Page 298 - Business Principles and Management

Chapter 11 • Management Functions and Decision Making

solving. The four steps in problem solving are (1) identify the problem, (2) list
possible solutions, (3) carefully analyze the possible solutions, and (4) select the
best solution using the results of the analysis.

IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM Before a manager can make a decision to solve a problem,
the problem must first be located and identified. Often, a manager may not even
be aware that a problem exists. For example, employees may be unhappy about
a coworker. The manager may not know about the problem unless employees
communicate this concern or it begins to affect their work.
A manager must also be careful not to identify a symptom as the problem.
A symptom is a sign or indication of something that appears to be the problem.
When a patient complains of a headache, the headache may be a symptom. The
problem could be high blood pressure, a cold, or another illness. Falling sales of a
line of appliances for a retailer is a symptom. The problem could be ineffective ad-
vertising, a bad product location in the store, untrained salespeople, quality prob-
lems in the products, poor service, and so on. Therefore, it will be difficult to
change the symptom until the problem can be correctly identified and corrected.
What are some reasons that sales are declining? Are fewer customers enter-
ing the business? Are customers shopping but not buying? Are customers buying
but then returning the products because they are not performing as expected?
Or are customers now beginning to use the Internet to purchase products rather
than buying from the store? Managers can often identify the problem by asking
questions and gathering information. They can use the symptom to gather infor- Good managers follow a
mation that can isolate the problem. clear problem-solving pro-
Sometimes managers are unaware that problems exist until it is too late. They cess to handle various kinds
need to review plans and performance regularly to determine if operations are of problems that arise in
proceeding as planned. When any evidence appears that suggests a problem, they any business. What is your
should study the evidence carefully rather than ignore it. It is better to review problem-solving style?
symptoms and determine that there is no prob-
lem than to wait until problems are so big that
they are difficult to correct.

LIST POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS Once they identify a prob-
lem, managers should begin to list all possible
solutions. For example, if the problem is ineffective
advertising, they should list all possible ways to
change the advertising. The list might include more
informative advertisements, a change in the adver-
tising media used, the frequency and timing of ad-
vertising, as well as many other possibilities. Every
problem has at least two possible solutions, and
managers should not overlook any reasonable so-
lution at this point in the problem-solving process.
There are many ways to identify possible solu-
tions. Brainstorming is one method of developing
a long list for later analysis. Managers should
review solutions that have been used in the past or
that were considered for solving related problems.
Discussing the problems with other managers or
with outside experts helps to identify solutions.
Reading and studying can keep managers aware
of new types of solutions. Many managers recog- PHOTO: © DIGITAL VISION.
nize that employees and customers are sources
of possible solutions.

285