ABP: It is the thought that counts

“Critical thinking is thinking about your thinking while you are thinking in order to make your thinking better“- Richard Paul

The Analysis of Business Problems (ABP) course is quite an interesting one that challenges one to think about his/her thinking. We do a lot of case studies in this course to enable us to learn how to systematically analyse and solve problems in different contexts. The cases range from Manufacturing Plants, shopping malls, Laboratories and even Brewing Companies.

One key aspect of solving problems in ABP is to identify the problem and be able to put it in a succinct, coherent way. This is called a problem statement. As our faculty explained, the problem statement should not be more than a paragraph or two and must be able to answer the Who, What, When, How, Why, Where and then end with a question. In critical reasoning you do not get a conclusion and make the data follow it rather you let the data lead you to the conclusion. To do this you must be clear on your objective. The objective drives the decision, the decision should not drive the objective. One of the best ways to determine the objective is to think – What does success look like? for the individual or company in view. The objective is the GOAL. When the decision is made, what do I hope to see as a result? The objective is an end goal. You must be able to tell a story from the problem statement in a way where the objective encompasses what success looks like.

In ABP, you need to show your thought process, that is why we have a systematic process for analysing cases, to show the process from problem identification down to the conclusion. In this analysis of business problems course, it is not just about the outcome, it is about the thought process and considering ALL the data given. When it comes to critical thinking, try and keep this at the back of your mind: focus on the thought process not the answer. One must be careful not to go beyond the scope of the case and the data provided in the case study. It may be very tempting to want to add more information or new alternatives to help solve the problem but the key is to keep the argument within its context.

Our last case study was about a marketing manager faced with certain alternatives for his brewing company. Due to the current customer drinkers’ preferences, the company was currently experiencing a decline in revenue for the first time in its history. The marketing manager wants to propose the launch of a new product that could potentially help to meet the current customer demand for a light beer instead of its popularly known lager beer. The goal is to increase revenue and enable the long-term sustainability of the company. The catch is that this is a family-owned business, and the marketing manager will be who will inherit the company in the next five years.

With the data presented in the case, we determined the projections of the launch of the new beer product and whether it had the potential to bring in enough revenue to make up for the current declining sales of its flagship product. Again, it is not just about the outcome but considering all the data presented in the case and making the thought process count.

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