General Information
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Target Audience
This course is for students who aspire to broaden their thinking and add to their decision-making and problem-solving toolkits. In class, we will discover knowledge about how we think and develop methods for improving our skills in identifying, defining, and solving problems.
Format
Spring Term 2025 (January 20 – April 11, 2025).
Class time will be 12 2-hour sessions; Wednesdays 6:30-8:30pm
Course Mission
This course will establish the Rotman School foundation for a model-based approach to business problems. This foundation will be laid onto three footings:
- The Nature and Role of Models
- The Science of Problem Solving
- Analyzing Models of Problems
The course will apply some principles from logic, cognitive science, behavioural decision making, and rational choice theory to develop a framework to improve understanding of the thought processes that underlie actions taken by managers and the feedback gained from the resulting outcomes that allow leaders to update and refine their thinking. This is a course about thinking. The better we understand our own and others’ thinking, the better we will be at both decision making and defining/solving problems.
Course Scope
The course scope encompasses three learning outcomes. After completing the Business Problem Solving course, students will be able to:
- Understand the nature and role of models in management thinking
- Describe a scientific approach to thinking about problems and problem solving
- Analyze the thinking behind existing models of problems
Evaluation and Grade Breakdown
| Component | Due Date | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reflections (2) | TBC | 30% |
| Individual Paper | Approximately One Week after Final Class | 70% |
Required Resources
There are two main sources of materials for this course:
- Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
- Articles that will be posted (or linked) to Quercus.
For each class meeting, a prep sheet will be posted on Quercus giving detailed instructions on how to prepare for class. Preparation will usually consist of some required readings and some optional or recommended readings. You will need to read the former as they relate directly to the topics I will cover in class. The optional readings are typically examples and applications of the principles. I encourage you to skim these articles – in the very least, read the abstracts.