assignment

Problem Investigation Report

Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to:

· Identify economic questions that firms must address.

· Evaluate decision making, centered around the VBM, within a chosen industry.

· Prepare a problem statement within your specific industry.

Introduction

Understanding Step One in PBL

Problem solving is a vital process within organizations. The best problem solvers can look at the data from the perspective of the big picture and look for challenges to the organization. In Week 1, we reviewed industrial organization, or market structure, which is the primary economic tool for industry analysis. It provides a framework for relating profitability to demand, level of competition, and firm behavior. Using the economic theory of market structure, identify a component of the market that is a threat to the health of the organization you are looking at.

Organizations face a multitude of challenges. You will find it helpful if you take one challenge and focus on it. For example, is it shifting demand? Or perhaps a new technology that is disruptive and changes the company’s cost structure? Another might be some legislation making its way through Congress that affects the organization’s ability to make certain decisions.

The Context of the Problem

For the problem statement, take the position of the person indicated in the problem scenario you have chosen. Place yourself in that person’s shoes. Given that person’s mandate, whether it be to increase share price, stabilize market share, increase cash flow, or any other goal, how would this leader perceive this challenge? Furthermore, how would a virtuous leader respond to the challenge? For example, the VBL approach talks about framing. How do you frame the problem statement so that it is ethically, as well as strategically, solid?

Investigating the Problem

The more specific the problem statement is, the easier it is to address it. In fact, half the battle is articulating the problem in a short statement. Express it as an “elevator speech,” that is, imagine you meet someone in an elevator and you have 60 seconds to explain your thought before the person reaches their floor. Often, simply thinking about how to put the problem succinctly in words suggest possible avenues for addressing it.

The deliverable for this step is:

· A problem statement that is succinct and leads to specific actions. For example, instead of simply stating “we’re losing sales,” address the root cause, such as “competitor pricing is causing us to lose market share” or “consumer preferences are moving away from the product.”

 

Instructions for Deliverable

As a team learning project, the individual’s participation in the processes of the team is as important as the product produced by the team. Therefore, it is very possible that team members will earn different scores for the assignment due to individual differences in the team process. It is important to understand that low performance in the team processes has a ripple effect on other students’ contributions to the development of the final paper and its quality. This grading approach provides the ethical principle of equity in the assignment’s grades.

1. Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade. You can learn more about the specific skills being assessed by reviewing the links in Problem-Based Learning Resources(new tab) .

2. Remember to review the problem and the resources available on the Problem Overview(new tab)  page.

3. It is recommended that the team begin this problem-solving adventure with the end deliverables in mind. Therefore, it is a good idea to review the PBL deliverables’ rubrics to ensure that you will have the appropriate knowledge base to complete your project.

4. Meet as a team to ensure you have a shared understanding of the requirements for this step. As a team, use your PBL plan to outline how you will all meet the requirements individually and collectively.

5. You are to use the PBL Team Forum discussion link for the development of your deliverable. This will give your professor the opportunity to coach the team, if needed. If your team chooses to use another tool to develop your PBL deliverables, you must invite the professor to join your site.

6. Individually, conduct your own independent investigation of the problem. Document your work per your team's plan/template. 

7. As a team, collect your findings from the investigations and present them as an organized summary of what is known about the problem. Clearly indicate the contributions of each team member.

8. The Problem Statement report should be written in essay format in accordance with APA standards. The body of the text should be at least two full pages. The first paragraph should have an overview of the problem, and the rest of the paper should be an elaboration and justification for the research.

9. If any resources are cited, please use APA style to format in-text citations and the references list. 

10. One person from the team must submit the deliverable to the Assignment submission page per your Team Project Plan but no later than the end of Workshop Two.