डॉ. बी. आर. अम्बेडकर विश्वविद्यालय दिल्ली 
| Course Type | Course Code | No. Of Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Foundation Core | SBP2MB226 | 2 |
Semester and Year Offered: 2nd Semester Course Coordinator and Team: Nidhi Kaicker
Email of course coordinator:nidhi[at]aud[dot]ac[dot]in
Pre-requisites: None
Aim: The objective of the course is to expose the participants to various kinds of problem solving situations, and the structured problem solving process.
Course Outcomes:
- At the end of the course, the participants will be able to:
- To understand and apply the creativeproblem solving process to different types of business problems
- Appreciate the role of creativity and critical thinking in framing problems, idea generation, evaluating alternative and implementing solutions
- To think through ill-defined, unstructured business situations and bring clarity of thought in dealing with the underlying complexity
- Working in teams and aligning individual and team goals towards a common objective
- Communicating findings and conclusions clearly
Brief description of modules/ Main modules: Unit 1: Introduction to Problem Solving Nature of problems: simple vs complex, structured vs unstructured; common methodologies for problem solving; structured problem solving process; thinking for problem solving: logical, associative, empathic, bisociative, metaphoric, dialectical; convergent vs divergent thinking; design thinking; creative problem solving Unit 2: Understanding the Problem Situation, complication and key question; defining the problem – issue tree, ishikawa; barriers to understanding; layers of the problem; structuring the problem - deconstruction Unit 3: Solving the Problem Idea generation – SCAMPER; evaluation of alternatives; solution finding; implementation and plan of action Unit 4: Presenting the Solutions Pyramid principle; presentation; document writing
Assessment Details with weights
| Nature of Assessment | Weight |
|---|---|
| Personal Learning paper | 40% |
| Analysis of Cases | 30% |
| Simulation – Group Project | 30% |
Reading List:
- Khandwalla, P. (2004). Lifelong creativity: An unending quest, Tata McGraw Hill Publishing: New Delhi.
- Proctor, T. (2004). Creative Problem Solving for Managers, Routledge.
- Treffinger, D., Isaksen, S. and Stead-dorval, K. B. (2005). Creative Problem Solving: An Introduction, Prufrock Press.
- Vangundy, A.B. (1997). Techniques of Structured Problem Solving, Van Nostrand Reinhold.
ADDITIONAL REFERENCE:
- A set of readings and cases are provided to the participants in form of a course manual as the commencement of the session.