Write a 3-4-page academic paper in which you describe a business situation, apply a critical thinking framework to the situation, and recommend evidence-based solutions to the situation. Explain how the concepts of VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) could affect both the situation and the solution.
This paper will give you practice with academic writing expectations, while still being work relevant. Many organizations have relationships with professional associations and contribute written articles regularly to newsletters and other publications. In addition, some organizations expect leaders to participate in conferences and seminars, where written work must be submitted using an academic style.
While you are playing the role of a new leader in an organization, remember that you are also writing a paper that will be evaluated by courseroom faculty. Thus, you want to make it easy for them to clearly see that you have demonstrated the outcomes of the assessment. Do not make your courseroom faculty search for information; guide them to it. How? By double checking the scoring guide and ensuring that you have clearly demonstrated each of these competencies at what you believe is the Distinguished level.
Read the following and think about how Panera used critical thinking and an understanding of VUCA to solve their mosh pit problem. Pay attention to Kallet’s critical thinking framework in particular.
* Jargon, J. (2017, June 2). How Panera solved its “Mosh Pit” problem. The Wall Street Journal.
* Kallet, M. (2014). Think smarter: Critical thinking to improve problem-solving and decision-making skills. Wiley