An Eight-Step Approach to strategic problem solving (original) (raw)

1985, Human Systems Management

Gordon A. Enk has received his Ph.D. in natural resource economics from Yale University. He is curren tly President of Gordon A. Enk and Associates, Inc. and th e Research and Decision Center, Inc. Hi s research and consulting has focussed on innovative and participatory approaches to strategic planning, environmental impact and technology assessment, and risk analysis. His past work has included research on the economics and scientific quality of the environmental impact assessment process, as well as action projects concerning technology assessment of decentralized energy sys tems, participatory approaches to power plant siting and the design of a long-term research agenda to improve the understanding of the toxicity of inhalable particles from fl y ash resulting from coal combustion. He is currently involved in an assessment of the scientific quality of informa tion pertaining to the development of a victim compensation program for individuals exposed to toxic substances, and a comparative analysis of the Japanese and US approaches to risk assessment and risk ma nagement. Stuart L. Hart has received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan's interdisciplinary planning program; he has been involved in several lines of research related to the use of information in organizati onal decision making and strategic problem solving. During the middle and late 1970s, he collaborated with Dr. Enk on research and consulted in the emerging fields of environmental and technology assessment. Dr. Hart has served as consultant to a project aimed a t developing an approach to enable the US Environmental Protection Agency to anticipate future environmental problems. Another recent project involved key scientists and researchers in the develop ment of a research agenda for assessing the potential health risks associated with small inhalable particles resulting from coal comb ustion. North-H olland Human Systems Management 5 (1985) 245-258 In addition to hi s work in impact assessment, policy analysis, and strategic problem-solving, Dr. Hart is also involved in st udies relating to technological innovation and economic development. One such effort focuses on the effectiveness of universityindustry relationships in Michigan, with a n eye toward improvi ng such links. Increasingly, the issues and problems faced by organizations seem to defy resolutions by the traditional decision tools and techniques developed over the past 30 years (primarily in the field s of operations research and quantitative modeling). These techniques were designed to solve well-defined problems that occur repeated ly in the management of organ iza tions. Social and economic turbulence, however, has consp ired to make the utility of such techniques questionab le. There is a growing need for strategic problem solving approaches which allow decision makers to interp ret complex situations, constructively tap differing perspectives, and detect emerging social and scientific concerns. T h.is article describes one such approach to strategic problem•solvi ng, wh.ich consists of a sequence of eight steps ; initial acti vi ties are oriented toward expanding the range of informat ion available through literature review, networking, and surveys. Emphasis in later steps is on narrowing and synthesi zing the range of options and strategies through interactive workshops involving key stakeholders and experts, and focused project reports. The approach is illustrated using an actual case application.