The Northern Territory University (NTU) defines decision making as "The process through which managers identify and resolve problems and capitalize on opportunities" (Learning objectives, 1998). As in Critical thinking, decision making has steps. NTU states that there are 7 steps to successful decision making. These steps are: Identifying opportunities and diagnosing problems, Identifying objectives, generating alternatives, evaluating alternatives, reaching decisions, choosing implementation strategy, and finally monitoring and evaluation. The first step, Identifying opportunities and diagnosing problems, is based on the information received. At this level managers must receive top quality information or it will be junk in, junk out. The second step is identifying objectives; these should be concise and direct. These should also be relevant. The third step in the decision making process is generating alternatives. This step is self-explanatory. This relies on the manager's ability to think outside the box and come up with solutions. After alternatives are generated they must be evaluated, this is step four. At this stage the manager must evaluate each possible alternative and rank it accordingly. The next step is reaching a decision. This is where all the facts need to be reviewed and a decision made. After the decision is made the implementation method must be chosen as well. Finally after the decision has been implemented it must be monitored closely to make sure it was the best solution for all related parties. (Learning objectives, 1998).
What do the authors say.
Browne and Keeley (2000) state that critical thinking refers to three items. First is an "awareness of a set of interrelated critical questions." Second is the "ability to ask and answer critical questions at appropriate times." Last but not least a "desire to actively use the critical questions" (p. 2). When all of these are combined one gets critical thinking.