Mihnea Moldoveanu, Olivier Leclerc

The Design of Insight

How to Solve Any Business Problem

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

Mihnea Moldoveanu is Professor of Business Economics, Desautels Professor of Integrative Thinking, Director of the Desautels Centre of Integrative Thinking, and Founder and Director of the Mind Brain Behavior Hive at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, where he is also Associate Dean of the MBA Program. He is Founder and ex-CEO of Redline Communication, Inc.Olivier Leclerc is a Director (Senior Partner) in McKinsey's West Coast office.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Stanford University Press
• Seitenzahl: 160
• Erscheinungstermin: 6. Mai 2015
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 203mm x 126mm x 12mm
• Gewicht: 170g
• ISBN-13: 9780804794091
• ISBN-10: 080479409X
• Artikelnr.: 41754949

Autorenporträt

Mihnea Moldoveanu is Professor of Business Economics, Desautels Professor of Integrative Thinking, Director of the Desautels Centre of Integrative Thinking, and Founder and Director of the Mind Brain Behavior Hive at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, where he is also Associate Dean of the MBA Program. He is Founder and ex-CEO of Redline Communication, Inc. Olivier Leclerc is a Director (Senior Partner) in McKinsey's West Coast office.

Inhaltsangabe

Contents and Abstracts
1What Is This All About?
chapter abstract
Business problem solving is hard not only because problems feature a lot of
uncertain, volatile elements, but also because they are loosely defined or
undefined. We introduce the basic craft of problem shaping and definition,
and show how models and modeling languages help us turn ill-defined,
ill-structured problems into well-defined problem statements we can solve.
We also show how using several different problem solving languages to
define the same problem can increase the span of possible solutions and the
probability of finding and unexpectedly optimal ('innovative') solution,
once it is defined. We introduce five problem solving languages - which we
call Flexons - drawn from the natural and social sciences that provide
lenses for representing and defining problems, and which are powerful
enough to help us frame problems at any level at which we may choose to
intervene: individuals, dyads, groups, teams, organizations, markets and
institutions.
2The Networks Flexon
chapter abstract
We introduce and elaborate the Networks Flexon - a problem solving language
that uses graphs to represent entities as varied as social interactions in
an executive team, deal flows in an investment syndicate, modules in a
software platform or value-linked activity chains in an industry. We show
how problems at multiple levels of analysis can be defined, shaped,
structured and simplified using this language, which supplies not only a
basic representation scheme - nodes and links - but also a set of
performance measures at the level of the network as a whole (density,
connectivity, clustering, path length) and at the level of individual nodes
(centrality measures). The Networks Flexon has been used in fields as
varied as statistical mechanics, industrial organization economics,
sociology, psychology, neuroscience and information theory to solve
problems across many different disciplines.
3The Decision Agent Flexon
chapter abstract
We introduce and elaborate the Decision Agent Flexon - a problem solving
language that uses agents, decisions, outcomes and payoffs or incentives to
define and structure business problems at any level of analysis. The Flexon
also uses concepts such as decision rights, and information and expertise
to model the complex landscape of relationships in a hierarchical or
non-market organization - and offers a set of performance metrics - such as
agency costs, communication costs and coordination costs - that problem
solvers using the flexon can use to define their objective functions. This
flexon - used broadly across the fields of economics - decision sciences,
game theory, agency theory - can be flexibly deployed to define business
problems at any level of analysis.
4The System Dynamics Flexon
chapter abstract
We introduce and elaborate the System Dynamics Flexon - a problem solving
language that uses causal maps and stocks and flows of money, matter and
information to define and structure business problems at any level of
analysis. The Flexon also supplies a set of performance metrics for
business problem solving, such as desired transient and steady state
responses of a dynamically evolving system - to supply objectives to the
problem solver. This modeling language has been broadly used and developwed
to datre in fields as diverse as classical mechanics, mechanical, chemical
and electrical engineering, psychology, neuroscience and macroeconomic
modeling to supply tight and precise problem formulation at any level of
analysis.
5The Evolutionary Flexon
chapter abstract
We introduce and elaborate the Evolutionary Flexon - a problem solving
language that uses the basic concepts of populations and variation,
selection and retention mechanisms to supply models of the evolution of
entities ranging from deliberations within a group, to the evolution of
organizations, product modules, technologies, and markets. The Flexon also
supplies a set of outcome measures - like fitness maximization and the
speed and accuracy of convergence in variation-selection-retention
processes to allow problem solvers to define and sharpen their problem
solving objectives. The Evolutionary Flexon has been used in fields as
diverse as theoretical and experimental biology, biological archaeology and
anthropology, industrial organization economics, sociology, psychology,
theoretical computer science and the theory of algorithms to both explain
and predict a large number of phenomena in multiple domains of experience.
6The Information Processing Flexon
chapter abstract
We introduce and elaborate the Information Processing Flexon - a problem
solving language that uses the basic concepts of problems, solutions,
solution search spaces, problem solving agents and the complexity of
various problem statements to represent business processes at any level. It
also supplies a set of performance measures like accuracy, reliability and
speed of convergence that will help problem solvers define objective
functions for the problems they are solving. The Information Processing
Flexon has been used in fields as diverse as information theory,
theoretical computer science, the theory of algorithms, organizational
theory and statistical mechanics to address a large number of diverse
problems.
7Recombinant Problem Solving and the Design of Insight
chapter abstract
This chapter shows how the five Flexons can be used, serially and in
parallel, to define, structure and solve loosely articulated business
difficulties, predicaments and situations. Through examples, it highlights
the value of the flexons in both supplying the requisite depth and
precision required for solving real business problems in practical amounts
of time, and the value of diversity and heterogeneity of models and
modeling languages in solving any business problem.