COURSE POLICIES
BA 580 -- Contemporary Issues (1.5 hrs)
Topics in Decision Analysis -- Complex Problems

Contact Information
Dr. Brian Goff/ GH 414/Phone: 745-3855
Office Hours: MTW 2-4, TTh 9:30-11:30 (or by appt. at other times)
Email: brian.goff@wku.edu/

    
Description: This course will explore the nature of solving problems when problems are not well defined and involve many dimensions.  An interdisciplinary literature on the these kinds of problems (sometimes called ill-structured problems) has been emerging.  Many of the problems faced by managers are of this type, yet business students get little if any exposure to the issues involved.  This course seeks to help fill this void and develop better understanding of and ability to work with complex problems.

Resources:   Powerpoint Slides & other online sources
(Except for Class 1, you should be familiar with the material on the slides and other resources before class.  During class, we will discuss some of the most important or difficult points and expand on examples).

GRADING
Written Assignments (3)     = 50%
Participation                      = 25% 
Final Exam                        = 25%      

MISCELLANEOUS
Students with special disabilities per the ADA should register with the University ADA Compliance office and then consult with me. Any student missing more than two full class meetings (or equivalent) of the class for any reason will be dropped. Also see MBA Student Responsibilities


OUTLINE

Class 1 (March 7): Introduction
Resources:  Class 1 Slides ; USNA ; Carnegie-Mellon MBA
1. Administration
2. Background to Course
3. Defining complex (ill-structured) problems?
4. Examples of well-structured  v. ill-structured problems
5.  Reasons for ill-structured problems
6. Approaches
7. Mini-Assignment

Class 2 (March 14): I Think, Therefore, I Solve – Analytical Approaches to Problems
Assigned Resources:  Class 2 Slides  ;  Analytical methods-business history;
1.  Lessons from “analytical modeling disciplines”
2.  Skills & techniques
3.  Making applications to business problems
4.  Limitations of analytical methods  --
– Limited to “tractable” problems, often neglectful of others
– (Implicit) cognitive biases <See Glossary of CB>

Class 3 (March 28):  Case 1 -- The Panama Canal
Assignment 1

Class 4 (April 4): Heuristics to the Rescue – Rules of Thumb & Experience
Resources:  Class 4 Slides   ;  Bicycle Case;
1.  Defining “Heuristics”
2.  “Implicit Heuristics”
3.  “Explicit” Heuristics as a problem solving/learning method
4.  Pitfalls of Heuristics (See Bicycle Case)
5.  Merging analytical & heuristic methods:
6.  Mini-Assignment

Class 5 (April 11):  Case 2 -- TBA
Assignment 2

Class 6 (April 18): Can You Really Learn from Failure?
Resources:  Class 6 Slides ;  Challenger History; Challenger Article 2001;  Columbia Article;
1. What is “failure analysis”?
2.  Failure analysis and organizational management
3.  Why hasn’t failure analysis been used more frequently in management?
4.  Common Lessons from Failure Analysis:
5.  Roadblocks to failure analysis in organizations
(Additional Links on Failure Analysis)

Class 7 (April 25):  Case 3  -- Disaster on Storm King Mountain
Assignment 3
Final Exam

May 2:  Assignment 3 Due



lASSIGNMENT 1 -- PANAMA CANAL CASE

Identify analytical problem solving strategies used in building the Panama Canal and reasons for their success or failure.

Some questions to consider in forming your answer:
lWho were key problem-solving figures in the Canal story?
What were some of the major physical-environmental obstacles to be overcome?
What were some of the critical technical developments?
What were some of the major failures?
What problem-solving strategies did the key problem-solvers use?
»Was there any commanlity in their strategies?  If so, was the outcome the same -- if not, why not?
»
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Format: Typed; Single Spaced; Maximum 2 pages; Use standard rules of American English and a standard manual of style. Due Monday -- start of class

ASSIGNMENT 2 -- Apollo 13

Idendify and evealuate the use of heuristic methods (experimentation-trial & error; intuition; rules of thumb ...) in solving ill-structured problems faced in bringing Apollo 13 back to earth safely.

Some questions to consider while watching the video (do not make this your outline for your answer--these simply represent some of the relevant information you need to collect):
What were some of the key problems faced?
Who were some of the key individuals or units solving problems?
Were analytical strategies used to compliment or guide some of the heuristics?
What heuristics worked? 
What heuristics failed?  Did some heuristic failures compound the problems they were trying to solve?
What role did creativity-adaptation play in successful problem solving?
In weighing the value of heuristics & analytics, why were heuristics useful (overall & relatively more useful in a particular problem or two)?
Do you see any examples of where the decision makers are battling the tradeoffs between analytics and heuristics themselves?

Format: Typed; Single Spaced; Maximum 2 pages; Use standard rules of American English and a standard manual of style. Due Monday -- start of class








ASSIGNMENT 3 --  Storm King Mountain Disaster
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1.  Identify a) physical causes, b) point of failure decisions, and c) organizational-managerial failures contributing to the deaths of the fire fighters on Storm King Mountain
»2.  What general lessons for other organizations can be gleaned?
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Questions to consider as examining the case:
Who were key decision makers?
What was the timeline of events?
From a physical standpoint, what sequence of events caused the deaths of the fire fighters?
What decisions were made by key supervisors on the ground during the crucial final minutes?
What organizational structures-policies-decisions existed before the events on Storm King Mountain?

Format:  Typed; Single Spaced; Maximum 2 pages; Use standard rules of American English and formal style..  May E-mail as attachment in Word or WordPerfect format.
»


Responsibilities of MBA Students
MBA courses combine graduate education and professional business eduction both of which place much greater responsibiliites on students than undergaduate courses.   Not all of these responsibilities are easily summarized in a few lines, but the following items indicate some of the specific expectations that are significantly different than expectations in many undergraduate courses.

1. Preparation
i) students are expected to come to class having adequately read assigned material;
ii) students are expected to consider and contribute to discussions as well as how topics integrate with business decisions;
2.  Initiative
i) if a topic is unclear, the primary responsibility rests with the student to find and digest supplemental material;
ii) if a student's current or prior work experience does not provide a background for mid- and upper-level business decisions, the student should supplement his/her experiences by regularly reading the WSJ or other business periodicals;
3.  Presentation
i) When presenting material or making comments to class, students should communicate in ways that are beneficial to the group (audibly, clearly, thoughtfully, ...);
ii) While classroom settings are usually informal, students should keep in mind that an MBA is professional training -- non-verbal signals such as lack of punctuality, appearance (within accepted norms), and body language matter