Questions and Answers of Managers And The Legal Environment

Show how the ‘keyword omission’ method can help to find a possible solution to the problem of absenteeism in the workplace.
Use the random word technique to find ways of improving interdepartmental communications.
Use the intermediate impossible technique to find ways of preventing shoplifting in a large department store.
A firm is looking for ways of improving productivity on the shop floor. Suggest how it might be done, using each of the following as an aid to creative thinking:(a) a metaphor(b) an analogy(c) a
Suggest some problems to which the technique of assumption reversal might be usefully applied.
‘There is nothing original in lateral thinking. It is simply a synthesis of the contributions of a few of the many writers on the subject of creative problem solving.’ To what extent would you
Illustrate how lateral thinking might help managers find ways of introducing improvements in staff motivation in their companies.
‘Lateral thinking is not just a set of techniques but a way of thinking.’ Critically evaluate this statement.
What is lateral thinking? Illustrate how it might be useful to executives trying to find ways of introducing improvements in organisational procedures into their companies.
Suggest how analogies might be used to help suggest ways of helping to improve timekeeping.
‘Creative thinking is really analogical thinking.’ To what extent would you agree or disagree with this statement? Explain.
Lateral thinking is more than a set of creative problem-solving techniques. Discuss.
Suggest ideas of your own about how brainlining might be developed.
Show how you might use the Gordon-Little variation to redefine a problem of your choice.
A department is experiencing problems with getting some of its members to participate fully in departmental activities. How might brainstorming be used to come up with possible solutions to such a
above.What advantages and disadvantages do the different variants of brainstorming have in comparison to conventional brainstorming?
Illustrate how you might use component detailing to tackle the problem outlined in question
Illustrate how the heuristic ideation technique might be used to come up with ideas for improving the level of customer service in restaurants.
Use a method that would enable you to come up with ideas about adding utilities to a comb.
Use the force-fit images in the text to find insights into the following problems:(a) how to improve the customer service level in a bank(b) how to make money on the stock exchange(c) how to reduce
Suggest how you might use attribute listing to find improvements for the following:(a) desktop computer(b) wedding(c) funeral(d) checking in at an airport(e) funfair.
How would you use a checklist to find improvements for the following products?(a) hair rollers(b) washing powder (clothes)(c) shoes(d) new edition of a textbook.
Evaluate the use of checklists from the point of view of aids to ideation.
What are the principles that lie behind morphological analysis? Illustrate how you might use the technique on a problem of your choice.
Consider how you might use cause-and-effect diagrams in dealing with previously unencountered problems. What are the main difficulties you might expect to encounter?
Illustrate with a suitable example how you might use decomposable matrices.
Using a management problem of your choice show how you might use the following methods to help with defining the problem:(a) goal orientation(b) boundary examination(c) progressive abstractions(d)
Show how dimensional analysis might be used to define the limits, boundaries and dimensions of a problem relating to inroads being made into your markets by competition.
In order to define a problem it is first necessary to recognise that a problem exists, identify objectives and establish facts relating to the problem. Illustrate how you would do this with regard to
A civil engineering project involves constructing a road through a crocodile-infested swamp. Experience to date shows that the crocodiles present a considerable hazard to human life and threaten the
Why is it often desirable to undertake problem redefinition when trying to find solutions for a problem? Take any management problem which you consider has many possible solutions and outline two
How can one try to make sure that one has correctly defined a problem?
A firm is concerned with improving productivity in the office. Illustrate how two different problem redefinition methods can help bring about new perspectives on such a problem.
‘The solution to a problem lies in its definition’. To what extent would you agree or disagree with this statement? Why?
Why is problem redefinition important? Describe two different mechanisms which can help with the task of defining and redefining problems.
Why should too much knowledge about a subject block creative thinking?
What steps can an organisation take to minimise the occurrence of ‘groupthink’.
How do beliefs, attitudes, perception, learning and motivation influence the ability to come up with new ideas with or without the use of creative problem-solving tools?
Constructive criticism is a much better way to get new perspectives on a problem than using creative problem-solving tools. Discuss.
Discuss how thinking and learning styles may influence how people may interact with creative problem-solving techniques. How might this be influenced by whether or not they are working on their own
How might the circumstances under which people attempt to generate ideas influence their likely success in coming up with ideas. How might this vary according to whether or not they make use of
Explain the relationship between different types of problem and the suitability of different kinds of creative problem-solving tool that may be applied to them.
How do an individual’s characteristics influence his or her ability to undertake ideation(a) without the use of creative problem-solving tools; (b) with the aid of using creative problem-solving
Why should a debate over proposed solutions to a problem be a source of difficulty?
Suggest how improvisation may be used to advantage in implementing business strategies.
How can managers improve their improvisational creativity to deal with the unexpected?
The formal problem-solving process seems to be too simplistic a view of what actually takes place in reality. Can you account for this? Explain.
What differences do you notice?
using the nine-stage process for creative problem solving.
Repeat the exercise in question
How does the procedure recommended by the Bransford and Stein model differ from the common-sense approach?
Using the common-sense approach to problem-solving work, show how you would deal with the following situations:(a) Major fire on the first floor of a five-storey office block.(b) Discovery of
How would one try to make sure that an analogy one wants to use is fit for the purpose of gaining insights into a specific problem?
Explain the investment theory of creativity.
How relevant are Graham Wallas’ thoughts on the concept of incubation in the context of modern thinking on how insights are obtained?
How relevant is analogical reasoning to creative problem solving? Explain.
Critically evaluate Mary Henle’s conditions of creative thinking. Are they supported anywhere else in other theoretical perspectives? Explain.
Differentiate between divergent and convergent thinking. What role do both play in the creative problem-solving process?
How is the index metaphor a reflection of the cognitive approach to creative problem solving?
How would you reconcile the different theoretical perspectives – grace, accident, association, cognitive and personality – on creative problem solving?
What is meant by receptivity, immersion, seeing questions, utilisation of errors and detached devotion as being the conditions necessary for the gaining of creative insights?
Explain how the whole brain theory of creativity is linked to the four stages of gaining creative insights suggested by Graham Wallas.
‘There are no theoretical underpinnings to the creative problem-solving process.’ Discuss.
Organisations thrive on creative thinking but can be reluctant to reward it. Why should this be the case?
How might making use of each of the following help overcome blocks to creative problem solving?• watching a magician at work• going to the theatre or the cinema• family outings• visits to
Picasso said: ‘Every act of creation begins with an act of destruction.’ How transferable is this notion to the domain of creative problem solving? Discuss.
‘The first good idea is never the best.’ To what extent would you agree or disagree with this statement. Explain.
‘Problems often don’t stay solved, or solutions never quite work out as expected, because the wrong problem was defined.’ Comment on this apparent truism.
‘If we were not at times “blocked” in our thinking we would not need creative problem solving methods.’ What kinds of blockages to creative thinking, as individuals, do we encounter?
Morgan (1989) states: ‘Many organisations and their managers drive toward the future while looking through the rear-view mirror. They manage in relation to events that have already occurred, rather
Tudor Rickards coined the phrase ‘mental stuckness’. What exactly did he mean by this phrase and what is its relevance to the use of creative problem-solving methods and techniques?
Differentiate between individual and organisational blocks to creative thinking. What can be done to cope with the difficulties created by these blocks or even to help prevent these blocks occurring?
Why do people find it difficult to solve previously unencountered problems?
Why are people sometimes blocked in their thinking? How can they be helped to overcome the various blockages that occur?
Macro-inventions often need several micro-inventions before they are truly capable of solving the problems for which they have been designed. Give examples.
If the wheel had not been invented, technology would never have been part of our vocabulary?To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?
How has technology revolutionised how we do business? Give examples.
‘Creativity is not just for problem-solving. Very often the most powerful effects of creativity are seen when we challenge existing ways of doing things which are very satisfactory’(Edward de
Indicate what you think are the main drivers of successful innovation.
What factors contribute to a lack of innovation in an industry?
Why might many firms prefer an incremental rather than a breakthrough approach to innovation?
When someone comes up with a brand new invention and is thinking about how to turn it into an innovation of one kind or another, how might he/she try to assess whether the knowledge available to
Differentiate innovation from invention.
Why should lack of agreement regarding goals and a lack of understanding of cause–effect relationships give rise to a need for creative thinking?
Growth and survival can be related directly to an organisation’s ability to produce (or adopt) and implement new products or services and processes (VanGundy, 1987). How does one reconcile this
James March argues that ‘Organisations face a large number of problems of about equal importance, but only a few solutions. Thus the chance of finding a solution to a particular problem is
If we tend not to think about what we think we know already, and existing ideas tend to make us myopic about new possibilities, how can we hope to get new insights into existing problems?
What kinds of surprises do you think the twenty-first century might have in store for us as(a) workers, (b) consumers, (c) producers, (d) managers?
What is a paradigm shift? Can you think of any recent examples?
How might executives improve their creative problem-solving skills?
Why does the modern-day manager need to know about creative problem solving?
3 Create a scenario for desktop computer hardware and software development over the next ten years. What kind of computer assisted creative problem solving methods do technological developments
2 Assuming it does adopt the approach how might the ideas be translated into interactive experiences suitable for creative problem solving in the business world? Are there any limitations on how it
1 Do you think that the firm is correct in suggesting that it should develop software along the lines of the adventure games approaches? Why or why not?
3 How do you visualise computer assisted creative problem solving developing in the future?
2 Design a creative problem solving program which you think could help people to deal with different kinds of open-ended problems.
1 What do you consider to be the essentials of a creative problem solving program? Do you think it should provide a structured approach to the whole CPS process or should it just concentrate on one
Draw up a plan of action to implement this project. What do you consider to be the most important aspects that management should bear in mind?
4 What problems would you expect to encounter in implementing these ideas? How would you try to overcome these problems?
3 Evaluate the ideas that you develop.

Showing 200 - 300 of 883