Getting started on a business problem
Speech of Anton Kozhemyako in the Business TRIZ Online Winter 2021.
I’m really sorry not to speak English fluently.
Theses:
• How to start tackling the business problem with TRIZ considering huge connections quantity among business system elements.
• Schematization of innovation problem as an initial procedure to resolve a business problem.
• General blocks that the scheme of innovation problem consists of.
• Getting the list of particular tasks after investigation of the received scheme.
Abstract:
Specialist, resolving the business problem with TRIZ meets serious obstacles at the start of his struggling whit the problem because there are many business system components and many connections among them. That is why it is especially important to use some tool separating the initial problem by some big tasks. After that, you could use habitual business TRIZ-tools like FA, RCA+, VCM-analysis, MPV-analysis, and other TRIZ-tools and non-TRIZ tools, ex. BPMN etc. The author proposes using schematization as such a tool. The main aim of the author’s speech is to show how to use schematization to obtain a list of tasks appropriate for TRIZ tools using after the draft treatment of the initial business problem.
Describing of several slides of my presentation more precisely:
Slide 2.
Firstly, I would tell you about some typical fitches of business-system.
Firstly. It is really complicated to identify several important components in the target business system. Such of them can turn up in different hierarchical levels of the business system! This fact is quite confusing, and it happens very often.
Secondly. In addition, to the first point, some business system components are not material fitches, and you must describe this or that component depending on the business problem to resolve.
Thirdly. There are many connections among business system components. You should select and bear in mind only needed of them!
Not only should you select necessary connections, but also you shouldn’t take unnecessary connections. How could you collect the right components of the business-system and of the supersystem? It very disputable question…
Slide 3.
Let me give the example. You see a problem concerned of rising of line manager efficiency in a factory. There are some evident components and connections into the circle with a solid red line. You can see such elements as information sources, the compartment chief, the line manager, and a worker. That is why you draw up the standard management line, where the compartment chief managers the line manager, and the line manager managers a worker. But there is no evident component like the same worker managing the line manager by the own feat back about situation on the spot! Really, it was a particularly important connection that showed some perfect solutions.
Slide 4.
If you want to use schematization, you should pay attention to the main terms, describing them.
1. Elements. They are 2 types of them: objects and people. Be careful with people! I will explain why.
2. Levels of the scheme. The levels notice which element is managing element and which element is managed one. If you put an element in a higher level (above), you will bear in mind that this one is a managing element. If you put an element below, you will bear in mind that this one is managed element.
3. There are 3 types of connection models:
a. If you drew up a direct line, you would say, that there is a connection between 2 elements, but you are not interested in type and the gist of this connection.
b. If you drew up a single flesh, you would say, that there is a function. The function is well defined in TRIZ.
c. If you drew up a double flesh, you would say, that there is a process. That is why you must study this connection more precisely.
4. Generalized objects are the people, but people like a function in the business system. Generalized object has some connections with other elements and some requirements in spot. I would say, it has some requirements to the content of it.
5. Content is a person, who will correspond to generalized object, but he\her is a person who possesses own aims, experience, personal values, abilities…
If you know how to draw up a person in a scheme you will manage the process of tackling a business problem. For example, if you know that this person is a generalized object, you will receive a repetitive solution. For example, you would receive a solution to use in several situations and you can anticipate outcomes!
On the other side, if you put the person in the scheme-like content, you can use his\her characteristics as resources to tackle the problem, using TRIZ-tools! But you risk getting none repetitive solution.
Slide 5.
One day, the restaurant manager asked us about a business problem: the owner required him to make a profit of 30%. But he can’t have got this profit, and the staff started cheating with sales-by-date. Can you imagine! That is why we established the aim according to the restaurant owner’s requirement to get a 30% gross margin, but such cheating was prohibited!
How are you started tackling that problem? How many components of this business-systems? What components are significant and what ones are wasted? What connections do you consider? Why?
There are a lot of questions.
For example, you would select an owner of this restraint, the documentation, guests, and staff certainly.
But this scheme shows that you could cancel the owner and guests during struggling with the business problem. Why? Because you are interested only in the general restriction – 30% in gross margin of this business. On the other hand, the work of staff and, especially, of the restraint manager influences to guests! The restaurant manager is the general component of this business system.
At least, you should consider 2 main restrictions: 30% gross margin and Business guidance requirements (Documents). It is really important to study all business processes between the manager and staff and among employees.
Slide 6.
It was an exciting project with a bank. We have been carrying out it for 5 months. The problem was the shortage of time that the representatives of SMB used the bank accounts. On average, it was 5 and half months. The bank managers wanted to raise this KPI until 1 and half years.
Certainly, the bank management studied the SMB clients and concluded, that 75% of this segment are shop owners. That is why we concluded to explore this client category more precisely.