Episode 6: Tying the Recommendation and Implementation Plan Together

This article is written by Cam Welsh, a coach with over two decades of experience guiding successful case-solving teams at the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary.

In my years of coaching case-solving teams, I consistently emphasize the crucial importance of creating a strongly supported recommendation as a fundamental part of the problem-solving process. Through my experience, I have found that successful teams not only focus on developing the recommendation but also on building a meticulous plan for its implementation. The most successful teams I have worked with have adopted an approach that presents the recommendation and its implementation together, often using a two or three-pronged strategy. This comprehensive approach ensures that the team not only identifies the best recommendation but also outlines a clear and effective plan for putting it into practice.

The first step involves presenting an overview of the recommendation's phases at a high level and introducing it to the audience. If it's time, this step involves showing why the recommendation is the best alternative based on decision criteria, which will be further discussed in a future newsletter. After outlining the decision-making process, the team then needs to describe the recommendation at a high level to provide the audience with a basic understanding. This step should also include a simple timeline. If presentation time does not allow for the discussion of alternatives, it's crucial to ensure that information is included in any backup or appendix slides. The team must be prepared to talk about these slides in the Q&A.

Step two involves discussing each phase in chronological order. Begin by providing a comprehensive description of the recommended phase, including supporting facts and insights to link the analysis to the recommendation. It is then crucial to outline the steps required to implement that phase of the recommendation. Along with the steps, it's necessary to identify the individuals or departments responsible and accountable for the steps and define the success metrics. Please take care not to place all the responsibility on the most senior manager as this shows the team's understanding of how businesses work, especially at the undergraduate level. Detailed recommendations and an implementation plan are key to success as these are the most heavily weighted components of case competition scorecards. The keys to success are to avoid being vague and using jargon. For example, if the team suggests a social media campaign, include details like the platforms to use and why, the hashtags, and mock-ups if possible. If the team recommends market research, please be specific about the type of research to conduct and what is hoped to be found by the research. It is also important to include a detailed timeline of the steps of the phase that includes what I refer to as "real-time". This should outline months and years from the time the case is dated.

In step two, I also have my teams include the costs associated with each step and identify each cost as incremental, one-time, or ongoing costs. This can then extend into the financial analysis, examining revenues and profitability.

The third and last step is to bring it back to the recommendation to ensure the audience has a clear understanding of the overall recommendation and its benefits. Often my teams do this with a timeline review that highlights the key steps and timings of the recommendation. This section is followed by future considerations and the risk mitigation strategy, which will be the subject of the next episode of the newsletter.