Questions and Answers of Managers And The Legal Environment

List the various assumptions that short-listers might make about candidates for jobs when the latter are completing application forms.Do the same for assumptions made about interviewees by
How might John and Jane develop the analogy type approach in this instance?Provide illustrations. What do you see as the drawbacks, if any, to using this particular approach in this instance?
Illustrate how the expert on lateral thinking would approach this problem.Use as many of the lateral thinking techniques as you like, to try to get some new insights into this difficult problem and
13 An airline wants to improve its profitability. How can fractionalisation and bridging divisions be used to good effect in helping to solve such a problem?
12 Show how the ‘keyword omission’ method can help to find a possible solution to the problem of absenteeism in the workplace.
11 Use the random word technique to find ways of improving interdepartmental communications.
10 Use the intermediate impossible technique to find ways of preventing shoplifting in a large department store.
9 A firm is looking for ways of improving productivity on the shopfloor.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
8 Suggest some problems to which the technique of assumption reversal might be usefully applied.
7 ‘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
6 Illustrate how lateral thinking might help managers find ways of introducing improvements in staff motivation in their companies.
5 ‘Lateral thinking is not just a set of techniques but a way of thinking.’Critically evaluate this statement.
4 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.
3 Suggest how analogies might be used to help suggest ways of helping to improve time keeping.
2 ‘Creative thinking is really analogical thinking.’ To what extent would you agree or disagree with this statement? Explain.
1 Lateral thinking is more than a set of creative problem solving techniques.Discuss.
Imagine someone was creating a lot of problems for you at work. Perhaps they saw you as a threat to their own prospects for advancement in the organisation. How would you deal with threats of this
3 Try using some of the other problem restatements to produce insights into the problem.
2 Can you build on the ideas produced in any way so as to improve them.
1 What use, if any, could the above ideas be to helping in solve the problem.
Use brainstorming or one of its variants to come up with solutions to problem(b) above.
How can brainstorming techniques help in this case. Use brainstorming or one of its variants to come up with some ideas on how to solve some of the above problems.
What options might the main company pursue to resolve all the identified difficulties? What other difficulties do you think there are? Use brainstorming or one of its variants to come up with some
Use brainstorming or one of its variants to come up with ways in which this problem might be resolved.
Suggest solutions to this problem (see Appendix 3).
The problem has been defined has how to compensate for the fact that vehicles tend to travel in each other’s ‘tracks’ and cause excessive wear at certain points on the surface of a motorway.
4 Suggest ideas of your own about how brainlining might be developed.
3 Show how you might use the Gordon-Little variation to redefine a problem of your own choice.
2 A department is experiencing problems of getting certain of its members to participate fully in departmental activities. How might brainstorming be used to come up with possible solutions to such a
1 What advantages and disadvantages do the different variants of brainstorming have in comparison to conventional brainstorming?
Illustrate how morphological analysis, or one of the other techniques described in this chapter, can help Gemma and her colleagues to come up with good ideas for how they might develop the café.
Assess the usefulness of morphological analysis in this case in terms of assisting the firm to come up with ideas or insights into the problem.
Identify what you consider to be the main dimensions to this problem and generate a list of attributes under each heading. Which combinations, in your opinion, seem to be pertinent to the vicar’s
9 Illustrate how you might use the sequence-attribute modification process on a problem of your own choice. What are the limitations of this method?
8 Illustrate how you might use component detailing to tackle the problem outlined in question 7 above.
7 Illustrate how the heuristic ideation technique might be used to come up with ideas for improving the level of customer service in restaurants.
6 Use a method which would enable you to come up with ideas about adding utilities to a comb.
5 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
4 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) fun fair.
3 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.
2 Evaluate the use of checklists from the point of view of aids to ideation.
1 What are the principles that lie behind morphological analysis? Illustrate how you might use the technique on a problem of your own choice.
11 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?
10 Illustrate with a suitable example how you might use decomposable matrices.
9 Using a management problem of your own choice show how you might use the following methods to help with defining the problem:(a) goal orientation;(b) boundary examination;(c) progressive
8 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.
7 In order to define a problem it is first necessary to recognise that a problem exists, to identify objectives and establish facts relating to the problem. Illustrate how you would do this with
6 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
5 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
4 How can one try to make sure that one has correctly defined a problem?
3 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.
2 ‘The solution to a problem lies in its definition.’ To what extent would you agree or disagree with this statement? Why?
1 Why is problem redefinition important? Describe two different mechanisms which can help with the task of defining and redefining problems.
4 Could be redefined as: How can we reduce production times
2–3 What are the factors of production? In what ways can we reduce production times? In what ways can we encourage the workers to work faster? In what ways can we increase the possible capacity of
1 How to increase production in order to keep up with demand?
Critically evaluate what the firm did. Can you reach different conclusions by using a different approach? Illustrate and explain.
Identify the problem objectives that the Quillian company might seek answers to.
Using the first three stages of the creative problem solving process suggest how the problem may be redefined for the purpose of generating insights into the situation.
What redefinitions of the problem might they consider?
Consider the kind of fact finding activities that the operations manager needs to undertake in order to define the real problem or problems in this instance.
10 How relevant is analogical reasoning to creative problem solving?Explain.
9 Critically evaluate Mary Henle’s conditions of creative thinking. Are they supported anywhere else in other theoretical perspectives? Explain.
8 Differentiate between divergent and convergent thinking. What role do both play in the creative problem solving process?
7 How is the concept of the brain as an information processor reflected in:(a) the whole brain theory;(b) schema theory.How can these two theoretical frameworks be interlinked?
6 Discuss the similarities between the IDEAL problem solving model and the nine identified steps of the creative problem solving process.Explain the major differences.
5 How is the index metaphor a reflection of the cognitive approach to creative problem solving?
4 How would you reconcile the different theoretical perspectives—grace, accident, association, cognitive and personality—on creative problem solving?
3 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?
2 Explain how the whole brain theory of creativity is linked to the four stages of gaining creative insights suggested by Graham Wallas.
1 ‘There are no theoretical underpinnings to the creative problem solving process.’ Discuss.
Consider how the different theoretical perspectives outlined in this chapter may throw light on the various concepts about innovation discussed above.
Consider how the various theories suggested in this chapter are reflected in this short account of the development of the steam turbine.
J.C. was losing money on the Ruby’s account because he negotiated badly in the discussions that set the level of service the agency would provide.What could he do now?
Consider the problems created by functional fixedness in this case. How might the situation be resolved?
3 In order to give itself the maximum chances of coming up with ideas, how do you think the team should define its mission? How should it operationalise its mission? How can it try to minimise being
2 Given that think-tanks were at one time discarded as an outmoded way of thinking up new ideas, do you think that the team has any real chance of success? Explain.
1 What kind of blocks or hindrances do you think the team would be likely to encounter.
Can you identify the main sources of blocks to thinking in this instance.What should Bill do?
How do you think the problem should be resolved. What are the major blocks to thinking experienced by Tom and Joe.
10 How might making use of each of the following help overcome blocks to creative problem solving?:
9 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.
8 ‘The first good idea is never the best.’ To what extent would you agree or disagree with this statement. Explain.
7 ‘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.
6 ‘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?
5 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,
4 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?
3 Differentiate between individual and organisational blocks to creative thinking. What can be done to cope with the difficulties created by these blocks or even help prevent these kinds of blocks
2 Why do people find it difficult to solve previously unencountered problems?
1 Why are people sometimes blocked in their thinking? How can they be helped overcome the various blockages that occur?
How would you advise Barbarossa to proceed?
What action do you think Sally should now adopt with respect to pricing. (See Appendix 3 for comments.)
How can John try to minimise price rises in the face of strong competition and at the same time still maintain profitability? (See Appendix 3 for some suggestions.)
12 Differentiate innovation from creativity and invention.
11 Fluency (ability to produce many ideas); flexibility (ability to produce a varied mix of ideas); elaboration (ability to add detail, depth, mixtures of viewpoints or perspectives; and
10 Why should lack of agreement regarding goals and a lack of understanding of cause-effect relationships give rise to a need for creative thinking?
9 Growth and survival can be related directly to an organisation’s ability to produce (or adopt) and implement new products or services, and processes(Van Gundy, 1987). How does one reconcile this
8 John Harvey Jones said: ‘Unless a company is progressing all the time, it is in fact moving backwards. It is quite impossible to maintain the status quo.’ Can you account for John Harvey
7 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
6 If we tend not 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?

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