Enhancing the Ability to Think Strategically - Research Paper Example

Enhancing the Ability to Think Strategically Enhancing the Ability to Think Strategically Summary The central research problem of the Casey and Goldman’s (2011) article, Enhancing the ability to think strategically: A learning model was on the importance of strategic thinking in enhancing organizational performance. Their article highlights the existence of minimal literature on the development of ability to think strategically among individuals. The article aimed at creating awareness on the development of strategic thinking and developing a model that would enhance critical thinking among adult learners.

The authors acknowledged the essentiality of strategic thinking. They pointed out the existence of little knowledge regarding this issue. Casey and Goldman (2011) suggested a model that would enhance strategic thinking. Their model incorporates iterative, interactive, as well as dynamic learning methods with individual factors. Additionally the model explains how organizational factors and job experiences can be used to enhance strategic thinking. The model that the authors developed was based on the theoretical framework, which asserts that development of strategic thinking is elicited by individual factors and experiences in addition to organization factors.

According to Casey and Goldman (2011), manipulating the above aspects can lead to development of critical thinking. Casey and Goldman (2010) concluded, “Developing the ability to think strategically is one of the most needed yet least understood areas of management.” Moreover, they established that critical thinking is crucial for individual at the different positions in an organization. Strengths and Weaknesses The major strength of the article is the strong evidence on which the authors have based their arguments.

By making use of existing literature on critical thinking, the authors have related how individual characteristics, organizational factors, and personal experiences can be used in enhancing development of critical thinking. The authors identified current views regarding critical thinking. Additionally, they expounded on how strategic thinking affects different learning styles. Moreover, Casey and Goldman (2011) established how the different learning styles could affect teamwork in an organization.

Another major strength of the article is the effectiveness in the communication. The ideas as well as findings are clearly evaluated. The authors demonstrate effective usage of grammar. The writing style and language is comprehendible. The article meets the needs of a good scholarly article since the authors have limited the use of first person. The aims of the article were clearly stated. Additionally, the findings answer the research question. Through use of literature-based evidence, the article defined what critical thinking entails and how it can be developed.

An additional strength of the article is that it describes how the research findings can be used academically as well as by professionals. The weakness of this article is the manner in which it is organized. It is quite hard to follow the different concepts in the article. Additionally, the article lacked precision. Precision is crucial since it enables the reader understand concepts of a given work. The article lacked real life examples of how strategic thinking can be developed. Examples are crucial in enabling readers internalize concepts.

Additionally, they would have demonstrated the essence of critical thinking in an organization. One of the references used by the authors is an article by Levi (2007). The work was appropriate since it was related to the question of study. Additionally, Casey and Goldman's article included findings of a recent study hence contained up to date information. Although the work may not be up to date, it enables Casey and Goldman (2011) establishes the importance of critical thinking in improving teamwork in organizations.

Another article that was used in the study was by Livingstone (1971). Using such an article might not be a good idea. This article contains findings of a study done many years ago. The information in such an article is likely to be outdated. This is because several other studies have been conducted after Livingstone’s work. Therefore, some ideas could be invalid. However, the article could be appropriate if used to demonstrate the progress in information regarding the issue of critical thinking.

This work was crucial to Casey and Goldman’s article. It was used to explain the essence of critical thinking amongst managers. Casey and Goldman article was intended for instructors and organization. The article is appropriate for organizations since it provides insights on how organizations can cultivate the culture of strategic thinking among the employees. The article is also appropriate for instructors since the research suggests ways in which the learning process can be understood. By understanding the learning process, instructors can be able to enhance leaning by employing appropriate instruction strategies.

References Casey, A., & Goldman E. (2011). Enhancing the Ability to Think Strategically: A Learning Model. Management Learning. 41 (2), 167- 185 Levi, D. (2007). Group Dynamics for Teams. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Livingston, J. S. (1971). Myth of the well-educated manager. Harvard Business Review, 71108, January-February, 79-97.