New York University
Stern School of Business
Conflict & Decision Making
Summer 1999
Professor Seth Freeman
Class 3

Thinking Broadly About Complicated Problems

 I. The Far Side Exercise (continued)

A. Debriefing
B. Implications- Is there a hard choice?

II. Creative Thinking- Ways to See Beyond Hard Choices

III. A brief recap- Three Different Thinking Skills for Dealing with Complicated Problems

A. Economic
B. Humanitarian
C. Creative

V. Budget Dilemma at Dowponto

V. I FORESAW IT and its application to decision making

A Simple Summary of the I FORESAW IT Mnemonic
(core economic ideas are italicized)

Interests	Considering the material (economic) concerns and other (social, psychological) concerns of others
Factual Research	(Self-explanatory)
Options	Getting Creative. Perhaps there is no need for a hard choice.
Reactions & Responses	Possible consequences of your favorite Options and ways to refine them
Empathy & Ethics	Considering the conflict deeply from others' perspectives
Setting & Rescheduling	Deadlines, Sequences, Places
Alternatives	Opportunity Costs of doing what I'm considering
Who	Who can influence/will be effected by this decision?
Independent Criteria	Things that objectively confirm the decision is fair, wise, sound
Topics, Targets, Tradeoffs	A simple way to balance priorities. (Marginal thinking)

The Shopping Cart Problem

You are the manufacturer of a line of shopping carts. A recent series of problems has arisen concerning the carts:

Urban Markets, one of your biggest niches, report increased insurance costs and replacement costs because customers walk off with the carts and use them for their own purposes. They want anti-theft devices placed on the carts to deter theft. 

Markets generally report rising insurance and liability problems from a rash of accidents ocuring when parents lean too hard on the cart handle, causing the cart and the child to tip over. They want the wheel base widened so the cart is more stable.

Customers complain the carts are too cumbersome and unwieldy. Most anti-theft devices would only make the carts even more cumbersome. A wider wheel base might also make the cart cumbersome.

Cart Distributors insist that no cart will sell unless it can be nested inside another cart for easy storage in a supermarket. They also warn you that the cart must be durable and inexpensive or markets will refuse to buy it, since margins are razor thin in most stores.

Your Board of Directors warns you that you are facing increased competition from a number of 'knock off' manufacturers who all produce roughly the same cart at lower prices. They insist that you either cut costs or find a way to increase sales (and margins).

How would you design a replacement shopping cart that economically satisfies the needs of the various constituencies?