New book guides Notre Dame MBA students in solving problems

"What in the world do I do now?" – At Notre Dame, we don’t want our students to face that question for the first time when they’re on the job. That’s why we give them a forum to exercise analytical skills in a problem-setting arena before they have to make that all-important judgment call in the midst of a business problem or crisis.

To help Notre Dame MBA students acquire these much-needed skills, Ed Conlon, Associate Dean in the Mendoza College of Business, and Viva Bartkus, Associate Professor of Management, have co-authored Getting It Right: Notre Dame on Leadership and Judgment in Business. The book, an offshoot of a problem-solving course that prepares future business leaders with the necessary skills and practice to solve complex, cross-disciplinary real business problems, has proven to be a valuable tool within the MBA curriculum. 

 "The problem-solving course offers a framework for solving business problems and challenges students to dig deeper to identify ways to solve those problems," says 2008 Notre Dame MBA student Robert Henry. "While we were in class, we read selected excerpts from the book and used it as background. Then, just as a doctor analyzes a patient’s symptoms, develops a diagnosis, and treats his condition, we do the same in the business realm." According to Viva Bartkus, who came to Notre Dame with ten years of consulting experience, the seven-week course offers a plethora of opportunities to exercise good judgment and make sound decisions, with four course cases designed for teams and two for individuals.

Unravel Tough Business Problems