Building a range of solutions
What "a range" means, and why it matters
- Achieved requires a range of possible solutions — two or more — and Merit requires you to fully explain how each would address the problem.
- So a solution answer has two jobs: propose something, and show the link between it and the cause. A solution that does not connect to the cause you identified is not a solution, however sensible it sounds.
Where to find solutions
- Match the solution to the type of cause. This is the fastest reliable method in the exam:
| If the cause is… | The solutions come from… |
|---|---|
| Distance or lead time | Relocating, adding a site, holding more stock closer, changing freight mode |
| A supplier or manufacturer | Auditing them, changing them, dual-sourcing, bringing the work in-house |
| Quality | Changing the quality system, redesigning the product, retraining, changing materials |
| Distribution or intermediaries | Removing a layer, changing distributor, selling direct, appointing an in-market agent |
| Culture or language | Cultural training, in-market staff, local agent, adapting the product |
| Demand falling in one market | Diversifying markets, repositioning, changing price or format, exiting |
| A capital or investment decision | Appraising the options properly, leasing rather than buying, staging the investment |
| Intellectual property | Registering rights in that market, enforcing, renegotiating the agreement, redesigning around it |
- Aim for solutions that are genuinely different from each other — one that changes the process and one that changes the partner, for example. Two versions of the same idea do not make a range.
Explaining how a solution addresses the problem
- Merit wants "fully explaining how possible solutions would address the complex problem, with an awareness of impact". The shape:
- name the solution precisely — not "improve distribution" but "open a second distribution point in southern Europe"
- link it to the cause — "this removes the thousand-kilometre road leg that is creating the lead time"
- say what improves — "so a French store's replacement stock arrives in two days rather than five"
- carry it to a goal — "which keeps the shelf filled, protects the store's sales and preserves the shelf space Rāwhiti currently holds"
- name the cost — every solution costs something, and Merit-level awareness of impact includes the downside
Solutions that do not earn marks
- Too vague. "Improve quality", "communicate better", "do more marketing".
- Not linked to the cause. Proposing a marketing campaign when the problem is that the product is not on the shelf.
- Impossible for this business. A solution the resource tells you the business cannot afford or cannot access.
- A restatement of the problem. "The business should stop having stock-outs."
- Costless. Every solution has a cost. An answer that presents one as pure gain has not been thought through, and it leaves nothing to weigh at Excellence.