WPC 300 ASU Exam 1 (concept quiz, knowledge check, etc) UPDATED
ACTUAL QUESTIONS AND CORRECT ANSWERS
Which of the problem statements require "analytical" skill A. P1
to solve?
P1. Do I want to be a business analyst? This involves careful thinking of the past activities and assessment of how well you
P2. Do I cross the street when the traffic light is red? are prepared for the job.
A: P1
B: P2
C: P1 & P2
D: None
How has managerial skills evolved in 21st century? C: Focused on complex problem solving
A: Focused on strategy
B: Focused on execution In 21st Century, more emphasis is placed on how teams go about sharpening
C: Focused on complex problem solving complex problem solving and critical thinking skills.
D: Focused on negotiation
Five Why Method You ask at least five time"why" until you really understand why (this is so dumb).
Five Why Tree
David asked repeatedly a why-type question to analyze a C: a tree or chain
problem.
What does he produce eventually? This is true when you use the five-why method to get to the bottom of the
A: a table problem.
B: an equation
C: a tree or chain
D: a matrix
, PrOACT Model The PrOACT Model:
▪ Problem
▪ Objectives
▪ Alternatives
▪ Consequences
▪ Tradeoffs
Seven Steps of Problem Solving: Define the problem
Disaggregate (separate into smaller components)
Prioritize (prune)
Workplan
Analyze
Synthesize
Communicate
Which of the following is not one of the seven steps in C: Weight
bulletproof problem solving?
A: Disaggregate This is not part of the seven steps of problem solving
B: Analyze
C: Weight
D: Communicate
1. Define The Problem SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound)
2. Disaggregate the Issue Disaggregate the defined problems into different component parts or issues.
Employ logic trees (driven from alternative hypotheses of the answer) to
disassemble the problems into parts for analysisII.
3. Prioritize the Issue: Prune the Tree Identify which branch of the logic tree has the highest impact on the problem and
focus on them for solution
▪ Prune the logic tree by removing branches highlighting less impact on the
problems
▪ Prioritizing analyses finds critical path to answer the problem efficiently while
making the best use of team time and resources.
4. Build a Work plan and Timetable Once the component parts are prioritized, link each part to a plan for fact
gathering and analysis
▪ The work plan and timetable assigns team members to analytic tasks with
specific outputs and completion dates.
▪ Good team norms and processes help avoid common pitfalls and biases
indecision making (confirmation bias, sunk cost fallacy and anchoring bias)
5. Conduct Critical Analysis For simplicity, start with heuristics -short cuts or rule of thumbs - to get an order
of magnitude understanding of each problem component and assess the
priorities quickly
▪ This helps us understand where we do need more work including more complex
analytics techniques such as game theory, regression, Monte Carlo simulation, or
machine learning
ACTUAL QUESTIONS AND CORRECT ANSWERS
Which of the problem statements require "analytical" skill A. P1
to solve?
P1. Do I want to be a business analyst? This involves careful thinking of the past activities and assessment of how well you
P2. Do I cross the street when the traffic light is red? are prepared for the job.
A: P1
B: P2
C: P1 & P2
D: None
How has managerial skills evolved in 21st century? C: Focused on complex problem solving
A: Focused on strategy
B: Focused on execution In 21st Century, more emphasis is placed on how teams go about sharpening
C: Focused on complex problem solving complex problem solving and critical thinking skills.
D: Focused on negotiation
Five Why Method You ask at least five time"why" until you really understand why (this is so dumb).
Five Why Tree
David asked repeatedly a why-type question to analyze a C: a tree or chain
problem.
What does he produce eventually? This is true when you use the five-why method to get to the bottom of the
A: a table problem.
B: an equation
C: a tree or chain
D: a matrix
, PrOACT Model The PrOACT Model:
▪ Problem
▪ Objectives
▪ Alternatives
▪ Consequences
▪ Tradeoffs
Seven Steps of Problem Solving: Define the problem
Disaggregate (separate into smaller components)
Prioritize (prune)
Workplan
Analyze
Synthesize
Communicate
Which of the following is not one of the seven steps in C: Weight
bulletproof problem solving?
A: Disaggregate This is not part of the seven steps of problem solving
B: Analyze
C: Weight
D: Communicate
1. Define The Problem SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound)
2. Disaggregate the Issue Disaggregate the defined problems into different component parts or issues.
Employ logic trees (driven from alternative hypotheses of the answer) to
disassemble the problems into parts for analysisII.
3. Prioritize the Issue: Prune the Tree Identify which branch of the logic tree has the highest impact on the problem and
focus on them for solution
▪ Prune the logic tree by removing branches highlighting less impact on the
problems
▪ Prioritizing analyses finds critical path to answer the problem efficiently while
making the best use of team time and resources.
4. Build a Work plan and Timetable Once the component parts are prioritized, link each part to a plan for fact
gathering and analysis
▪ The work plan and timetable assigns team members to analytic tasks with
specific outputs and completion dates.
▪ Good team norms and processes help avoid common pitfalls and biases
indecision making (confirmation bias, sunk cost fallacy and anchoring bias)
5. Conduct Critical Analysis For simplicity, start with heuristics -short cuts or rule of thumbs - to get an order
of magnitude understanding of each problem component and assess the
priorities quickly
▪ This helps us understand where we do need more work including more complex
analytics techniques such as game theory, regression, Monte Carlo simulation, or
machine learning
