Critical Thinking Development in Executives through Graduate Education: Experience in the Organizational Behavior Course

Abstract

Critical thinking in organizational leaders is a fundamental skill for their performance. The objectives of this article are to analyze different approaches to the topic and to present a postgraduate experience along with the results obtained. To this end, the evolution of the concept of critical thinking over the years is analyzed, as well as how it has expanded in accordance with the demands that have emerged within the field of business management. Contributions from Activity Theory and Radical Pedagogy are taken into account, which consider the decisive role of the subject, socially and historically contextualized, in decision-making within organizations. Both the characteristic attributes of critical thinking and its social impact are highlighted. A mixed approach for the development of critical thinking, through training in related topics and via the teaching-learning process in a transversal manner, is adopted in this article due to the potential this integration presents. An experience is presented from the course “Organizational Behavior” in the Master’s in Management program at the José Antonio Echeverría Technological University of Havana, which uses group techniques through the construction and analysis of a real case to promote critical thinking in a group composed entirely of managers. Results derived from a peer-evaluation rubric and a satisfaction survey are presented, demonstrating the potential of these techniques to develop critical thinking and other managerial skills, such as communication.