Comprehensive Analysis: Problem Solving and Decision Making Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of problem-solving and decision-making processes, covering various aspects such as Ackoff’s concept of mess, resolution, solutions, and dissolution. It explores critical thinking skills and their importance in problem-solving, differentiating between he...Read More

Running head: PROBLEM SOLVING AND DECISION MAKING
Problem Solving and Decision Making
The Name of the Student:
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1PROBLEM SOLVING AND DECISION MAKING
Part A
Section 1: Problem Solving Analysis and Process
Question 1
Answer a
According to Ackoff’s concept of mess, the organizational managers are not always
confronted with the problems, which are independent in nature. However, at dynamic
situations, which comprise complex systems of the changing problems, the managers need to
interact with others (Bardach & Patashnik, 2015). These situations are known as messes, as
per Ackoff. While working at a company, I faced some issues with my co-workers. The
managers did not solve the issues as they thought those were personal, but they managed the
messes so that other workers do not face such problems in future. Moreover, Ackoff
suggested that the problems are generally the abstractions which are extracted from the
messes after analysis.
Answer b
Resolution refers to the determination of a similar issue that has arisen before
and the management checks whether the past approach can be utilized for the current
problems. On the other hand, solutions refer to the best possible outcomes. The solutions are
considered to be the most frequently and deployed method of solving issues. Last but not the
least; dissolution can be considered to be the most highly valued approach for solving issues.
Moreover, it can be said that dissolution is the common way of preventing any organizational
issue. Eliminating or dissolving the issues can only be achieved via redesign.

2PROBLEM SOLVING AND DECISION MAKING
Answer c
(Figure: Problem Solving Process Diagram
Source: Created by Author)
Answer 2
Critical thinking refers to the ability of analyzing the way an individual thinks
as well as presents evidences for their ideas and simply accepts their personal reasoning quite
sufficient. One can gain several benefits by mastering their abilities or skills of critical
thinking, like better control, own learning as well as empathy. The importance of thinking
skills in problem solving simply emphasizes upon the self-directed, self-monitored, self-
corrective and self-monitored thinking. It ensures effective and efficient communication as
well as problem solving abilities and the commitment of overcoming native sociocentrism
and egocentrism (Van Aken & Berends, 2018).
From solving class assignments to organizational problems and facing real
world tough situations, critical thinking abilities are considered to a valuable skill for the
Six-Step
Problem Solving
Model
Provides
Consistency
Highly
Encourages the
collabortive
team work
Ideal for the
complex
problems as it is
easy to repeat
the steps
It is a procedure
for conitnual
improvement

3PROBLEM SOLVING AND DECISION MAKING
individuals to master. The thinking skills help in teaching the individuals a variety of
abilities, which can be applied later in life. It calls for analysis, planning as well as reflection
and enables an individual to apply those skills at any situation. Moreover, it also emphasizes
upon the abilities of thinking rationally and clearly, which is highly important. If an
individual works in research, management, finance, legal or education profession, then
thinking critically is immensely important. However, critical thinking abilities and skills are
not entirely restricted to a specific area or subject. It is important for an individual to think in
an effective manner and solve the problems, systematically (Goetsch & Davis, 2014).
Answer 3
The heuristic and systematic approach of solving problems is being
established by Shelly Chaiken, which attempts to describe how the people process as well as
receive persuasive messages. This model states that the individuals can solve their problems
in two different ways; systematically or heuristically. Heuristic approach utilizes the
judgmental rules and offers economic advantage. It refers to the processes, which are
governed by applicability, accessibility and availability. It focuses upon the simple or
cognitive heuristic rules through persuasion. However, it can be said that in such situation,
systematic approach is highly important. In a systematic approach, the procedure of finding
the keys of the house will involve analytic, comprehensive and cognitive processing of
judgmental and relevant information. Moreover, the values of systematic approach
emphasizes upon message content and reliability, which will exert strong impact upon
persuasion (Savery, 2015).
Section II. Problem Solving Process
Answer 1
The two major problems that are reflected in the video are as follows -

4PROBLEM SOLVING AND DECISION MAKING
 Proper training to meet the standards of the company is missing among the new
crewmembers.
 Layout of the kitchen, restaurant and bar area was not practical.
Stena Lina has just invested more than a billion to refurbish old ships and on building
new ships too. The new crewmembers who joined the company had gone through a training
process so that they can match the standard of Stena Line. Yet they are lacking in skills to
meet the quality level. Stena Line is a transportation company; their ships carry people all
around the world. Hence, there should have been at least some staff members in the bar and
restaurant area who can understand and speak different languages to serve the passengers
properly. In addition, another problem among the new staffs was that a few of them did not
have sufficient knowledge of company policies. The second major problem that was evident
in the video was the designing of the kitchen, restaurant and bar area. Narrow spacing near
two important ovens slowed down the production rate and the bar area was designed to
accommodate a way less number of people than the ships carry.
The problems offers the company a chance to turn them into future opportunities
(Haessler, 2014) to make a better and practical design for every segment of the ships. While
planning for renovation or new ships, the company can now be able to anticipate the
problems and make change accordingly. After acknowledging the qualities that are lacking in
the staff, a more productive training process can be planned for them and the future
crewmembers too. Also, while allocating staffs, the management gets the opportunity ( Egan,
2013) to recognise staffs with language proficiency and position them where they are needed
the most.
Answer 2
The slogan that Stena Line promotes their company with is Making Good Time and
that is exactly what they wish provide their passengers. Their goal is to present a comfortable

5PROBLEM SOLVING AND DECISION MAKING
and relaxing ambience to their customers to enjoy a peaceful time with their families. In the
case study, the goal of the company is to know if they are providing their customers the
quality service they promised. The CEO of the company, Gunnar Blomdahl, had gone
undercover to inspect the competence level of their staff and crew in order to serve that
purpose. Problem detection is a crucial part of business as it is directly related to the business
goal. Problem causes customer dissatisfaction, which is the chief goal of any business. When
a company fails to satisfy the needs of customers (Torres & Kline, 2013), it affects the brand
image (Saleem & Raja, 2014). Poor brand image means poor business. Hence, it is vital to
understand a problem in time so that necessary measures can be taken to control the damage
and reform the situation. In the case study, Gunnar understood the problem that the
construction noise was creating a disturbance among the passengers in the restaurant and
immediately acted by arranging to send a personal letter to every passenger convey the
message of sorry.
Answer 3
In the case study, the design and layout of the kitchen and restaurant of Stena
Britannica is serious issue. In the kitchen, there is a narrow passage where the two majorly
productive ovens are. The door of the oven blocks the passage and makes the staff wait to go
through the passage. This slows down the pace of work in the kitchen. In addition, the staffs
had to use cardboards on the nonslip floor to get trolleys out of the fridge. The bar was not
big enough for the number of passengers the ship can carry. The restaurant where the paid
passengers were sitting was also not large enough. Moreover, the other restaurant was not
being opened for the passengers and they had to wait for the food a long time. The temporary
strategy to solve the problem (Baker, 2017) that could be recommended for the layout of the
restaurant is that in times of need the management should open both the restaurants to be used

6PROBLEM SOLVING AND DECISION MAKING
instead of keeping one on hold as per division of customers. The permanent solution will
require either structural change or joining the two sections of the restaurant.
Answer 4
The temporary solution is to open two sections of the restaurant for every passenger
when a larger place is needed. This way it will be possible to accumulate and serve everyone
at the same time and no one has to wait for his or her turn. Also, the ambiance will be more
relaxing and enjoyable as the restaurant will not be crowded anymore. However, the
permanent solution is expensive, as it requires change in the layout. The restaurant needs to
be restructured according to an improvised layout or to eliminate the partition between two
sections. In the both cases, the restaurant area will be more spacious for the comfort of the
passengers.
Answer 5
Planning a permanent solution for a problem includes several steps. At first, the root
of the problem needs to be detected and after finding out the cause, the problem must be
identified critically. The next step is to figure out possible solutions for the problem and then
comparatively examine them to select the one that suits the best. The final step is to
implement the chosen solution. This is a long process and by the time a solution is provided,
a lot damage would be done to harm the company’s reputation. In order to avoid such
incidents, finding the first step is more significant than finding the complete solution. After
understanding the problem, while the problem solving process is going on, some temporary
actions can be taken to show the customers that the company is truly regrettable for the
inconvenience. This display of concern can redeem the company image to the customers
(Zhang, 2015), as Gunnar suggested in the case study to provide complementary drinks to the
passengers to show the company’s concern for the disturbance they were facing.

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Answer 6
The IDEAL problem solving method includes the five steps of identifying the cause
of the problem, defining the problem, exploring possible solutions, acting on the mutually
selected solution and learning by evaluating. Proctor’s creative problem solving process
refers to a creative approach to solve a problem. This process follows six steps of objective
finding, fact-finding, problem finding, idea finding, solution finding and acceptance finding.
Looking at the problem in a lateral way and exhibiting innovation and imagination in finding
the solution is how a problem is solved creatively.
In both methods, some basic similarities can be found. The first step of two methods
is to figure out clearly what the problem is and understand the reason behind it. In order to
understand and define the problem, two methods require doing an explicit research.
The major difference between the two methods is that, when IDEAL problem solving
model looks for a practical solution of the problem, creative problem solving process looks
for an out of the box solution to solve a problem (Kubota & Da Rosa, 2013). This difference
in aim also makes another difference in process of solution finding. After determining
alternative solutions, IDEAL approach evaluates them by comparing each solution. It looks to
find the most practical solution that will cover all the criteria. In creative method, after
generating multiple ideas that may possibly solve the problem (Čančer & Mulei, 2013), all
the ideas are combined to create a novel idea.

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Reference List
Baker, R. (2017). Problem-solving. In Agile UX Storytelling (pp. 107-116). Apress,
Berkeley, CA.
Bardach, E., & Patashnik, E. M. (2015). A practical guide for policy analysis: The eightfold
path to more effective problem solving. CQ press.
Čančer, V., & Mulej, M. (2013). Multi-criteria decision making in creative problem solving.
Kybernetes, 42(1), 67-81.
Egan, G. (2013). The Skilled Helper: A Problem-Management and Opportunity-Development
Approach to Helping (HSE 123 Interviewing Techniques).
Goetsch, D. L., & Davis, S. B. (2014). Quality management for organizational excellence.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: pearson.
Haessler, S. (2014). The Hawthorne effect in measurements of hand hygiene compliance: a
definite problem, but also an opportunity.
Kubota, F. I., & da Rosa, L. C. (2013). Identification and conception of cleaner production
opportunities with the theory of inventive problem solving. Journal of Cleaner
Production, 47, 199-210.
N. Torres, E., & Kline, S. (2013). From customer satisfaction to customer delight: Creating a
new standard of service for the hotel industry. International Journal of Contemporary
Hospitality Management, 25(5), 642-659.
Saleem, H., & Raja, N. S. (2014). The impact of service quality on customer satisfaction,
customer loyalty and brand image: Evidence from hotel industry of Pakistan. Middle-
East Journal of Scientific Research, 19(5), 706-711.

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Savery, J. R. (2015). Overview of problem-based learning: Definitions and
distinctions. Essential readings in problem-based learning: Exploring and extending
the legacy of Howard S. Barrows, 9, 5-15.
Van Aken, J. E., & Berends, H. (2018). Problem solving in organizations. Cambridge
University Press.
Zhang, Y. (2015). The impact of brand image on consumer behavior: a literature review.
Open journal of business and management, 3(1).