Before case analysis, what? Here's The AIM Gordian Knot, Part 2
Frank A. Hilario
November 28, 2011
The AIM Gordian Knot
The Asian Institute of Management (AIM) has been known as the "Harvard of Asia" because AIM uses the case method as the primary mode of learning in all its programs. In collaboration with a seasoned professor, students analyze real-life solutions in class discussions, and learn important concepts and skills. They are drilled in evaluating hundreds of cases during their course to sharpen their managerial skills. An AIM education means rigorous training, up-to-date management concepts, and emphasis on analytical, people management and leadership skills.
The title "The AIM Gordian Knot" means there's an entanglement somewhere, if you can just find it. I repeat my challenge for anyone to investigate it and come up with a little written analysis of this case. To spare you the agony, a brief single sentence will do.
In the meantime, if you think you need some more clues, consider the following excerpts from the AIM leadership magazine:
Ramon Farolan, MM 1975 (quoted by Maria Linda A Juliano-Luciano, AIM Leader, 3rd Quarter 2009, page 44):
What I consider the most valuable input to my career is the CAN group where the group dynamic was new to me. Here in AIM, everyone brought different perspectives and cultures to the table. These diverse backgrounds contributed to and enriched the analysis and the search for solutions.
The clue here is "different perspectives and cultures (brought) to the table."
Datuk Haji Sarip Bin Hamid, MBM 1979 (quoted by Haji Zulkifly Baharom, AIM Alumni Leadership Magazine, October to December 2007, page 49):
The private sector ... is about deals and about relationships. In private equity, an MBA is valued because buying and selling companies involves relationships and company analysis skills. Many companies still require their talented managers to go to business school to learn the leadership technique and practices from the networking with leaders in the academe, corporate sector, nonprofit and government sectors. It is a question of values; the opportunities to sharpen your worldview and work-life balance.
The clue here is "the opportunities to sharpen your worldview."
Ashok Soota, MBM 1973 (written about by Henry Grageda & Susan Africa-Manikan, AIM Alumni Leadership Magazine, October to December 2007, page 44):
Taking a decision for himself and seeing the vast potential in IT, Soota joined Wipro Infotech as President in 1984. Under his helm, the company expanded from a US$ 2 million business in 1984 to a US$ 500 million business by 1999 with the reputation of being the largest publicly listed IT company in India. ...
Then MindTree happened. At 57 years of age, Soota saw the vast potential of trekking on his own, and felt the passion of the entrepreneurial spirit.
The clue here is "seeing the vast potential."
Virgilio "Nonoy" Espeleta, MBM 1991 (quoted by Susan Africa-Manikan, AIM Alumni Leadership Magazine, July to September 2007, page 45):
I could not forget the first day: eager to start with what I had prepared for over the weekend, I actively participated in the marketing class discussion. The professor, sensing my inexperience in marketing, challenged me. By hindsight, I learned that the professors really make it hard for students during the first few months as an acid test or pruning process for students. So eager to participate, I was reciting when the professor insulted me by saying, "Naku, taga saan ka ba? Saan ka ba nag-aral? (Where are you from? Where did you study?) He asked me a battery of terrorizing questions, which obviously I was not prepared to parry that early ... I cried in the chapel on the first day. I really cried. I asked myself "Why am I here? I had a good job and a good family." I prayed, "Lord you brought me here so I should finish - and I should persist."
There is no clue to what I'm driving at in the excerpt above. I just wanted to point out that insults are not creative at all. As a guru, I want my workshop participants to all be not afraid of being creative - and not afraid of me. In any case, insults are the exact opposite of the creative process embedded in the Case Method of Harvard / AIM.
Almira I Tapiador, MM 2008, Corporate HR Manager, Saudi German Hospital Group (AIM Leader, Double Issue 2010-2011, vol 5 no 4, page 82):
As Prof Gavino constantly reminded us, you have to identify the source / cause of the problem and only then can you solve it.
The clue here is "to identify the source / cause of the problem."
Frank H's "The AIM Gordian Knot" challenge is in fact an example of AIM's vague awareness of the creative process. I can assure you that there is one very important detail that AIM is only subliminally conscious of but is excellent with it in practice: Creative Thinking.
This is how it all works out; from aim.edu, let me repeat here the AIM text of the case study I created (from "The Case Method," aim.edu):
The AIM Gordian Knot
The Asian Institute of Management (AIM) has been known as the "Harvard of Asia" because AIM uses the case method as the primary mode of learning in all its programs. In collaboration with a seasoned professor, students analyze real-life solutions in class discussions, and learn important concepts and skills. They are drilled in evaluating hundreds of cases during their course to sharpen their managerial skills. An AIM education means rigorous training, up-to-date management concepts, and emphasis on analytical, people management and leadership skills.
What exactly is the problem? Or, is there a problem at all?
We now visit the Harvard Business School MBA website, hbs.edu, and look for the clue in this entry:
When students are presented with a case, they place themselves in the role of the decision maker as they read through the situation and identify the problem they are faced with. The next step is to perform the necessary analysis - examining the causes and considering alternative courses of actions to come to a set of recommendations.
The clue there is "considering alternative courses of actions."
You will find another clue in this quote from an AIM graduate (topmba.com):
"I was challenged many times in class reviewing case studies that exposed our ways of decision-making and the short and long-term effects of these decisions. I got a better understanding of many aspects of doing business, not only of the top line," says [Milosz] Mogilnicki.
What do you do before you make a decision? You analyze. What do you do before you analyze? You identify the problem. What do you do before you identify the problem? That's your clue!
Here's your final clue from Regina Paz Lopez, MDM 1992 (quoted by Jerry Quibilan, AIM Alumni Leadership Magazine, April to June 2008, page 47):
AIM was a most welcome and refreshing experience - transiting me to the real world, awakening long asleep muscles through critical thinking and expression. I relished the classroom discussions, expressing insights. It was a period of distinct awakening for me.
Lopez had been away from the Philippines for more than 10 years. What she brought in was a fresh mind open to intuition. (She´s the one in the image from the AIM magazine that I painted with software.) Your final clue there is "expressing insights."
While I work on "Here's The AIM Gordian Knot, Part 3," I leave you now to your insights.
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