Decision-making Case Studies from Robust Decisions

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Hewlett Packard Inkjet development

Ink delivery system design requires optimization of numerous interacting and evolving properties of the ink and delivery components. The nature, meaning, and relative importance of these interactions is not well understood or represented. In this uncertain environment, it is important to choose the best ink early. A poor decision might result in costly, additional project cycles, or in sub-optimal product performance.

HP managers report the following using Accord and the Robust Decisions method:

Potential elimination of an ink testing iteration later in the project. Time savings: as much as five months (all projects are still in progress).
An estimated 30-50% increase in decision confidence (based on a qualitative impression).

Read entire case study (PDF).

Boeing Space Division (now Pratt and Whitney)

During the development of a new liquid fuel rocket engine or the redesign of a current product, a challenge is to minimize the risk of making poor decisions when knowledge is uncertain and the market is changing. In order to find the optimum design, and to meet criteria for performance, cost, and weight, many parameters must be traded off, one against the other. The goal is to decide on a design that best satisfies all the criteria and represents stakeholders' views.

Boeing managers reported the following:

Team members agreed with the results
The results were delivered quickly
The risk of design cycle repetition was reduced
Knowledge uncertainty was managed
Decision confidence increased
Risk mitigation areas were identified
Team discussions and consensus were improved
Strong personalities were better managed
Accord was much easier to use and interpret

Read entire case study (PDF).

ATT Solutions

Force protection, counter-terrorism, and homeland security demand efficient, near real time, accurate intelligence mechanisms and tools to assess and predict future terrorist capabilities and likely threats. The challenges of collecting, fusing and analyzing noisy, scarce information from multiple sources and dense data streams so that likely terrorist and targets can be identified is clearly difficult. Making decisions based on this information is daunting. Accord proved to be an easy-to-use and useful support tool for this type of problem.

Hewlett Packard

Often the most difficult part of solving a problem is knowing where to start. In this case study, members of a Hewlett Packard knowledge sharing team had struggled with a technology decision for two years. This case study shows any technical or non-technical team how to approach a difficult decision where the facts and trends are uncertain.

HP Managers reported the following:

The stuck decision was rapidly resolved
Buy-in from all stakeholders

Read entire case study (PDF).

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