Johnson MBA students learn critical-thinking skills for a fast-paced world

Randy Allen, consultant-in-residence at the Johnson School, talks to students in the Foundations of Leadership course's new analytical thinking module. Frank DiMeo/University Photography

By Linda Myers

In a world where a bullet fired in Baghdad has repercussions from Miami to Moscow, making the best fast decisions in every sphere, business included, is getting harder as the stakes get higher.

"It's a critical skill that leaders of companies have to have," said Douglas Stayman, associate professor of marketing at Cornell's Johnson Graduate School of Management. Indeed, teaching business students to think critically under time pressure has become so important that the Johnson School now not only has a Foundations of Leadership course in its first-year curriculum, but has added a new "analytical thinking thread" to it and is taking steps to integrate it across the curriculum.

"We want to give MBAs all the skills needed to succeed as leaders," Stayman said.

Introduced this semester starting at orientation, the new component was put together last spring and summer by a team that included Stayman; Randy Allen, former partner at Deloitte Consulting, now a consultant-in-residence at the Johnson School; and Cathy Dove, associate dean for MBA programs, with assistance from two recent MBA graduates, Amit Nissenbaum and Nina Lukin.

Following a leadership skills-assessment component that resulted in individualized action plans for improvement, new students spent time during orientation week learning analytical tools for structuring one's thinking, and got lessons on how support their arguments in a debate format from Pamela Stepp, a senior extension associate in advanced human resource studies at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

"The message to MBA students is: Here are some important skills you have to work on and here's a framework and tools, so you have some sense of what to work on and some ways to go," said Stayman

They then were divided into 14 "A" (for analytic) groups of about 18 students. During several sessions interspersed between classes this fall, they met to analyze real business cases on the spur of the moment, led by senior faculty and administrators working in conjunction with second-year MBA students trained as "strategic analysis fellows."

"These were all real-world business issues, some simple, some complex, that students could face later in their careers," said Allen.

Working in teams of three to four and individually, they had only a few minutes to size up the problems, structure their thinking logically and defend their analyses and solutions. The fast pace and lack of advance knowledge were intended to mimic real-world situations. Fellows and first-year classmates then critiqued the presenters on their thinking ability. "We challenged the students to challenge each other," Dove said.

"What's important," said Allen, "is not only the solution but also the process. Are you are solving the right question, are you thinking about it broadly, in 'big buckets,' and also diving down into the details?"

One case involved an international company that made and sold footwear. Stamped on the soles of one line of shoes was an image inspired by Chinese temple bells. In the predominantly Muslim country where the product was made and marketed, a fundamentalist Muslim newspaper story asserted that the image resembled Allah's name in Arabic, and that it was being defiled each time a wearer took a step. The student teams were asked what short- and long-term steps might the company take to resolve the situation.

While all agreed that a long-term hiring strategy of more local managers sensitive to cultural issues was needed, short-term solutions were limited to a public apology, explanatory ads and recalling the product. In the discussion that followed, Stayman pointed out that the students had missed some important strategic issues -- real security threats to plants, equipment, staff and stores, the brand and sales, exacerbated by an unstable government and an opposition looking to politicize the conflict to unseat the current regime. "Only in thinking about it systematically do you realize the extent to which it is a political issue," he said.

One leadership skill that the new component reinforces is the ability to listen and simultaneously synthesize information, said Stayman. In class, students are "cold called"-- called on randomly to comment on what's being discussed -- and must build on what the people who spoke before them said. "You can't build if you don't listen."

"In my previous job as an army officer, I was expected to quickly assimilate large amounts of information into sound decisions while under pressure and then present it in a cogent manner," said Tiffany Burns, a first-year MBA student. "The analytical thinking thread helped me hone those skills in a business context. It was great starting my MBA studies with this kind of training."

"This training was a great foundation for the kind of thinking that I've needed in some of my core courses and will need for my later course work," said Matthew Dunker, another first-year student. "Integrated with the Johnson School curriculum, it should make me a better decision maker and problem solver for the long run."

"While other management schools tend to teach leadership skills separately from their core, our philosophy is different," said Stayman. Core faculty now emphasize analytic thinking in problem solving to reinforce the expanded leadership course, and the skill eventually will be infused into electives and student club activities.

In addition to Stayman, Allen and Dove, leaders of the A-group sections were: Robert Swieringa, the Johnson School's Anne and Elmer Lindseth dean; professors Robert Frank, John McClain, Mark Nelson, Vithala Rao and Joe Thomas, associate dean for academic affairs; Vrinda Kadiyali, associate professor; senior lecturers Jan Katz and Jan Suwinski; Michael Hostetler, director of leadership studies; and Dick Shaffer, associate dean for corporate relations.