Business, philosophy: structured vs unstructured problem

Self-tutoring about business definitions: the tutor entertains structured and unstructured problems.

Structured problems are ones where you know what the solution will look like; if your situation doesn’t look like that, it needs to be solved. Structured problems are often described as routine and familiar because, due to experience, their structure is known.

Unstructured problems are ones where the solution state is unknown – that is, as you try to solve it, you won’t necessarily recognize progress. An example is deciding whether to buy solar panels or not for your house.

Source:

thebusinessprofessor.com