BA 301Research and Analysis of Business Decisions

Maureen O’ConnorInstructor

According to Peter Drucker, the manager does five things….

Sets objectives The manager sets goals for the group

and decides what work needs to be done to meet those goals

Organizes The manager divides the work into

manageable activities and selects the people to accomplish the tasks

Motivates and communicates to create a team of people, based on decisions on pay, placement and promotion

Measures: The manager decides the appropriate yardsticks for success

Develops people: people are a company’s most important asset, and it is up to the manager to cultivate and develop talent

BA 301 Business Problem Solving Framework

6.) Achieve

1.) Position

2.) Sense

3.) Uncover

5.) Build

4.) Solve

Explore the problem-solving context

Find, define and prioritize problems

Research causes and develop alternative solutions

Evaluate alternatives, choose the best solution

Build the business case for your solution

Implement and evaluate your solution

Common Blunders in Business Decision-Making

Blunder #1

Rush to judgment

Common Blunders in Business Decision-Making

Blunder #2

Misuse of Resources

Common Blunders in Business Decision-Making

Blunder #3

Using tactics bound to fail

Blunders leads to traps

Failure to uncover concerns and reconcile competing points of view

Overlooking people’s interest and commitments

Leaving expectations vague Limiting search for solutions Misusing evaluations Ignoring ethical questions Failure to reflect

PSU SBA

Provides a critical decision making model to: Understand the context within which

the organization operates Identify the problems worth solving Consider the broad range of

stakeholders Creatively generate potential solutions Build a convincing business case

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

Ability to analyze evidence and discern the key information

Considers multiple perspectives Sifts through conflicting information

to achieve justifiable assumptions and analysis

Requires both hard technical skills and soft interpersonal skills

Terra Cog GPS Systems

Privately held high tech firm that manufactures GPS systems for consumer markets, largely in sporting goods (fishing, hiking, camping and boating)

Known for its ability to respond to consumer and channel demands/needs with quality products.

Carved out a successful, differentiated position in the outdoorsman category

Competitive Context Its primary competitor introduces a similar

product that uses satellite imagery – a clear advantage over Terra Cog. “BirdsI”

Terra Cog isn’t impressed. Functionality isn’t any better; it just looks cooler.

Despite some good buzz from the channel and the media, Terra Cog decides not to enter the satellite imagery business.

Concentrates instead on entering cycling and fitness markets

Market Response

Market loves BirdsI!

Introduced through two retail channels close to Terra Cog

Terra Cog pooh-poohs the response and chalks it up to holiday hype

Second thoughts

Sales reps notice growing customer demand for a hand-held satellite GPS system like BirdsI

VP of Sales presses management to reverse the decision and begin to develop a prototype to compete with BirdsI

What do they need to know?

The Go-ahead

CEO authorizes the go-ahead Price point to compete with BirdsI Get it to market by holiday season 18

months later Use the basic platform already in use

by Terra Cog Make it a quality product to preserve

reputation

Who’s involved and what are their issues?

Design Team Not enough time to develop a quality

product Takes the team away from other

product development projects with growth potential

Other players…

Sales team Retail channel wants a product to

compete with BirdsI Consumer demand appears there Sales reps are compensated based on

hitting sales targets

Other players….

Production Product is expensive to build Can’t be sold for less than $550, or

$100 more than the competition Can’t reduce production costs by much

without compromising functionality

What’s the problem?

Should Terra Cog proceed or pull the project?

How could Terra Cog avoided this problem?