Problem Solving and Decision Making

Problems do occur often in an organization, but the solving of problem is more important. There would be lot of ways to arrive at the solution. But picking the best possible one is more important and here comes the decision making, yet another important aspect in an organization.

In an organization, there are four possible situations in decision making and its implementation.

• Individual Decision, Individual Implementation
• Individual Decision, Group Implementation
• Group Decision, Individual Implementation
• Group Decision, Group Implementation

Individual decision making is the easiest way but it has got lot of cons. But the group decision is the one which is very effective and efficient and Group Decision, Group Implementation is the one which is very prominent in the organizations right now.

Generally while discussing the problem in a group, it will generate more perspective to the problems as each will give their own views. This will help in analyzing the problem in a more efficient way.

Steps involving in decision making are:

Estimation Analysis: This involves valuing of the options taking into account work priorities.

Problem Analysis: Define the  problem statement. Gather all the information related to the problem statement.

Solution Analysis: This involves thinking of all possible solutions/ideas to deal with the problem. After discussion try to pick up the best solution.

Implementation: Then implement the best idea which was selected in the earlier step.Try to have a continuous check on this. 

Organization structure explained through Navrang cube

Sir Mandi came to the class with a Rubik cube, which had 3 sets of 9 different colored small cubes. He soon dismantled them and threw all 27 smaller cubes randomly to the students. Now he challenged whether any student can form a bigger cube such that each face of the cube has 9 different colors and no color gets repeated. Some students gave a try but it was futile. Finally Sir himself formed a cube in less than 90 seconds.                                                      

                                                           

Now this navrang cube can be related to the organization structure, where the small cubes are brought together to form a single entity. A systematic approach has to be followed to attach all these small cubes to form a bigger one. The approach is shown in the below video.

Likewise in an organization, the manager has to adopt the following strategies to achieve the goal.

1. Division of work
2. Departmentalization
3. Hierarchy
4. Coordination  

Crossing a valley

Professor Mandi came with yet another exercise to illustrate on team work. He took the exercise where three people cross a valley with the help of a pole. Crossing a valley is definitely a difficult task to be carried out by a single person, but when three people work together the crossing becomes very easy.

Below is the diagram which depicts the approach how the people cross the valley.

Stages in crossing:

The following 3 stages have been undergone by 3 people while crossing the valley

Safe: Both legs are on the ground

Half risky: One leg is in the air and the other is on the ground

Full risky: Both legs are in the air

The following table shows the split up of the stages for 3 people while crossing

Inference:

The following can be inferred

Risk sharing: From the above it can be inferred that the risk of crossing have been equally divided among the three while crossing the valley. Thus the risk can be reduced when working in a team.

Common goal: The most important thing while working in a team is that all team members must be more focused towards the goal. Here the goal was to cross the valley and it was achieved successfully.

Problem solving: The use of wooden pole to cross the valley was taken after a thorough discussion among the three and the consensus would have reached after a thorough brainstorming. 

Thus the team work is more potential and result oriented when compared to the individual work.

Grameen Bank- The bank for poor

The Grameen Bank of Bangaldesh was founded by renowned economist Dr. Muhammad Yannus. It was started in 1976 in a small village in Bangaldesh. It mainly stressed on the empowerment of women and alleviation of poverty through mirco credit programmes. It believed that the above can be achieved by creating self-employment opportunities for vast multitude of unemployed people of rural areas in Bangaldesh. It was also able to attain its goals and was awarded Noble Peace Prize in 2006 for providing both social and economic development support system at the grass root level.     

         

When the Grameen bank started its operation in 1976 there was no banking or credit facilities available to the disadvantaged people living in rural areas of Bangladesh. They had to depend on money lenders who charged very high rates for lending. So the bank addressed the grievances of the  poor and needy and removed the dependency on money lenders . They started working towards the creation of opportunities for self-employment. Like conventional banks they too gave loans and accepted deposits from the people who are destitute, but they had some unique features which differentiated them from the conventional banks.

•     Grameen bank gave away collateral free loans, this helped the people to a greater extent who did not have any property to pledge
•      In this bank the poorest people get the highest priority over others
•      97% of the borrowers are women, this implies that they are more inclined towards the empowerment of women
•      They give option to the defaulters a option to reschedule their loans and payment dates
•      If the borrower dies without repaying the loan, the bank will not ask the family of deceased to repay the loan instead it will take the liability
•       Loans are offered at simple rates while the conventional banks offer at compounded rate

Lessons Learnt

•      This bank introduced the concept of micro credit and a calculated risk was taken by them
•       The bank targeted the people which were left out by the conventional bank and reaped the benefit out of it 
•       Women were targeted in particular as are considered more responsible than men in the family