Part B - Case Study

Project: Innov8

Introduction:

AP&C is a business consulting firm that provides services to a wide range of organisations. You work at AP&C as a senior consultant. Your specialty is in product/services development. One of your clients, company CON-EXH, is an event management organisation. CON-EXH specialises in organising conferences and exhibitions across Australia. One of their strengths is their ability to market events and attract participants through social media Background

Information:

During 2020 and because of COVID-19, CON-EXH suffered huge losses due to lockdowns and associated restrictions. With the easing of restrictions and vaccine's introduction in 2021, CON-EXH is now planning major events for upcoming years.

The Challenge:

However, during a conversation with the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at CON-EXH, you become aware that one of their major competitors has developed a new application, "X", that reaches event-goers far more effectively than CON-EXH's traditional ways. Numbers warn of further losses if CON-EXH does not develop a new way of winning back their customers.

To end the streak of 2020 losses and address the new competitor's threat, the CMO at CON-EXH calls you for a meeting with their Senior Management team to explore growth opportunities. During the meeting, the CMO suggested replicating the "X" App while providing the same services at lower costs. Some managers suggested moving into other types of events. Other managers challenged the operation processes as classic and outdated. Despite all the differences in opinions, they all agreed to the need for an innovative solution. That was when everyone turned to you.

Required:

Using the design thinking model, explain what you would do at each stage of the model in the context of CON-EXH.

Please note that:

Your task is to demonstrate your understanding of a critical thinking model and its applicability to the case study.

The question here is NOT only assessing your knowledge about the model but also about how you can put this knowledge into practice.

Providing general information about the model will NOT be considered as a sufficient answer.

To answer this question correctly please follow the steps below:

1. Identify the six steps of design thinking.

2. Explain in details each step of the model.

3. Provide examples of different tools that you can use in each step.

4. How would you use tools from each stage in your approach to solving the CON-EXH challenge?

5. What kind of questions would you ask at each step?