task is to identify a problem within your organization.  This does not need to be a large problem where the company will sink or swim, but there is typically an issue which is strategy related on which most people are either currently working or would like to solve if they had the resources.  STOP and think.  Go get a healthy snack if you have any left.  I often find the underlying cause of problems is embedded in larger issues. In many cases you will be observing the symptom or a second order problem.  For example, an organizational structure which might be causing a market blind spot, inaction due to organization incentives such as promotion policy, or execution ineffectiveness due to internal mismatched perception of business model.  Should you find that further analysis needs to be done to identify the actual cause of the problem, you should take the direction that you will design an analysis to get to the root cause (the document Ivy Case System can be a handy thought starter).

It will be important to use the language of strategic management in your analysis.  It may be good to remember that the purpose of this is framing the problem with specificity so it should not be ambiguous regarding the linkage to the material in strategic management.  This is not an exercise in threading as many buzzwords into a paragraph as possible which would be regarded as poor understanding of terminology usage.  The reason for the frameworks and language is simply one of sorting; sorting out important information from a galaxy of ancillary information.  These frameworks have been demonstrated to be effective in understanding the levers to use in successfully running a business.

Bear in mind there is a difference between inductive and deductive problem solving.  In deductive problem solving there is typically a known relationship between cause and effect.  We can then deduce the underlying cause through a series of tests.

Often more interesting inductive problems arise.  This is where the choice set is not known.  This is where a diligent application of strategy tools and frameworks can help rule out some options, while another set of options has more elements of uncertainty.  Strategy may not be able to tell you whether cutting the red, blue, or green wire will stop the timer on the explosive.  However, it is usually good at ruling out the cutting of the red wire because most of the time that yields a negative outcome.

For this exercise you are limited to three pages .  One could ask why there is such a limit.  Even if one does not ask, my answer would be the same. Time is one of the most constrained resources in management.  Herbert Simon said we can view an organization as an information processing unit. If management is decision making under uncertainty (I said that), then we need to strive for clarity and conciseness in communication to allow the organization to process this information in an efficient manner.  To view it another way, there is a reason why you don't hit "reply all" with every email.

 

What is the problem you are analyzing and what is the underlying cause?

 

What is the impact of this problem on your organization and your organizations quest for competitive advantage?

 

How does this solving this problem affect the competitive dynamics in your strategic group?

 

Why is this the problem you have chosen?

 

What is your role in solving the problem or where does this fit within your organization?  Who has responsibility and how will this be influenced?

 

What will be your next steps?