Written Assignment 4 for practice only PDF

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A self-directed learner can also be referred to as an independent learner. Study.com (2017) defines self-directed learning as “an instructional strategy where the students, with guidance from the teacher, decide what and how they will learn”. A self-directed learner knows their learning objectives, ...

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Written Assignment Unit 4

Oluwatosin Timilehin Ojomo Business Administration, University of The People UNIV 1001: Online Education Strategies Kelly Kavanagh February 22, 2021

Nasira, a 25-year-old fresh graduate, who has been working as a procurement specialist at K9 Dura-Corp, a pet supplies manufacturing company, was faced with a critical decision to make. The company is based in Michigan and relies heavily on “Made in America” marketing for its products. Nasira helps in procuring the parts needed to assemble the final products at the Michigan plant where she works. Nasira had to choose between two manufacturers of the fabric lining her company uses for dog cots as their previous supplier had run out of business. The problem was that both companies had their negative sides. Her company also was facing a risk of production delay if the parts needed were not procured on time. The consequence of this on her company is that they will have to lay-off some workers if there is a manufacturing delay as sales have dipped. All-Fabric Inc. has a major advantage of been located in the Midwest. Their disadvantages are: they produce a less durable fabric as compared to the sample they sent her which pose a poisonous risk to the dogs, also the fabric was more expensive than that of the other company. Finally, the company has contaminated the local water source through their production activities. The other company, Fab-Right Inc. is a cheaper alternative, their fabric is also chew-proof. The disadvantages are: they are located overseas, they are unfair to their labour and they also have little to no information available about the environmental effect of their production process. The critical thinking strategy that could be used to analyze the situation and come up with a solution is the 5 Tips to Improve Your Critical Thinking by Samantha Agoos. The first step is to ask questions; what are the product specifications, what is most and least important, what are the other alternatives and what will the product cost. Secondly, we move to start getting relevant and factual information on the already asked questions in the first step. The key to this second step is

to make sure we only gather the information that is going to be relevant to our need as time is of essence. The third step will be to apply the relevant information we have to our situation i.e. comparing both companies based on the information we have and how they meet our need. The last step is to consider the implications of going with a particular company. This is achieved by creating scenarios. These scenarios will give us an insight into what the possible outcomes of going with a particular company would be and help us in finally making a decision. Nasira needs to select the oversea company (Fab-Right Inc.) as they are the best when considering the strategy explained above. The main purpose of Nasira’s search for another manufacturer is to get a quality product that is cheap and will help avoid production delay. Nasira had taken a further step in gathering a lot of information about the two companies but the ones important to her are those relating to the price and quality of products. When the prices of both companies are compared to each other the oversea company has the cheaper price, also when comparing the quality, they are better. If Nasira were to go with All-Fabric Inc., her company’s final product will be more expensive as their production cost would have increased from the purchase of more expensive material. This could lead to a drop in sales and in turn a dip in the company’s revenue. This poses a risk of laying off employees. Also, their product is inferior and pose a poisoned treat to the dogs. This will ruin the company’s reputation and may have to close down their business.

Word Count – 622

Reference TED-Ed. (2016). 5 tips to improve your critical thinking - Samantha Agoos [Video]. https://youtu.be/dItUGF8GdTw TED-Ed. (2016). 5 tips to improve your critical thinking - Samantha Agoos [Video]. https://youtu.be/dItUGF8GdTw TED-Ed. (2016, March 15). 5 tips to improve your critical thinking [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dItUGF8GdTw...