A diagram and 1 page single space summary
Instruction, Assignment and Article are attached. PLease FOLLOW directions as given. Use APA citations and references
In your daily life, you may see a weather system diagram, a readout indicating whether a wireless device is connected to the network, or a traffic sign warning of traffic congestion. These indicators provide feedback on the systems they monitor. In business, managers use systems diagrams in a similar way to monitor operations, to identify the sources of problems, and to devise solutions.
As you review the case study Opportunity Consultants, Inc., 2007, consider OCIs operations and problems. Think of factors that may be contributing to their poor results. Consider the turnaround teams ideas for improving the clubs quality of work and what you would do if you were consulting with OCI.
Review the explanation of the 5-Whys in the Weekly Briefing for this week. Also review the material on simple gap analysis. Think about how you could use these systems analysis tools to understand OCIs options.
Assignment
For this Assignment:
Use a systems approach to analyze OCIs performance and develop a case-specific effect-cause-effect logic tree diagram using the 5-Whys tool. See the rubric for details on what this diagram should contain. The diagram itself should be one page and can be hand-drawn or drawn with software. Tables are not appropriate; it must be in the form of a diagram.
(Note: you should identify all high-level negative symptoms, then look for associated first-causes, then look for deeper root causes. The shape of your diagram will roughly look like the outline of a tree).
Write a summary description of your diagram with specific recommendations for improving the club’s performance that are linked to your diagram analysis. (1 single spaced page).
Opportunity Consultants, Inc., 2007
Reference: Landel, R., & Reynolds, W. (2007).Opportunity Consultants, Inc., 2007[Case study]. HBS Case UV0833. Charlottesville, VA: Darden Business Publishing. 2016 Laureate Education, Inc. Page 1 of 3
Week 2: Could Your Organization Have a Learning Disability?
Weekly Briefing
Welcome to Week 2. Last week, you began to explore the basics of systems thinking
and how the elements of Senges fifth discipline can help us begin to model and
understand complex organizations. This week, you will continue your MBA journey and
will:
Generate an improvement plan to a corporations ethics policies using a moral
imagination systems framework
Analyze the impact of learning disabilities on organizations and systems in
meeting intended purposes and goals
Formulate strategies for preventing learning disabilities within organizations or
systems
Perform simple gap analyses
Organizational Disabilities
One of the important challenges that you will observe as you begin to think about
applying systems thinking solutions within an organization is that it is important to
understand the broad landscape of an organizations culture and abilities (or
disabilities). Although systems thinking tools are potentially effective in and of
themselves, we must always remember that they are deployed within complex
organizations that, as systems, have their own idiosyncrasies and quirksor what
Senge (2006) calls learning disabilities. Senge observes, These learning disabilities
operate despite the best efforts of bright, committed people. Often the harder they try to
solve problems, the worse the results (p. 18). One of the primary objectives of this
week is to sensitize you to becoming aware of these general organizational disabilities,
and to think about ways to neutralize their effects.
Problem IdentificationSimple Gap Analysis
Unfortunately, systemic learning disabilities are all around us. This week, you will
discuss and analyze two examples of systems and will apply simple gap analysis
techniques to identify potential learning disabilities and violations of the laws of the fifth
discipline. Gap analysis is exactly what it sounds likeit is part of problem identification,
and it addresses your identifying gaps in how a system is performing relative to how you
think it could or should perform.
The 5-Whys quality management technique was developed initially by Sakichi Toyoda
for the Toyota Motor Corporation as a simple way to teach everyone in the company to
perform what we can call effect-cause-effect (E-C-E) reasoning. The goals of both the
simple (5-Whys) and complex (theory of constraints) forms of E-C-E reasoning are the
sameto link specific, measurable outcomes (usually undesirable), with suggested
causes, and to build long causal chains that identify root causes of multiple symptoms.
2016 Laureate Education, Inc. Page 2 of 3
The essence of both techniques is to continue to ask penetrating questions until youve
reached a saturationor core root causes.
The 5-Whys Technique in Action
The 5-Whys gap analysis technique is very simple, which is both its strength and its
limitation. Start with the Opportunity Consultants, Inc. case, for example. Read the case
and note what you think are the major outcomes (both good and bad) that OCI creates
as a system.
Then, in Excel, Word, Visio, or another chart/diagram software program (or beginning
by hand with a pencil and eraser, which is a very good starting point too!), place what
you think are the fundamental outcome variables at the top of your chart.
(Note: Be sure that the high-level outcomes are orthogonal with respect to one
another. That means you should make sure that the outcomes themselves are relatively
independent of one another as concepts and are not shades of a theme.)
Then, for each of the major outcome variables, ask yourself, Why does this outcome
occur? (This is the first level of why?) Try to think systemically and rigorouslyand
identify as many causal variables as you can that you think you have evidence (or you
think is a reasonable inference) to explain the outcome. Do some of these first order
variables link to multiple high-level outcomes? That is okay; show the links by drawing
lines between and among the two levels of analysis.
Now, repeat this cycle for the first-order variables. They are now outcomes. Why do
they occur? (This is the second level of why?) Again, link these second-order
variables within your emerging E-C-E diagram.
Repeat to identify third-order variables.
Repeat to identify fourth-order variables. Note that you should begin to see larger
causes that link to multiple outcomes and that the diagram should begin to look like a
tree in shapei.e., it bulges in the middle and begins to taper as you get to root
causes.
Drive one more level to identify fifth-order, or potential root cause variables.
You should now have a relatively simple set of effect-cause-effect relationships!
Congratulations; youve now completed your first simple gap analysis, which also is a
form of systems diagram!
Now for the fun part: Go post your diagram (you can convert to a JPEG image) and
discuss how similar or different your analysis is to your peers analysesand see if you
can reach some consensus as a group.
2016 Laureate Education, Inc. Page 3 of 3
Can Systems Thinking Help Our Moral Imagination?
Finally, one of the important benefits of extending the way you think about problems,
through integrated systems thinking, is that it also provides a way to begin to re-think
how you frame and understand important big-picture mental models such as the role
of business as corporate citizens.
Patricia Werhane (2008), in Mental Models, Moral Imagination and System Thinking in
the Age of Globalization, argues that one can deploy systemic thinking to re-frame and
focus ones moral imagination about the responsibilities and appropriate actions of
large-scale global organizations in our interconnected, multicultural world.
References
Landel, R., & Reynolds, W. (2007). Opportunity Consultants, Inc., 2007 [Case study]. HBS Case UV0833.
Charlottesville, VA: Darden Business Publishing. Retrieved from
http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/pl/17476859/17477266/9aa9f4103d08a463c44c953c1b1d6a20
Meadows, D. H. (2008). Thinking in systems: A primer. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green.
Senge, P. M. (2006). The fifth discipline: The art & practice of the learning organization. New York, NY:
Doubleday.
Werhane, P. H. (2008). Mental models, moral imagination and system thinking in the age of globalization.
Journal of Business Ethics, 78(3), 463474.
Wheatley, M. J. (2008). Self-organized networks: What are the leadership lessons? Leadership
Excellence, 25(2), 78. UV0833
This case was prepared by R. William Reynolds (MBA 07), and Robert D. Landel, the Henry E. McWane Professor
of Business Administration. It was written as a basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate effective or
ineffective handling of an administrative situation. Copyright 2007 by the University of Virginia Darden School
Foundation, Charlottesville, VA. All rights reserved. To order copies, send an e-mail to
[emailprotected] No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwisewithout the permission of the Darden School Foundation.
OPPORTUNITY CONSULTANTS, INC., 2007
The lackluster reputation of the student club Opportunity Consultants, Inc., (OCI) was
beginning to concern the administration of the Darden Graduate Business School. The poor
quality of the work produced by the club, which provided pro bono consulting services to local
small businesses and nonprofits in Charlottesville, Virginia, was negatively impacting the
schools brand within the community. Unless rapid and sustainable initiatives to improve client
satisfaction were implemented, the club was in danger of being disbanded. To avoid that
undesirable result, OCI leadership enlisted the support of a select group of second-year students
to help the club improve its performance.
The student turnaround team conducted multiple informal interviews with club
members and analyzed the processes driving client acquisition, project selection, member
recruiting, and project staffing, as well as the overall dynamics of project teams. The work of the
turnaround team revealed several factors that it believed limited productivity and interfered with
the quality of the work of the project teams. Based on these findings, the team proposed several
initiatives that it thought would significantly improve client satisfaction and begin to turn OCIs
reputation around during the next year.
Proposed Initiatives
Client acquisition and project selection
While advertising for clients drew a sizable number of applications, there were several
drawbacks. For one, the year-to-year response rate was unpredictable. In addition, there was a
frequent disconnect between the expectations of a potential client and the resources of the club.
Many applications were rejected outright because of scope and feasibility, while others were
discarded when it was obvious that the potential clients viewed OCI as a source of cheap,
worker-bee labor. Increased advertising improved the number but not necessarily the quality of
potential projects. Currently, OCI had accumulated $2,200 in its treasury. Next years treasury
would consist of the money not spent this year plus the income from completed projects
multiplied by the standard $300 fee; there was talk of changing the fee.
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UV0833 -2-
The club credited a number of its applications to personal referrals from satisfied clients
in the community and to its reputation. One referral from a satisfied influential client would often
lead to numerous good referrals. Unfortunately, the reverse was also true, and dissatisfied clients
had discouraged their peers from utilizing the club. Compared to the rapid turnaround in the
performance of business clients served by OCI, improvement in the clubs reputation would take
longer by several years as many former business clients now had new, satisfied owners who
probably had neither knowledge nor need of OCIs services.
Under the current process of client acquisition, only a low percentage of inquiries were
considered for high-quality projects, and the large membership of the club required OCI to select
a minimum number of projects. As limiting club membership was not an option, in many cases,
projects deemed low in quality were selected. By accepting projects of poor quality, OCI was
forced to assign unappealing projects to club members, with the result that the projects were a
poor fit, adversely affecting not only the quality of the project work, but also the satisfaction of
club members. It was a vicious circle that the club wanted to break.
The turnaround team believed it would be unwise for OCI to even consider breaking out
of its current slump without first improving both the number and the quality of projects from
which to choose, and the quality of projects from advertising and personal referrals would
improve only after the clubs reputation had significantly improved. The team proposed two
initiatives. The first involved using faculty connections for quality leads, as Darden faculty not
only understood the capabilities of OCI, but also were connected to the local business
community. The team believed that faculty should be encouraged to recommend projects of high
quality that would fit OCIs requirements. The downside was that faculty members had their own
reputations to consider and were wary of referring business acquaintances to an organization
with a reputation for poor delivery.
The second initiative required a proactive approach by club leaders, who considered
actively soliciting Charlottesville businesses that had some personal appeal. They believed that
this effort would not only yield projects of better quality, but also increase the attractiveness of
and personal commitment to the targeted projects, which, in turn, would improve the
productivity and motivation of project team members. But there was a catch. Cold-calling local
companies needed to take place during August and September, months traditionally scheduled
for recruiting new members. If club leaders continued the practice of targeted cold-calling, they
would have to accept a trade-off owing to time constraints.
Member recruiting
Unlike other clubs, OCI had an extremely small window of opportunity in which to sign
up new and returning members. Under the clubs timeline, all OCI projects had to be completed
by the end of the school year, so staffing decisions were made by early October. Club
membership was highly erratic as several factors had an effect on first-year recruiting. Often,
prospective members conversations with former members impeded recruitment; it was a double-
edged sword that could either increase or decrease the sign-up rate, depending on a former
members experience during the previous year. Former members level of satisfaction with the
This document is authorized for use only by Phenekia Morgan in MGMT-6645-1/WMBA-6040-1/MMSL-6645-1/WMBA-6040B-1-Improving Business Performance2020 Fall Semester
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UV0833 -3-
OCI experience also directly influenced the second-year return rate as dissatisfied former
members not only tended not to return but also encouraged others to do the same. Club
leadership devoted a significant amount of effort and resources to recruit new members.
Currently, all resources in September were dedicated to recruiting, and the turnaround team
challenged the idea that it was the most efficient use of resources.
Offering course credit was the solution proposed year after year and was unlikely ever to
be approved. The turnaround team believed it would be valuable to model, however, because of
the insights into system dynamics that it might reveal.
Project staffing
Because it was club policy never to turn away members, the job of staffing projects
required skill. The standard staffing level for a project was seven (six first-year students led by
one second-year student). If there were not enough projects, however, staffing levels were raised
significantly, which often had an adverse effect on productivity and member satisfaction. The
only means of lowering the staffing levels was to accept more projects, but when the quality of
the projects was low, this decision led to the same negative results. Although club leaders wanted
to select only high-quality projects, they knew that, in the current situation, this initiative would
create unacceptably high staffing levels.
OCI leaders were responsible for overseeing the projects, but because there were only
five members on the leadership committee, their ability to provide effective supervision would
be severely limited if the total number of projects grew, as more than two projects per leader was
considered unwieldy.
Team dynamics
The turnaround team did not blame the low number of quality projects entirely for the
poor quality of the project work. In deciding to challenge OCIs long-held assumption that the
most effective staffing model was six first-year students and one second-year student, the team
had formed several conclusions.
The first concerned the assumption that returning second-year students made the best
project leaders because they had work experience and would be effective leaders owing to their
recent experience with OCI. Although the turnaround team generally agreed with this premise, it
wondered whether that was part of the problem because the low quality of last years work and
leadership example had resulted in team leaders with poor skill sets and expectations. In other
words, were the policies of second-year students leading individual teams to worsen OCIs rut?
Considering productivity to be as important as the quality of the work, the turnaround
team focused on the ideal size for a project team, keeping in mind that the more members
working on a project, the higher the scheduling conflicts, which was the greatest hindrance to
productivity. But there was a limit to reducing the size of a project team. The turnaround team
believed that fewer than four members on a project resulted in an overwhelming workload and
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09/07-12/27-PT2 at Laureate Education – Walden University, 2020.
UV0833 -4-
damaged both motivation and productivity. The most revealing insight concerned the second-
year students, who had different schedules than the first-year students. This difference
dramatically increased scheduling conflicts, so in that respect, second-year students position as
project leaders only exacerbated the situation.
Although motivation was hard to measure, first-year students appeared to be more
motivated than their second-year leaders because they were interested in learning about the
consulting experience and how to pad their rsums. And unless the second-year leader was
attracted to a particular project, he or she often showed less motivation than the rest of the team.
While this assessment usually applied, the overall motivation of the team fluctuated during the
academic year. In general, the higher the team members perceived the quality and productivity of
their work, the greater their morale. OCI suspected that offering course credit would improve the
motivation of second-year students, but was hesitant to use this rationale as an argument for
policy change.
Another idea considered by club members was whether to offer formal training in five
sessions based on portions of the one-week Darden Consulting Process course. It was hoped that
the training would improve the quality of OCI work, but finding enough time to fit in the five
sessions would be difficult, and the turnaround team worried that the sessions would aggravate
students scheduling conflicts.
Simulation Model Development
After gathering the data and considering the various proposed initiatives, the turnaround
team developed an interactive simulation model to help OCI leadership recognize how all the
system variables interacted. The team ran a base case to show the slow, subtle cycle of decay
within the organization and then proceeded to model several of the proposed initiatives. OCI
leadership was then be able to understand to what extent the current cycle needed to be broken in
order to set OCI on the path to a sustainable, high-quality level of performance. The model
would help club leadership decide on the various operational policy changes to make at the start
of a given year and other years by running the model over a series of four years. The goal was to
find the best way to effect significant turnaround improvement and to devise sustainable policies
for the long term.
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09/07-12/27-PT2 at Laureate Education – Walden University, 2020.
