Problem Solving in Organizations A Methodological Handbook for Business and Management Students

Introduction

This chapter concerns the second step of the problem-solving cycle: analysis and diagnosis. Our starting point in this chapter is that the first step, problem definition, has been completed. Thus, in one way or another, a problem has been defined, some of its potential causes and consequences identified and the assignment and the problem-solving approach determined. The next step is developing a diagnosis: an explanation of a business problem.

The objectives of the diagnosis are: (1) to validate the business problem; (2) to explore and validate the causes and consequences of the problem; and (3) to develop preliminary ideas about alternative directions to solve the problem. The initial cause-and-effect diagram that was developed for problem definition can be taken as a starting point, but needs to be explored in more depth and validated by systematic research. At the end of the diagnosis, you must be convinced and able to convince others (the clients as well as your academic supervisor) of the validity of the problem, its causes and its consequences.

You need systematic research to develop a valid diagnosis. Yet, this research has some specific characteristics that set it apart from other forms of research, in particular from theory-developing and theory-testing research. This means that many research methods discussed in textbooks can be applied in this phase, but that you have to tailor them to the particular characteristics of diagnostic research.

A first characteristic of diagnostic research is that it focuses on a unique case and is not aimed at generating generic insight (although generalizable insight might be a by-product). The result of the diagnostic step is a problem-oriented theory about the key phenomenon. That is, you develop a theory that describes and explains a specific problem in one case. Thus, we refer to it as an ‘N=1 theory’. As an explanatory theory, it should meet the validity and reliability standards mentioned in Chapter 11.

Second, diagnostic research embraces an integral perspective, which contrasts with theoretical problems that tend to become more specialized (Carlile et al., 2016: 55). To explain a business problem, you need to invoke all relevant causes that might contribute to that problem. The diagnosis needs to be complete and integrated. Often, it appears that multiple types of causes, relating to different disciplinary domains, are interrelated. This makes it difficult, and often unproductive, to stay within disciplinary boundaries.