To diagnose a coordination problem, follow the symptom back to the point where one function needed information and did not have it.
This lesson is the last in SPM Business functional areas. It uses the roles from distinguishing roles from activities and leads into how business functions depend on each other.
The fictional case
Nasi Kerabu Kak Ani posts a “buy one, get one free” offer for Saturday. By 10 a.m. the stall has no rice left, and 40 customers leave.
The staff were rushed because nobody told them about the offer. The cash box is short because of the free packets.
A four-step method
- Symptom. What went wrong? The stall ran out of rice and customers left.
- Where it showed. Which function saw it first? Operations, which had to cook.
- Missing information. What did that function not know? The offer and the expected extra orders.
- Who held it. Which function had the information? Marketing, which posted the offer.
The finance side matters too. Nobody worked out how much the free packets would cost, so the cash shortfall was also unplanned.
The mistake that costs marks
A common answer blames one function: “Marketing made a mistake by running a promotion.” That is a judgement without a diagnosis.
A better answer says, “Marketing posted the offer without telling operations the quantity to expect. Operations cooked the usual amount, so stock ran out, and finance had not allowed for the cost of the free packets.”
| Feature | Blame answer | Diagnosis |
|---|---|---|
| Names missing information | No | Offer details not shared |
| Links two functions | No | Marketing to operations and finance |
| Suggests a fix | No | Share plan before posting |
Turning the diagnosis into a recommendation
A useful fix is specific: “Before posting an offer, marketing should tell operations the date and likely quantity, and finance should check the cost of the free items.”
This fix follows from the diagnosis. If your recommendation could apply to any business, go back and add a detail from the case.
Check yourself
A school uniform shop promotes a discount week. Stock runs low on the first day, and the owner cannot reorder because the supplier has not been paid. Diagnose the problem in two sentences.
Answer
“Marketing planned a discount week without checking stock with operations, so stock ran low on day one. Finance had not planned cash for supplier payment, so the shop could not reorder in time.”
The missing information was the expected demand and the cash position.
What to study next
Move to how business functions depend on each other for longer cases, and practise in the functional areas practice set.
For a teacher to go through new cases with you, see online one-to-one Business tuition.