OUTLINE FOR CASE ANALYSIS AND REPORTS Decision making is a very common managerial activity undertaken by managers of different levels. This assignment is designed to acquaint you with typical decision making procedures for problem solving purposes with the given scenario of the Tata case. It will also help you gain some insights into the cognitive and psychological aspects of managers when making informed decisions. The goal for you is to work out a concise, convincing and logically well organised and sounded brief report (which is, in business, usually in an oral form such as presentation in a meeting). Your report needs to be functional, that is to be able to bring problems to the attention of your supervisor(s), convince him/her/them they are indeed problems to be looked into, come up with some alternatives or solutions, among which you recommend several best to be carried out. To better achieve those above, your report is not bounded by rigid forms such as typical academic writing structures and the use of abundant academic references to back up your arguments-logically sound arguments in a professional manner work well at the workplace. You may choose to write your report in the recommended structure explained below. In addition, the attached chart on Decision Making Process from chapter 11 of your textbook will help you understand why you need to structure in such a way. Recommended structure: 1.0 Source Problems: This is a general statement of the underlying, fundamental problem or core issue. It is important to distinguish between symptoms of the problem, and the problem itself. Frequently the source problem precedes the current problems in the case. (One short paragraph, you may treat this section as an alternative to the introduction paragraph of typical academic writing) (Medical example: tonsillitis) 2.0 Secondary Problems: These are more specific, current and observable problems and derive from the source problem. They frequently are the problems immediately evident in the case. List all problems you may find under short or long term. (Technical and management terms are welcome, so that explanations are no longer needed; you may write a line to explain a problem if there is no term for it or if you feel a need for a bit more clarification) (Medical example: fever, loss of appetite, cough) Short Term: Current problems of recent origin, which can be solved within a period of months without major commitments of capital, technology, finance or managerial effort. (Business example: overstocking, high prices, labour shortage) 2.1 2.2 2.3 Long Term: Problems which have existed for years, and which involve long-term trends in the internal or external environment. They will require solutions spread over a period longer than, say, a year, and may demand major allocations of capital, technology, finance and managerial effort. (Business example: obsolete products, out-of-date production process technology, lack of adequate plant capacity) 2.4 2.5 3.0 Analysis: This is where you can justify the problems you identified and explain how they are related. As problems may be many, you must selectively stick to the ones that are tightly related to the source problems as you will not have enough room to explain all of them. Like in a real business situation, you will have to sketch them for senior decision makers who may not have time or intention for details. There are some perspectives you may choose to conduct your analysis and organise your discussion: business expansion, organisational structure, financial, operational, strategic planning, leadership, HR related issues such as training and development, etc. A mind map may help you see better the interrelations among problems and then form stronger discussions with either inductive or deductive logic. The analysis should not be mere repetition of case facts, but should rather reflect the processes of evaluation, synthesis, careful interpretation and insight. An analyst should “read between the lines”. This might involve the calculation of financial rations, trend lines, growth rates etc. in order to reorganise data to yield not-so-obvious facts. These “new” facts can be used as case evidence in support of problem definitions and proposed solutions. This section should comprise 40-50% of the report. 4.0 Alternatives: A listing of all major feasible courses of action opens to the decision-maker. Same to the problem definition section, you may use either a term or a line for each alternative. Usually all available options can be reduced to five or six alternatives. These must be viable, practical and realistic. They need not be mutually exclusive, i.e. the analyst may opt for two or three of these alternatives in his/her final recommendations. Short Term: 4.1 4.2 4.3 Long Term: 4.4 4.5 5.0 Recommended Strategy: This is the action you propose to solve the problem identified in (1.0) and (2.0) and is selected from the range of alternatives presented. It must be restated. It is acceptable to cut and paste from section 4.0 (one or two lines,) Short Term: 5.1 5.2 Long Term: 5.3 6.0 Justification of Recommendations: Similar to 3.0 Analysis, you need to briefly analyse and demonstrate why the recommendations selected from the alternatives are the most effective in attacking the problem. Evidence (from section 3.0) can be used to support the recommendations and to reject the actions not accepted. The objective here is to demonstrate best solutions to solve the problems you identified, especially the source problems.(150-250 words) 7.0 Implementation, Control and Follow-up: In this concluding section, a mini action plan. You may list the clear, specific steps to be taken to adopt the proposed solution. Think about what obstacles may be expected, and how should these be overcome? What policy or organisation changes are indicated? What controls are needed to avoid a recurrence of the problem in the future? For example, if the action recommended is to retrench 50 assembly line workers, what union reaction can be expected and what contingency plans are available to deal with obstacles that could arise during implementation of decisions? You may use a paragraph, a list of actions, and a table or combined ways to achieve your purpose (half page)