So you have a problem solving essay due. There is no shortage of problems for you to solve, but thank God we have the Tea Party, which has the answers to pretty much everything. Okay, that was just wrong, sarcasm is not going to help you write a better problem solving essay.
But here is some advice that will. Many problem solving essays go astray because they attack the wrong problem. So if you want a D on your paper, ASSUME you know what the problem is, instead of, God Forbid, actually doing some research.
Here is an example: If your restaurant is doing badly, you must determine the cause of the problem, before presenting a solution. And solutions can include a variety of actions including: increasing ads, launching a public relations campaign, building more in-store displays, expanding your website, increasing and improving signage, incentives for your sales staff , offering food specials , increasing promotions ,and improving employee training.
But with a limited budget, you can go bankrupt trying all possible solutions. You must hone in on the main reason, you are losing business.
Let’s look at a specific case study. Remember – If your restaurant is doing badly, you must determine the cause of the problem, before presenting a solution.
I met a friend the other day at a Mexican Restaurant which is part of a nationwide chain. We were served by a waitress who kept swishing her pony tail over our food, I order a bourbon and water, she didn’t know the difference between scotch and bourbon, our chip dish was never refilled, although we asked three times, the salsa was literally frozen, the men’s room had towels all over the floor, it was out of soap, and it took five minutes to get the waitress’s attention just to bring us a check.
Okay what does this case study have to do with writing a problem solving essay? Let’s say we write a stunning essay on how this restaurant can increase business. We say they can solve their problem by increasing advertising, by increasing the Mexican ambience in the restaurant and by offering more drink specials.
Okay – those great insights will earn you a D if your professor is feeling generous. It may be a well written paper, all the verbs and nouns are in the right places, but the paper is based on a faulty foundation. It may have flash, but no substance and your professor is smart enough to figure that out.
The point is your problem solving essay is addressing the wrong problem.
What is the problem? People don’t return. 80% of your business should be return business and I will never return to that restaurant, even if they have great advertising. Why?
Now there is the gist of the proposal. You need to train management to oversee employees (I didn’t see a manager once walking around), you have to put employees through an extensive customer service program, you have set service goals, i.e. a chip dish never sits empty.
So when you do a problem solving essay:
1. Make sure you are addressing the correct problem .
2. Include follow-up measures to ensure the steps proposed are actually implemented. For example, propose that all employees go through extensive customer service training. Then put a measurement in place, a customer service test they have to pass, before they can start serving customers.
And you might have an A paper.
