Some examples of writingThis is detailed practical guidance with.docx

Some examples of writing
This is detailed practical guidance with examples. Take time to
look at it before you write your first assignment. Do not worry
if the technical risk management material in the examples is too
difficult to understand. Just look at how the technical material
is introduced and linked.Structure
The instructions for some assignments give you a particular
structure to use. Dissertations are a bit like this although you
have choices and some flexibility.
But for most assignments you have freedom over the structure.
We usually recommend you start with an introduction and end
with a conclusion, but what goes in between is up to you and
should match the process of analysis and argument that you use
in your piece.
It is usually a good idea to use sub-headings to help show your
structure clearly and keep you focused.
For MANG6182 both the ‘essay’ and the ‘report’ can follow this
simple structure. There is nothing special about the
‘report’.Introductions
Alasdair and I would like your introductions to be succinct and
explain the analytical approach taken in the essay/report as a
whole. The following example of an introduction is NOT based
on this year’s assignments but still shows the difference
between a poor introduction and a good one. Here’s the poor
version.
“Risk is a key concept in management today, with more and
more organizations adopting risk management methods and
following risk management regulations. Risk has become a
fundamental concern (Power, 2004) of government and wider
society. Risk, and the communication of risk, have also become
a major concern for clinicians, who are increasingly expected to
explain risks to patients as part of obtaining their consent to
medical treatments such as surgery. In this context, it is
important to understand the effect that talking about risk has on

the way people think and, in particular, on the way they make
decisions and the quality of those decisions. Motivated by this,
Dowie wrote “Against risk” to argue that the use of the word
“risk” was unhelpful in this medical context and more broadly.
The article discusses the issues in principle through an
imaginary conversation involving Humpty Dumpty, but reaches
more practical and succinct conclusions and proposals later.
One of those proposals is the replacement of various risk
phrases with risk free alternatives.
This article will discuss the risk and risk free phrases proposed
by Dowie before critically analysing them. The article ends with
a conclusion.”
What is wrong with this introduction? Why is this below
average despite good English and a citation? The first paragraph
is too long and begins with very general waffle. The second
paragraph is far too generic and gives us no idea of the strategy
used to analyse the issue. We are simply promised some
“critical analysis.” The one positive point is that this second
paragraph at least makes clear that it is the risk phrases that are
the topic of the report, not the whole article by Dowie.
Here’s a better introduction to the same essay:
“Jack Dowie’s article, ‘Against Risk’ argues that using the word
‘risk’ liberally in health decisions with patients is unhelpful and
confusing. In addition to discussing the idea in principle, Dowie
offers a table with risk phrases and risk free alternatives. This
report focuses on his table of alternative terminology. It begins
by explaining the alternative phrases and Dowie’s reasons for
suggesting them, then goes on to review the disappointingly
limited empirical research on the effect of using risk
terminology on decision quality, before concluding with some
suggestions on how empirical research could be done to test
Dowie’s proposals in a practical way.”
Why is this better and far above average? It’s better because it
doesn’t waste words on general waffle but gets on with it. It’s
also much, much better because it explains what is coming in a
way that shows the analytical approach taken. It’s clear from

this succinct overview that, despite Dowie’s reasons for
suggesting better terminology, almost nobody has tested if the
phrases work better or if risk phrases have unwanted effects.
Consequently, the report will end with some suggestions on how
it could be done. This is much more interesting and promising
than just some “critical analysis.”Sub-headings
Your sub-headings should help to show you analytical approach,
or at least the topics you are covering. They should be
consistent with the analytical approach you have chosen and
that you explain in your introduction.
For example, imagine the task is to write about an empirical
study of something. A poor set of sub-headings would be:
Introduction
The study performed
Critical analysis
Conclusion
There are not enough sub-headings and they are rather general.
A better approach would be to think about the study and decide
what you want to say about it. Suppose you look at the study
and you decide that it has so many problems that it is
impossible to reach any useful conclusions, but you have some
ideas for a better study that could be done in future. In your
introduction you would explain that you will explain the study
and highlight methodological flaws, then suggest a revised
design of study that could be carried out. Your sub-headings
could then be:
Introduction
The study performed
Alternative explanations of the results and methodological
weaknesses
A proposed study design
Conclusion
These are much better sub-headings. There are more of them
and they are more specific. They explain the analytical

approach taken.
Alternatively, suppose you were writing about the same topic
but you thought that the study design was very good and that
the conclusions are correct and should be applied in a practical
way in companies. You could say in your introduction that you
will explain the study performed and its conclusions, then
discuss their implications for company practice of risk
management. Your sub-headings could then be something like:
Introduction
The study performed
Key conclusions from the study
Implications for risk management practice
Conclusion
Again, the argument is signposted nicely by the sub-
headings.Conclusion
Writing a conclusion for most assignments is quite simple. Your
conclusion should restate your argument but with the examples,
evidence, definitions, and other supporting material taken out.
Now that the reader has had all that detail, you can restate your
basic argument in just a paragraph or two.
Do not introduce new ideas or arguments. Keep it fairly short or
you will be repeating yourself too much.
(Conclusion chapters in dissertations are different.)Clear
citations
It is vital at all times to make clear whose ideas or work you are
stating. The convention is that if you don’t say whose ideas you
are giving then you are claiming them as your own. Here’s an
example that fails to make clear whose material is being given.
It could be something in a discussion of the value of calculation
and modelling, for example.
“The Unconscious Thought Effect has been demonstrated in a
variety of preference choice tasks (e.g. choosing which car to
buy) where there is no one decisive factor. People who think
consciously about the decision for a while then decide will
usually make worse choices than people who think consciously
for the same amount of time but then have a few minutes of

doing something else before making a snap decision. This is due
to unconscious thought occurring between the initial
deliberation and the final choice. This suggests that, though
people engage in a lot of conscious thought when they tackle
complex problems, they should do more unconscious thought
(Dijksterhuis and Nordgren 2006).
However, another explanation is that the conscious thought
usually involves wrestling with various aspects of the choice in
sequence and that taking a decision immediately after that
activity tends to leave the most recently considered factors
over-weighted in the decision. Leaving the problem for a few
minutes reduces this over-weighting of recently considered
factors. In other words the so-called Unconscious Thought is
really just a process of forgetting and memory consolidation. In
some studies the quality of decisions has been compared with
the strategy of rating each factor in the decision and then using
a mathematical calculation to combine the information. This
very conscious strategy performs best of all and suggests that
the right kind of deliberation is the best strategy.”
Although these two paragraphs are clear and there is even some
excellent critical thinking in the second paragraph, there is a
problem. It is not clear where the ideas have come from. There
is one citation but it appears only at the end of the first
paragraph. It could refer to the sentence in which it appears, to
the whole paragraph, or to just some sentences within that
paragraph. And how do we know if it also is the source of the
critical analysis in the second paragraph? You can’t get credit
for critical analysis if it’s not clear that it is your work.
Here’s the same material properly attributed.
“What Dijksterhuis and Nordgren (2006) mis-name The
Unconscious Thought Effect has been demonstrated in a variety
of preference choice tasks (e.g. choosing which car to buy)
where there is no one decisive factor. Dijksterhuis and
Nordgren (2006) describe a number of studies where people who
thought consciously about a decision for a while then decided
made worse choices than people who thought consciously for

the same amount of time but then had a few minutes of doing
something else before making a snap decision. They theorise
that this is due to unconscious thought occurring between the
initial deliberation and the final choice. Their conclusion is
that, though people engage in a lot of conscious thought when
they tackle complex problems, they should do more unconscious
thought.
However, another explanation is that the conscious thought
usually involves wrestling with various aspects of the choice in
sequence and that taking a decision immediately after that
activity tends to leave the most recently considered factors
over-weighted in the decision. Leaving the problem for a few
minutes reduces this over-weighting of recently considered
factors. In other words the so-called Unconscious Thought may
be just a process of forgetting and memory consolidation. In
some studies by Dijksterhuis and Nordgren the quality of
decisions has been compared with the strategy of rating each
factor in the decision and then using a mathematical calculation
to combine the information. This very conscious strategy
performs best of all and suggests that the right kind of
deliberation is the best strategy.”
Not only are the names of the theorists mentioned more times,
but they are also identified by the pronoun “they”, so that it is
clear at all times whose ideas and work are being talked about.
(As an added refinement their sneaky trick of naming an effect
using the theory they believe explains it is flagged. A better
name would be something like “Delayed Choice Improvement
Effect”, because it does not presume the explanation.)Citations
for different types of support
If you cite someone because they suggested an idea or made a
claim then the support they provide is much less than if they
had actually done some research and got some facts. Always
make it clear what kind of citation you are giving by the way to
introduce the citation.
Here’s a short sentence where it is not clear what kind of
citation it is:

“Intrinsic Risk Attitude indicates the relationship between risk
attitude and strength of preference (Smidts, 1997).”
Here’s that same citation, but this time factually more accurate
and making clear that it was Smidts’ definition that Smidts was
being cited for:
“Smidts (1997) defined Intrinsic Risk Attitude as the functional
relationship between risk attitude, as measured by the utility
function u(x), and strength of preference, as represented by the
value function v(x).”
This is important because this is only one way to define
Intrinsic Risk Attitude and far from the most popular.
Here’s a citation where, again, it is not quite clear what the
citation is for:
“According to Zhang et al (2008), the four key road safety
problems in China are: pedestrians, night time driving, vehicle
passengers, and motorcycles.”
How did they come up with these? What was it based on? Did
they just give their opinions or was there more behind this?
Here’s the same citation but given in a way that more clearly
shows the weight that should be given to it:
“On the basis of a wide ranging analysis of official Chinese
accident statistics, Zhang et al (2008) identified four areas
where there was high potential for reducing fatalities:
pedestrians, night time driving, vehicle passengers, and
motorcycles.”
This version is also more accurate in stating what Zhang et al
actually wrote.Critical analysis of a research study
A lot of marks are given for critically reviewing the literature
rather than just repeating claims made by other researchers.
Here’s an example to show exactly what I mean. The first
version shows how not to do it.
“Golomb et al (2012) studied the link between consumption of
chocolate and Body Mass Index (BMI) and found that people
who ate chocolate more also had lower BMI scores. Golomb et
al discuss the chemicals in chocolate that may lead to this
beneficial effect.”

Here’s a much better alternative:
“Golomb et al (2012) found a negative correlation between the
objectively measured Body Mass Index (BMI) of 1,018 people
and their self-reported frequency of eating chocolate. Although
statistically significant, with the large sample, the size of the
effect was small. Golomb at al discuss chemicals in chocolate
that may assist weight loss, but it is also possible that many
overweight people avoid chocolate, or at least report that they
do. No specific causal relation was established by the
correlation and no distinction was drawn between high cocoa
dark chocolate and high sugar milk chocolate.”
The second version is dramatically better because of the
following improvements:
1. Negative correlation is more specific than a vague link of
unspecified statistical form.
2. The specific variable that linked to BMI is given: “frequency
of eating chocolate”. In the study, quantity of chocolate eaten
did not correlate with BMI.
3. The size of the effect is mentioned, carefully distinguishing it
from the statistical significance, which is a very different thing.
4. More is said about how the study was done. The sample size
is given but, more importantly, the way the variables were
measured is given, highlighting the fact that the chocolate
consumption was done by the unreliably method of just asking
people to say what they ate and how often.
5. The difference between correlation and causation is pointed
out, with a specific alternative explanation of the correlation
found.
6. A rather obvious distinction about the type of chocolate eaten
is pointed out that was ignored in the study.
To improve this further you can add some ideas for a better test
– which might be the study you perform or something like it but
does not have to be. For example, you could add something like
this:
“Demonstrating that eating chocolate promotes weight loss

would require a double-blind experimental study with randomly
selected subjects and a control group. However, it is possible
that some people who are overweight are chocolate lovers, and
that is part of their problem, while others manage to avoid
chocolate or convince themselves that they do, while
maintaining an unhealthy weight by other means. To understand
if these behaviours happen at all, a first step would be to
interview a small selection of people in their homes and ask
them about their chocolate eating habits and perceptions of
them.”Critical analysis of a definition
Definitions very often deserve some critical analysis. Here’s a
point with no critical analysis.
“Risk and uncertainty are not the same idea. According to
Knight, risk involves known probabilities whereas uncertainty
does not.”
Now here’s that point with some critical analysis added:
“Risk and uncertainty are not the same idea. A number of
suggestions as to the difference have been made. According to
Knight, risk involves known probabilities whereas uncertainty
does not. This idea is based on a Frequentist interpretation of
probability so for a Bayesian this is not a distinction at all. One
could easily supply a probability subjectively or by using an
uninformative prior distribution so, what at first seems to be
Knightian uncertainty becomes risk. Amended to refer to
frequencies, this might be a useful distinction between two
concepts but it probably does not agree with general usage of
the words by most English speakers, and is not supported by
ordinary dictionary definitions.”Critical analysis of a
theory/model
Theories also need to be critically analysed.
“According to risk homeostasis theory (Wilde 1998) humans
have a preferred level of risk and adjust their behaviour to
maintain it, responding to varying levels of incidents.”
Don’t just state that and try to apply it. This is a ridiculous idea
so explain why.
“According to risk homeostasis theory (Wilde 1998) humans

have a preferred level of risk and adjust their behaviour to
maintain it, responding to varying levels of incidents. As a
general theory this seems very unlikely to be true. Consider a
person sitting at home watching TV and exposed to virtually no
risk at all. Should we predict that the person will need to do
something dangerous to compensate, such as juggling with
knives? ”Making suggestions
Here are some things you might want to suggest and examples
of well-made suggestions. (Each of these might be followed or
preceded by considerably more argument and evidence. This
just shows one form of words to introduce the ideas.)
To be suggested
Suggestion
An application for a good method.
“Vane’s method of iterative war gaming with multiple contexts
might be applied in adversarial situations other than war, such
as competitive business situations. Here the competitors are
mostly known but the views of customers of different types
might be unknown, leading to unpredictable reactions to
competitive moves. These views might be captured in the
context model. This kind of analysis might lead to the
realization that particular market research could help make
customer reactions more predictable.”
An alternative explanation.
“The apparent failure of compulsory seatbelt use to reduce road
deaths has been taken as evidence of risk homeostasis.
However, an alternative explanation is that the extra safety
provided by a seatbelt leads to a re-evaluation of driving speed
and an adjustment towards a quicker journey and very slightly
reduced risk of death. The road death data show a slight
reduction but this is unreliable because drivers would not be
able to assess safety accurately. Their adjustment might be
inaccurate, making the data hard to interpret confidently.”
A test of a model.
“One way to test the idea that intrinsic risk attitude is captured
by the functional relationship between u(x) and v(x) would be

to find this relationship for a sample of individuals in two or
more different contexts (e.g. saving time on a journey, saving
time on a work task) or different quantities (e.g. saving money,
saving time, saving pain) and see if the function remains the
same for each person. If IRA can be captured this way then it
should be stable across different situations.”
(Note: This was done back in 1985 by Ruth Keller and it’s not
stable!)
An issue for risk management in organizations.
“3) Conflict with performance management systems
Some widely used management methods may conflict with the
needs of effective risk management. In particular, where
employees are directed and incentivized by setting numerical
targets that remain fixed for a year at a time, a number of
dysfunctional consequences may result, some of which
undermine management of risk. For example, A salesperson just
short of a bonus target who would not expect to reach the target
by sensible selling strategies might still take a reckless risk
with a client in the hope of producing a large, lucky sale before
the year end.”
(In this style the issue is presented as an appropriately worded
sub-heading, formatted in bold.)
A principle for risk management.
6) Focus effort on the most worthwhile initiatives to improve
risk management in the organization.
At any point in time an organization will…”
(Here again the principle is simply introduced by using it as a
statement in bold. An alternative is to end each sub-section with
the statement of the principle, having built up to it.)
*****THIS research ESSAY IS WORTH 40% OF MY GRADE
SO IM COUNTING ON YOU *****

Write an essay that addresses one or two texts listed in the
syllabus. You must use a minimum of five sources. (You may
draw from the recommended reading for your sources.) Consider
writing an essay about Alia Yunis’ The Night Counter. If you
choose to expand upon either Essay One/Two, you may use up
to two pages from your previously submitted material. These
pages would count toward the length requirement of the
research essay.
Note: Your essays should reflect in-depth critical analysis that
goes beyond classroom discussions. The essay should be 10-12
pages long including the work cite.
Use these two in the final research
· The Night Counter by author, Alia Yunis
· Crescent by Diana Abu-Jaber.
Other books you may use as a source, and/or you can use
online Articles Minimum of 5 sources
· Laila Halaby, West of the Jordan (2003)
· Betty Shamieh, Roar (2005) and The Black Eyed &
Architecture (2008)
· Alia Malek, The Home that was Our Country (2017)
· Ruth Awad, Set to Music a Wildfire (2017)
This is the outline I did but when I disuse it with my professor
he said most of it wrong because that’s more topics and i have
to focus in one topic and make my argument about it. I highlight

the parts you may use with Green.
Can you redo it based on the recording you will figure it out
after you listen to the recording in the bottom?
Working Title: Comparing Crescent and The Night Counter
Introduction:
Thesis statement: The stories of Crescent by Diana Abu-Jaber
and The Night Counter by Alia Yunis both share similar
characteristics of Arab American identity and culture, such as
the vulnerability from immigration, the wide variety of food,
realistic story telling from characters about their experience,
and their uses of Arabic language.
Body Paragraphs
Point A: Topic sentence: In Crescent, Janet and Han are both
lonely and also in The Night Counter Fatima was also lonely
when she moved to California.
1. Supporting evidence: “Their first kiss was under the water in
the deceptive lights” (Abu-Jaber, p. 224).
2. Supporting evidence: “‘Back home, the house would be his,’
Scheherazade said. ‘As your only living son.’” (Yunis, p. 335).
Point B: Topic sentence: The two novels communicate the foods
of the Arabic culture through detailed descriptions throughout
the stories.
1. Supporting evidence: “Her mother said that a baklava-maker
should have sensitive, supple hands, so she was in charge of
opening and peeling the paper-thin layers of dough and placing
them in a stack in the tray” (Abu-Jaber, p. 58).
2. Supporting evidence: “Fatima covered the completed kibbes
with a white towel so that they would not dry out. Before the
engagement dinner tomorrow with Tiffany from the Iranian
Jew’s store, she would deep-fry the balls in corn oil” (Yunis, p.
142).
Point C: Topic sentence: The storytelling From Srine’s uncle,
Abdulrahman Saladin in Crescent and the story listener,
Scheherazade in The Night Counter both reveal the Arab
American mythical, historical, and cultural forces.

1. Supporting evidence: “Ask anyone, Persians, Turks, even
Lebanese and Egyptians- none of them want to be the Arab”
(Abu-Jaber p.54).
2. Supporting evidence: “‘Times change, ya oukhti.’ Fatima
sighed. ‘When I first came to this country. I couldn’t understand
how the women-Millie and those big picture show stars -let men
boss them around...’” (Yunis, p.121)
Point D: Topic sentence: Both stories involve the Arabic
culture, like Hanif teaching an American woman about Arabic
language in Crescent and Randy teaching her kids about the
Arab culture and the proper etiquette.
1. Supporting evidence: “First she identified herself as the
woman that Han had been tutoring” (Abu Jaber, p. 227).
2. Supporting evidence: “She was starving, and so she wolfed
down the food, not inspecting the plastrine plates for caked-on
leftovers, as Randy had taught her” (Yunis, p.167) p. 265
Conclusion
Topic sentence/summary of your main points: The two books
are alike because they include Arab American culture through
the language and food, and how the characters’ experience in
America affects their Arab culture.
1. Closing remark: The two novels Crescent and The Night
Counter make connections to Arab American culture through
storytelling and isolation.
2. Closing remark: Food was played role in showing the
different forms of Arab dishes in both novels through the
descriptions.
Works Cited
Abu-Jab, Diana. (2003). Crescent. New York. NY: W.W. Norton
and Company, Inc.
Yunis, Alia. (2009). The Night Counter. New York. Shaye
Areheart Books.

Recording (Office discussion)
Grade Descriptor
Express ideas in good English You must be able to write
clearly, using good grammar. The language you use must be
appropriately 'academic', and you should be able to develop
arguments and explain complex concepts and theories.
Weighting 20%
Use of additional information was excellent. Using various
forms of writing, you drew together complicated material and
ideas and clearly used them to address the relevant parts of the
question throughout.
Present a coherent, wellstructured and logical discussion You
must answer the question you have been set. You must help the
reader to follow your essay by using a clear structure, with
appropriate use of headings. You must ensure that the ideas and
examples you introduce relate to one another and to the relevant
part of the question. Weighting 30%
The structure was clear, you highlighted the main points,
and included complex and relevant information/ argumentation/
Use appropriate literature You should refer to any core texts. It
would be helpful to refer to others from appropriate academic or
business sources. Weighting 20%
Understanding of the broad topic, spanning the principles and
processes of risk management that risk academics and
professionals need to understand. Weighting 20%
Referencing You should follow the recommended Harvard style
for in-text citations and alphabetised reference listings at the

end of the coursework. Weighting 10%
Accurate, consistent and uses the appropriate style, with
few errors.
Surname
######Scenario Planning Technique
Introduction
Scenario planning is one of the strategic management
instruments management tool. It encourages leaders to visualize
possible future states and strategies on how to get maximum
benefits from opportunities while avoiding potential risks
(Miller, & Waller, 2003). This paper covers the characteristics,
advantages, and disadvantages of scenario planning. The tool is
useful when managers have to decide uncertainty. The planning
approach enables the management team to put into consideration
all the company’s portfolio of dealing. The guide makes it
possible to develop medium and long-term strategic plans by
analyzing different possible scenarios (Scenario Planning
Foresight Horizon Scanning Centre, 2009, p.3). Scenario
planning helps develop strategies and policies that are flexible,
resilient, innovative, and robust. Scenario planning allows
people to be able to explore how the world would change if
specific things happened and the option that could be better
among several scenarios is chosen.
Characteristics of the scenario planning guide
Plausible
The scenarios need to be reasonable. The creations must be a
reflection of the real word. Although there are uncertainties, the
scenarios need to be based on real-life ideas and then
imaginations of how the current situations will change over
time. Using real-world situations helps in creating real
possibilities and provides the basis for analysis of the strengths

and weaknesses of an alternative.
Internally consistent
The scenarios must apply to the internal environment of an
organization. The circumstances help an organization for a plan
on possible futures hence creations need to be consistent with
the organization. The plans and strategy that are chosen will be
applied in the organization so that it can develop its internal
and external environment. The plan must apply to the
environment of an organization.
Thorough analysis
One has to develop many scenarios that fit different future
possibilities. Developing as many scenarios as possible helps in
making sure the manager has a clear understanding of the
future. The analysis should also be exact to make sure the plans
will apply to the organization.
Attractive and convincing
The scenarios one creates should be compelling after they are
applied to the organization. Scenarios should also be engaging.
Then after analyzing all of them, the manager should pick the
one that is most compelling and engaging.
Strengths
Clear and easy to follow
The scenario planning guide is easy for people to follow. The
explanation of the guide done in a clear way and it provides
answers to readers’ questions. It is easy for a person to read,
develop scenarios, and analyze them. The author provides steps
on how to develop scenarios and how to analyze the scenario
planning method that is most suitable for a specific situation.
Scenario planning steps make it easy to identify weaknesses
such as disruptive events and technological discontinuity and
consider them when developing long-term plans.
Help compare many options
The scenario planning guide makes it possible for a person a
person applying it to identify many options and then settle on
the best (Cooper, et al., 2009, p.12). Creating many options
enables one to identify the strongest option that has a

competitive advantage. Scenario planning also makes a person
develop a better understanding of possible futures, how they
will come about, and the reason they will happen. The
understanding of the arguments makes it easy to develop strong
strategies that lead to short-term and long-term benefits.
Forces managers to imagine new possibilities
The process of developing scenarios makes the person or team
creating the scenarios to consider putting into considerations all
elements that relate to a scenario (Lindgren. & Bandhold, 2003,
p.59). The process also helps a person find new considerations
which they would not identify if they never committed to
developing many different possible futures.
Provides new perspective to existing decisions
The guide sets a process which requires a person to develop
different future possibilities that would result from decisions.
Managers have to reframe decisions for them to come up with
new possibilities. As a result, a person can view a decision from
different perspectives. It also challenges organizational beliefs
that have been in existence for a long time.
Using the scenario planning guide helps a person come up with
contingency plans.
Since every possible future scenario requires possible results, a
person can identify the strengths and weakness that may result
from a scenario. If any negative consequences may arise from a
decision, the manager can learn about it and develop contingent
measures even before implementing the plan.
Allows the manager to project optimistic and pessimistic past
events
Scenario plan recognizes that the future is a continuation of the
past dynamics an relationships which can be influenced by
humans through actions and decisions (Lindgren. & Bandhold,
2003, p.48). The scenario planning process makes it possible for
the manager to project past and current events, hence get a clear
view of the future. The process of creating scenarios relies on
the available information. Then the creation requires the
projection of available details to create a possible future.

Weaknesses
Wishful thinking when creating scenarios
At times managers develop wishful thinking while creating a
possible future (Cooper, et al., 2009, p.25). Wishful thinking is
not a true reflection of the knowledge and understanding one
has about a topic. Wishful thinking presents wrong data and
information. Such a mistake can ruin the whole processes and
require the manager and their teams to repeat. There are high
chances that a plan developed using wishful thinking will fail to
address the purpose of the scenario planning activity. Hence, it
will lead to failure if implemented.
Time-consuming
Practicing scenario planning requires a lot of time (Lindgren. &
Bandhold, 2003, p.61). Managers may be tempted to condense
scenarios and make them a one day or few hour activities. But
the participants will be unable to evaluate all possible scenarios
exhaustively.
The qualitative approach may fail to emphasize on selection
right participants
Scenario planning requires people who have a good
understanding of the subject matter and have interacted with it
in the past. Prior knowledge about a topic helps create many
possible and relevant future possibilities while lack of it leads
to few and weak scenarios.
Requires managers to collect information and data
Managers have to collect information and data from various
sources even if they have deep knowledge and understanding of
the topic they are investigating (Lindgren. & Bandhold, 2003,
p.15). Then the data and information have to be interpreted. The
process of collecting and interpreting data is tiresome.
Collection of information and data makes scenario planning to
be time-consuming.
Conclusion
The planning process requires people in an organization to
brainstorm and analyze the area under investigation; hence it
enhances communication and coordination. Managers who use

scenario planning provide proactive leadership. Scenario
planning process makes clear the aims, strategies, opportunities,
and risks that are shared between different departments in an
organization. However, scenario planning can only be used
when the topic under exploration is clear to everyone.
Reference
Lindgren, M. and Bandhold, H., 2003. Scenario planning.
Palgrave.
Cooper, H., Hedges, L.V. and Valentine, J.C. eds., 2009. The
handbook of research synthesis
and meta-analysis. Russell Sage Foundation.
Miller, K. D., & Waller, H. G. (2003). Scenarios, real options
and integrated risk
management. Long range planning, 36(1), 93-107.
Scenario Planning Foresight Horizon Scanning Centre (2009).
Scenario Planning. UK
Government Office for Science. Retrieved from
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140108141323/http
://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/foresight/d ocs/horizon-scanning-
centre/foresight_scenario_planning.pdf

Some examples of writingThis is detailed practical guidance with.docx

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to Some examples of writingThis is detailed practical guidance with.docx

Similar to Some examples of writingThis is detailed practical guidance with.docx (17)

More from rronald3

More from rronald3 (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Some examples of writingThis is detailed practical guidance with.docx