Colabmo development course A-P02

Learning objective: Apply the same reasoning discipline to a different business process.

Fictional transfer case. The facts below are teaching inputs, not actual purchasing rules or results.

Riverbend Consulting needs a better way to approve routine purchases. Its last 60 completed requests included 18 returned for incomplete justification. The current flow sends every request through a manager, finance and a weekly committee. A fictional policy requires a budget owner’s authorization before commitment; a second requires independent review for purchases above a defined threshold. The case does not specify that threshold, so do not invent a monetary amount. The committee’s role in routine cases is unclear.

The sponsor asks for “instant purchasing.” The requester needs a timely, correct decision and a clear way to obtain needed goods or services. Finance needs evidence of budget authority and correct classification. The team’s boundary ends with an authorized purchase decision and communicated next action; supplier performance and payment processing are outside it, although interfaces may matter.

Do not copy the onboarding solution. The functions, authority and evidence differ. Establish what a purchase request must contain for a decision, what determines independent-review applicability, and who owns exceptions. Ask whether the committee supplies a necessary decision or merely repeats an earlier one.

Develop alternatives such as improved evidence preparation with existing authority, delegated routine decisions within verified limits, or scheduled specialist review only for relevant exceptions. Each alternative remains conditional on the applicable rules and actual information requirements. Identify which choices change authority and which change only the mechanism.

A useful recommendation can remain incomplete in a disciplined way: “We can test whether better request evidence reduces returns while retaining current authority. We cannot assess the delegated route until the threshold and delegation rules are confirmed.” That is a stronger conclusion than filling the gap with a convenient invented rule.

Practice

Individually draft W1, W4 and W5. In pairs produce two alternatives and a W8 test. Mark each point where you need a missing policy detail. Finish with a 90-second recommendation that names the current decision and the unresolved dependency.

Check your reasoning

What can be concluded from the 18 returned requests?