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

Introduction

This handbook deals with fieldwork by business and management students. Such fieldwork can be carried out in the context of a specific course, but can also be done as a graduation project at the end of a course programme to further develop the student's competences and to produce a ‘masterpiece’ – that is, a project report that proves that the student did indeed master the desired competences.

The approach chosen for a graduation project depends on the research paradigm of the school, the supervisor's preferences for student fieldwork and the student's own preferences. As is discussed in more detail in Chapter 13, there are two main research paradigms to be used in student fieldwork in business or management, namely the explanatory research paradigm and the design science research paradigm (or problem-solving approach). The explanatory research paradigm is the research paradigm of mainstream research in most social sciences; the design science research paradigm is the research paradigm of professional schools, such as medical schools, engineering schools and, increasingly, business schools.

A student project according to the explanatory paradigm aims to produce descriptive and explanatory knowledge. Such a project will follow the empirical cycle. A student project according to the design science paradigm aims to produce solutions to field problems, and will follow the problem-solving cycle.

The objective of bachelor-level projects typically is to produce specific, context-specific knowledge. If the empirical cycle is used, this may, for instance, be knowledge about the market potential or the cost structure of a given product. If the problem-solving cycle is used, the knowledge produced can be a solution (plus its implementation plan) for a given field problem, such as a programme to reduce the selling costs of a given company, or a design for electronic patient files for a general hospital.

The objectives for master graduation projects may include somewhat more ambitious elements. The ambition may not only be to develop context-specific knowledge for a given organization, but also some improvement of or addition to generic theory. If the empirical cycle is used, this could entail descriptive or explanatory theory; if the problem-solving cycle is used, this could involve either additions to explanatory theory or additions to generic design knowledge, to be used to design solutions to field problems.