Decisions in Paradise Nik and the Team

Decisions in Paradise Nik and the team face significant challenges in expanding Boeing's development and business base on the Island of Kava. Despite the limitations of infrastructure, there are significant opportunities for Boeing to expand its commercial aircraft division and also educate the island's students to contribute in software and engineering careers if they choose the career direction.

Boeing must focus on the aspects of commercial aviation while also seeing the island from a developmental standpoint, concentrating on how best to enable greater education levels for the inhabitants who have skills in math, science and programming. Nik can do well by doing good for the island nation, concentrating on the corporate values of Boeing which seek to invest in their surrounding communities to enrich them, while also seeking out opportunities to nurture a development and engineering base on the island as well.

Forces Involved in the Formulation of the Problem The majority of the island inhabitants are below the age of 25, and the demographics suggest there are large, young families that are in need of a services-based economy to grow their per capital income. Commercial aviation services can be a strong potential contributor to their economy, with the focus being on how to strengthen Kava as a supply chain base in addition to tourist destination for passenger traffic.

Boeing can play an instrumental role in both of these areas, by sponsoring studies of how Kava's location as a potential supply chain hub can drastically reduce the costs of freight and fuel. The Boeing Corporation can also work with its airline services partners including Virgin Australia, Air New Zealand, United, American Airlines and Delta to see how the island nation can best be served by additional tourist flights.

Boeing can also create training and development centers on the island so the citizens of Kava have an opportunity to continually improve their educations as well. The development of supply chain-based solutions for logistics providers, a potential hub for passenger traffic, and making investments in training for services positions including offering programming and engineering courses could completely change the economy of Kava and solidify its financial future.

Problem formulation tools and techniques need to center on creating and implementing this multifaceted plan needs to begin by defining a consistent vision, mission and core set of values to support the new venture (Pandelica, Pandelica, Dabs, 2010).

Nik and his team must define the vision, mission and objectives for the supply chain hub strategy, support for passenger traffic, and the educational and training objectives for creating a services-based economy on Kava that also opens up the opportunity for science and engineering students to gain skills so they can progress in careers with Boeing.

By concentrating on the vision, mission and values that will guide this multifaceted strategy, Nik and the Boeing team will be able to minimize the environmental and infrastructure-based obstacles that are discussed in the case. Creating a unified direction with a common mission and set of values is the galvanizing force that sustains momentum towards long-term goals being fulfilled (Muller, Turner, 2010).

Another aspect of a successful problem formulation is using transformational leadership skills to create a high level of vision and task ownership with those most in a position to lead the project or initiative to successful outcomes (Alstyne, Brynjolfsson, Madnick, 1997). This aspect of change management is another problem formulation strategy that seeks to encourage critical thinking and a focus on the decision making process being shared.

Critical Decision Making Techniques for Managing Stakeholder Needs Nik needs to thoroughly understand the stakeholder needs as they relate to the decision-making process first and then define a series of strategies that take these needs into account (Muller, Turner, 2010). While there are many different approaches and frameworks for doing this, using logic-reasoning and reflective approaches to encourage participation would be the most effective for all participants (Paul, Elder, 2001).

These logic-reasoning and reflexive decision frameworks must also take into account the core requirements of Boeing's relevant divisions in the areas of supply chain management, passenger aviation alliances with key customers and the corporate training department to ensure the vision.