Page 34 - 100 Great Business Ideas: From Leading Companies Around the World (100 Great Ideas)

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graphs briefly examine these stages from the practical view-
point of problem solving within an organization. Personal,
non-work-related problem solving would follow the same
stages. Both analytical and creative processes are applicable
to all eight stages.

Analyzing the Environment

If you're not constantly searching for problems
(which, as defined here, include opportuni-
ties), how will you know if they exist? And
how can you solve problems or take ad-
vantage of opportunities if you don't
know they exist? Most strategists believe
that firms must be prepared to respond
quickly to problems and opportunities in
order to be successful in the future. 2 Thus,
being able to recognize problems and oppor-

tunities as soon as they occur, or even before
they occur, is vital to success. Both internal and external or-
ganizational environments must be constantly and carefully
monitored for signs of problems or opportunities. In this
stage of the process, you are gathering information. Infor-
mation gained during the control stage of CPS is vital to this
stage of the process. See Figure 2.1. Royal Dutch Shell Oil
Company spends millions of dollars annually tracking its
competition and the economy, and learning about its cus-
tomers, for just one type of information system—the strate-
gic information system. It also trains all levels of manage-
ment to look for weak signals of environmental change. It
spends thousands of man-hours creating forecasts /scenarios
of possible futures, all to enable it to solve strategic and op-
erational problems better.' The individual problem solver
must also spend time and money searching the environment
looking for signals of problems or opportunities. For ex-
ample, spend a few minutes to look at your internal and ex-
ternal organization environments. What is happening that
might lead to problems or opportunities?

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