the 'developing solutions' bit in DODDSE

[vce01]

i was just wondering, will we be required to actually list possible solutions to a certain problem in a case study?

im still going through (cramming) the course so i haven't been able to get to exams yet - hence i don't know -_-

[Noblesse]

What do you mean by "problems"? In my experience so far with practice exams, many will ask you a specific question about how to 'fix the problem', ie. explaining strategies to improve operations management.

However if you are refering to the problem-solving steps which include "Develop solutions and evaluate alternatives" usually the 'solutions' are fairly obvious, eg. if the problem is lower motivation amongst staff then solutions you can suggest include solutions regarding increasing motivation, like rewarding good performance.

I don't think you have to be too specific, just incorporate some references to the case study to prove your general solution.

[vce01]

yeah it was the second bit in your post i was referring to,
thanks for clearing that up

[Noblesse]

Just for an example from VCAA. In the 2006 exam, they asked "Explain and apply a problem-solving process that could be used at Newton Hospital to resolve the conflict between the nurses and management."

The conflict was over "Nursing staff at Newton Hospital are upset that their pay and conditions of employment have fallen considerably behind their colleagues at other hospitals and also the international benchmark...Currently, the nurses are under the Victorian Nursing Award. They have requested that management negotiate an enterprise agreement, with equal representation of management and employees in the enterprise bargaining process."

From the official answers, a good student response simply explored the problem-solving steps in relation to this situation (and IMO not very thoroughly). Anyway when they came to the "Develop solution" part they simply said "Therefore a second step would be to create possible solutions to the problem, as it would be to detriment of management if they did not solve the problem as staff are already ‘concerned with the vision to provide quality service’ and a lack of quality can easily result in problems for any organisation."

As you can see, the solution is not very explicit, later on they suggest "such as a pay bonus based on productivity" but that is only suggestion put forward by the answer which we presume gained full marks.

Basically I don't think VCAA expect miracles