16 Jun What strategic plans could the college or university at which you are taking this management course adopt to compete for students in the marketplace? Would these

BA 210

Review questions Unit 3

15JUN2022

Please write your response to the following review questions in 2-3 sentences.

Chapter 5

1. What strategic plans could the college or university at which you are taking this

management course adopt to compete for students in the marketplace? Would these plans

depend on the school’s goals?

2. The MBO technique has been criticized for putting too much emphasis on achieving goals

(ends) and not enough on the methods that people use to achieve them (means). Do you

think this is a flaw in the technique or in the way managers apply it? How would you place

a balanced emphasis on ends and means?

3. A new business venture must develop a comprehensive business plan to borrow money to

get started. Companies such as FedEx and Nike say they did not follow the original plan

closely. Does that mean that developing the plan was a waste of time for these eventually

successful companies?

4. Assume that Southern University decides to do two things: (1) raise its admission

standards and (2) initiate a business fair to which local townspeople will be invited. What

types of plans might it use to carry out these two activities?

5. LivingSocial started with one “daily deal,” a $25 voucher for $50 worth of food at a

Washington D.C., area restaurant. Since then, the company has grown at breakneck

speed, has 46 million members in 25 countries, and has acquired a dozen companies that

offer related deals and services. Why and how might a company such as LivingSocial want

to use scenario building? Discuss.

6. Some people say an organization could never be “prepared” for a disaster such as the

shooting at Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California, the Japan nuclear

disaster, or the huge BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Discuss the potential value of crisis

planning in situations like these, even if the situations are difficult to plan for.

7. Goals that are overly ambitious can discourage employees and decrease motivation, yet

the idea of stretch goals is proposed as a way to get people fired up and motivated. As a

manager, how might you decide where to draw the line between a “good” stretch goal and

a “bad” one that is unrealistic?

8. Netflix has successfully adapted to a number of challenges in its industry. What do you

see as some engineering opportunities and threats for the company?

9. Fortune magazine and the Hay Group found that a clear, stable strategy is one of the

defining characteristics of companies on the list of “The World’s Most Admired

Companies.” Why might this be the case?

10. Using Porter’s competitive strategies, how would you describe the strategies of Walmart,

Bergdorf Goodman, and T.J. Maxx?

Chapter 6

1. Aaron Alexis, the former Navy reservist who went on a shooting rampage in September

2013 and killed 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington D.C., had a history

of mental instability, but he was carrying a valid security clearance. How would you

suggest managers make decisions for issuing or revoking security clearances to prevent

this kind of catastrophe?

2. Managers at Gap Inc., a once-popular retail chain, are reported to have made a series of

decisions that hurt the company: They expanded so rapidly that the chain lost touch with

customers; they tried to copy the successful approach of rivals rather than charting their

own course; they cut quality to reduce costs; they shifted from one fashion approach to

another as each one failed to appeal to customers, and so on. What techniques would you

recommend Gap managers use to improve the quality of their decisions?

3. Explain the difference between risk and ambiguity. How might decision making differ for a

risky versus an ambiguous situation?

4. Analyze three decisions you made over the past six months. Which of these were

programmed and which were non-programmed? Which model—the classical,

administrative, or political—best describes the approach you took to making each

decision?

5. What opportunities and potential problems are posed by the formation of more than one

coalition within an organization, each one advocating a different direction or alternative?

What steps can you take as a manager to make sure that dueling coalitions result in

constructive discussion rather than dissension?

6. Can you think of a bad decision from your own school or work experience, or from the

recent business or political news, that was made in an effort to correct or justify a past

decision? As a new manager, how might you resist the urge to choose a decision

alternative based on the idea that it might correct or validate a previous decision?

7. Experts advise that most catastrophes in organizations result from a series of small

problems or mistakes. As a new, entry-level manager, how might you apply this

understanding to help your organization avoid making major mistakes?

8. List some possible advantages and disadvantages to using computer technology for

managerial decision making.

9. Can intuition and evidence-based decision making coexist as valid approaches within an

organization? How might managers combine their intuition with a rational, data-driven,

evidence-based approach?

10. What do you think is your dominant decision style? Is your style compatible with group

techniques such as brainstorming and engaging in rigorous debate? Discuss.

BA 210

Review questions Unit 4

15JUN2022

Chapter 7

1. If you wanted to add a group of big data scientists to a large organization such as PepsiCo,

would you centralize the scientists in a central pool at headquarters or decentralize them to

separate divisions? Discuss your reasons.

2. How does relational coordination differ from teams and task forces? Do you think relational

coordination seems more valuable for a service technology or a manufacturing technology?

Explain your answer.

3. An organizational consultant was heard to say, “Some aspect of functional structure appears

in every organization.” Do you agree? Explain.

4. Some people argue that the matrix structure should be adopted only as a last resort because

the dual chains of command can create more problems than they solve. Discuss. Do you

agree or disagree? Why?

5. What is the virtual network approach to structure? Is the use of authority and responsibility

different compared with other forms of departmentalization? Explain.

6. A report published by Hay Group found that some managers have personalities suited to

horizontal relationships, such as project management, that achieve results with little formal

authority. Other managers are more suited to operating roles with much formal authority in a

vertical structure. What type of structure—functional, matrix, team, or virtual network—do you

believe your personality would best fit? Which structure would be the most challenging for

you? Give your reasons.

7. Describe the primary differences between manufacturing and service technology. How do

these differences influence the type of structure that will be most effective?

8. Experts say that organizations are becoming increasingly decentralized, with authority,

decision-making responsibility, and accountability being pushed farther down into the

organization. How will this trend affect what will be asked of you as a new manager?

9. This chapter suggested that structure should be designed to fit strategy. Some theorists argue

that strategy should be designed to fit the organization’s structure. With which theory do you

agree? Explain.

10. Would you expect the structure of a company such as Facebook, which operates almost

entirely online, to differ from the structure of a bricks-and-mortar company such as AT&T,

which uses the Internet only for some things, such as customer service and business-tobusiness

transactions? Why or why not?

Chapter 8

1. Microsoft and Intel are giants of the computer industry. Why do you think that these large

companies have had such a hard time competing against disruptive innovations such as

mobile computing?

2. A manager of an international chemical company said that few new products in her company

were successful. What would you advise the manager to do to help increase the company’s

success rate?

3. As a manager, how would you deal with resistance to change when you suspect employees’

fears of job loss are well founded?

4. If you were a manager responsible for floor cleaning products at a consumer products

company, how might you apply crowdsourcing to identify a new product that would meet

customer needs?

5. To tap into the experience of battle-tested soldiers, the U.S. Army recently began encouraging

personnel from all ranks to go online and collaboratively rewrite some of the Army’s field

manuals in a Wikipedia-like fashion. When the rank and file showed little interest, one retired

colonel suggested top leaders should make soldiers participate. Does coercion seem like a

good way to implement this type of change? Discuss.

6. Analyze the driving and restraining forces of a change that you would like to make in your life. Do you believe understanding force-field analysis can help you more effectively implement a significant change in your own behavior?

7. Why do you think research has shown that idea champions are so essential to the initiation of

change? Could they be equally important for implementation?

8. You are a manager, and you believe the expense reimbursement system for salespeople is

far too slow, taking weeks instead of days. How would you go about convincing other

managers that this problem needs to be addressed?

9. Do the underlying values of OD differ from assumptions associated with other types of

change? Discuss.

10. What do you see as the major advantages and disadvantages of a company moving to open

innovation?

Chapter 9

1. Does it seem like a good idea to let a big data computer program make hiring decisions, as

some companies like Xerox are doing, as described in this chapter? What types of positions

do you think this might be suitable for? What might be some drawbacks to this approach?

2. Assume that it is the year 2027. In your company, central planning has given way to frontline

decision making and bureaucracy has given way to teamwork. Shop floor workers use

handheld devices and robots. A labor shortage currently affects many job openings, and the

few applicants you do attract lack skills to work in teams, make their own production

decisions, or use sophisticated technology. As vice president of HRM since 2015, what should

you have done to prepare for this situation?

3. Is it wise for managers to evaluate a promising candidate’s tweets or postings on social

networking sites as grounds for rejection before even interviewing him or her? What might be

ethical and legal issues for managers to consider? Discuss.

4. One HR manager recently got a thank-you note on her iPhone that said “Thx 4 the Iview!” The manager had liked the candidate’s interview, but after getting the note, she put him in the

reject pile. Why do you think she rejected the candidate? Was that fair? Should “textspeak” be

considered acceptable workplace communication? Discuss.

5. How do you think feedback based on a 360-degree feedback system would be received by

employees in Germany or China (see Exhibit 9.10) compared to employees in America? How

about feedback from a forced ranking system? Which system—360 or forced ranking—would

be more suitable for each country? Discuss.

6. How would you go about deciding whether to use a job-based, skills-based, or pay-for performance compensation plan for employees in a textile manufacturing plant? For waitstaff

in a restaurant? For salespeople in an insurance company?

7. Evaluate your own experiences with people from other cultural backgrounds. How well do you think those experiences prepared you to understand the unique needs and dilemmas of a

diverse workforce?

8. Until Sheryl Sandberg was promoted to chief operating officer of Facebook in 2012, its board

was composed of only men. Yet a majority of Facebook’s 845 million users are women. Given

this demographic, explain how Facebook might benefit from increasing the presence of

women on its corporate board.

9. If talkative men are viewed as powerful and competent, why do you think talkative women are

seen as less capable and pushy? Do you think this perception would be different in an

organization with a large percentage of female managers at top levels?

10. Describe how diversity of thought boosts creativity and innovation in the workplace. Why do

managers consider diversity of thought a competitive advantage?

BA 210

Review questions Unit 5

15JUN2022

Please write your response to the following review questions in 2-3 sentences.

Chapter 10

1. Why is self-awareness important for being a good manager? Can you think of some specific

negative consequences that might result from a manager with low self-awareness?

2. As a manager, how might you deal with an employee who is always displaying negative

emotions that affect the rest of the team? How might you use an understanding of attributions

and emotional contagion to help you decide what to do?

3. What are some specific tips that you would give a new manager for building trust with

subordinates? With other managers?

4. The chapter suggests that optimism is an important characteristic for a manager, yet some

employees complain that optimistic managers cause them significant stress because they

expect their subordinates to meet unreasonable goals or expectations. How might an

employee deal with a perpetually optimistic manager?

5. Studies have suggested that extroverts contribute less to teams and are poor listeners, yet

other studies suggest that they are more likely to earn six-figure incomes, even in today’s

collaborative, team-oriented workplaces. Discuss why you think this might be the case.

6. Surveys by the Conference Board show that job satisfaction has declined from 61 percent of

people surveyed in 1987 to 50 percent in 2013, and one workplace analyst has said a high

level of dissatisfaction is “the new normal.” What are some factors that might explain this

decline in satisfaction levels? Do you think it is possible for managers to reverse the trend?

Discuss.

7. Which of the four components of emotional intelligence do you consider most important to an

effective manager in today’s world? Why?

8. How might understanding whether an employee has an internal or an external locus of control

help a manager better communicate with, motivate, and lead the employee?

9. How do you think a system for self-management such as the five-step system described in

this chapter could benefit you as a student? What parts of the system seem particularly useful

to you? Explain.

10. Why do you think workplace stress is skyrocketing? Do you think it is a trend that will

continue? Explain the reasons for your answer. Do you think it is the responsibility of

managers and organizations to help employees manage stress? Why or why not?

Chapter 11

1. Suggest some personal traits that you believe would be useful to a business leader today. Are

these traits more valuable in some situations than in others? How do you think traits differ

from strengths?

2. In a study asking what people wanted from leaders versus followers, people ranked maturity

number 8 for followers, but number 15 for leaders. What might account for people wanting a

higher maturity level from followers?

3. If a male manager changes his behaviors to incorporate elements of interactive leadership

more common to female managers, can he still be an “authentic” leader? Discuss.

4. Studies of women leaders suggest that many of them view power differently than men do and

prefer a collaborative, relationship-oriented use of power. If this is the case, what does it

suggest about women leaders’ abilities to accomplish goals? What does it suggest about

women’s ability to rise to higher organizational levels? Discuss.

5. What skills and abilities does a manager need to lead effectively in a virtual environment? Do

you believe a leader with a consideration style or an initiating-structure style would be more

successful as a virtual leader? Explain your answer.

6. What is transformational leadership? Give examples of organizational situations that would

call for transformational, transactional, or charismatic leadership.

7. How does Level 5 leadership differ from the concept of servant leadership? Do you believe

anyone has the potential to become a Level 5 leader? Discuss.

8. Why do you think so little attention is given to followership compared to leadership in

organizations? Discuss how the role of an effective follower is similar to the role of a leader.

9. Do you think leadership is more important or less important in today’s flatter, team-based

organizations? Are some leadership styles better suited to such organizations as opposed to

traditional hierarchical organizations? Explain.

10. Consider the leadership position of a senior partner in a law firm. What task, subordinate, and

organizational factors might serve as substitutes for leadership in this situation?

Chapter 12

1. Why do you think making progress ranks as the most important factor contributing to

motivation, according to recent studies? How can managers provide a sense of progress for

employees working on long-range projects that might not show results for months or even

years?

2. Psychologists have identified three pathways to happiness: pleasure, engagement, and

meaning. Do you think that it is the manager’s responsibility to help people find these

elements in their work? Discuss.

3. Assume that you are a front-line manager at a call center. Try to come up with a specific

motivational idea that fits in each of the four quadrants in Exhibit 12.2: Growth/Positive

Extrinsic; Growth/Positive Intrinsic; Pain/Negative Extrinsic; Pain/Negative Intrinsic.

4. In response to security threats in today’s world, the U.S. government federalized airport

security workers. Many argued that simply making screeners federal workers would not solve

the root problem: bored, low-paid, and poorly trained security workers have little motivation to

be vigilant. How might these employees be motivated to provide the security that travel

threats now demand?

5. Using Hackman and Oldham’s core job dimensions, compare and contrast the jobs of these

two state employees: (1) Jared, who spends much of his time researching and debating

energy policy to make recommendations that will eventually be presented to the state

legislature and (2) Anise, who spends her days planting and caring for the flower gardens and

grounds surrounding the state capitol building.

6. If an experienced executive assistant discovered that she made the same amount of money

as a newly hired janitor, how do you think she would react? What inputs and outcomes might

she evaluate to make this comparison?

7. A survey of teachers found that two of the most important rewards were the belief that their

work was important and a feeling of accomplishment. According to Maslow’s theory, what

needs do these rewards meet?

8. Use Herzberg’s two-factor theory to explain why motivation seems to be high and turnover low at Zingerman’s, based on the information provided in a “Recipe for Success” box in the

chapter.

9. Why do you think empowerment increases motivation? Do you see any ways in which a

manager’s empowerment efforts might contribute to demotivation among employees?

Discuss.

10. A recent Gallup survey shows that highly educated workers are significantly less likely to be

engaged than are those with a high school diploma or less. What might be some reasons for

this lower level of engagement among more well-educated employees?

Chapter 13

1. What are the characteristics of an open communication climate? Describe the organizational

benefits of managers cultivating an open communication climate.

2. Describe the elements of the communication model in Exhibit 13.2. Give an example of each

part of the model as it exists in the classroom during communication between teacher and

students.

3. Lana Lowery, a regional manager for a 100-person inside-sales team, notices that its best

performer is struggling. Her sales are down 20 percent from a year ago, and she frequently

arrives late for work, looking upset. Lowery needs to find out why her performance is

suffering. What advice would you give Lowery for communicating with this employee? Which

communication channel should she use? What would be the relative importance of candor,

listening, and asking questions? Explain.

4. One small business owner said that he had to teach his young employees what a “dial tone”

was. Do you have phone aversion? Do you think it is possible to build a solid business

relationship with customers using only text messaging, e-mail, and social media?

5. Some senior managers believe they should rely on written information and computer reports

because these yield more accurate data than do face-to-face communications. Do you agree?

Why or why not?

6. During times of significant organizational change, such as downsizing and layoffs, the

grapevine becomes more active as anxious employees share organizational news and

rumors. As a manager, what communication strategies would you employ during a time of

uncertainty in the workplace? What are the advantages and disadvantages of gossip during a

time of uncertainty?

7. Assume you manage a small online business that sells herbal supplements. Without your

knowledge, a disgruntled employee has posted damaging information about your company to

the company’s public blog, including false information about dangerous ingredients in your

best-selling supplement. What specific steps would you take to minimize the impact of this

crisis?

8. If you were asked to design a training program to help managers become better

communicators, what would you include in the program?

9. Suppose that you manage an employee who is spending too much time using social media at

work. The result is that he has missed three important deadlines in one week. You are

planning a face-to-face conversation to address this performance problem, and your goal is to

communicate with candor. Using “I statements” as described in this chapter, how would you

begin this conversation?

10. Describe specific ways that you might incorporate Twitter into an organization’s crisis

communication plan for customers. How about for employees?

Chapter 14

1. One company had 40 percent of its workers and 20 percent of its manager’s resign during the

first year after it reorganized from a vertical hierarchy into teams. What might account for this

dramatic turnover? How might managers ensure a smooth transition to teams?

2. Have you experienced any of the five contributions of teams shown in Exhibit 14.2 with a team that you have participated in? Describe your experience and why you think that the team was able to make that specific contribution.

3. Suppose that you are the leader of a team that has just been created to develop a new

registration process at your college or university. How can you use an understanding of the

stages of team development to improve your team’s effectiveness?

4. Research on team interactions described in the chapter indicates that when people eat lunch

at 12-person tables, they are more productive and collaborative than when they eat at 4-

person tables, even if they aren’t eating with their own team members. What do you think

would explain this finding?

5. Imagine yourself as a potential member of a team responsible for designing a new package

for a breakfast cereal. Do you think interpersonal skills would be equally important if the team

is organized face to face versus a virtual team? Why or why not? Might different types of interpersonal skills be required for the two types of teams? Be specific.

6. If you were the leader of a special-purpose team developing a new computer game and

conflicts arose related to power and status differences among team members, what would you

do? Which of the styles to handle conflict described in the chapter do you think might be most

effective? Explain your answer.

7. Experts say that for teams to function well, members have to get to know one another in some

depth. What specifically would you do to facilitate this in a co-located team? What about in a

global, virtual team?

8. Some people argue that the presence of an outside threat correlates with a high degree of

team cohesion. Would you agree or disagree? Explain your answer.

9. Discuss how the dilemmas of teamwork vs. individual work might be intensified in a virtual

team. What dilemmas do you encounter when you have to do class assignments as part of a

team? Discuss.

10. If you were the leader of a newly formed team, what might you do to make sure that the

team developed norms of high performance?

Please write your response to the following review questions in 2-3 sentences.

Chapter 15

1. You have been hired to manage a 20-person staff for Nightlight Travels, a travel agency in

Las Vegas. For five years, sales have been hammered by the global recession, and staff

morale has plummeted as star employees have left for positions in more secure industries.

Key customer relationships have been damaged by the sloppy and unprofessional work

habits of the remaining staff members. Your first responsibility as new manager is to

create next year’s budget for all planned expenditures. But first you must decide if you will

adopt a hierarchical approach or a decentralized approach to control. Which one would

you choose, and why?

2. You’re a manager who employs a participative control approach. You’ve concluded that

corrective action is necessary to improve customer satisfaction, but first you need to

convince your employees that the problem exists. What kind of evidence do you think

employees will find more compelling: quantitative measurements or anecdotes from your

interactions with customers? Explain your answer.

3. Describe the advantages of using a balanced scorecard to measure and control

organizational performance. Suppose you created a balanced scorecard for Walmart.

What specific customer service measures would you include?

4. In zero-based budgeting, every account starts at $0, and every dollar added to the budget

is reflected by an actual, documented need. Identify the possible advantages of zerobased

budgeting.

5. Most companies have policies that regulate employees’ personal use of work computers

during work hours. Some even monitor employee e-mails and track the Web sites that

have been visited. Do you consider this type of surveillance an invasion of privacy? What

are the advantages of restricting employee use of the Internet and e-mail at work?

6. Think of a class you’ve taken in the past. What standards of performance did your

professor establish? How was your actual performance measured? How was your

performance compared to the standards? Do you think the standards and methods of

measurement were fair? Were they appropriate to your assigned work? Why or why not?

7. Some critics argue that Six Sigma is a collection of superficial changes that often result in

doing a superb job of building the wrong product or offering the wrong service. Do you

agree or disagree? Explain.

8. What types of analysis can managers perform to help them diagnose a company’s

financial condition? How can a review of financial statements help managers diagnose

other kinds of performance problems as well?

9. Why is benchmarking an important component of TQM programs? Do you believe a

company could have a successful TQM program without using benchmarking?

10. What is ISO certification? Why would a global company like GE want ISO certification?