Page 65 - The Case Lab Book

h: DIAGNOSIS

List the problems facing the organization:

a) Explicit problems ;

define them in terms of the available standards of performance
historic (past performance or expectations),or
environmental (competitor industry average etc.),or

control standards (internal planning and control measures, e.g. actual
v. budget expenditure).

b) Implicit problems ;

do not accept the 'problems' presented in case study at face value,

do not confuse symptoms with causes.

Typical questions about the case which may give insight to the areas of the business that need to be
addressed may be asked such as:
• Is the company growing? [Growth]
• Is its workforce unionized? [HR]
• Does it outsource its operations? [Production]
• Is its debt load greater than its peer group? [Finance]
• Does it rely on online e-commerce/Web? [Sales/Marketing]
• Is it showing online research activity? [Market Research]
• Does it do business in Europe/China/Brazil? [Geography]

… many more predictive questions may be added to this list.

To unearth hidden and perhaps critical problems compare
organization's performance on profitability, marketing, production etc.

with performance levels that would normally be expected from a
healthy company.
e.g.,