Creative Problem Solving is a proven method for approaching a problem or
a challenge in an imaginative and innovative way. It’s a tool that
helps people re-define the problems they face, come up with breakthrough
ideas and then take action on these new ideas.
Creative problem solving always involves creativity. To qualify as creative problem solving the solution must either have
value, clearly solve the stated problem, or be appreciated by someone
for whom the situation improves.
If a created solution becomes widely used, the solution becomes an innovation and the word innovation
also refers to the process of creating that innovation. A widespread
and long-lived innovation typically becomes a new tradition. "All
innovations begin as creative solutions, but not all creative
solutions become innovations." Some innovations also qualify as inventions.
Inventing
is a special kind of creative problem solving in which the created
solution qualifies as an invention because it is a useful new object,
substance, process, software, or other kind of marketable entity.
- Key Factors needed for creative thinking
Before implementing any problem solving strategy identify the real problem. To use creative problem solving techniques, we
must understand creative thinking.
Creative thinking is allowing our imaginations to feed off our memory and knowledge to
cause one idea to lead to another, otherwise known as the "association
of ideas."
The key factors needed for creative thinking are:
a) No Judgements:Have an open mind - don't criticize any idea that may come to mind. Instead write each idea down.
For
example:- PROBLEM : Not enough money
IDEAS: Sell
any miscellaneous home items I can do without on eBay
No eating out
No more going to the movies
b) Self Assessment:To figure out the best solution to our problem, it is helpful
to identify any opinions we may have about our problem and about any of our ideas
on how to fix the problem. Literally, ask
yourself, “Do I have an opinion about this?”
For example: IDEA: No eating out
OPINION: I think eating out is unhealthy
c) Positive Attitude:Develop an attitude that all ideas are good ideas, as cynicism only
inhibits creative thinking.
d) Use Checklists:There are a couple reasons why you should write down EVERY idea,
no matter how far-fetched it may seem at the moment. Writing down all
ideas will ensure that nothing important is forgotten, and will give us
an opportunity to go back, and combine
parts of one idea with another, letting our ideas feed off each other.
e) Be Self Confident:Remember that many of the world's greatest ideas were ridiculed at
first. Have faith in your creativity!!!
Some of our most basic scientific principles like that the Earth is round and
revolves around the sun never would have been advanced without the confidence
and courage to go against the grain.
A TEAM BUILDING Exercise depicting the flavors of CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING. Have a look at it:
CIRCLE PASS
- Stages in Creative Problem Solving
Stage 1: Explore the Challenge
Step 1: Objective Finding - Identify Goal, Objective or Challenge
This could be a wish or a goal. It might
be the initial dissatisfaction or a desire that opens the door to using
the CPS (Creative Problem Solving) process.
Step 2: Fact Finding- Gather Data
Assess and review all the data that
pertains to the situation at hand. Who’s involved, what’s involved,
when, where, and why it’s important. Make a list of the facts and
information, as well as the more visceral hunches, feelings,
perceptions, assumptions and gossip around the situation. In this step,
all the data is taken into consideration to review the objective and
begin to innovate.
Step 3: Problem Finding - Clarify the Problem
In this step, explore the facts and data
to find all the problems and challenges inherent in the situation, and
all the opportunities they represent. This is about making sure you’re
focusing on the right problem. It is possible to come up with the right
answer to the wrong problem. Re-define what you want or what’s stopping
you.
Stage 2: Generate Ideas
Step 4: Idea Finding - Generate Ideas
Generating ideas is much more than
brainstorming. During this step, be vigilant about deferring judgment
and coming up with wild, outrageous, out-of-the-box ideas. This is where
you explore ideas that are possible solutions and have the most fun.
It’s also where you need to stretch to make connections, take risks, and
try new combinations to find potentially innovative solutions.
Stage 3: Prepare for Action
Step 5: Solution Finding - Select and Strengthen Solutions
First, try to strengthen and improve the
best ideas generated. Next, generate the criteria that needs to be
considered to evaluate the ideas for success. Apply that criteria to the
top ideas and decide which are most likely to solve the redefined
problem. The best idea needs to meet criteria that makes it actionable
before it becomes the solution. A creative idea is not really useful if
it won’t be implemented.
Step 6: Acceptance Finding - Plan for Action
In this step, look at who’s responsible,
what has to be done by when, and what resources are available in order
to realize this idea as a full-fledged, activated solution.
Following the above stages(steps) of creating problem solving process some creative strategies may be designed of solving a particular problem.
!!! SO NEVER STOP INNOVATING !!!
### HAPPY LEARNING FOLKS ###
Please leave your valuable comments on something you liked/disliked in my article and improvements which can be made <Do provide your inputs>
An organizational structure consists of activities such as task
allocation, coordination and supervision, which are directed towards the
achievement of organizational aims. It can also be considered as the viewing glass or perspective through
which individuals see their organization and its environment.
Organizational structure affects organizational action in two big ways.
a) Provides the foundation on which standard operating procedures
and routines rest.
b) Determines which individuals get to
participate in which decision-making processes, and thus to what extent
their views shape the organization’s actions.
The set organizational structure may not coincide with facts, evolving
in operational action. Such divergence decreases performance, when
growing. E.g., a wrong organizational structure may hamper cooperation
and thus hinder the completion of orders in due time and within limits
of resources and budgets. Organizational structures shall be adaptive to
process requirements, aiming to optimize the ratio of effort and input
to output.
- 4 Basic Elements of Organizational Structure
a) Span of Control: Number of people directly reporting to the next level in the hierarchy.
b) Centralization: Degree to which formal decision authority is held be a small group of
people, typically those at the top of the organizational hierarchy.
c) Formalization:Degree to which organizations standardize behavior through rules,
procedures, formal training, and related mechanisms.
d) Departmentalization: Organizational charts that specifies how employees and their activities are grouped together.
- TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES
a) Functional Organization
This type of organizational structure:
- Brings together in one department everyone engaged in one activity or several related activities that are called FUNCTIONS.
For example: As shown, the organization is divided by functions into different departments like sales, finance, engineering, HR. A sales manager would be responsible for the sale of all the products which are manufactured by the firm.
- This leads to operational efficiencies within that group. However it
could also lead to a lack of communication between the functional groups
within an organization, making the organization slow and inflexible.
- Mainly used by the smaller firms that offer a limited line of products.
- Makes supervision easier as each manager must be expert in only a narrow range of skills. It also helps to group a particular set of people with the specialized kind of skill set.
- But as the organization grow and diversify, some of the problems begin to surface:
i) As each department functional managers need to report to central headquarters (President), it can be difficult to make quick decisions.
ii) Harder to judge performance because which department to blame when a new product fails.
iii) Difficult to coordinate the functions of members of the entire organization as each department may have difficulty working with other departments in a unified way to achieve organizational goals.
b) Product/Market/Divisional Organization
- Brings together in one work unit all those involved in the production and marketing of a product or a related group of products, all those in a certain geographic area, or all those dealing with a certain type of customer.
- Can follow three patterns as described above:
i) DIVISION BY PRODUCT
As shown the categorization (division) has been done on the basis of broad category of products. And each category of related group of products has its own marketing, sales, purchasing and inventory manager.
ii) DIVISION BY GEOGRAPHY
Geographical organization is logical when a plant must be located as close as possible to sources of raw materials, to major markets, or to specialized personnel.
iii) DIVISION BY CUSTOMER
The organization is divided according to the different ways customers use products.
c) Matrix Organization/ Multiple Command System
- Employees have in effect 2 bosses ie. 2 chains of command. One chain of command is functional or divisional and the second is a horizontal overlay that combines people from various divisions or functional departments into a project or business team led by a project or group manager who is an expert in the team's assigned area of specialization.
- For example, many large companies have a corporate human resources
division, with individual HR representatives stationed at local
facilities. At the local level, the HR representative may report to the
operations manager charged with responsibility for that facility.
However, the operations manger does not likely have specific expertise
in human resource management and is not directly involved in setting
corporate HR initiatives. For that reason, the HR representative may
also report to a corporate HR manager or director, resulting is a matrix structure
- Bring together the diverse specialized skills required to solve a complex problem.
- Problems of coordination are minimized here because the most important personnel for a project work together as a group. They come to understand the demands faced by those who have different areas of responsibility.
- Gives the organization a great deal of cost-saving flexibility because each project is assigned only to the required people and unnecessary duplication is avoided.
- To be effective, team members must have good interpersonal skills and flexibility and cooperation.
- Additional Business Structure Considerations: Flat vs. Tall
In addition to defining the reporting structure, businesses structures
can also be described in terms of whether the organization is tall or
flat. This characteristic refers to how many layers of management there
are in an organization.
A tall organization is quite hierarchical, with several different levels
of management. Individual managers have a narrow span of control, with a
relatively small number of employees in their direct reporting line.
Decision making tends to be centralized with management in tall
organizations.
A flat organization is one where there are relatively few levels of
management. Supervisory employees tend to have a wide span of control,
which means they are likely to have a relatively large number of direct
reports. Decision making is less centralized, with employees being
empowered to exercise discretion in their work and having an opportunity
to participate in much of the decision making that takes place.
- Choosing an Organizational Structure
Choosing among the types of business organizational structures
is a big decision that should not be taken lightly. It's important to
look an organization's size, number of facilities located in different
geographic areas, marketing strategy, business philosophy, and other
factors when making this decision. Regardless of the type of structure
you choose, it's important to clearly communicate expectations to
employees at all levels, making sure that each member of the team is
clear about his or her reporting lines.
Above are my views as I learnt during my learning sessions. Please provide your valuable comments and anything you like to add to my learnings. Looking forward to a lot of replies from your side.
Super futuristic video with touch glass displays everywhere, e-paper
devices, random screens, you name it. Probably one of the coolest videos
I've seen imagining technology in the future - with a green twist.
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, United States that develops, manufactures, licenses and supports a wide range of products and services related to computing. The company was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen on April 4, 1975. Microsoft is the world's largest software maker measured by revenues.
- Vision of Microsoft
To be led by a globally diverse workforce that
consistently delivers outstanding business results, understands the
various cultural demands of a global marketplace, is passionate about
technology and the promise it holds to tap human potential, and thrives
in a corporate culture where inclusive behaviors are valued.
- Mission of Microsoft
To be the world’s #1 provider of innovative technology
solutions that help realize the full potential of its diverse customers
and partners around the world.
- Productsand Product Divisions
Microsoft Corporation, incorporated in 1981, is engaged in
developing, licensing and supporting a range of software products and
services. The Company also designs and sells hardware, and delivers
online advertising to the customers.
The Company operates in five
segments:
a) Windows & Windows Live Division (Windows Division)
The
Windows Division develops and markets PC operating systems, related
software and online services, and PC hardware products. The collection
of software, hardware, and services is designed for everyday tasks
through Web browsing and seamless operations across the user’s hardware
and software. Principal products and services include Windows 7 and
prior versions of the Windows operating system; Windows Live suite of
applications and Web services, and Microsoft PC hardware products.
The Company competes with Apple, Google and Yahoo!.
b) Server
and Tools
Server
and Tools develops and markets server software, software developer
tools, services, and solutions. Server software is an integrated server
infrastructure and middleware designed to support software applications
built on the Windows Server operating system. This includes the server
platform, database, storage, management and operations, service-oriented
architecture platform, security and identity software. Server and Tools
also builds standalone and software development lifecycle tools for
software architects, developers, testers, and project managers. Server
offerings can be run onsite, in a partner-hosted environment, or in a
Microsoft-hosted environment. Its cloud-based services consists of an
operating system with computing, storage, and management capabilities
and a relational database, which allow customers to run enterprise
workloads and Web applications in the cloud. These services also include
a platform that helps developers connect applications and services in
the cloud or on premise.
Server and Tools offers a range of
enterprise consulting and product support services (Enterprise
Services) that assist customers in developing, deploying, and managing
Microsoft server and desktop solutions. Server and Tools also provides
training and certification to developers and information technology
professionals for its Server and Tools, Microsoft Business Division, and
Windows & Windows Live Division products and services. Principal
products and services include Windows Server operating systems; Windows
Azure; Microsoft SQL Server; SQL Azure; Windows Intune; Windows
Embedded; Visual Studio; Silverlight; System Center products; Microsoft
Consulting Services, and Premier product support services.
The
Company competes with Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Oracle, Red Hat, CA
Technologies, BMC, VMWare, Sybase, Intel, Adobe, Amazon, Google,
Salesforce.com, Metrowerks and MontaVista Software, add SAP.
c) Online Services Division (OSD)
OSD
develops and markets information and content designed to help people
simplify tasks and make decisions online, and that help advertisers
connect with audiences. OSD offerings include Bing, MSN, Microsoft
adCenter, and Atlas online tools for advertisers. Bing and MSN generate
revenue through the sale of search and display advertising. The Company
provides updated and new online offerings on a frequent basis. In July
2010, it completed the algorithmic transition in the United States and
Canada. In October 2010, it completed the paid search transition. Bing
is the Company's Internet search engine that finds and organizes the
answers people need so they can make informed decisions.
The Company competes with Google and Yahoo!.
d) Microsoft Business Division
(MBD)
MBD
offerings consist of the Microsoft Office system (consisting mainly of
Office, SharePoint, Exchange and Lync) and Microsoft Dynamics business
solutions. Microsoft Office system products are designed for personal,
team, and organization productivity through a range of programs,
services, and software solutions, which may be delivered either on
premise or as a cloud-based service. Microsoft Dynamics products provide
business solutions for financial management, customer relationship
management (CRM), supply chain management, and analytics applications
for small and mid-size businesses, large organizations, and divisions of
global enterprises. Microsoft Dynamics products provide business
solutions for financial management, customer relationship management
(CRM), supply chain management, and analytics applications for small and
mid-size businesses, large organizations, and divisions of global
enterprises. Principal products and services include Microsoft Office;
Microsoft Exchange; Microsoft SharePoint; Microsoft Lync; Microsoft
Dynamics ERP and Dynamics CRM, and Microsoft Office Web Apps, which are
the online companions to Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote.
In June 2011, MBD launched Office 365, which is an online services
offering of Microsoft Office, Exchange, SharePoint, and Lync.
The Company competes with Adobe, Apple, Corel, Google, IBM, Oracle, Infor, Sage, SAP, Salesforce.com and Cisco.
e) Entertainment and Devices Division (EDD)
EDD
develops and markets products and services designed to entertain and
connect people. The Xbox 360 entertainment platform, including Kinect,
is designed to provide a variety of entertainment choices for
individuals and families through the use of its devices, peripherals,
content, and online services. Mediaroom is designed to provide live,
recorded, and on-demand television programming. Windows Phone is
designed to bring users closer to the people, applications, and content
they need, while providing capabilities, such as Microsoft Office and
Xbox LIVE functionality. Principal products and services include Xbox
360 gaming and entertainment console, Kinect for Xbox 360, Xbox 360
video games, Xbox 360 accessories; Xbox LIVE; Mediaroom, and Windows
Phone.
The Company competes with Nintendo, Sony, Apple, Google and Research In Motion.
The Company’s
products include operating systems for personal computers (PCs),
servers, phones, and other intelligent devices; server applications for
distributed computing environments; productivity applications; business
solution applications; desktop and server management tools; software
development tools; video games, and online advertising.
It also designs
and sells hardware, including the Xbox 360 gaming and entertainment
console, Kinect for Xbox 360, Xbox 360 accessories, and Microsoft PC
hardware products.
The Company also offers cloud-based solutions that
provide customers with software, services and content over the Internet
by way of shared computing resources located in centralized data
centers. Cloud revenue is earned primarily from usage fees and
advertising. Its cloud-based computing services include:
a) Bing
b) Windows
Live Essentials suite
c) Xbox LIVE service
d) Microsoft Office 365
e) Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online customer relationship management services
f) Azure family of platform and database services
In addition to
selling individual products and services, the Company offers suites of
products and services. It provides consulting and product and solution
support services, and trains and certifies computer system integrators
and developers.
- Offices
The Company does business worldwide and has offices in
more than 100 countries.
India Office Locations
Microsoft has a number of locations in India. The main campus in
Hyderabad houses research and development, IT and global services. Sales
and marketing is headquartered in Gurgaon while research and technical
support centers are based in Bangalore.
They are located in 10 cities:
a) Delhi
b) Gurgaon
c) Ahemdabad
d) Kolkata
e) Mumbai
f) Pune
g) Hyderabad
h) Bangalore
i) Chennai
j) Kochi
Microsoft Offices in India
Area Headquarters
As a global company, Microsoft is organized into geographic
regions. Each area has a headquarters that serves as the hub for
regional activities, including sales, business development, and
marketing. The offices are located in China, France, Germany, Singapore,
Turkey, and the U.S. Generally, you’ll find finance, human resources,
sales, and management positions in area headquarters.
Development Centers
The development centers are located all over the world, including
Canada, China, Denmark, Egypt, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Japan,
Switzerland, the U.K., and the U.S. The workplace is dynamic and
high-tech yet casual.
IT Centers
Throughout the world in countries including China, India, and the
U.S., the engineers and solution managers in the IT centers and
data centers design, deploy, manage, troubleshoot, and support
Microsoft’s global IT infrastructure. This work impacts millions of
customers through services like Windows Live and supports employees
through their own internal IT operations.
Operations Centers
From their operations centers in Ireland, Puerto Rico, Singapore,
and the U.S., they process the millions of transactions per day that keep
Microsoft running smoothly. They are responsible for software manufacturing
and fulfillment, electronic software distribution, volume licensing,
and other logistical support activities. They also manage channel partner
and customer contracts, train and pay employees, and invoice customers
and partners.
Sales, Marketing and Services Offices
Microsoft sales, marketing, and services/consulting offices
operate as independent corporate subsidiaries in more than 100 countries
and generate most of the company’s revenue. They are located close to the
customers to help them better understand their needs and the local market.
- Revenue and HeadCount
Last updated: June 30, 2012
- Board of Directors
Last updated: June 30, 2012
-Performance
a) In October 2011, the Company acquired Skype
Global.
MICROSOFT BUYS SKYPE IN A $8.5bn deal
b) In November 2011, it acquired VideoSurf Inc.
c) In April
2012, LeGuide.com SA acquired shopping sites in seven European
countries, such as United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Italy, France,
Netherlands and Sweden; the Ciao brand; a technology platform supporting
Ciao sites, and a base to about 3,000 merchant customers, from the
Company.
d) In July 2012, the Company purchased Edgewater Fullscope's
Process Industries 2 (PI2) software and intellectual property.
e) In July
2012, Comcast Corp. acquired the Company's 50% stake in MSNBC.com.
f) In May 2012, Microsoft opened its social networking site So.cl to the general public.
g) On 31 May 2012, Microsoft released the release preview version of its next generation Windows 8 software. It is designed to power devices ranging from tablets to desktop computers.
h) On 25 June 2012, Microsoft announced that it is paying $1.2 billion to buy the social network Yammer.
A recently published U.S. patent has revealed Microsoft’s future plans for a streaming operating system. The patent, entitled “Fast Machine Booting Through Streaming Storage”, details a method of booting a virtual PC
operating system through remote storage. The patent covers a variety of
devices from laptop devices to set top boxes and minicomputers. Microsoft suggests that data require to boot up
a machine would be pulled from storage and streamed to the device. The
data could then be kept in a cache on the local device such as flash
storage or RAM.
Microsoft describes the method as a technology that facilitates “fast
boot because the virtual disk is available for use immediately, rather
than needing to download an entire operating system image before booting
from that downloaded image.” The company says the service would only
need to be available for as long as data is required to boot the device.
The above were some of the learnings I came across during my study of one of the major software companies - one of the first of its kind and I wanted to share it with you all.
Please leave your valuable comments after going through the above write-up.
- What is Creative Problem Solving?
Step 1: Objective Finding - Identify Goal, Objective or Challenge
Step 2: Fact Finding - Gather Data
Step 3: Problem Finding - Clarify the Problem
Step 4: Idea Finding - Generate Ideas
Step 5: Solution Finding - Select and Strengthen Solutions
Step 6: Acceptance Finding - Plan for Action
