MGT 350: Problem Analysis

PART II: PROBLEM ANALYSIS

Lengthy hours and infrequent vacations can oftentimes contribute to increased stress levels in employees. The increase in stress not only affects the employee, but also their family. Overworked employees suffer from the stress of working too many hours and a lack of quality family time which, in turn, decreases work productivity and increases organizational costs. How can organizations address this issue? We have used several problem-solving techniques to analyze the conflict, such as brainstorming, line graphs, and visualizing, and believe there is a possible solution.

Recognizing the Problem

Many working Americans have been asked to work more hours than originally scheduled to help companies that have downsized remain successful in a suffering economy. Over time, the cumulative extra hours worked takes time away from the family and adds the burden of stress to the employee. This is a common scenario among working Americans that needs to be addressed.

TRIZ process for creative problem solving

English: Schema of the Process of problem solving....

Problem Solving PDCA

Many of us have either experienced this problem first-hand, or know someone who has. This stress overload causes families to separate, employees to lack productivity, and businesses to spend excessively.

Framing the Problem

Several goals must be met in order to resolve the issue. The first be the underlying problem: decrease employee hours and/or increase paid time-off. The second goal would be to increase family time. Achieving goals one and two should increase employee productivity and, therefore, decrease organizational spending. Paying employees to work overtime is much more costly than issuing additional paid time off and only decreases employee morale and production.

Some of the tools and techniques used to frame this problem include brainstorming, a line graph, and visualizing. We first had to determine the initial underlying cause of the problem. We brainstormed as a group and collectively decided that working too many hours was the...