Strategy

Creative thinking and problem solving

Creative problem solving follows a path: define the problem, find the causes, list alternatives, choose, implement and evaluate.

CAPS

Grade 11 · Business Studies · Strategy

Business Studies answers in business language, applied to the scenario.

The papers
Paper 1 is business environments and business ventures. Paper 2 is business roles and business operations. Each paper is 150 marks.
A 40-mark essay
Introduction 2 marks: say what the essay will deal with. Body: facts from the scenario, each with an explanation of the impact or the solution. Conclusion 2 marks: a decision, not a new fact. Insight is 4 marks for layout, analysis, synthesis and originality.
How a marker reads it
A common mix-up is jumping to one favourite idea before the cause is named, so the fix misses the real blockage.

Quotes from a scenario must be used, not copied as decoration. A definition with no link to the business in the question stays in the low marks.

Worked theory

Worked theory. A school tuckshop in Mamelodi has a break queue that blocks the only gate. The problem is not that learners are rude. The causes are one till, a slow menu, and a queue standing in the gate path. Alternatives include a second till, a shorter menu of vetkoek and fruit, and a painted line that sends the queue off the gate. The school chooses the line and the shorter menu, which cost almost nothing. A week later the gate is clear and sales of the remaining items hold steady, so the check shows the cause was the layout and the menu, not bad manners.

More worked examples

Soweto laundry pickup
A laundry in Soweto keeps missing the 5 pm pickup and the owner first blames lazy staff. A closer look shows one dryer and a van that arrives at 4 pm, before drying finishes. Alternatives are a second dryer, a later van, or washing school uniforms first. They choose uniforms first and a 6 pm van. The next week most bundles are ready, so the check shows the staff were not the cause.
Khayelitsha airtime drawer
An internet cafe in Khayelitsha loses airtime vouchers every afternoon. The problem is defined as missing stock, not teenagers in general. The cause is an open drawer during the busy hour. Alternatives include a lockbox, selling only from the till, or cameras. They choose a lockbox and one seller, and a month later the weekly shortfall drops from about R400 to almost nothing.

In ordinary words

Defining the problem states what is actually wrong, not the first annoyance that comes to mind. Causes are why it happens, and alternatives are several possible fixes, including plain ones, before anyone picks a favourite. The choice uses criteria such as cost, time and whether the cause really goes away. Implementing puts the choice into action, evaluating checks whether the problem is smaller than before, and skipping a step usually means the fix hits a symptom.

In South Africa

At a Mamelodi school the tuckshop line and the entrance share the same strip of concrete.

Part 1 / 4

What it is

Creative problem solving follows a path: define the problem, find the causes, list alternatives, choose, implement and evaluate.

More worked examples

Board walkthroughs on this topic. Open one, copy the working, then try the next.

Example 1 / 20

Name and explain three problem-solving techniques.

How we got there

Read this like a teacher at the board. We go slowly, name every number, and say why we take each step.

Explain in another language · 11

1. What is the question asking?

Read the question twice. Circle the unknown. Underline every number and unit. The paper is asking: Name and explain three problem-solving techniques.

In other words — as if you have never seen this before

If you have never seen this before: Brainstorming, nominal group, Delphi. We will name a method in words, write the formula with no numbers, then substitute one line at a time.

2. What do we already know?

Techniques.

3. Which method — and why this one?

Brainstorming, nominal group, Delphi.

4. Step-by-step working

01 / 07
Step A — Read the question twice
Slow down. Circle the word that names the unknown. Underline every number and its unit. Do not grab a formula yet — first decide what the paper is actually asking.
Why this step: If you can say the method in a sentence, you will pick the right formula. First-timers skip this and grab the first equation they remember.
02 / 07
Step B — Write the given in a column
Techniques.
Why this step: A column with units stops you mixing cm with m, or minutes with seconds. Markers can also see you started correctly.
03 / 07
Step C — Name the method in words
Brainstorming, nominal group, Delphi.
Why this step: If you can say the method in a sentence, you will pick the right formula. First-timers skip this and grab the first equation they remember.
04 / 07
Identify the given
Brainstorming: many ideas quickly. Nominal group: individual ideas then ranking. Delphi: experts answer questionnaires anonymously.
Why this step: We only do one job per line so a marker can follow the marks — and so you can find a slip without starting over.
05 / 07
Step G — Sense-check the size
Ask: is this the kind of number a Grade 10–12 paper would want? A speed of 3 000 ms for a learner walking, or a probability bigger than 1, means a unit or algebra slip. Estimate first: round the numbers and do the sum in your head.
Why this step: Markers write ‘unrealistic’ in the margin when the method is right but the size is wild. A 10-second head check often finds a missing 10² or a unit that never changed.
06 / 07
Step F — Box the answer with its unit
Brainstorming, nominal group, Delphi.
Why this step: A number without a unit is half a mark on a Physics paper, and a marker can miss a Maths answer that is buried in working.
07 / 07
Step H — What the marker is looking for
On an NSC memo you usually earn: (1) a method mark for naming the right formula or idea in words, (2) an accuracy mark for substituting the given numbers with units, (3) an accuracy mark for the boxed answer with its unit. Write those three lines even if you are unsure of the arithmetic — blank pages score zero.
Why this step: First-timers chase the final number and leave the method blank. The memo still pays out for the idea and the substitution even when the last line is wrong.

5. The answer

Brainstorming, nominal group, Delphi.

Copy onto your answer sheet — in this order

Answer: Brainstorming, nominal group, Delphi.

6. Check it like a marker

Choose to suit the problem.

7. A trap first-timers fall into

First-timers often grab the first formula they remember, mix units (cm with m, minutes with seconds), or drop a minus sign. Write the formula in words first: “this equals that, because…”

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