• The role and responsibilities of the corporate board in ensuring ethical and sustainable business practices
• The importance of stakeholder engagement and communication in building trust and reputation
• The key dimensions of sustainability: environmental, social and governance (ESG)
• The global frameworks and standards for sustainability reporting and assurance
• The risks and opportunities of sustainability for business performance and competitiveness
• The challenges and trends in the global sustainability agenda, such as climate change, anti-globalization, Covid-19 and net zero emissions

This course is designed for professionals who want to enhance their critical thinking and decision making skills. It is suitable for anyone who is involved in or interested in problem solving, innovation, change management, project management, or business development.

• Define critical thinking and decision making and explain their importance and benefits.
• Apply various critical thinking techniques to analyse information, generate ideas, and evaluate arguments.
• Apply various decision making techniques to compare alternatives, select the best option, and implement the chosen solution.
• Identify and avoid the common pitfalls and biases that affect your thinking and decision making.
• Use appropriate tools and frameworks to support your thinking and decision making process.
• Communicate and collaborate effectively with others to make better decisions.

Day One:

Introduction to Critical Thinking and Decision Making

• What is critical thinking and why is it important?
• What is decision making and why is it important?
• How are critical thinking and decision making related?
• What are the benefits of critical thinking and decision making for professionals?
• What are the challenges of critical thinking and decision making in today’s business environment?
• What are the common pitfalls and biases that affect critical thinking and decision making?
• How can we overcome them?

Day Two:

Critical Thinking Techniques

• What are the elements of critical thinking?
• How can we use logic, arguments, evidence, and assumptions to analyse information?
• How can we use creative thinking to generate new ideas and perspectives?
• How can we use systems thinking to understand the big picture and the interrelationships among components?
• How can we use root cause analysis to identify the underlying causes of problems?

Day Three:

Decision Making Techniques

• What are the stages of decision making?
• How can we define the problem or opportunity clearly and accurately?
• How can we generate, compare, select, and recommend the best solution?
• How can we plan, execute, monitor, and evaluate the solution implementation?
• How can we deal with uncertainty, risk, and complexity in decision making?

Day Four:

Tools and Frameworks for Critical Thinking and Decision Making

• What are some of the tools and frameworks that can help us with critical thinking and decision making?
• How can we use SWOT analysis to assess the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of a situation or solution?
• How can we use PESTLE analysis to examine the political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors that affect a situation or solution?
• How can we use Porter’s five forces analysis to evaluate the competitive forces in an industry or market?
• How can we use SMART criteria to set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound objectives or goals?

Day Five:

Communication and Collaboration for Critical Thinking and Decision Making

• Why is communication important for critical thinking and decision making?
• What are the principles of effective communication for critical thinking and decision making?
• How can we communicate clearly, concisely, confidently, convincingly, and courteously with different audiences?
• How can we use various communication methods (e.g., written reports, oral presentations) to convey our findings or proposals?
• How can we use feedback to improve our communication skills?
• Why is collaboration important for critical thinking and decision making?
• How can we work with others to solve complex problems effectively?

To enhance learning and practical application of concepts, the training course will use a combination of interactive lectures, case studies, group discussions, practical exercises, and real-world examples. Participants will also get the chance to collaborate on group projects and create action plans adapted to the needs of their respective organizations.