Synopses & Reviews
The Illustrated Series Soft Skills titles are designed to make it easy to teach students the essential soft skills necessary to succeed in today's competitive workplace. Each book and companion CourseMate cover 40 critical skills, providing students with extensive knowledge they can bring with them into the real world. CourseMate brings each text to life with an audio visual eBook, scenario videos, access to Career Transitions, interactive activities for reinforcement, and Engagement Tracker, a first-of-its-kind tool that monitors student engagement in the course!
Synopsis
Give your students a 360 degree education and a career advantage with Illustrated Course Guides: Problem-Solving and Decision Making - Soft Skills for a Digital Workplace from the Illustrated Series. This text delves into two of the most sought-after skills in the professional world, making students more marketable to employers.
About the Author
Jeff Butterfield holds a PhD from the University of Texas-Austin and an MBA from Indiana University, and currently is a faculty member in the Information Systems department at Western Kentucky University. Previously, Jeff worked as an electronics engineer with several Fortune 500 companies. He quickly discovered that his writing and public-speaking abilities contributed much more to his professional success than his technical skills. This important discovery has significantly influenced his teaching and Jeff has spent over 15 years in higher education helping technical students develop professional skills. As technology becomes more tightly integrated with business functions, students with well-developed soft skills will enjoy a strong competitive advantage. Jeff has worked with Cengage to develop the Soft Skills for a Digital Workplace series. These titles with the accompaniment of a rich online companion are designed to complement any course you teach regardless of the subject.
Table of Contents
Part 1: Identifying and Defining Problems 1: Understanding Problem Solving 2: Analyzing Problems 3: Working with Problem Owners and Stakeholders 4: Developing Effective Problem Statements 5: Determining Causes 6: Simplifying Complex Problems 7: Indentifying and Managing Risks 8: Avoiding Problem-Solving Traps Part 2: Solving the Problem 9: Gathering and Analyzing Data 10: Developing Alternatives 11: Evaluating Options 12: Implementing the Solution 13: Monitoring and Managing the Solution 14: Verifying the Solution 15: Using Adaptive Techniques 16: Developing Ethical Solutions Part 3: Thinking Critically 17: Understanding Critical Thinking 18: Identifying Arguments 19: Assessing the Credibility of an Argument 20: Exploring Weaknesses in an Argument 21: Overcoming Obstacles to Critical Thinking 22: Avoiding Deductive Reasoning Fallacies 23: Avoiding Inductive Reasoning Fallacies 24: Becoming a Critical Thinker Part 4: Group Decision Making and Problem Solving 25: Understanding Group Dynamics 26: Evolving from a Group to a Team 27: Using Divergent Thinking 28: Using Convergent Thinking 29: Reaching Closure 30: Avoiding Common Group Traps 31: Working with Large Groups 32: Building Sustainable Agreements Part 5: Decision Support Tools 33: Understanding Decision Support Systems 34: Modeling Decisions Quantitatively 35: Describing Data Objectively 36: Working with Formulas and Functions 37: Performing What-If Analyses 38: Weighing Factors 39: Creating Decision Trees 40: Using Graphics to Display Data