ICS , Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy
[Term 2] Problem Solving (Y. Ishikura) (2008/Term 1&2 (Fall&Winter))
In the real world, business problems do not always arise in the form of explicit, approachable, or appropriate questions. At the same time, although you might be able to find lot of (but unfortunately, often ultimately irrelevant) information, you would have, as always, limited time and resources to tackle and solve those problems. Therefore, one of the most critical business skills today is problem solving – how to solve problems in an efficient and effective way.
This problem solving is a “must have” skill for any internal or external consultant to an organization. You are asked to come into an organization to diagnose the problem, develop the best solution, and prepare a plan to ensure that the solution gets implemented. In many cases (but not always), the management of the organization feels that they know where the problem lies, and some may even have hypothetical solutions in mind. As the consultant, you need to dig to identify the real problem areas and think of various alternative solutions within a limited time. As internal or external consultants are evaluated (and paid) based upon the “value” they provide, you need to go beyond what is available and/or known within the organization, and are expected to bring new insights and solutions well supported by facts and good/insightful/creative analyses.
If the consulting business does not interest you, you can think of this course as “writing a case study and developing a teaching note” to some extent. Many case studies have been used in the ICS curriculum, but not much has been explained as to how to select a site for a case study, how to approach an organization to identify the problems, gather data, and write their issues in a format that students or business people can grasp without too much difficulty.
The authors of The McKinsey Mind claim that problem solving at a consulting firm consists of six elements: business need, analyzing, presenting, managing, implementation, and leadership. This course focuses on the second element, “analyzing,” with some reference to the third and fourth elements as time allows, because those are the most useful at almost any level job in any organization, but is rarely taught or practiced at most organizations.
This course is designed for and specifically targeted at a certain group of students who wish to build such skills. The objective of this course is to enable students to understand basic problem solving tools and concepts AND apply them to real business issues to develop application know-how. The course also exposes students to the basic requirements for effective and efficient problem solving, such as overview of the process, balancing the total picture and focused analysis, and the importance of the hypothesis and work plan. These basic concepts form the background for many frameworks introduced in other courses offered in Term 1.
In addition, the basic skills involved in putting together an analysis that provides a clear, brief, and coherent story and presenting it to an audience will be outlined.
In the course, we will use a few case studies prepared by the instructor, in addition to case studies developed elsewhere. The instructor will use cases she wrote so that the students will have some insights into Dos and Don’ts of problem solving in the real world, especially as an internal or external consultant.
By taking this course, students will be able to frame the problem with a structure and hypothesis, design the analysis needed to prove (or disprove, and thus change) a hypothesis, gather relevant data in the process (with a focus on interviewing skills), interpret the results, and develop/present solutions to stakeholders. This is what this course is all about.
Course Structure
The course is offered twice a week—on Tuesdays and Fridays—for six weeks. The course is structured in five modules, as follows:
(1) How to frame the problem
(2) How to design the analysis
(3) How to gather the data (with a focus on conducting effective interviews)
(4) How to interpret the results
(5) How to present your ideas
In each module, lectures introducing basic concepts, tools, and techniques are practiced with simple exercises and cases. Some examples of the tools are as follows:
(1) MECE (Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive)
(2) Logic tree
(3) Issue tree
(4) Work plan
(5) Pyramid principle
During the course, we will also touch upon the basic thinking behind frameworks and analytical techniques covered in other courses, such as Industry Structure Analysis, financial analysis, and other data analytical methods. Integration will be made with frameworks and tools introduced in other courses, so that students will understand what is behind specific concepts such as SWOT analysis, 4Cs, 4Ps, value chain, congruence model, and DuPont formula.
Teaching Method
Students will be asked to read some sections of the main textbook, as well as a case before almost every class. In the classroom, we will briefly discuss the concept in the textbook and spend more time on simple exercises and case exercises for better understanding. Simple exercises will give students the opportunity to apply concepts immediately after the lecture and encourage the practice of them in daily life. The case studies will give students a sense of what it is like to enter an organization, interview management to identify issues, conduct basic quantitative analysis, and frame problems. We will also spend some time to prepare and conduct an effective key person interview.
Group Project: (Preliminary)
There will be two group projects assigned in the course. The first (conducted earlier in the course) is the observation of sites in the field, to generate hypotheses. The second group project is on a bigger scale, through which, students can apply what they learn to frame issues, conduct analyses, and develop a preliminary recommendation in groups.
Individual Assignments:
There will be a few individual assignments, including write-ups and memo preparation.
Final Examination:
There will be a final examination (individual, 4-hour). It will be a case analysis with a recommendation, using the problem solving approach introduced in the course.