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

This article discusses common data integrity problems and shows how Analysis Services 2005 can help you solve these problems.

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

SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services supports cubes built directly from online data stores and offers sophisticated controls to help manage the data integrity issues inherent in such systems. Database administrators 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 foreign key product_id, which points to the primary key product_id in the product dimension table.

The product dimension table has a foreign key product_class_id, which points to the primary key product_class_id 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. An RI error is essentially a violation of the primary key-foreign key constraint. For example:

The sales fact table has a record 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

Although 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 record with a NULL value in the store_sales, store_cost, and unit_sales columns. This may be interpreted as either a transaction with zero sales or a non-existent transaction. MDX (NON EMPTY) query results will vary depending on interpretation.

The sales fact table has a record with a NULL value in the product_id column. Although this is not a referential integrity error in a relational database, it is a data integrity issue that Analysis Services must handle.

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

Errors in connections

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 database administrators to help solve data integrity problems. 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

The Dimension object has an UnknownMember property that has 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 for 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 define localized headers for an unknown member.

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

Fig.2. Product measurement

Null Processing

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

Key attribute 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 data items) or to an empty string (for string data 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 data item. The server will generate a data integrity error and ignore this entry.

UnknownMember - tells the server to treat a NULL value as an unknown member. The server will also generate a data integrity error. This option is only applicable for key attribute 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, but the other options do not.

The following illustration shows the DataItem editor for the key columns of a dimension attribute.

Fig.3. DataItem Collection editor.

List of errors

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

NullKeyNotAllowed - This error is generated when an illegal NULL value is encountered and the entry is ignored (when NullProcessing = Error).

NullKeyConvertedToUnknown - This error is generated when a 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 measurement 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 measurements.

Error Configuration

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

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

KeyErrorLogFile is the file into 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 any 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 an 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) - 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 stop processing immediately (regardless of the error limit).

Note that the server always runs NullProcessing rules before ErrorConfiguration rules for each entry. This is important because handling NULLs can lead to data integrity errors, which must then be processed by ErrorConfiguration rules.

The following image 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 problems and look at how the controls introduced in the previous chapter can be used to solve these problems. We will also continue to use the relational schema defined earlier.

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 at 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 sufficiently large number.

The default handling of KeyNotFound errors is to match the fact table entry to the unknown element. Another alternative is to set 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 problem is handled in the same way as in the previous chapter, except that the ErrorConfiguration needs to be modified for the measurement.

Foreign keys with NULL value in fact table

The sales fact table has records where product_id is NULL. By default, all NULL values ​​are converted to zero, and the already null value is looked up in the product table. If there is a product_id equal to zero, then the corresponding fact table data is mapped to that product value (this may not be 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 match entries with NULL values ​​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 entries with a NULL value. This also generates NullKeyNotAllowed errors, which are logged by default and their number is counted until the error limit is reached. This can be adjusted 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 dimension group. Click the Advanced button, select the scalability property and set NullProcessing.

NULL in Snowflaked dimension table

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

Inconsistent relationships in dimension table

As described earlier, inconsistent relationships in a 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 duplicated entry.

Alternatively, you can set KeyDuplicate = ReportAndContinue/ReportAndStop, which will cause errors to be logged. This log can then be examined to identify potential flaws in the measurement design.

Conclusion

Resolving data integrity problems can be a challenging 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 to improve business management by Russell Ackoff, Peter Senge and the authors of this article for the practical solution of internal problems of companies. And today companies have a great many such internal problems. The following is only a small part of their diversity. Let us 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 using a systematic approach to solving typical problems of companies

Situation 1

Three departments of a purchasing company—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 company's management invited experts in a systematic approach to business management 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. The conflict between the purchasing department and the sales department is based on the pricing methodology used in the company. The sales department works with clients, and the sales price is assigned to it by the purchasing department, which is guided by some mythical markup percentage. This practice leads to many clients refusing the company’s services, which leads to loss of turnover.

2. The company’s activities lack priorities in working with certain product brands, which leads to disorientation of sales and purchasing department managers.

3. The current motivation of sales managers is tied to the amount of turnover, although the cost of purchased purchasing services is a margin. This situation leads to an unstable financial condition of the company.

4. Clear interaction procedures have not been established between the sales and purchasing departments on some issues, which often leads to failures in concluding transactions with clients.

5. The logistics department practically does not understand what is more important: minimizing logistics costs or delivering 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 set its own price.

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

3. Priorities for working with certain brands were developed.

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

5. To distribute bonuses within departments, target indicators of efficiency and quality of activity were developed. As a result, the company's activities have become more coordinated and financially stable. The conflict between departments was eliminated thanks to systematic methods of organizing the work of the company. After this, the work of the departments became more conscious, which led to an increase in the overall economic result of the company’s activities.

Situation 2

The owner, who is also the first head of a construction and installation company, turned to experts in a systematic approach to business management for advice. The all-consuming routine took away even his sleep time. He had almost no time left for strategic creativity (entrepreneurial affairs itself), rest, family, children, relatives, loved ones and friends. And if he managed to free up time by a strong-willed decision (for example, in order to fly with his family on vacation), then even there his subordinates pestered him 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 corresponding financial and economic indicators, determine ways to achieve them and delegate these goals and indicators to your direct subordinates - managers of specific areas of the company's activities. After this, it was necessary to carry out specific activities (work out further chains of delegation of goals) and set up a motivation system for these managers to achieve the goals assigned to them 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 resources and material resources in the company and how, without spending additional funds (all other things being equal), to significantly increase the efficiency of the company?

After diagnosing the activities of this company, the following was revealed. The company has deferred payments provided to it by suppliers and, accordingly, gives even greater deferments to its customers. Buyers, as a rule, violate payment terms, which, as a consequence, leads to violation of the company’s settlement terms 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 customers. Due to the fact that contracts with strict conditions for meeting delivery deadlines have been concluded with many buyers, the company is constantly under the threat of penalties being applied to it by buyers for violating deadlines.

The solution to this problem was carried out by adjusting and optimizing management processes at this company. For this purpose, current operational planning, control over the purchase and receipt of goods from suppliers and the shipment of these goods to buyers, operational planning and control over the receipt of money from buyers and settlements with their suppliers were introduced. To practically solve 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 established the parameters of motivation and responsibility for achieving operational goals with specified quality indicators (in this case, the quality indicators were the parameters of time deviations). 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 systematic organization of product distribution and optimization of financial flows.

Let's summarize. We can say that all the problems of customers of consulting services specified and not specified here are interdependent and influence each other. But they all have one common macro-cause, the essence of which is the absence in such companies of management 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 mistake, but also weakness of top managers throughout the country is precisely their management style - the so-called commanding one. It is based on the mechanistic paradigm of the organization, where people are part of this mechanism and are the performers. Its main difference is the use of external control levers, namely the management of financial levers, optimization of activities through changes in structure, 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 requires a fundamental shift in the brains of all managers. After all, an organization is not a machine - it is a living organism.

There is a need for a paradigm shift from a commanding style to a leadership style. The leader perceives people not as performers and objects, but as subjects and investors of their talent and intelligence, that is, their potential. The leadership style of management uses fundamentally different tools and methods of influence. This is not external motivation and stimulation of work, but the inclusion of internal motivation and self-discipline. A leader focuses on the deep laws of human behavior and creates conditions in which these laws begin to work spontaneously. A leader differs from a manager (essentially a commander) in only one, but very important, feature: they follow him, and they follow him voluntarily.

Leadership must be learned. For this purpose, tools and methods have already been created, seminars and trainings are being held. Leadership is the most relevant and so far the scarcest 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 that can increase the company’s revenues and profits by hundreds of percent without additional investments and loans.

Elena Lisitsina, director of the People of Dela Quality Institute:

Strategy is the collective work of a team that ensures a balanced vector of development for 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 developing the strategy and make maximum use of their knowledge to draw up an overall picture of development. Of course, the head of the company should initiate the development of strategy, guide team members and make decisions. No wonder “strategy” translated from Greek (strategos) means “the art of the general”! A systematic approach is one of the management principles laid down in international ISO standards, which are unified for any business. Take the 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, for the leader himself. Recently, organizations have seen a large number of different projects to improve their performance. Moreover, they are implemented at the same time, the same personnel are involved in implementation (as in the proverb - “Whoever is lucky, they ride”). Often, the implementation of these projects is not coordinated in terms of stages, work, or deadlines, and managers compete with each other in the scale of changes, pulling the blanket in favor of their project. But in most cases, such drastic changes in the organization are beyond the capabilities: after all, you also have to manage to earn money without getting bogged down in an endless stream of innovation. What is the result? Huge interest on the part of management at the beginning of the project and the nullification of all the team’s efforts in the middle, when the activities have already been developed and it’s up to them to implement them. And at this time the manager is actively implementing a new project, and so on ad infinitum... I want to complement the words of the ex-president of Ford and Chrysler companies Lee Iacocca: “Management is nothing more than getting other people to work.” . And any work is more effective when the performer sees the result.

Pooling

Program for the creation, establishment and development of integrated cooperation of education, practice and design in the innovative technology park “Zhigulevskaya Valley”. 3

Regulations for the design and analytical session. 6

Lists of groups. 7

Andreichenko N.F. Installation on PAS. Day 1. 8

Makin A. Report “Trends in IT”. Day 1. 9

Daniil Talyansky. Trends in project management. Day 1. 12

I. Epaneshnikov. Analytics. Day 2. 14

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

Talyansky D. Analytics. Day 3. 15

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

Group "KOPP Management System". 17

Group "KKOPP Infrastructure". 18

Group “Ideology of the KKOPP”. 19

Finance group. 20

Group “Real Business Projects” (1) 21

Group “Real Business Projects” (2) 22

Marketing Group. 23

PROGRAM OF CREATION, FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT

COMPREHENSIVE COOPERATION OF EDUCATION, PRACTICE AND DESIGN

IN THE INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY PARK “ZHIGULIOVSKAYA VALLEY”

FORMULATION OF THE PROBLEM

The global trend currently is the parallel, cooperative and distributed implementation of complex and lengthy sets of work that lead to a common result, by a given deadline and in market formats. Today, the necessary research in the world is carried out jointly by universities, companies in their research centers, and technology parks. Technology design and development work is a joint endeavor between engineering companies, universities, manufacturing firms and individuals. Elements of educational infrastructure are dispersed across the Internet, television, universities, colleges and schools, corporate universities of corporations, training and recruiting firms, HR services of companies, and even entertainment centers. Solving business problems, including the creation of innovative businesses (Start-up, Spin-up, Spin-out) is carried out by corporations, firms, technology parks, and universities. Structures specialized in a specific social function quickly transmit their methods of work (which they naturally master better than their partners) to cooperators for mutual understanding and successful interaction.

All this happens in the context of technologization and digital transformation of management, and indeed, intellectual activities of all types, engineering, research, etc. Occurs in conditions of a tectonic shift from a logocentric civilization (oriented on words and text) to an infographical one (oriented on “numbers”, signs and diagrams). 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 for consent.

In domestic practice, the above work is still carried out separately, sequentially and in administrative forms of co-organization, up to manual control. The experience of comprehensive cooperation of 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 posed and solved not only on a national scale, but also on a local, for example, city scale. Creating an “outpost” of the future world as a tool for bringing about changes on a city scale is a feasible and worthy task.

METHOD OF SOLVING (REMOVING) THE PROBLEM

This is organization and localization in a suitable place:

1. unresolved infrastructure, economic and business problems;

2. breakthroughs in design;

3. transfer of world technologies (primarily intellectual);

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 reference to specific educational institutions, but based on the “living” intellectual resource of the education sector, together with business.

The most suitable place in Tolyatti for this is the innovative technology park “Zhigulevskaya Valley”, which is interested in creating a design and educational service for residents.

Types of problems

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

1. Mystery- inexplicability of deviation from the expected result, the emphasis is on the insufficiency of the explanation of what happened, the unclear reason why expectations were not met.

2. Purpose of the task- the problem arises when a task is given to an individual by another person, when a kind of agreement occurs between a superior and a subordinate. Contractual relationships must be understandable, clear, achievable and agreed upon.

3. Difficulty- a 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 potential benefit.

5. Puzzle- it is unclear which answer is correct and which is incorrect. To arrive at the 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 you need to exercise discretion to choose the more correct one.

Depending on the type of problem, certain stages in the solution process become priorities.

Stages of problem solving

The difference between a good and a bad manager is the extent to which they are able to take a systematic approach to solving a problem. Wilson (1993) provides a comparison between various previously developed decision models. All models rely on identifying and explaining a problem using the right hemisphere of the brain to accumulate information and ideas. Then comes a more focused thinking phase to analyze the data collected and determine the direction of further action. Wilson noted 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 more time to generate creative ideas than in Western cultures, where decisions come much faster, but more time is spent on implementing ideas. Most models focus on the following key stages:

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

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

3. Accumulation of information - at this stage it is necessary to collect data and put forward ideas from which options can then be selected and their comparative usefulness assessed.

4. Decision making - after the assessment, 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 carried out.

6. Review of progress achieved - an assessment is made 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 successfully solving problems. Many of them involve assessing the situation and analyzing the significance of the findings. Four key questions are asked:

1. Why is the problem important?
2. How important is the outcome of solving a problem compared to other things that also require attention?
3. Who will be involved in solving the problem?
4. What real pressures and restrictions will you have to face?

Brainstorming, the fishbone method, Pareto charts, and histograms are all methods of collecting information or analyzing.

Brainstorming technology was developed by Alex Osborn in the 1950s. in order to stimulate creative endeavors in generating ideas. The idea should be presented freely and immediately recorded in the table. People should feel free to act and express ideas. There is no discussion until the evaluation phase of these ideas has begun.

Fishbone technology was developed by Ishikawa and is widely used in solving problems in the quality management process. This technique helps in understanding the relationship between causes and results.

Pareto charts and histograms are used to display numerical information about possible causes of a problem. They are named after the Italian economist, who, in particular, established the 80/20 principle (works whose importance for the organization is 80% require 20% of management's effort, and work whose importance does not exceed 20% require 80% of the effort. The art of a leader is to separate and carry out the most important work.

Force Field Analysis- also a useful technology in assessing factors. Steps to take:

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

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

Solving problems as a team

Although the model and methods for solving problems are known, the process of working in a team requires management to activate its participants. Teams learn from their own experience what challenges may prevent effective problem solving if they are not overcome. As teamwork progresses, it becomes clear which team members are more effective at the stage of introducing ideas, and which are more effective at the stage of their development and elaboration.

Belbin ( Belbin, 1981) conducted research at Henley Management College to determine the characteristics of successful teams. He identified nine roles for members and corresponding behaviors that would contribute to team success. Each role has its own part in the game to successfully solve problems. Among the 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 collaborative teamwork and to ensure task completion.

Robson ( Robson, 1988) has identified three key issues beyond group decisions that are worth paying attention to. So, sometimes a problem that was assigned to the group for resolution simply disappears. Conversely, people 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 places great emphasis on both internal problems associated with time management, interpersonal difficulties, lack of appropriate skills and motivation, and problems associated with the team's decision-making process.

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

Solving problems that arise during the work process

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

The Kaizen philosophy, created in Japan and described by Walker (1993), is recognized as the basis for the country's competitive success in the global market. It is now widely used in production, even in companies that have no ties to Japan. Kaizen is a technology for ensuring long-term development by creating a system that involves constantly making many small changes directly at each workplace. The system implements the so-called “customer-centric” approach, in which clients, external (customers) and internal (employees), are perceived as the most important asset of the organization. This requires an atmosphere of involvement, responsibility and openness.

The never-ending cycle of improvement is a powerful technology used in this approach and includes:

Plan - survey/understand/define.

The point is adequate actions.

Verification - confirmation of effect/evaluation.

The act is feedback from the original source.

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

Stephens (1988) emphasized the importance of organizational climate as an incentive or barrier to effective problem solving. Many organizations have failed in creative problem solving in the past because the dominant management style for making risky decisions was to create obstacles for people. Successful organizations embraced risk-taking by accepting failure as an opportunity realized and rewarding innovative ideas. An authoritarian, critical management style forces people to adopt a low-risk strategy. Managers who delegate problem solving to staff enable the process to reach a level where people receive the information they need and accept responsibility for recommendations.

Over the next ten years, solving problems will involve crossing not only functional boundaries, but also cultural and intercompany boundaries. As business becomes more global, people will be forced to develop their skills in dealing with a variety of issues across multiple cultures. Their success will depend on the methods they use and the identification of the diverse forces that originate in people's cultures.

Basic questions on the topic:

Management problems and reasons for their occurrence

Problem solving

Decision-making methods and their implementation

1. Management problems and the reasons for their occurrence

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

Problems always have a certain content, arise in their own time and place, there is always a circle of people or organizations around them 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 resolved.

There is a cause and effect relationship here. For example, tax rates have changed, technology has become outdated, etc.

To understand the causes of problems, cause-and-effect analysis is necessary. During its implementation, you can discover the true causes, weed out secondary, non-main, and accompanying ones, understand, deeply study and evaluate the situation. This will prepare the prerequisites for making the necessary decision.

Management problems are classified according to the following criteria:

degree of importance and urgency . Typically, 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 optimal time frame;

degree of risk , associated with solving 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.

Additionally, problems may vary by methods of their development: 1) no 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 consists in combining individual parts and methods of solving problems that do not contradict each other. In general, this is the basis for the subsequent step-by-step solution to the problem.

Separately, the issue of timing for solving problems is considered.

Types of problems are considered according to the following criteria:

Strategic, aimed at forming a base of strategic data, their understanding, study, evaluation and practical use;

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

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

By management levels - top, middle and lower management.

Every manager in any organization or enterprise, from the first steps in his activities, immediately encounters a lot of problems. They can be small or large, solvable or insoluble, extremely dangerous or not very dangerous. 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 work results that differ from the planned ones, erroneous actions of management and ordinary performers.

The main reasons for the emergence of management problems include:

Initially erroneous goals of the organization, methods and deadlines for achieving them;

Incorrect principles and practices of employees;

Incorrect 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 disasters (fire, flood, etc.).