| Course | DDBA 8560 Seminar in Healthcare Managerial Decision Making |
|---|---|
| Week | Week 2 |
| Paper type | Problem statement |
| Length | About 550 words, 4 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Walden University |
| Program | Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for DDBA 8560 Week 2
Which Action Open to the Manager Shortens the Wait for Routine MRI? A One-Page Problem Statement for an Outpatient Imaging Service, With the Limits Radiology Has Already Set and the Case for Framing It This Way
Student Name
Walden University
DDBA 8560: Seminar in Healthcare Managerial Decision Making
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Which Action Open to the Manager Shortens the Wait for Routine MRI? A One-Page Problem Statement for an Outpatient Imaging Service, With the Limits Radiology Has Already Set and the Case for Framing It This Way
The Decision
Which of the actions open to the service manager would most shorten the wait for routine outpatient MRI at Brookfield Outpatient Imaging, a composite hospital-owned center in central Ohio? The routine wait, measured as the third next available appointment, is now 23 days. The hospital's access target is 10 days. Over the past three years, demand has risen by roughly 6 percent annually. The center performs about 1,000 routine MRI scans a month on two fixed scanners, a 1.5 tesla and a 3 tesla unit, running on weekdays between seven in the morning and five in the afternoon, plus a mobile scanner leased two days a week.
What the Manager Cannot Move
The manager's choices are bounded by decisions others have already made, and each has an owner. Protocol durations, how long each type of scan takes, are set by the contracted radiology group and cannot be shortened by the manager. Technologist credentialing standards are set by the hospital's credentialing policy and state requirements. The mobile scanner's days and hours are fixed by its lease, which runs another twenty months. Radiologists' reading assignments are set by the radiology group's contract.
How the Problem Is Classified
Simon (1960) distinguished programmed decisions, which are routine and handled by established procedures, from nonprogrammed decisions, which are novel, poorly structured and require search. Shortening the wait is nonprogrammed for this service: no procedure exists for it, and the causes are not yet agreed. Mintzberg et al. (1976) found that unstructured decisions move through identification, development and selection phases, and that identification, which includes diagnosis, is often skipped or rushed. This problem sits in diagnosis: the service does not yet know whether the wait comes mainly from capacity, scheduling practices or no-shows.
Why Frame It This Way
Nutt (1999) reviewed several hundred decisions made inside organizations and reported failure in about half of them, often traceable to the fact that those deciding seized on the first proposal they heard and stopped looking. A question that already contained a remedy, such as how to add evening hours, would commit the service before options are known. Asking which action open to the manager would shorten the wait keeps the search open while respecting what the manager cannot change.
What the Manager Can Move
Within those limits, the manager controls several things: the hours the fixed scanners operate, how appointment slots are templated and released, how reminders and confirmations are handled, how many technologists are scheduled on each shift within the collective agreement, and whether to request changes to the mobile lease when it comes up for amendment. These are the levers any option must work through. Listing them here does not favor one; it marks the space in which the search for options will take place, so that later weeks can show the search covered it.
What the Framing Leaves Out
The framing excludes actions only others can take, such as shortening protocols, and it treats the access target as given. If the radiology group were willing to review protocols, a wider question would be appropriate.
References
Mintzberg, H., Raisinghani, D., & Theoret, A. (1976). The structure of "unstructured" decision processes. Administrative Science Quarterly, 21(2), 246-275. https://doi.org/10.2307/2392045
Nutt, P. C. (1999). Surprising but true: Half the decisions in organizations fail. Academy of Management Perspectives, 13(4), 75-90. https://doi.org/10.5465/ame.1999.2570556
Simon, H. A. (1960). The new science of management decision. Harper & Row.
The Walden DDBA 8560 Week 2 instructions
Week 2 asks for a one-page problem statement for a decision your organization faces. Write the decision as a question that names the decision maker's options in general without proposing any of them. Give the figures that show the gap, such as current and target performance. List what the decision maker cannot change, tracing each limit to its owner. Classify the problem using decision research, explaining what kind of process it needs. Argue briefly why your framing is better than one containing a remedy. State what the framing leaves out, and list the levers the decision maker does control. Keep everything to one page; the constraint is part of the exercise and forces you to decide what matters.
Inside the DDBA 8560 Week 2 example
The sample's question asks which manager action would most shorten the routine wait. The figures section gives the third next available appointment, the access target, demand growth and scanner hours. The limits section names protocol durations, credentialing standards, the mobile lease with twenty months left and radiologists' reading assignments, each with its owner. The classification section places the problem among nonprogrammed decisions and in the diagnosis phase, since causes are not yet agreed. The framing section explains that asking how to add evening hours would commit the service early. A final section lists the levers the manager does hold. The framing note admits that the access target is treated as given and that protocol review would widen the question.
Where the marks sit in the DDBA 8560 Week 2 rubric
Marks gather around the question sentence and the list of limits. A statement whose question already contains a remedy gives up most of what the framing criterion offers, because the choice has been made before options exist. The limits list is read for ownership: a given without a named owner reads as the writer's assumption rather than the organization's constraint. The classification paragraph carries the doctoral weight, tested by whether the cited research bears on this problem. Page discipline matters, since the format rewards economy. An honest note on what the framing excludes shows awareness of its trade-offs. Accurate figures with clear measures, such as third next available appointment, show the writer understands the operation.
DDBA 8560 Week 2 help from the desk
Write your question several times until it contains no verb that names a solution. Gather the two or three figures that show the gap most clearly. For each limit, ask who set it and whether that person or body could change it; if you cannot name an owner, it may be your assumption. Read the cited decision research closely enough to apply its categories, not just mention them. Keep to one page; cut background that does not affect the decision. A list of the decision maker's levers helps later weeks show the search for options was complete. Limits drawn from your own workplace are welcome, as long as each one names the person or body that set it.
Get a DDBA 8560 Week 2 example written to your instructions
Forward the Week 2 prompt, the rubric, and a sentence describing the service your decision sits in, and a one-page statement framed on those terms returns inside 24 to 48 hours, the first one free. Leave out whichever solution you already favor; the page is stronger for not knowing it.
More DDBA 8560 papers and DBA samples
- DDBA 8560 Week 1: Decision Ownership Discussion
- DDBA 8560 Week 3: Management Evidence Memo
- DDBA 8560 Week 4: Decision Criteria Matrix
- DDBA 8560 Week 5: Decision Options Analysis
- DDBA 8560 Week 6: Decision Risk Brief
- DDBA 8560 Week 7: Department Cost Case
- DDBA 8560 Week 8: Consent Map Brief
- DDBA 8560 Week 9: Sequenced Implementation Plan
- DDBA 8560 Week 10: Decision Monitoring Plan
- DDBA 8560 Week 11: Final Decision Paper
- DDBA 8561 Week 2: Cross-Organization Process Map
- DDBA 8541 Week 2: Demand Evidence Note
- DDBA 8531 Week 2: Buying Center Map
- DDBA 8524 Week 2: Authority Analysis
DDBA 8560 Week 2 questions, answered
Where can I find a free DDBA 8560 Week 2 sample paper?
Brookfield's single-page MRI problem statement sits under the free sample paper heading.
What decision does the DDBA 8560 Week 2 page frame?
Which action open to the manager would most shorten the routine MRI wait at an outpatient imaging center.
How long is the current wait?
Twenty-three days for routine MRI, measured as third next available, against a 10-day target.
What can the manager not change?
Protocol durations, credentialing standards, the mobile scanner lease and radiologists' reading assignments.
Why does the framing avoid naming a remedy?
Naming one would commit the service before options are known, a common cause of failed decisions.