed protesters enter Michigans state capitol to demand end to coronavirus lockdown
1 May 2020
Dozens of protesters, some of them heavily armed, have occupied the capitol building of the US state of Michigan to demand an end to coronavirus stay-at-home orders.
Many at the so-called ‘American Patriot Rally’ ignored state social-distancing guidelines as they packed inside the state’s capitol building and the area surrounding it on Thursday.
Police let more than 100 protesters into the building. The demonstrators had their temperature taken by police, as a coronavirus precaution, as they entered.
It appeared to be the largest of several protests in Michigan’s capital, Lansing, after supporters of Republican President Trump last month organised thousands of people for ‘Operation Gridlock’ which jammed the streets with cars to call out what they said was the overreach of Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s strict stay-at-home order.
“Governor Whitmer, and our state legislature, it’s over with. Open this state,” Republican US congressional candidate Mike Detmer told the crowd. “Let’s get businesses back open again. Let’s make sure there are jobs to go back to,” he said.
Protesters claim Ms Whitmer’s stay-at-home order violates constitutional rights, and they urged people to open their businesses on May 1 in violation of the Governor’s order.
Michigan authorities warned the protesters could be fined for violating social-distancing rules.
ANSWER:
Question 3 What conclusions can be drawn from the following data, in 3 sentences only. If you were the CEO of a competing company, what other information may you want to know? In 1-2 sentences only.
Apple revenue by region 2015 to 2021 ($bn)
ANSWER:
Question 4 Describe flaws in an argument (2-4 sentences only)
“The more modern anthropologists learn about Australian Aboriginal civilization, the better they understand its intellectual achievements. Australian Aborigines were not the hunter/gatherers assumed by so many early writers, but rather some western tribes were farmers of indigenous plants and animals. Furthermore, numerous medical uses of these indigenous plants were discovered by the Australian Aborigines. Oral traditions indicate that the Aborigines seem to have had high levels of knowledge of the workings of the inside of the human body, perhaps indicating surgical knowledge.”
ANSWER:
Question 5 Create counter-arguments (200 words max).
Develop two counter-arguments against the death penalty
The death penalty remains the strongest deterrent to violent crime
In recent years, many US states have moved away from lethal injections for those on death row, and some have moved away from the death penalty altogether. But some states are actively pushing back against this trend, such as my home state of South Carolina. Recently, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster signed into law a new bill that forces death row inmates to choose between the electric chair or a firing squad, so that the state can resume executions after a 10-year pause.
Some have argued that South Carolina’s return to the “old ways” of executions — such as reinstating the firing squad — are inhumane. Two inmates are suing, claiming the law is unconstitutional. On the flip side, as the governor stated, aren’t families and loved ones of victims of death row inmates allowed closure, as would be afforded under the new law? The decision by the South Carolina legislature and the governor is a step in the right direction to restore justice for not only the families of victims but also the victims themselves.
In 1977, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that capital punishment is constitutional and, since that ruling, most the death penalty cases have pertained to execution of those convicted of committing murder. The penalty of death is the most important catalyst to limiting the imitation of the worst kinds of crimes — principally, murder. According to Procon, “the death penalty is an important tool for preserving law and order, deters crime, and costs less than life imprisonment.” However, beyond merely lessening the numerical burden on taxpayers, maintaining not just the idea of justice but to actualize it through a penalty system is perhaps the greatest equalizer of those who are willing to push all standards of morality and ethics through their behaviour and blatant disregard for their fellow mankind.
This isn’t just a pedagogical exercise about the epistemology of what is or isn’t just, but rather an adherence to a tradition of having standards that serve as a catalyst for expectations of living in a civil society.
It cannot be lost upon any of us the reality that there have been several death penalty convictions that were later overturned. Death sentences often are overturned, and there are examples of life sentences being overturned, which indeed does create pause for concern. These are issues that require attention and correction, but they should not be utilized as a reason to remove and dismiss the death penalty altogether.
We must always maintain every notion and reality of justice; there can be no civil society without it. There can’t be safety, freedom or liberty without standards and expectations, and despite how heavy an acceptance it may be, it is absolutely critical that states be allowed to continue with the death penalty in some form. Many have criticized South Carolina and Gov. McMaster — unfairly, I believe.
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who you might find to be a surprising supporter of the firing squad, wrote in the case of Thomas Douglas Arthur, who killed his girlfriend’s husband in 1982, “In addition to being near instant, death by shooting may also be comparatively painless.” In case about which she wrote, Sotomayor concluded that “condemned prisoners, like Arthur, might find more dignity in an instantaneous death rather than prolonged torture on a medical gurney.”
There must be some form to hold murderers accountable and, historically, the death penalty has been the most effective way of doing so. It could very well be that a firing squad is the most humane way, especially compared to lethal injection, where there have been cases of prisoners experiencing excruciating pain for sometimes over an hour. These examples are certainly worthy of our consideration and discussion. But one thing is clear: We still need the death penalty, if for no other reason, as a deterrent for other potential criminals.
ANSWER:
Question 6 Identify missing evidence (200 words max).
You are the Human Resources Manager in charge of assessing an accusation of bullying.
The complainant alleges that their manager acted inappropriately towards them in a series of online meetings over the past year. More specifically, the complainant reports that their manager would often belittle them, make jokes at their expense and often raise their voice at the complainant.
The manager believes that the complainant is an incompetent worker who needs to leave the organisation. They deny bullying the complainant.
What information would you need to assess the accusation of bullying and recommend remedial actions, if any?
ANSWER:
