Informal questioning enable students to extrapolate or generalize from specific observations about a topic. Unlike formal questioning, which uses deductive logic to derive a specific conclusion from general principles, informal questioning uses inductive logic to infer a generalization from specific observations. Hence, inductive conclusions lack the certainty inherent in deductive syllogisms. In other words, informal questioning can produce conclusions that are probable, but not guaranteed.

The following inductive argument shows how a chain of observations lead to a generalization:

Observation: High government debt tightens the capital market because business competes with government to borrow money.
Observation: The government's deficit is rising at an unprecedented rate.
Prior experience: Economic recoveries have been hindered by the lack of capital.
Conclusion: Therefore, this economic recovery will be slow.

Notice that the reasoning process is exactly the opposite of deductive logic. Instead of starting with a specific principle (e.g., Tight money markets mean a slow economic recoveries), the string of evidence starts with observations and combines with previous experience to reach a general conclusion.

Despite the lack of certainty, most complex ideas, issues, and topics can only be explored through informal questioning because the specific facts and principles necessary to infer a precise conclusion are simply unavailable. Informal questioning enables the instructor and students to explore open-ended and ill-defined topics. Although it is still advisable to prepare informal questions beforehand, you should be prepared to improvise as discussions proceed. Inductive reasoning seldom follows the path you anticipate.

The following example shows a case assignment, which poses an informal question. (For instructions on how to upload an assignment to Blackboard, click Creating Assignments in Blackboard.)

Online Assignment - The Starbucks Case

Many of us dream of starting a business and watching it grow. Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, made his dream come true. Schultz brought the original Starbucks coffee shop in Seattle in 1987 and rapidly propelled it to a business chain with annual sales of over $2 billion. What are the reasons for Schultz's incredible success?

1. Schultz did not make Starbucks a copycat of typical American coffee shop. Instead, he modeled Starbucks after the neighborhood coffee bars he frequented while in Italy.
2. Schultz has the personal background to help him succeed as an entrepreneur. He possesses a high tolerance for ambiguity and is willing to embrace risk.
3. Schultz's treatment of his employees is another factor in Starbuck's success. The company's employees are called "partners" and even part time employees are offered stock options and health coverage.

Most of you probably have Visited Starbucks coffee shop in your neighborhood. If there is no Starbucks in your area, you can visit their Web site at http://www.starbucks.com or search for articles about Starbucks on the Internet.

The following discussion thread illustrates a typical exchange between instructor and student in response to the above case question (--for instructions on how to create a discussion thread in a Blackboard Forum, click Creating Discussion Threads.)

Discussion Board Thread:

Student Post: Strengths - Starbucks Corporation’s Annual Report for 2003 states that the company had net revenue of $378 million, a 28 percent increase over the same period last year. Starbucks now has 7,225 stores that span North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and the Pacific Rim, which indicates the successful implementation of the company's strategy of global trade within a global market. Starbucks empowers its employs through by treating them as "partners," and emphasizing diversity in the work place. Finally, the company continues to offer premium blends of coffee, served in an uniform manner throughout their many shops.

Weaknesses - Starbucks is obsessed with squeezing every penny out of customers. Evidence of this can be seen in the court cases: Somrak v. Starbucks, which how four Cleveland Starbucks failed to provide ADA accommodations for the disabled and Samperisi v. Starbucks, a woman was award $3.5 million because she was badly burned coffee exploding from a Starbucks' coffee machine. Of course, there was the infamous situation after September 11, when the Starbucks in Manhattan charged firefighters outrageous prices for water. These examples demonstrate that the company is prone to putting profit ahead of shareholders' interests.

Instructor Post: Excellent work researching and detailing the strengths and weaknesses of Starbucks. How would you advise the XYZ Coffee Company to use these strengths and weaknesses to effectively compete against Starbucks?

Student Post: After analyzing Starbucks’ strengths and weaknesses, I would propose the following marketing strategies for Starbucks:

1. Offer to fill the famous Starbucks thermos for a lower price.
2. Offer a Kid Corner that plays 10-minute children videos, so parents can relax and enjoy an espresso.
3. Create a mailing membership and send newsletters that highlight the company's philanthropic works.

Instructor Post: Those are innovative suggestions for Starbucks. However, you are a consultant for the XYZ Coffee Company. How would you advise XYZ to compete with Starbucks? (You can probably adapt your Starbucks recommendations and then look at areas like pricing.)

Student Post: Oops! I feel terrible. I was so intent on coming up with great marketing strategies I forgot they were for the XYZ Coffee Company, not Starbucks. All right, let me try this again. If all the strategies were switched to read XYZ, that should satisfy your first request. In regards to pricing, XYZ could charge less for the same quality espresso.

Instructor: This is a learning experience for everyone, so no reason to feely badly. Your competitive strategies and pricing recommendations for the XYZ Coffee Company are well thought out. Great job!

Note that in the above discussion that the instructor repeatedly steers the student back on track by asking essentially the same question in several different ways. This is a common, even with the brightest students.

Resource Links