The document provides instructions for PHL 320 Week 1 assignments, which include a critical analysis worksheet, discussion questions, and a knowledge check. Students are asked to read two articles on common core standards and complete a worksheet analyzing them. They also participate in an online discussion by answering questions about critical thinking and summarizing the discussion. The knowledge check covers concepts like premises, conclusions, and effects of critical thinking on decision making.

1. PHL/320
Critical Thinking and Decision Making in Business
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PHL 320 Entire Course Link
https://uopcourses.com/category/phl-320/
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PHL 320 Week 1 Critical Analysis Worksheet
Read "Common Core" and "The Battle Against Common Core Standards."
Complete the University of Phoenix Material: Critical Analysis Worksheet.
Click the Assignment Files tab to submit your assignment.
Read “Common Core” and “The Battle Against Common Core Standards.”
Perform a critical analysis of each reading using critical thinking techniques from this week’s readings.
Respond to the following based on your critical thinking analysis of the “Common Core” and “The Battle
Against Common Core Standards” readings.
1) Define the term conclusion.
2) What is the conclusion of each article?
3) Define the term premises.

2. 4) What premises support the conclusions in each article?
5) How convincing is the conclusion of each article? Explain your answer.
6) Define the term biases.
7) What biases did you observe in each article? Why do you think they are biases?
8) What might be the sources of the biases in each article?
References
Sell, M. (2013). Common core. McClatchy - Tribune Business News [Washington].
Smith, H.K. (2013, March). The battle against common core standards. FreedomWorks, Retrieved from
www.freedomworks.org
Link to the article: http://www.freedomworks.org/blog/rousseau/the-battle-against-common-core-standards
PHL 320 Week 1 Critical Thinking Discussion and Summary
Participate in a class discussion by responding to the following questions:
 How would you define critical thinking? What makes a person a critical thinker?
 Why is critical thinking important? Provide an example of how critical thinking has helped you in your life.
 What do you expect to learn from this course?
Write a paragraph summarizing the discussion.
Click the Assignment Files tab to submit your assignment.

3. PHL 320 Week 1 Knowledge Check
1.
In the context of arguments in the critical thinking process, what is the term used to refer
to a reason provided for accepting a claim?
 A.
Premise
 B.
Conclusion
 C.
Objective
 D.
Belief
2.
Identify a true statement about the effects of critical thinking on the decision-making
process.
 A.
Critical thinking prevents a person from making prudent decisions.
 B.
Critical thinking promotes decisions based on logically accurate conclusions.
 C.
Critical thinking results in reactions based on ill-informed decisions.
 D.
Critical thinking involves forming conclusions through intuition rather than reason.

4. 3.
Which among the following is a subjective claim?
 A.
There is no life on Jupiter.
 B.
Russia is the largest country.
 C.
Botanically, tomato is a vegetable.
 D.
Bacon is a great breakfast dish.
Concept: Two kinds of arguments, deduction, induction, and unstated
premises, and balance of considerations and IBEs
Mastery 100%Questions
 4
 5
 6
Materials on the concept
 Two Kinds of Arguments
 Deductive Arguments
 “Balance of Considerations” and IBEs
 Two Kinds of Reasoning
 Inductive Arguments
4.
When is a deductive argument valid?
 A.
When it is impossible for the premise to be true and the conclusion untrue

5.  B.
When the premise is accurate, but the conclusion is inaccurate
 C.
When the premise does not support the conclusion
 D.
When the conclusion denies the truth of the premise by stating the opposite
5.
In the context of "inference to the best explanation" (IBE) reasoning, identify an accurate
statement about the best explanation of a phenomenon.
 A.
The best explanation is one that fails to sufficiently account for the occurrence of a
particular event.
 B.
The best explanation is one that leads to vague predictions.
 C.
The best explanation is one that often clashes with other firmly established
explanations.
 D.
The best explanation is one that involves the least number of needless assumptions.
6.
Jacob and Stefan, twin brothers, are spending Thanksgiving with their grandmother,
Esmeralda. Esmeralda bakes pumpkin tarts for dinner. Just before serving dinner, she
notices that half of the tarts are missing. Since Stefan dislikes eating pumpkin,
Esmeralda assumes that Jacob is the one who has taken the tarts. Based on the
information provided in this scenario, from which of the following has Esmeralda most
likely drawn her conclusion?
 A.

6. An inductive supporting argument
 B.
A deductive demonstration
 C.
An untrue premise
 D.
A theoretical claim
Mastery 100%Questions
 7
 8
 9
Materials on the concept
 Cognitive Biases
 What Is Critical Thinking, Anyway?
7.
How do cognitive biases affect a person's thought process?
 A.
They help remove the confusion in a person's mind.
 B.
They enhance a person's ability to assess and evaluate information correctly.
 C.
They distort a person's perception of reality.
 D.

7. They enhance a person's ability to reason objectively.
8.
Which of the following is the cognitive bias that makes a person evaluate a reasoning
based on his or her confidence in the plausibility of its conclusion?
 A.
Better-than-average illusion
 B.
In-group bias
 C.
Belief bias
 D.
Bandwagon effect
9.
Kiera never believed that wearing designer clothes was important for her self-image.
However, after working at a high-end fashion boutique for two months now, she has
started thinking and dressing like her colleagues, who believe that it is important to wear
only designer labels as such clothing projects an image of sophistication. Which
cognitive bias has been exemplified in this scenario?
 A.
Bandwagon effect
 B.
Availability bias
 C.
Overconfidence effect
 D.
Belief bias

8. PHL 320 Week 2 Globalization Argumentative Paper
Review the Writing Argumentative Essays section in Ch. 3 of Critical Thinking
Write an argumentative paper of no more than 750 words that demonstrates why globalization is good or not
good for a business. The paper should define the term good, and should identify the premises and conclusions.
Identify the premise and conclusion by placing a number in bold at the beginning of the sentence with the
word premise or conclusion. For example: (1, Premise), (2, Premise), (1, Conclusion), (2, Conclusion), and
so on.
 Sentences labeled as "1, premise" are premises for the sentence labeled as "1, conclusion."
 All premises should be labeled for each conclusion in the article. If a sentence is a conclusion and a
premise for another conclusion, place two labels.
 At the end of the paper, identify one example of how you used deductive reasoning and one example
of how you used inductive reasoning.
Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.
Click the Assignment Files tab to submit your assignment.
PHL 320 Week 2 Knowledge Check
Concept: The stages of decision making
Mastery 100%Questions
 1
 2
 3
Materials on the concept
 The Stages of Decision Making
 Managerial Decision Making
 Making the Choice
1.
Which stage of the decision-making process precedes the stage of generating
alternative solutions to a problem?

9.  A.
Evaluating the alternative solutions to the problem at hand
 B.
Identifying the problem and recognizing that it must be solved
 C.
Evaluating the final decision by analyzing how well it works
 D.
Selecting the best course of action to solve the problem
2.
Identify the last step of the decision-making process.
 A.
Evaluating the decision
 B.
Evaluating the alternatives
 C.
Identifying the problem
 D.
Implementing the decision
3.
Cho, a manager at Freshtrans Corp., a potato chips manufacturing company, notices a
sharp decline in the company's revenues. She asks her team to diagnose the issue and
suggest ways of recovering the lost revenue. When Alex, one of her team members,
suggests a solution to overcome the problem, Cho immediately decides to use Alex's
suggestion without urging her team to contribute any more suggestions. Cho claims that
Alex's idea is feasible and that they have neither the time nor the information to evaluate
other alternatives at this point. Which of the following concepts of decision making has
Cho most likely applied in this scenario?

10.  A.
Maximizing
 B.
Optimizing
 C.
Satisficing
 D.
Minimizing
Concept: Organizational decision making
Mastery 100%Questions
 4
 5
 6
Materials on the concept
 Organizational Decision Processes
 Organizational Decision Making
 Decision Making in a Crisis
4.
Which of the following models of decision making is most likely to arise when people
contend with one another for resources or disagree with each other on goals?
 A.
The incremental model of decision making
 B.
The spiral model of decision making
 C.

11. The coalition model of decision making
 D.
The garbage can model of decision making
5.
According to Herbert Simon, why can decision makers not be truly rational?
 A.
Because decision makers do not have the ability to process all the information that they
can access
 B.
Because decision makers generally have access to all the information they need about
the consequences and the alternatives to a problem
 C.
Because the problems decision makers face are generally simple and uncomplicated
 D.
Because all the decision makers with an organization have identical goals
6.
Alchem Inc., a pharmaceutical company, starts its operations in a new country. Aside
from establishing teams for the various functions in the company, Alchem also allots a
budget for crisis management and assembles a crisis management team, including
experts from diverse backgrounds. Which of the following elements has Alchem Inc.
included in its crisis management plan?
 A.
Psychological actions
 B.
Evaluation and diagnostic actions
 C.

12. Communication actions
 D.
Technical and structural actions
Concept: Rhetorical devices I, rhetorical devices II, rhetorical devices III,
rhetorical devices IV, and proof surrogates and repetition
Mastery 100%Questions
 7
 8
 9
Materials on the concept
 Rhetorical Devices I
 Euphemisms and Dysphemisms
 Weaselers
 Rhetorical Devices II
 Loaded Questions
7.
Which rhetorical device is used to express something in a neutral or positive manner in
place of something that might give a negative impression?
 A.
A euphemism
 B.
A weaseler
 C.
An innuendo
 D.
A downplayer

13. 8.
Identify an accurate statement about weaselers.
 A.
Weaseling is an attempt to make something or someone look more important or more
significant.
 B.
Weaselers expose claims to criticism.
 C.
Weaselers tend to weaken a claim.
 D.
Words that weasel in one context can weasel in all other context.
9.
Harry bumps into Lee, one of his friends from school. They decide to catch up over some
drinks. After a few drinks, Lee excuses himself to go outside and smoke a cigarette.
When Lee comes back, Harry asks him, "Have you always been a chain smoker?"
Which rhetorical device has Harry used in this scenario?
 A.
A euphemism
 B.
A loaded question
 C.
A downplayer
 D.
A weaseler

14. Concept: Fallacies that involve appeals to emotion, some non-emotion-based
fallacies, and two wrongs make a right
Mastery 100%Questions
 10
 11
 12
Materials on the concept
 Fallacies That Involve Appeals to Emotion
 The Argument from Outrage
 Red Herring/Smoke Screen
 Some Non-Emotion–Based Fallacies
 More Rhetorical Devices. Psychological and Related Fallacies
Show More
10.
Which of the following is true of using outrage to support an argument?
 A.
It justifies the speaker's point of view.
 B.
It makes it easier for the audience to accept the speaker's views.
 C.
It always helps the audience to rationally evaluate the speaker's argument.
 D.
It does not influence the audience's evaluation of an issue.
11.
In the context of non-emotion based fallacies, which of the following best describes the
tactic of intentionally distracting a person from his standpoint by introducing unrelated
topics into the conversation?

15.  A.
The introduction of red herrings
 B.
The use of scare tactics
 C.
The application of rationality
 D.
The appeal to tradition
12.
Though Rita played an instrumental role in acquiring a new project for her company, she
was not given a fair share of the monetary benefits of the project. Feeling let down by the
management, Rita embezzles money from the company. She believes that her actions
are justified because the company acted unfairly. Which non-emotion based fallacy has
Rita fallen prey to in this scenario?
 A.
A slippery slope fallacy
 B.
A smoke screen
 C.
An appeal to common practice
 D.
Two wrongs make a right

16. Concept: The ad hominem fallacy, the genetic fallacy, straw man, false
dilemma, slippery slope, misplacing the burden of proof, and begging the
question
Mastery 100%Questions
 13
 14
 15
Materials on the concept
 More Fallacies
 The Ad Hominem Fallacy
 Slippery Slope
 False Dilemma
 The Line-Drawing Fallacy
13.
Which of the following fallacies occurs when a person is confused between the qualities
of a claim and the quality of the person making the claim?
 A.
The false dilemma
 B.
The slippery slope
 C.
The ad hominem fallacy
 D.
The line drawing fallacy
14.
Identify a true statement about the slippery slope fallacy.
 A.

17. A slippery slope fallacy occurs when people try to disprove a claim on the basis of its
history.
 B.
All versions of ad hominem are examples of the slippery slope fallacy.
 C.
Demonstrating that each step is likely to follow from the preceding step can help people
avoid the slippery slope fallacy.
 D.
Claiming that a person must continue a certain course of action simply because that
person has already begun that course is not a version of the slippery slope.
15.
Fanny tells Kenneth, her husband, that he is starting to go bald. Kenneth says, "Losing
one hair does not make me bald, does it? Likewise, losing two hairs won't matter either.
Every time I lose a hair, the loss of that one strand will not make me bald." Fanny
dismisses Kenneth's reasoning as completely absurd and drops the topic. In this case,
by which fallacy is Kenneth's thought process falsely influenced?
 A.
The straw man fallacy
 B.
The genetic fallacy
 C.
The line-drawing fallacy
 D.
The ad hominem fallacy

18. PHL 320 Week 2 Re-organization and Layoff Team Discussion & Summary
Review the linked articles and select one to review as a team.
Post responses to the following questions for the selected article. Each team member should answer all
of the questions:
 What is the problem presented in the article?
 Why do you think it is the problem?
 What are some possible solutions?
Discuss as a team, responding to your teammates' posts.
Write a 3-paragraph synopsis that summarizes the team's discussion.
Click the Assignment Files tab to submit your assignment.
PHL 320 Week 3 Knowledge Check
Concept: Areas in which people are creative
Mastery 100%Questions
 1
 2
 3
Materials on the concept
 Unleashing Individual Creativity
 Areas in Which People are Creative
1.
Ramona, a member of the innovation team at Buzzer Co., a beer manufacturing
company, suggests that the company use the spent grain generated through the process
of beer manufacturing to create commercial products. Ramona explains how the wasted
grain can be broken down through the process of fermentation to generate biogas and
compounds that can be used to make personal care products and clothes. In the context
of William Miller's research, into which area is Ramona channeling her creativity?
 A.
Organization creativity
 B.

19. Relationship creativity
 C.
Event creativity
 D.
Material creativity
2.
In the context of William Miller's research, identify an accurate statement about the
different areas in which people are creative.
 A.
Material creativity entails coming up with a new approach to structuring systems in an
organization.
 B.
Inner creativity entails finding new uses for materials for products or services.
 C.
Coming up with completely new and innovative ideas for products or services make
people creative in a relationship context.
 D.
People who exhibit spontaneous creativity tend to come up with witty responses in
meetings and quick, easy ways of settling disputes.
3.
Which area of creativity do people explore when they change the way they perceive
certain things in their own minds?
 A.
Inner creativity
 B.
Event creativity

20.  C.
Organizational creativity
 D.
Material creativity
Concept: Ingredients for enhancing innovation at work and approaches to
innovation
Mastery 100%Questions
 4
 5
 6
Materials on the concept
 Approaches to Innovation
 Closed Innovation
 Open Innovation
 Incentives For The Innovative Employee
 Ingredients For Enhancing Innovation At Work
4.
Which of the following statements is true of closed innovation?
 A.
The closed innovation approach involves using resources within the company to
generate new ideas and business breakthroughs.
 B.
Companies using the closed innovation approach often collaborate with external parties
to find new and innovative business ideas.
 C.
The activities of companies using the closed innovation approach are more transparent
to the public eye.

21.  D.
Unlike the companies that use the open innovation approach, companies that use the
closed innovation approach cannot protect their intellectual property well.
5.
Which approach to innovation lays emphasis on the importance of gaining inputs to
innovation from external sources?
 A.
Open-source innovation
 B.
Closed innovation
 C.
In-house innovation
 D.
Closed-market innovation
6.
Altech Corp. hosts an internal competition among its employees to come up with
innovative ideas for the packaging of a new product. The company announces that it will
monetarily reward the person who comes up with the best design. In the context of the
ingredients for enhancing innovation at work, which of the following practices has Altech
incorporated that will drive its employees to become more innovative?
 A.
Incorporating entrepreneurship development techniques
 B.
Providing innovation mentorship
 C.
Giving incentives to innovative employees

22.  D.
Instituting deliberate practice
Concept: Strategic planning
Mastery 100%Questions
 7
 8
 9
Materials on the concept
 Strategic Planning
 Step 5: Strategy Implementation
 Step 6: Strategic Control
 Benchmarking
 Step 3: Analysis of Internal Strengths and Weaknesses
7.
The management of Danla Inc., a breakfast cereal manufacturing company, decides to
diversify its business by manufacturing instant noodles. The company puts together a
taskforce with representatives from different departments to gather feedback from the
employees about the change that is to be implemented and identify the problems that
may interfere with the effective implementation of this new business strategy. In a
month's time, the taskforce compiles and interprets the feedback gathered from the
employees and presents it to the top management. In the context of strategic planning,
which of the following steps of the strategy implementation process has been
exemplified in this scenario?
 A.
Assessing organization capabilities
 B.
Defining strategic tasks
 C.
Developing an agenda for implementation
 D.

23. Creating an implementation plan
8.
Which step of the strategic planning process immediately follows the step of strategy
implementation?
 A.
Putting in place a mission, a vision, and goals for the organization
 B.
Analyzing the threats and opportunities associated with the external environment
 C.
Analyzing the weaknesses and strengths of the important areas of function within the
organization
 D.
Using a strategic control system to monitor and evaluate the organization's progress
9.
What is the process of assessing an organization's performance by comparing it with
that of its competitors called?
 A.
Delegating
 B.
Resourcing
 C.
Benchmarking
 D.
Mind mapping

24. Concept: Levels of planning
Mastery 100%Questions
 10
 11
 12
Materials on the concept
 Levels of Planning
 Strategic Planning
 Tactical and Operational Planning
10.
At which level of planning does an organization define its long-term objectives?
 A.
At the functional level
 B.
At the strategic level
 C.
At the tactical level
 D.
At the operational level
11.
In the context of the levels of planning, identify an accurate statement about operational
plans.
 A.
Operational plans tend to be highly detailed and are more specific.
 B.

25. The time horizon of operational plans often varies from three to seven years.
 C.
Once operational plans have been established, managers use them as the foundation
for other levels of planning.
 D.
Operational plans are defined by the top-level management of an organization.
12.
Mario leads a team of market analysts at Volity Consulting Inc. Whenever his team is
assigned a new project, Mario is required to plan and prepare a daily routine for every
member in his team. In the context of the levels of planning, what can be inferred about
Mario's position in the organization?
 A.
Mario is a top-level manager.
 B.
Mario is a middle-level manager.
 C.
Mario is a frontline manager.
 D.
Mario is a senior partner.
Concept: The creative process
Mastery 100%Questions
 13
 14
 15
Materials on the concept
 Phase 2: The Incubation Process

26.  The Creative Process
 Phase 1: Background or Knowledge Accumulation
13.
Which phase of the creative process immediately follows the phase of knowledge
accumulation, which involves the extensive gathering of information related to an issue
under study?
 A.
The idea experience
 B.
The incubation process
 C.
Evaluation
 D.
Implementation
14.
Which of the following statements is true of the different phases of the creative process?
 A.
It is only during the implementation phase that creative individuals try to make sense of
the extensive amounts of information gathered over the preparation phase.
 B.
The incubation process only occurs while people are engaged in activities that are
related to the subject or issue under study.
 C.
Creative individuals can engage in the incubation process even when they are sleeping.
 D.

27. It is during the knowledge accumulation phase that the idea or solution that an individual
is seeking is discovered.
15.
Patricia, the chief marketing officer of Xaphire Inc., notices that there has been a
considerable drop in the company's market share over the last quarter and that Xaphire
has lost a large portion of its sales to competition. Patricia realizes that only an improved
and innovative marketing strategy can help restore the organization's lost profits. Before
trying to formulate such a strategy, she engages in extensive market research by
analyzing primary and secondary data and market trends and engaging in discussions
with fellow marketers. She also ensures that her team gathers tremendous amounts of
information relating to the topic under study. In which stage of the creative process are
Patricia and her team members most likely engaged?
 A.
The idea experience
 B.
The incubation process
 C.
Knowledge accumulation
 D.
Evaluation and implementation
Concept: Obstacles to corporate innovation
Mastery 100%Questions
 16
 17
 18
Materials on the concept
 Fellow Employees
 Obstacles to Corporate Innovation
 Job Domain
 Resource Acquisition

28. 16.
In the context of the obstacles to corporate innovation, what is the term used to refer to
the fear of anything new or unfamiliar?
 A.
Turfism
 B.
Neophobia
 C.
Neophilism
 D.
Sales phobia
17.
Which of the following is most likely a reason for the failure of corporate innovative
activity in companies today?
 A.
No company today has reward systems in place for ideas and cost-saving proposals
presented through structured suggestion programs.
 B.
Companies allow their employees to spend most of their time on coming up with new
business ideas rather than on focusing on their normal course of duties.
 C.
The sponsors and allies of corporate innovators tend to expose innovators to
unnecessary organizational bureaucratic interference.
 D.
Departments in companies are less concerned about developing new ideas that will
benefit the company than they are about protecting their "domain."

29. 18.
Alex, a project manager at a software company, is about to start a challenging new
project. Before beginning, he asks Liana, his colleague, if he can use a few of her best
team members to help him work on the project. Alex, however, intends on returning them
as soon as the project is complete. In the context of resource acquisition, which of the
following strategies for co-optation has been illustrated in this scenario?
 A.
Begging
 B.
Scavenging
 C.
Amplifying
 D.
Borrowing
Concept: Barriers to effective decision making
Mastery 100%Questions
 19
 20
 21
Materials on the concept
 Barriers to Effective Decision Making
 Psychological Biases
 Time Pressures
19.
Select an accurate reason as to why it is hard to be automatically rational while making a
decision.
 A.

30. Managers tend to define problems in too much detail.
 B.
Managers tend to view plans and goals with skepticism.
 C.
Managers tend to maximize when making choices.
 D.
Managers tend to have biases that interfere with objective rationality.
20.
In the context of the barriers to effective decision making, which among the following
illustrates the practice of avoidance of short-term costs that leads to negative
consequences in the future?
 A.
Lee, a market researcher, skips a thorough analysis of potential threats to the firm to
submit the report on time.
 B.
Zara, a fitness trainer, does not let her clients miss any of the exercise routines even
though most of them are professional athletes.
 C.
Mark educates his son in one of the nation's best colleges even though the tuition and
living expenses are very high.
 D.
Johanna stays in her room and prepares for her finals while her friends party at a new
club in the city.
21.
In the context of time pressures, what term refers to recent information that is collected
without any delay?
 A.

31. Batch-processing data
 B.
Revised information
 C.
Real-time information
 D.
Historical data
PHL 320 Week 3 Re-organization and Layoff Issue and Problem
Identification Paper
Review the discussion from Week 2.
Write a paper of no more than 1,050 words that incorporates ideas from the discussion. The paper should do
the following:
 Summarize the issue.
 Identify the problem.
 Explain why this is the underlying problem.
 Reflect on the group collaboration process in defining the problem.
 Explain how a clearly defined problem could help you find the solutions.
Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.
Click the Assignment Files tab to submit your assignment.
PHL 320 Week 3 Rhetorical Strategies and Fallacies Worksheet
Complete the University of Phoenix Material: Rhetorical Strategies and Fallacies
Worksheet.
Click the Assignment Files tab to submit your assignment.
The following are some common rhetorical strategies:
 Innuendo: a leading suggestion
 Stereotype: generalized statements relating to a group of people
 Loaded questions: questions based on unjustified assumptions
 Hyperbole: an extreme exaggeration

32. Identify the rhetorical strategy in each of the following statements.
1. I did not say the meat was tough. I said I did not see the horse that is usually outside (W. C. Fields).
_________________
2. Have you stopped beating your wife? _____________
3. The Maserati is the best car in the world! _________________
4. All men love football; all women love the ballet. ______________
The following are some common rhetorical fallacies:
 Slippery slope: If A happens, then B–Z will follow. Therefore, to prevent B–Z from happening, do not
allow A to occur.
 Hasty generalization: rushing to form a conclusion based on assumptions; not based on clear evidence
 Post hoc ergo propter hoc: If A occurs after B, then B caused A.
 Either/or: looking at a situation from only two sides, or oversimplifying the situation
 Ad hominem: attacking the person rather than attacking the argument
 Red herring or smoke screen: introducing an unrelated topic as a diversionary tactic
Identify the rhetorical fallacy in each of the following statements.
1. We can either stop using plastic, or destroy the Earth ______________
2. I ate tuna for lunch and now I do not feel well, so the tuna made me ill. ___________
3. If you enjoy a social drink, it could lead to you becoming an alcoholic, so you probably should never
drink. __________
4. Even though this is the first week of class, I can tell this is going to be a very easy course.
______________
5. We know that smoking can affect your health, but how else will tobacco farmers earn a living?
______________
6. As the candidate for mayor, he has some good ideas, but we know that all politicians are
dishonest.___________
PHL 320 Week 4 Re-Organization and Layoff Solutions Paper
Select two potential creative solutions for the problems you identified in the Re-organization and Layoff
assignment in Week 2.
Write a paper of no more than 1,050 words to present the solutions and explain why each will work.
Include a summary of methods your teams utilized to develop the creative solution.
Describe how your team overcame barriers to deciding on the solutions.

33. PHL 320 Week 4 SWOT and Strategy Evaluation Paper
Select an industry, such as the gambling industry, to complete a SWOT analysis.
Access the profile overview for the selected industry:
 In the University Library, click Company Directory and Financials.
 Click Hoover's First Research.
 Click Continue.
 Click Submit.
 Type gambling (or your selected industry) in the search box, and click to continue.
 Gambling (or the selected industry of choice) should be first in the list.
Read the industry profile overview, including the website links, on the page.
Complete a SWOT analysis for the selected industry. The SWOT analysis allows a business to understand how
a competitor is positioned in the environment by assessing its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
An understanding of a competitor's position can be a key for a business to determine where funding and
resources should be allotted to create new products or services.
Use information in the industry profile overview and other scholarly sources as needed. The SWOT analysis
should include each of the following:
 Strengths
 Weaknesses
 Opportunities
 Threats
Write a 1,050- to 1,500-word paper, including the following attributes:
 SWOT analysis, including a SWOT chart
o Identify opportunities (either product or service) that could improve the customer experience.
 Strategy evaluation
o Define strategic tasks.
o Assess the industry's capabilities.
o Identify the barriers to strategy implementation.
 A response to the following:
o Based on the SWOT analysis and strategy evaluation, what are some creative actions the
industry can pursue to include innovation as a component of their strategy?
Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.
PHL 320 Week 4 Knowledge Check
Concept: Assessing the content of the claim, the credibility of sources, and
credibility and the news media
Mastery 100%Questions
 1
 2

34.  3
Materials on the concept
 The Credibility of Sources
 Interested Parties
 Expertise
1.
In the context of evaluating the credibility of the sources from which people get claims,
identify an accurate statement about an interested party.
 A.
An interested party is one that is likely to benefit from a person's belief in a claim.
 B.
An interested party must be viewed with less suspicion than a disinterested party.
 C.
An interested party always provides false, unreliable information.
 D.
An interested party is the most reliable of all sources of claims.
2.
Which of the following serves as an important criterion for evaluating a person's
expertise in a subject?
 A.
Physical appearance
 B.
Gender
 C.

35. Education
 D.
Ethnicity
3.
Esmeralda's cell phone is not working. She takes her phone to the service center and
asks Alex, a member of the technical support team, if her phone can be repaired. Alex
examines Esmeralda's phone and tells her that her cell phone processor is damaged
and that it would cost her $200 to get her phone repaired. Esmeralda tells Alex that she
needs some time to consider the repair charges and leaves the showroom. Later in the
day, Esmeralda's neighbor, Jack, an electronic technician, examines her phone and
claims that there is nothing wrong with the processor and that only the phone display has
to be repaired. In the context of the credibility of sources, which of the following
statements is true based on the information provided in this scenario?
 A.
Alex represents a disinterested party.
 B.
Esmeralda must view Alex with much more suspicion than Jack.
 C.
Alex's claim is more credible than Jack's claim.
 D.
Esmeralda is an interested party.
Concept: Managing group decision making
Mastery 100%Questions
 4
 5
 6
Materials on the concept
 Leadership Style

36.  Managing Group Decision Making
 Encouraging Creativity
 Brainstorming
4.
Which of the following points must the leader of a decision-making body consider while
managing the process of group decision making?
 A.
Dominate the group discussion and convince people into conforming
 B.
Ensure that the members of the group do not engage in satisficing
 C.
Allow only a few members of the group to share their viewpoints
 D.
Avoid allowing any sort of conflict, even if it may be constructive, to creep into the
discussion
5.
Sao Corp., a mobile phone manufacturing company, introduces Xyta, a new cellphone
model into the market. The cellphone, sharing features with other competing products,
does well in the market and brings the company good profits. Observing the success of
the model, the company decides to add new features to the basic design of Xyta and
re-launch the product as Xyta 2.0. The new model has more storage space, higher
resolution, voice activated dialing, and a different color. In this case, which of the
following techniques has Sao Corp. adopted that makes it creative
 A.
Synthesis
 B.
Invention
 C.

37. Modification
 D.
Creation
6.
What is the term used to refer to the process of silently documenting creative ideas that
are formed during group decision making?
 A.
Brainwriting
 B.
Groupthink
 C.
Satisficing
 D.
Conformity
Concept: Managing change
Mastery 100%Questions
 7
 8
 9
Materials on the concept
 Motivating People to Change
 General Reasons for Resistance
 A General Model for Managing Resistance
 Unfreezing
 Managing Change
Show More
7.

38. Which among the following reasons to resist change is caused due to people's hesitancy
to try something new because they are comfortable with the old ways of doing things?
 A.
Misunderstanding
 B.
Peer pressure
 C.
Inertia
 D.
Different assessments
8.
Farah, a senior project manager at Zoemech Inc., discovers that the software the
company uses to track the productivity of its employees has become obsolete. The
software is not designed to account for the employees working overtime, and this affects
the accurate calculation of monthly bonuses. Farah communicates this problem to the
rest of her team and explains why it is necessary for them to upgrade to a better version
of tracking software. In the context of the general model for managing resistance, which
stage of motivating people to change does this scenario best illustrate?
 A.
Fixing
 B.
Refreezing
 C.
Moving
 D.
Unfreezing
9.

39. In which of the following situations does one employ the approach of education and
communication to manage resistance to change?
 A.
When there are people who are powerful enough to resist strongly
 B.
When people resist because they cannot make adjustments to cope with the changes
 C.
When the information available is based on inaccurate analyses
 D.
When all the other alternatives to resisting change are very expensive
PHL 320 Week 5 Labor Practices Paper
A clothing company uses sweatshop labor to manufacture clothing products that contribute to low pricing,
which is a consumer want.
Many companies have engaged in sweatshop labor. Did the clothing company engage in unethical labor
practices by utilizing sweatshop labor?
Research sweatshop labor.
Write a paper of no more than 750 words to present your position on sweatshop labor and provide justification.
Include the following:
 How consumer demands affect a company's business decision
 How different ethical perspectives guide ethical decision making
 How a company influences their ethical environment
Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.
Click the Assignment Files tab to submit your assignment.
PHL 320 Week 5 Re-organization and Layoff Decision Making Evaluation
Paper
Write a paper of no more than 750 words to include the following elements:
 Select a recommendation from the two creative solutions identified in Week 4 for solving the problem.
 Explain why the solution would help the middle-income customer. Provide credible sources to support

40. your decision.
 Explain what business decision an organization should make based on the solution.
 For the business decision chosen, explain the resources an organization would need to implement that
decision and factors that might affect the implementation.
Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.
Click the Assignment Files tab to submit your assignment.
PHL 320 Week 5 Knowledge Check
Concept: Major perspectives in moral reasoning
Mastery 100%Questions
 1
 2
 3
Materials on the concept
 Consequentialism
 Major Perspectives In Moral Reasoning
 Virtue Ethics
 Moral Relativism
1.
Identify a form of consequentialism according to which an act is considered the morally
right thing to do if it results in more happiness than other alternative acts would.
 A.
Deontologism
 B.
Utilitarianism
 C.
Religious absolutism
 D.
Moral subjectivism

41. 2.
Which of the following statements is true of virtue ethics?
 A.
Virtue ethics primarily focuses on the question of what is the morally right thing to do.
 B.
Virtue ethics focuses on how to be rather than on what to do.
 C.
Virtue ethics is in fact an abstruse ethical theory.
 D.
Virtue ethics alone holds the answers to all moral questions.
3.
Imran is shocked when he hears that his seventeen-year-old cousin, Zoya, has moved in
with her boyfriend. Alex, Imran's friend, however, does not consider Zoya's actions
immoral. Imran explains to Alex that his family comes from a cultural background where
entering into a premarital relationship is unacceptable. After hearing this, Alex
understands Imran's perspective of the situation and empathizes with him. What form of
moral reasoning has been exemplified in this scenario?
 A.
Duty theory
 B.
Virtue ethics
 C.
Moral relativism
 D.
Religious absolutism

42. Concept: Ethical systems and business ethics
Mastery 100%Questions
 4
 5
 6
Materials on the concept
 Ethical Systems
 Egoism and Utilitarianism
 Virtue ethics
4.
What is a proponent of egoism most likely to believe?
 A.
If an action maximizes the benefits for an individual, then it is acceptable.
 B.
Morally acceptable behavior is behavior that is aimed at creating the greatest good for
the greatest number of people.
 C.
Ethical behavior must be defined in accordance to how other people behave.
 D.
Any behavior is morally acceptable if a mature person with a good moral character
deems it right.
5.
Which perspective of moral reasoning suggests that behavior that is deemed ethical by a
mature person with a good moral character is moral behavior?
 A.
Universalism

43.  B.
Virtue ethics
 C.
Relativism
 D.
Absolutism
6.
Ten-year-old Ron is preparing for a math test for the following week. His mother is
surprised to find him studying on a Sunday as Ron hates doing math and preparing for
tests. When she asks him why this test is so important, he tells her that his teacher has
warned him that if he scores a low grade, he will not be allowed to play on the soccer
team, and he wants to avoid that at all costs. In the context of Kohlberg's model of
cognitive moral development, Ron is in which stage of cognitive moral development?
 A.
The conventional stage
 B.
The principled stage
 C.
The postprincipled stage
 D.
The preconventional stage
Concept: The ethics environment, ethical decision making, and courage
Mastery 100%Questions
 7
 8
 9

44. Materials on the concept
 Danger Signs
 The Ethics Environment
 Ethics Programs
 Ethics
 Ethical Decision Making
7.
Identify a factor that could lead to an environment that stimulates unethical behavior in a
business.
 A.
Laying more emphasis on the long-term considerations of a business than its short-term
revenues.
 B.
Installing clear procedures for handling ethical issues
 C.
Willingly taking an ethical stand, even if it adds cost to the business
 D.
Trying to solve all ethical problems with quick and easy techniques
8.
Which type of ethics programs is designed to punish violations of corporate law?
 A.
A compliance-based program
 B.
An integrity-based program
 C.
An operations-based program

45.  D.
A veracity-based program
9.
An inspection of the manufacturing facilities at Altum Chemicals Inc. reveals that the
company has not been maintaining the mandatory safety standards. The management
believes that this is one of the reasons for the bad attitude and low morale of the
workforce. In the context of business costs incurred due to ethical failures, which among
the following has been illustrated in this scenario?
 A.
Government penalties
 B.
Customer defections
 C.
Employee cynicism
 D.
Remedial education