Protection of personal data: problems and solutions. A systematic approach in business to solving internal problems of companies

This article discusses common data integrity issues and shows you how Analysis Services 2005 provides you with the tools to deal with these issues.

Data integrity issues are common in relational databases, especially in online (OLTP) systems. These problems are usually fixed using ETL (Extraction, Transformation and Load) jobs that load the data into the data warehouse. However, even in the data warehouse, data integrity problems are not uncommon.

SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services supports cubes built directly from online data stores and provides sophisticated controls to manage the data integrity issues inherent in such systems. DBAs can greatly simplify their cube management tasks by using these elements.

Types of Data Integrity Issues

In this chapter, we will identify the main data integrity issues. To address these issues, we will use the following relational model:

The sales fact table has a product_id foreign key that points to the product_id primary key in the product dimension table.

The product dimension table has a foreign key product_class_id that points to the product_class_id primary key in the product_class dimension table.

Fig.1. relational model

Referential Integrity

Referential integrity (RI) problems are the most common data integrity problems in relational databases. The RI error is essentially a primary key-foreign key constraint violation. For example:

The sales fact table has an entry with a product_id value that does not exist in the product dimension table.

The product dimension table has a product_class_id value that does not exist in the product_class dimension table.

Null values

While null values ​​are common and even welcome in relational databases, they require special handling in Analysis Services. For example:

The sales fact table has a NULL entry in the store_sales, store_cost, and unit_sales columns. This can be interpreted either as a transaction with zero sales, or as a non-existent transaction. The results of an MDX (NON EMPTY) query will vary depending on the interpretation.

The sales fact table has a NULL entry in the product_id column. While this is not a referential integrity issue in a relational database, this is a data integrity issue that Analysis Services must handle.

The product table has a NULL entry in the product_name column. Since this column passes keys and product names to Analysis Services, the NULL value can be left as is, converted to an empty string, and so on.

Relationship errors

Analysis Services allows you to define relationships between dimension attributes. For example, the Product dimension might have a many-to-one relationship between the brand_name and product_class_id columns. Consider two records in the product table with the following column values:

This is a many-to-one violation because the brand_name column value "Best Choice" has two product_class_id column values ​​associated with it.

Data integrity controls

In this chapter, we'll look at the various controls that Analysis Services offers DBAs to deal with data integrity issues. Note that these elements are not completely independent. For example, Null Processing depends on Unknown Member and Error Configuration depends on Null Processing and Unknown Member.

Unknown Member (unknown member)

The Dimension object has an UnknownMember property that takes three possible values ​​- None, Hidden, and Visible. When UnknownMember=Hidden/Visible, Analysis Server automatically creates a special member called Unknown Member in each dimension attribute. UnknownMember=Hidden indicates that the unknown member will be hidden from query results and schema rowsets. The default value for the UnknownMember property is None.

The UnknownMemberName property can be used to determine the name of an unknown member. The UnknownMemberTranslations property can be used to determine the localized headers of an unknown element.

Figure 2 shows the Product dimension with UnknownMember=Visible and UnknownMemberName="Invalid Product".

Fig.2. Product dimension

Null Processing

The DataItem object is used in the Analysis Services DDL to define metadata about any scalar data item. It includes:

Attribute Key Column(s)

Attribute column name

Attribute Source Column

The DataItem object contains many properties, including the following:

The NullProcessing property determines what action the server should take when it encounters a null value. This property can take five possible values:

ZeroOrBlank - Tells the server to convert a NULL value to a null value (for numeric items) or an empty string (for string items). This is how Analysis Services 2000 handles NULL values.

Preserve - Tells the server to leave NULL values. The server can store NULL like any other value.

Error - Tells the server that NULL is not allowed in this item. The server will generate a data integrity error and ignore this entry.

UnknownMember - Tells the server to treat NULL as an unknown member. The server will also generate a data integrity error. This option is only applicable to attribute key columns.

Default - conditional default value. It involves using ZeroOrBlank for dimensions and cubes, and UnknownMember for mining structures and models.

Note that the NullProcessing options, Error and UnknownMember, generate data integrity errors, while the other options do not.

The following figure shows the DataItem editor for dimension attribute key columns.

Fig.3. DataItem Collection editor.

List of errors

Before looking at the Error Configuration error handling control, we need to be clear about the different types of data integrity errors that a server can encounter. We already learned about two of them in the previous chapter on handling Null. Below is the complete list:

NullKeyNotAllowed - This error is generated when a prohibited null value is encountered and the entry is ignored (when NullProcessing = Error).

NullKeyConvertedToUnknown - This error is generated when the null key value is processed as an unknown member (when NullProcessing = UnknownMember).

KeyDuplicate - This error is only generated during dimension processing when an attribute key occurs more than once. Because attribute keys must be unique, the server will ignore duplicate entries. In most cases, this error is acceptable. But sometimes it points to flaws in dimension design that can lead to inconsistent relationships between attributes.

KeyNotFound is a classic referential integrity error in relational databases. It can occur both when processing partitions and when processing dimensions.

Error Configuration (error handling)

The ErrorConfiguration object is central to data integrity error management. The server has a default error configuration (in the msmdsrv.ini configuration file). The error configuration can also be defined in the database, dimension, cube, dimension group, and partition. In addition, error configuration can also be enabled for Batch and Process commands.

The ErrorConfiguration object specifies how the server should handle the four types of data integrity errors. The object has the following properties:

KeyErrorLogFile is the file to which the server logs data integrity errors.

KeyErrorLimit (default = 0) - the maximum number of data integrity errors that will be generated on the server before processing is interrupted. A value of -1 indicates that there are no restrictions.

KeyErrorLimitAction (default = StopProcessing) is the action the server will take when the error limit is reached. This property has two options:

• StopProcessing - tells the server to stop processing.

  StopLogging Tells the server to continue processing but stop logging further errors.

KeyErrorAction (default = ConvertToUnknown) is the action the server should take when a KeyNotFound error occurs. The property has two options:

• ConvertToUnknown Tells the server to treat the invalid key value as an unknown element.

  DiscardRecord - tells the server to ignore this record. This is how Analysis Services 2000 handles KeyNotFound errors.

NullKeyNotAllowed (default = ReportAndContinue)

NullKeyConvertedToUnknown (default = IgnoreError)

KeyDuplicate (default = IgnoreError)

KeyNotFound (default = ReportAndContinue) is the action the server should take when a data integrity error of this type occurs. The property has three options:

• IgnoreError - tells the server to continue processing until the error limit is reached without logging errors.

  ReportAndContinue - Tells the server to continue processing until the error limit is reached, with error logging.

  ReportAndStop - tells the server to log the error and abort processing immediately (regardless of the error limit).

Note that the server always executes the NullProcessing rules before the ErrorConfiguration rules for each entry. This is important because handling NULL can result in data integrity errors that must then be handled by the ErrorConfiguration rules.

The following figure shows the ErrorConfiguration properties for a cube in the properties pane.

Fig.4. Properties panel

Scenarios

In this chapter, we'll look at different scenarios that involve data integrity issues and look at how the controls introduced in the previous chapter can be used to address these issues. We will also continue to use the previously defined relational schema.

Data Integrity Issues in Fact Table

The sales fact table has records with product_id that do not exist in the product dimension table. The server will throw a KeyNotFound error during processing. By default, KeyNotFound errors are logged and counted up to the error limit, which is zero by default. Therefore processing will be interrupted on the first error.

The solution is to change the ErrorConfiguration for the dimension group. Two alternatives are shown below:

Set KeyNotFound = IgnoreError.

Set KeyErrorLimit to a large enough number.

By default, KeyNotFound error handling is to map an entry from the fact table to an unknown element. Another alternative is to set the KeyErrorAction to DiscardRecord to ignore this entry from the fact table.

Data Integrity Issues in SnowFlaked Dimension Table

The product dimension table has entries with product_class_id that do not exist in the product_class dimension table. This issue is handled in the same way as in the previous chapter, except that the dimension's ErrorConfiguration needs to be modified.

Foreign keys with null value in fact table

The sales fact table has records where the product_id is NULL. By default, all NULL values ​​are converted to zero, and the null value is already looked up in the product table. If there is a product_id equal to zero, then the corresponding fact table data is related to that product value (perhaps not what you wanted). Otherwise, a KeyNotFound error is thrown. By default, KeyNotFound errors are logged and the number of such errors is counted up to the error limit, which is zero by default. Therefore, processing will be interrupted after the first error.

The solution is to change NullProcessing in the dimension group property. Two alternatives are shown below:

Set NullProcessing = ConvertToUnknown. This setting tells the server to map null entries to the unknown element "Invalid Product". This also generates NullKeyConvertedToUnknown errors, which are ignored by default.

Set NullProcessing = Error. This setting tells the server to ignore NULL entries. This also generates NullKeyNotAllowed errors, which are logged by default and counted until the error limit is reached. This can be controlled by changing the ErrorConfiguration in the dimension group.

Fig.5. Edit Bindings Dialog Box

Note that the NullProcessing property must be set on the KeyColumn property of the dimension group. In the Dimension Usage tab of the cube designer, edit the relationship between a dimension and a group of dimensions. Click the Advanced button, select the scalability property, and set NullProcessing.

NULL in Snowflaked dimension table

The product dimension table has entries where product_class_id is NULL. This problem is handled in the same way as in the previous chapter, except for the need to set NullProcessing on the KeyColumn's DimensionAttribute (in the Dimension Designer's Properties panel).

Inconsistent relationships in dimension table

As described earlier, inconsistent relationships in the dimension table result in duplicate keys. In the example described earlier, the brand_name with the value "Best Choice" appears twice with different product_class_id values. This results in a KeyDuplicate error, which is ignored by default and the server ignores the double entry.

Alternatively, you can set KeyDuplicate = ReportAndContinue/ReportAndStop, which will result in error logging. This log can then be examined to identify potential weaknesses in measurement design.

Conclusion

Solving data integrity issues can be a daunting task for database administrators. SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services provides sophisticated controls such as Unknown Member, Null Processing, and Error Configuration that greatly simplify cube management tasks.

This article discusses the application of a variant of the systems approach developed for improving business management by Russell Ackoff, Peter Senge and the authors of this article for the practical solution of internal problems of companies. And such internal problems today have accumulated in firms a great many. The following is only a small part of their diversity. We list typical internal problems in the field of management from the point of view of the owner (manager) of the company and from the point of view of an expert in a systematic approach to business management.

Examples of applying a systematic approach to solving typical problems of companies

Situation 1

The three departments of a purchasing firm—the sales department, the purchasing department, and the logistics department—are in constant internal conflict. The heads of each department believe that other departments do not know how to work effectively and eat their bread for nothing. The management of the firm invited experts on a systematic approach to business management in order to develop a fair remuneration system for employees of these three departments, taking into account the contribution of each to the overall result of the company.

During the diagnostic process, the following was revealed:

1. At the heart of the conflict between the purchasing department and the sales department is the pricing methodology used in the company. The sales department works with clients, and the purchasing department assigns the sale price to it, which is guided by a certain mythical markup percentage. This practice leads to the fact that many clients refuse the services of the firm, which leads to a loss of turnover.

2. In the company's activities there are no priorities in working with certain trademarks, which leads to disorientation of managers of sales and purchasing departments.

3. The existing motivation of sales managers is tied to the value of the turnover, although the cost of the realized services for the purchase is the margin. This situation leads to an unstable financial condition of the company.

4. There are no clear procedures for interaction between the sales and purchasing departments on some issues, which often leads to disruptions in making deals with customers.

5. The logistics department practically does not understand what is more important - to minimize logistics costs or to deliver the customer's order on time.

To solve these problems:

1. A flexible pricing policy has been developed. The sales department was given the authority to independently set the price.

2. A financial planning system was developed that determined how much marginal income the sales department should earn.

3. Priorities have been developed in working with certain trademarks.

4. Bonuses for employees began to be carried out from bonus funds created for each department.

5. Performance and performance targets have been developed to distribute bonuses within departments. As a result, the company's activity has become more coordinated, financially stable. The conflict between departments was eliminated thanks to the systematic methods of organizing the work of the company. After that, the work of the departments became more conscious, which led to an increase in the overall economic performance of the company.

Situation 2

The owner, who is also the first head of the construction and installation company, turned to experts in a systematic approach to business management for advice. All-consuming turnover took away from him even the time of sleep. He had almost no time left for strategic creativity (actual entrepreneurial affairs), recreation, family, children, relatives, relatives and friends. And if he managed to free up time by a strong-willed decision (for example, in order to fly with his family to relax), then his subordinates got him there with their calls. The owner wanted advice: how to solve this problem in such a way that everything becomes exactly the opposite?

The solution to this problem was to develop for the company for each planning period (year, quarter, month) a system of specific goals and their corresponding financial and economic indicators, determine ways to achieve them and delegate these goals and indicators to their direct subordinates - the heads of specific areas of the company's activities. After that, it was necessary to carry out specific activities (work out further chains of delegating goals) and set up a motivation system for these leaders to achieve their goals and certain financial and economic indicators.

Situation 3

The owner of a trading company turned to experts in a systematic approach to business management for advice with the question: how to achieve optimal spending of financial and material resources in the company and how, without spending additional funds (ceteris paribus), significantly increase the efficiency of the company?

After diagnosing the activities of this company, the following was revealed. The firm has deferred payments provided to it by suppliers and, accordingly, gives even greater delays to its customers. Buyers, as a rule, violate the terms of payment, which, as a result, leads to a violation of the terms of settlements of the company with its suppliers. The company always has a shortage of funds to make current payments, although according to the financial statements, the company's activities are quite profitable. A similar situation is observed with the movement of goods. Suppliers do not meet delivery deadlines, which leads to delays in delivery to buyers. Due to the fact that contracts with many buyers have been concluded with strict conditions for meeting delivery dates, the company is constantly under the threat of penalties from buyers for violating the deadlines.

The solution to this problem was carried out by adjusting and optimizing management processes in this company. For this, current operational planning, control over the purchase and receipt of goods from suppliers and shipment of these goods to buyers, operational planning and control over the receipt of money from buyers and settlements with their suppliers were introduced. For the practical solution of this problem, the company appointed employees personally responsible for these processes - the head of the purchasing department and the head of the sales department. He set the parameters of motivation and responsibility for achieving operational goals with the given quality indicators (in this case, the quality indicators were the parameters of deviations in terms of time). The implementation of these measures and principles allowed the owner of the company to significantly increase the overall efficiency of the company without additional financial investments - due to the systemic organization of commodity circulation and optimization of financial flows.

Let's sum up. We can say that all the problems of customers of consulting services indicated and not indicated here are interdependent and influence each other. But they all have one common macro-cause, the essence of which is the lack of management in such firms, built on systemic principles.

Andrey Naumov, Valery Simonyan

Expert opinion:

Vlasova N. M., scientific consultant of the Charisma Center:

- The most striking and frequent, in fact - fundamental, not only a mistake, but also a weakness of the top managers of the whole country is precisely their management style - the so-called commanding one. It is based on the mechanistic paradigm of the organization, where people are, as it were, part of this mechanism and are the performers. Its main difference is the use of external control levers, namely the management of financial leverage, the optimization of activities through structural changes, business processes, a repressive (mostly) control system, etc. This style is like a prison in which human potential is locked. As a result, workers use 20-30% of their potential, and the vast majority even less. Labor productivity is 5-80 times less than in advanced countries. To change this, a fundamental shift is needed in the brains of all managers. After all, an organization is not a machine - it is a living organism.

It is necessary to change the paradigm of the commanding style to the leadership one. The leader perceives people not as performers and objects, but as subjects and investors of his talent and intellect, i.e., his potential. The leadership style of management uses fundamentally different tools and methods of influence. This is not external motivation and stimulation of labor, but the inclusion of internal motivation and self-discipline. The leader focuses on the deep laws of human behavior and creates conditions in which these laws begin to work spontaneously. The leader differs from the manager (in fact, the commander) in only one, but very important feature: they follow him, and they follow him voluntarily.

Leadership must be learned. For this, tools and methods have already been created, seminars and trainings are being held. Leadership is the most relevant and so far the most scarce resource of any company and country as a whole. But this is also the most powerful resource, because only leaders are able to unlock the dormant potential, which is able to increase the company's revenues and profits by hundreds of percent without additional investments and loans.

Elena Lisitsina, director of the Quality Institute "People of Deeds":

Strategy is the cumulative work of the team, which provides a balanced vector for the development of the company. The manager may not know the features and details that lie on the surface for the line manager. In order to develop a comprehensive development strategy, in my opinion, it is necessary to involve a team of specialists in the development of the strategy and use their knowledge to the maximum to draw up a general picture of development. To initiate the development of a strategy, guide team members and make decisions, of course, the head of the company should. No wonder "strategy" in Greek (strategos) means "the art of the general"! A systematic approach is one of the management principles laid down in the ISO international standards, which are just unified for any business. Take at least a simple Deming cycle: PDCA - Plan - Do - Control - Act (Improve). But with its application in practice, difficulties often arise, because a systematic approach requires constancy and routine repetition of actions established in a certain order. It is important to observe this order and not violate it - first of all, to the leader himself. Recently, organizations can meet a large number of different projects to improve performance. Moreover, they are implemented simultaneously, the same staff is involved in the implementation (as in the proverb - “Who is lucky, they go on that”). Often the implementation of these projects is not coordinated in terms of stages, works, deadlines, and managers compete with each other in the scale of changes, pulling the blanket in the direction of their project. But in most cases, such drastic changes in the organization are beyond the power: after all, you also need to manage to earn money without getting bogged down in an endless stream of innovation. What is the result? Huge interest from the management at the beginning of the project and nullification of all the efforts of the team in the middle, when the activities have already been developed and it is up to them to implement. And the manager at this time is actively implementing a new project, and so on ad infinitum ... I want to supplement the words of the ex-president of the Ford and Chrysler companies, Lee Iacocca: "Management is nothing more than setting other people to work" . And any work is more effective when the performer sees the result.

capturing

The program of creation, formation and development of complex cooperation of education, practice and design in the innovative technopark "Zhigulevskaya Dolina". 3

Regulations of the design and analytical session. 6

Group lists. 7

Andreichenko N.F. PAS installation. Day 1.8

Makin A. Report "Trends in IT". Day 1.9

Daniel Talyansky. Trends in project management. Day 1.12

I. Epaneshnikov. Analytics. Day 2. 14

A. Makin. TK KKOPP from RedmadRpbot. Day 2. 14

Talyansky D. Analytics. Day 3.15

Andreichenko N.F. Assembly installation. Day 3. 16

Group "Control System KOPP". 17

Group "Infrastructure KKOPP". 18

Group "Ideology KKOPP". 19

Finance group. 20

Real business projects group (1) 21

Real business projects group (2) 22

Marketing group. 23

PROGRAM OF CREATION, FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT

INTEGRATED COOPERATION OF EDUCATION, PRACTICE AND DESIGN

IN THE INNOVATIVE TECHNOPARK "ZHIGULEVSKAYA VALLEY"

FORMULATION OF THE PROBLEM

The global trend at present is the parallel, cooperative and distributed execution of complex and lengthy work packages that lead to a common result, by a given date and in market formats. The research necessary for business in the world today is carried out jointly by universities, companies in their research centers, and technology parks. Technology design and development work is a collaborative effort between engineering companies, universities, manufacturing firms and individuals. Elements of the educational infrastructure are scattered throughout the Internet, television, universities, colleges and schools, corporate universities, training and recruiting firms, human resources departments of firms, and even entertainment centers. The solution of business problems, including the creation of an innovative business (Start-up, Spin-up, Spin-out) is carried out by corporations, firms, technology parks, and universities. Structures profiled for a certain social function quickly translate the methods of their work (which they naturally know better than their partners) to cooperators for mutual understanding and successful interaction.

All this is happening in the context of technologization and digital transformation of managerial, and in general, intellectual activity of all kinds, engineering, research, etc. Occurs in the context of a tectonic shift from a logocentric civilization (focused on the word and text) to an infographic civilization (focused on the “number”, sign and scheme). For example, it is not education or business that is integrating into the digital world, but the digital world is rapidly integrating and restructuring everything without asking anyone's consent.

In domestic practice, the above works are still carried out separately, sequentially and in administrative forms of co-organization, up to manual control. The experience of complex cooperation in education, design and practice to solve urban, regional, sectoral or national economic problems is scarce, to the point of impossibility. Under these conditions, the problem of digital access to the global intellectual mainstream, as well as inclusion in the international division of functions, can and should be raised and solved not only on a national scale, but also locally, for example, in a city. Creating an “outpost” of the future world as a tool for bringing change on a city scale is a realizable and worthy task.

METHOD OF SOLVING (REMOVING) THE PROBLEM

This is the organization and localization in a suitable place:

1. unresolved infrastructure, economic and business tasks;

2. breakthroughs in design;

3. transfer of world technologies (first of all, intellectual ones);

4. digital reorientation of the local education system from “Beginnings”, “Fundamentals”, and “Introductions”, to “Challenges”, “Limits”, “Problems” and development programs;

5. training people of the “digital” generation without being tied to specific educational institutions, but relying on a “live” intellectual resource in the field of education, together with business.

The most suitable place in Tolyatti for this is the Zhigulevskaya Dolina innovative technopark, which is interested in creating a design and educational service for residents.

Problem types

His classification of the types of problems that people usually face, according to Francis (Francis, 1990):

1. Mystery- inexplicable deviation from the expected result, the emphasis is on the lack of explanation of what happened, the ambiguity of the reason due to which the expectations were not met.

2. Task Assignment- the problem arises when the task is given to the individual by another person, when there is a kind of agreement between the boss and the subordinate. The contractual relationship must be clear, understandable, achievable and agreed upon.

3. Difficulty- the problem arises when something is difficult to achieve due to ignorance of how to manage the current situation, or lack of resources.

4. Opportunity- a situation that promises a potential benefit.

5. Puzzle It is not clear which answer is correct and which is wrong. To arrive at a correct answer, confusion and uncertainty must be resolved. Some puzzles may never be solved.

6. Dilemma- there are at least two options for action, they are both approximately equally attractive or unattractive, and it takes prudence to choose the more correct one.

Certain stages in the solution process, depending on the type of problem, become a priority.

Problem Solving Steps

The difference between a good manager and a bad one is how capable they are of taking a systematic approach to problem solving. Wilson (1993) provides a comparison between various previously developed decision models. All models are based on the need to identify and explain the problem, using the right hemisphere of the brain to accumulate information and ideas. Then comes a more narrowly focused reflection phase to analyze the data collected and determine the direction for further action. Wilson noticed that each culture requires a different amount of time at different stages of problem solving. In the East, for example in Japan, it takes much longer to generate creative ideas than in Western cultures, where the solution comes much faster, but it also takes more time to implement ideas. In most models, the emphasis is on the following key stages:

1. Analysis of the problem - at this stage, information is collected to determine the reality of the existence of the problem and the reasons for its occurrence, and its importance is also assessed.

2. Goal setting and definition of success criteria - here you need to have a clear idea of ​​​​the goal and how and with what indicators success in achieving it will be assessed.

3. Accumulation of information - At this stage, it is required to collect data and put forward ideas, from which it will then be possible to select options and evaluate their comparative usefulness.

4. Decision making - after evaluation, a decision is made in favor of the best course of action.

5. Implementation, implementation - everything that needs to be done is planned, and the action plan is being implemented.

6. Review of progress made - an assessment is given of what went well, what went less well, and comments are made for the future (this is an extremely important stage that is often omitted).

Problem Solving Methods

There are many techniques for successful problem solving. Many of them include an assessment of the situation and an analysis of the importance of the results obtained. Four key questions are asked:

1. Why is the issue important?
2. How important is the result of solving the problem compared to other things that also require attention?
3. Who will be involved in solving the problem?
4. What are the real pressures and constraints to face?

Brainstorming, fishbones, Pareto charts, and histograms are all information gathering or analysis methods.

brainstorming technology was developed by Alex Osborn in the 1950s. to stimulate creativity in generating ideas. The idea should be stated freely and immediately recorded in the table. People should feel free to act and develop ideas. The discussion does not take place until the stage of evaluating these ideas has begun.

Fishbone technology was developed by Ishikawa and is widely used in problem solving in the quality management process. This technique helps in understanding the relationship between cause and effect.

Pareto charts and bar graphs are used to display numerical information about the possible causes of a problem. They are named after the Italian economist who, in particular, established the 80/20 principle (works that are 80% important to the organization require 20% of the management's efforts, and activities that do not exceed 20% importance require 80% of the efforts). The art of a leader is to separate and perform the most important work).

Force field analysis is also a useful technique in evaluating factors. Steps to be taken:

1. Clear definition of the desired result.
2. Identification of favorable and unfavorable acting forces.
3. Establishing ways to reduce the strength of adverse effects or eliminate them, identify opportunities for the manifestation of favorable factors.
4. Selection of actions aimed at achieving the desired changes that can be taken.

The techniques discussed above can be used individually, but they work more effectively in a team, especially where creative thinking is required.

Problem solving as part of a team

Although the model and methods of problem solving are known, the process of working in a team requires management to activate its members. Teams learn from their own experience what difficulties can prevent effective problem solving if they are not overcome. In the course of teamwork, it is revealed which team members are more effective at the stage of introducing ideas, and which ones are at the stage of their development and elaboration.

Belbin ( Belbin, 1981) conducted research at the Henley College of Management to determine the characteristics of successful teams. He identified nine roles for participants and their corresponding behaviors that will contribute to team success. Each role has its own party in the game for successful problem solving. Among team members, some generate ideas, evaluate their usefulness, others bring them to a solution that can be implemented in the work environment. Still others are needed to support effective teamwork and to ensure that tasks are completed.

Robson ( Robson, 1988) identified three key issues that lie outside of group decisions that are worth paying attention to. So, sometimes the problem that was given to the group for resolution simply disappears. Conversely, individuals may be reluctant to join a problem-solving group for fear of demonstrating ignorance, or groups may be viewed with suspicion by other employees.

Robson attaches great importance to both internal problems associated with the use of time, interpersonal difficulties, lack of appropriate skills and motivation, and problems associated with the decision-making process of the team.

According to this concept, when a team turns into a connected community, people with views that contradict the general opinion are excluded from it, and those who express agreement with the views of the majority remain. Team members, when making decisions in a group, become so confident that they sometimes take even more risks compared to the option of making an individual decision, since the most important thing in such a team is maintaining harmony.

Solving problems that arise in the process of work

There are all sorts of ways to solve problems that arise in the process of work, many of which can be learned from the Japanese, who have experience in solving organizational problems that are important today, such as achieving and maintaining competitive advantage. Here is a link to the kaizen approach, which uses cross-functional teams and quality circles.

The philosophy of kaizen (kaizen), originated in Japan and described by Walker (1993), is recognized as the foundation of the country's competitive success in the world market. It is now widely used in production even in companies that do not have ties with Japan. Kaizen is a technology for achieving long-term development by creating a system that constantly makes many small changes directly at each workplace. The system implements a so-called "customer-centric" approach, in which customers, external (customers) and internal (employees), are perceived as the most important asset of the organization. This requires an atmosphere of engagement, responsibility and openness.

The infinite loop of improvements is a powerful technology behind this approach and includes:

Plan - survey / understanding / definition.

The point is appropriate action.

Verification - confirmation of the effect / evaluation.

Act - feedback from the source.

It can be called the PDPA cycle. It is often said that Japanese managers spend 80% of their time on planning, while in the West the same amount is spent on activities. Japanese managers tend to move quickly through the APAP cycle, especially in the first two stages. They are meticulous in standardizing and verifying every stage of system development.

Stephens (Stephens, 1988) emphasized the importance of the organizational climate as an incentive or barrier to effective problem solving. Many organizations have failed in the past in creative problem solving because the predominant management style in making risky decisions has been to obstruct people. Successful organizations embraced risk by accepting failure as an opportunity and rewarding innovative ideas. An authoritarian, critical management style forces people to adapt to a low-risk strategy. Managers delegating problem solving to staff enable the process to get to the point where people get the information they need and take responsibility for the recommendations.

In the next ten years, problem solving will involve overcoming not only functional, but also cultural and company boundaries. As business becomes increasingly global, people will be forced to develop their skills in solving a wide variety of issues in a multicultural environment. Their success will depend on the methods used and the identification of the various forces that originate from people's belonging to a particular culture.

Key questions on the topic:

Management problems and their causes

Problem solving

Decision-making methods and their implementation

1. Management problems and their causes

The management problem is a complex issue, a task that requires its understanding, study, evaluation and solution.

Problems always have a certain content, arise at the right time and in the right place, around them there is always a circle of people or organizations that generate them, but the enterprise does not stop developing because of this. The ratio of its internal variables changes, the external environment changes, and as a result, naturally, complex issues arise that need to be addressed.

There is a causal relationship here. For example, tax rates have changed, technology is outdated, etc.

To understand the causes of problems, a cause-and-effect analysis is needed. In the course of its implementation, one can discover the true causes, weed out side, non-main, accompanying ones, understand, deeply study and assess the situation. This will prepare the prerequisite for making the necessary decision.

Management problems are classified according to the following criteria:

degree of importance and urgency . As a rule, the most important problems are also the most urgent;

scale of consequences , in cases of making or not making decisions, and number of organizations and individuals , who are affected by these problems;

possibility of solving the problem at the lowest cost and in the best possible time;

degree of risk , related to the solution of this problem, and the possibility of new problems arising on this basis;

degree of structuring and formalization , the ability to express the problem in quantitative and qualitative terms, etc.

In addition, problems may vary how they are developed: 1) non-alternative, when there is only one way to solve problems, there are no other solutions; 2) binary and multivariate, when the problem can be solved in two or more ways; 3) in cases where none of the methods can give a positive answer to the question of how to solve the problem, a combination method is used. It lies in the fact that a combination of individual parts and methods of solving problems that do not contradict each other is carried out. In general, this is the basis for the subsequent phased solution of the problem.

Separately, the issue of the timing of problem solving is considered.

Problem types are considered according to the following criteria:

Strategic, aimed at the formation of a database of strategic data, their understanding, study, evaluation and practical use;

Tactical, the resolution of which occurs in a shorter time than strategic ones;

Long-term, medium-term and short-term, current;

By levels of management - top, middle and lower levels of management.

Every manager in any organization or enterprise immediately encounters a lot of problems from the first steps in his activity. They can be small or large, solvable or unsolvable, extremely dangerous or not. The reason for their occurrence lies in the very work of people. Management problems arise as a result of undesirable phenomena of an internal or external nature, obtaining results of work that differs from the planned, erroneous actions of management and ordinary performers.

The main causes of management problems include:

Initially erroneous goals of the organization, ways and timing of their achievement;

Wrong principles and methods of work of employees;

Erroneous criteria for assessing the capabilities of the enterprise and employees;

Deliberate violations in engineering, technology, finance, supplies, etc.;

Changes in the politics and economy of the state;

Natural disasters and natural disasters (fire, flood, etc.).