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Business Case Studies
Critical Thinking -- Erroneous Thinking
Logical Fallacies in Business Reporting
Although the reporting of facts and figures is often thought of as an objective science, quite frequently even business reporting is characterized by logical fallacies, including but not limited to appeals to ignorance, hasty generalizations, and ad hominem attacks. In fact, one could argue that these logical fallacies, however, are particularly common and pernicious in business reporting because of the frequently technically complex nature of the subject matter in regards to facts and figures, combined with the emotional texture of business reporting that involves the fabric and texture of individuals lives. Reporters wish to attract attention and render complexities comprehensible, but frequently fall into logically fallacious traps to accomplish these objectives.
Fallacy
Hasty Generalization hasty generalization is often characterized by an all or nothing style of reporting. The fallacy of the hasty generalization is a failure of analogical or inductive reasoning, where one specific example is assumed to stand for all examples of similar or disparate cases, however tangential or irrelevant the similarities. For instance, during the recent Martha Stewart scandal, Stewart's woes were initially assumed to bode ill for all company products bearing her name. But now: "Instead of haughtily brushing off charges and refusing to answer questions, as she did on The Early Show while...
While she still maintains that she did nothing wrong, the domestic doyenne is more open and more thankful for public support." ("What's Cooking at the Martha Trial," Business Week Online, January 9, 2004, retrieved on January 19, 2004 at (http://www.aol.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/jan2004/nf2004019_2816_db016.ht)
Stewart's change of public image is assumed to bode well for all companies headed by a single, magnetic CEO.
This is important because, when considering investing in companies with a highly prominent 'brand name' individuals at the helm, an investor should not assume that merely because Stewart's fortunes are suddenly being reversed in the public eye, that she is out of the clear in the long-term, nor that her rehabilitated image will rebuild, in the long-term, the safety of investing in all companies where one person 'brands' the name of the company with his or her image. Furthermore, as the trial goes on, "she'll [Stewart] have to contend with a cross-examination that could be brutal, aimed at exposing inconsistencies in her story." ("What's Cooking at the Martha Trial," Business Week Online, January 9, 2004, retrieved on January 19, 2004 at (http://www.aol.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/jan2004/nf2004019_2816_db016.ht)
The fallacy hasty generalization is often used in business reporting, because quite often decisions to buy and sell stock must be made quickly. Thus highly…
Appeal to Ignorance.
An appeal to ignorance is an appeal to the lowest common denominator of knowledge -- 'it's the economy, stupid,' one might say is the ideal example of this rhetorical device. It is a seductive rhetorical technique because it implies an individual's gut instinct and gut ignorance is correct, regardless of the facts. Recently, "William Wolman, author and former Business Week chief economist" has questioned "the usual explanation of the job problem -- a rise in productivity. In his opinion, many Americans are working far more hours than the productivity numbers measure. In fact, he ventures what he calls a radical notion that the workweek should be shortened, but with no reduction in pay." Wolman cites how the simplistic 'lazy American' trope is in fact misguided. In fact, Europeans work fewer hours and although the anti-European sentiment may contain American pride in our longer hours, one must ask if longer hours are really personally and economically profitable for the economy as a whole. ("The Key to Wealth," January 19, 2004, Business Week Online retrieved on January 19, 2004 at (http://www.aol.businessweek.com/bwdaily/index.html#top)
The fact that the American economy appears to be growing is assumed in the rhetoric of politicians to be proof that the economy is improving -- an 'I don't know much, but I know I have a job approach.' However, the quality of the jobs being generated and their long-term stability is important as well. "Everyone should realize that what the productivity number actually measures is nothing that you or I would call productivity. Instead, it's output per measured hour worked. Stress the word 'measured,' because it seems
Versus Ethics Critical thinking is an acquired skill according to the Ellis (2015). Higher education promotes analysing abilities in students making them see different inferring techniques and how others deduce results and come to various conclusions, providing them with a basis on how to deal with tough personal and career related decision-making (p. 69). Critical thinking involves the following aspects Goal-directed reasoning and inferential skills Problem solving Evaluation Making decisions Systematic understanding of facts Critical thinking demands
(Eljamal; Stark; Arnold; Sharp, 1999) To conclude, it be said that if we will not be able to master imparting the capability to think in a developed form, our profession, as well as perhaps our world, would be influenced and taken over by someone who would be able to outsmart us to find it out. We would in that case not only remain thinking as to what happened but would
Global Warming Argument FACT OR FALLACY Critical Thinking World Health Organization (2013) reports that, in the last century, the earth's warmth increased by approximately 0.75 degrees C. And further at more than 0.18 degrees every decade in the last 25 years. This phenomenon, called global warming, is said to result from the greenhouse effect whereby deleterious gases, such as carbon dioxide, trap heat within the earth's atmosphere instead of getting released. A steady
Yes, the Oedipus complex aspect of Shakespeare it gives us and which in turn invites us to think about the issue of subjectivity, the myth and its relation to psychoanalytic theory. (Selfe, 1999, p292-322) Hemlet and Postcolonial theory Postcolonial theory was born as a result of the publication of the famous work of Edward Said, Orientalism (1978). This theory claim that some authors (Paul Gilroy, Achille Mbembe, Francoise Verges, etc.) and
Education is one of the critical aspects in the society especially in the case of the United States. The success of education relates to the ability of the relevant authority to adopt and integrate effective and efficient educational policy with the aim of addressing goals and targets in relation to elements of the society such as economy, politics, and social spheres. One of the critical federal educational policies is
American Myths Nature Environment Unlimited Growth and Finite Resources Western Civilization is currently coming to terms with some very important and unsettling realities. Capitalism, and modern economics thinkers, have idolized economic growth without limit. In most economic textbooks and theories, economic growth is considered an end good, and a lack of economic growth a problem. Though we can argue about whether economic growth is a good in all situations, it is indisputable that