Case Study 2 - Canyon, Texas, is approximately 15,945 population located in the Texas Panhandle region in the Palo Duro Canyon valley. Canyon is approximately 30 miles south of Amarillo. Canyon has become a popular retirement area with new assisted-living communities built due to the college town atmosphere with easy walking distances for shopping and low crime rates. It is early January, and much of the panhandle is under the influence of a low-pressure system. Unlike most nor 'easters that occur regularly this time of year, however, this system features warm air aloft with below-freezing surface temperatures. Thus, the rain that is falling is freezing on roads, trees, and electrical lines. Electricity has been interrupted in a small portion of the city as wires collapse under the increasing weight of the accumulating ice.At 11:00 pm, the local emergency manager receives a call forward from emergency dispatch, stating that the Owl's Nest nursing home's generator failed. Owl's Nest is a nursing home, an assisted-living community of approximately 250 residents. Of those, approximately 80 have been affected by the generator failure. These patients are in the nursing home portion of the facility, and many are chronically ill and very susceptible to the effects of the cold and dampness. For now, the Owl's Nest administrator has gathered the affected residents in the recreation room and is using blankets to keep them warm. However, this solution is not a good long-term option because the temperature is expected to drop into the teens by morning. Techniques for Generating Alternatives. What process did you use to generate the alternatives for the case study? There are three ways to generate alternatives. Brainstorming can be done individually or in a group. Brainstorming is a technique designed to increase the range of ideas and solutions available for the group to explore. It can produce a list of ideas that will later be considered, discussed, and evaluated when reaching a final decision. Surveys are used to collect a wide variety of information, and once designed, they present respondents with the problem and a series of alternative solutions. Discussion groups consist of those involved in decision making. In generating alternatives, the group members should: o Be comprehensive. o Avoid initial judgments (as in brainstorming).o Focus on the problem, not on the personalities of the people involved in the decision-making process. (But be sensitive to the impact of personalities on the process.) Criteria for Evaluating Alternatives. After the management team has generated alternative solutions, then they need the means to evaluate the alternatives. The following Step 2 Job Aid lists criteria by which they can evaluate the alternatives. Another part of the evaluation is identifying contingencies - what could go wrong. Think in terms of Murphy's Law - if anything can go wrong, it will - and identify what could get in the way of solving the problem the company is facing.

Case Study 2: What are your options?

What is the problem in this case study?

What alternatives are available?

What process did you use to generate the alternatives for the case study?