Choose a fast-food restaurant, a department store, or some other organization with which you are familiar, and describe the division of labor and job specialization it uses to produce goods and services. How might this division of labor be improved?
> What is the relationship between ethics and the law?
> What could you or the person who was treated unfairly have done to improve matters and rectify the injustice on the spot?
> Was the decision maker aware that he or she was acting unfairly?
> In what ways, if any, were biases, stereotypes, or overt discrimination involved in this situation?
> Why do you think that the decision maker acted unfairly in this situation?
> Was any sexual harassment involved in this situation? If so, what kind was it?
> How attuned are the mangers in the organization to the need to increase efficiency, quality, innovation, or responsiveness to customers? How well do you think the organization performs its prime goals of providing the goods or services that customers wan
> If you had authority over the decision maker (that is, if you were his or her manager or supervisor), what steps would you take to ensure that the decision maker stops treating people unfairly?
> Why can you chew gum on the street but not in a church?
> What makes chewing gum acceptable in the United States and unacceptable in Singapore?
> How can you use ethical principles to decide when gum chewing is ethical or unethical and if and when it should be made illegal?
> Find an example of (a) a company that has an obstructionist approach to social responsibility and (b) one that has an accommodative approach.
> Select a company on the list and go to that company’s web page. How would you describe the company’s organizational ethics?
> What do you believe are the occupational ethics of the people who work at the company?
> Do you think it was unethical that the attendees tweeted out information about the new drug and results of the study? Why or why not?
> Suppose you were the marketing director at a pharmaceutical company that had just received promising results about a new drug still in the development stage. What ethical responsibilities do you have to keep the information confidential?
> How have social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook changed the discussion about confidentiality and social responsibility? Explain.
> You sign a contract to manage a young rock band, and that group agrees to let you produce their next seven records, for which they will receive royalties of 5%. Their first record is a smash hit and sells millions. Do you increase their royalty rate on f
> You’re the manager of sales in an expensive sports car dealership. A young executive who has just received a promotion comes in and wants to buy a car that you know is out of her price range. Do you encourage the executive to buy it so you can receive a
> Describe the way the organization treats its human resources. How does this treatment affect the attitudes and behaviors of the workforce?
> You are planning to leave your job to go work for a competitor. Your boss invites you to an important meeting where you will learn about new products your company will be bringing out next year. Do you go to the meeting?
> If your preferred option involves a layoff, justify why. If it doesn’t involve a layoff, explain why.
> Describe how you will communicate your decision to employees.
> Develop a list of options and potential courses of action to address the heightened competition and decline in profitability that your company has been experiencing.
> Because of measurement error and validity problems, some relatively trustworthy people may “fail” an honesty test given by an employer. What are the ethical implications of trustworthy people “failing” honesty tests, and what obligations do you think emp
> Either individually or in a group, think about the ethical implications of using personality and interest inventories to screen potential employees. How might this practice be unfair to potential applicants? How might organizational members who are in ch
> Why might managers be disadvantaged by low levels of emotional intelligence?
> Can managers be too satisfied with their jobs? Can they be too committed to their organizations? Why or why not?
> Discuss why managers who have different types of personalities can be equally effective and successful.
> Go to an upscale clothing store in your neighborhood, and go to a clothing store that is definitely not upscale. Observe the behavior of employees in each store as well as the store’s environment. In what ways are the organizational cultures in each stor
> Think of the organization and its resources. Do its managers utilize organizational resources effectively? Which resources contribute most to the organization’s performance?
> Interview a manager in a local organization. Ask the manger to describe situations in which he or she is especially likely to act in accordance with his or her values. Ask the manager to describe situations in which he or she is less likely to act in acc
> Do you think he is high or low on emotional intelligence? Why do you think this?
> Do you think Buffett is high or low on emotional intelligence? Why do you think this?
> Warren Buffett is known for his “hands off” management style when it comes to managing his own management team. Do you think this strategy has helped him become so successful? Explain your reasoning.
> What values are emphasized in this culture?
> In what ways is the organizational culture communicated to organizational members?
> Who seems to have played an important role in creating the culture?
> What norms do members of this organization follow?
> Search the web for changes occurring in the meatpacking business.
> Also use the theories to discuss the ethical issues involved in the way the meat-packing business is being conducted today.
> How did your supervisor’s approach to management affect your attitudes and behavior? For example, how well did you perform as a subordinate and how motivated were you?
> Use the theories discussed in the chapter to debate the ethical issues involved in the way the Westland/ Hallmark Meat Co. business operated.
> Why are mechanistic and organic structures suited to different organizational environments?
> What is contingency theory? What kinds of organizations familiar to you have been successful or unsuccessful in dealing with contingencies from the external environment?
> How are companies using management science theory to improve their processes? Is this theory equally applicable for manufacturing and service companies? If so, how?
> Which of Weber’s and Fayol’s principles seem most relevant to the creation of an ethical organization?
> In what ways are Weber’s and Fayol’s ideas about bureaucracy and administration similar? How do they differ?
> Apply Taylor’s principles of scientific management to improve the performance of the organization you chose in topic 1.
> What steps might you take to motivate consultants to learn to use the new technology?
> What problems do you think you may encounter in convincing consultants to use the new IT?
> When is it ethical for employees to give information about a company’s unethical or illegal practices to a third party, such as a newspaper or government agency?
> Ethically speaking, how far should a company go to protect its proprietary information, given that it also needs to protect the privacy of its employees? What steps can it take?
> Why is face-to-face communication between managers still important in an organization?
> How can IT help in the new product development process?
> Many companies have reported that it is difficult to implement advanced management information systems such as ERP systems. Why do you think that this is so? How might the roadblocks to implementation be removed?
> Visit at least two organizations in your community, and identify those that seem to operate with a Theory X or a Theory Y approach to management.
> Because of the growth of high-powered, low-cost wireless communications and IT such as videoconferencing, many managers soon may not need to come into the office to do their jobs. They will be able to work at home. What are the pros and cons of such an a
> What is the relationship between IT and competitive advantage?
> To be useful, information must be of high quality, be timely, be relevant, and be as complete as possible. Why does a tall management hierarchy, when used as a management information system, have negative effects on these desirable attributes?
> Ask a manager to describe the main kinds of IT that he or she uses on a routine basis at work.
> What are the advantages and disadvantages of business-to-business networks?
> Compare the pros and cons of using a network structure to perform organizational activities versus performing all activities in house or within one organizational hierarchy.
> How do the products overlap? In other words, might some products make others reach the decline stage of development?
> Where do you believe each product is in its life cycle?
> What role, if any, do you see virtual assistants playing in a manager’s workday as this technology continues to evolve?
> Are there downsides to using technology to automate your dorm room or apartment? Explain.
> Question a manager about his or her views of the relative importance of Fayol’s 14 principles of management.
> Do you think the tasks, roles, and skills of your supervisor are appropriate for the particular job he or she performs? How could this manager improve his or her task performance? How can IT affect this?
> Provide some ideas of how Apple can strengthen its strategic alliances with developers to improve Siri’s capabilities.
> How might advanced IT improve the competitive position of this organization? In particular, try to identify the impact that a new MIS might have on the organization’s efficiency, quality, innovation, and responsiveness to customers.
> Do you think that the organization’s existing MIS gives managers with high-quality, timely, relevant, and relatively complete information? Why or why not?
> Describe the management information systems that are used to coordinate and control organizational activities and to help make decisions.
> In what ways can the Internet help this organization improve its competitive position?
> What kinds of IT or MISs can be used to help the company manage these forces?
> What are the various forces in a specialty furniture maker’s task environment that have the most effect on its performance?
> The group members playing Rister and Schwartz assume their roles and negotiate a solution to these three problems.
> Observers determine the extent to which Rister and Schwartz use distributive negotiation or integrative bargaining to resolve their conflicts.
> What steps can managers and organizations take to ensure that this strategy does not result in important issues and differing points of view being suppressed in an organization?
> What are some of the challenges faced by GE’s current leadership team?
> Either individually or in a group, think about the ethical implications of controlling the agenda as a political strategy.
> Why is it best to use power unobtrusively? How are people likely to react to power that is exercised obtrusively?
> Think of a member of an organization whom you know and who is politically powerful. What political strategies does this person use to increase his or her power?
> What steps can managers take to ensure that organizational politics are a positive force leading to a competitive advantage, not a negative force leading to personal advantage at the expense of organizational goal attainment?
> Why do effective managers need good political skills?
> Why do organizational politics affect practically every organization?
> How can managers promote integrative bargaining?
> Why should managers promote integrative bargaining rather than distributive negotiation?
> Why are compromise and collaboration more effective ways of handling conflict than accommodation, avoidance, and competition?
> Discuss why too little conflict in an organization can be just as detrimental as too much conflict.
> How were early acquisitions and mergers related to one another?
> Interview a manager in a local organization to determine the kinds of conflicts that occur in that manager’s organization and the strategies that are used to manage them.
> Do you think this novel approach to raising overall wages in the food industry will become commonplace across the country? Why or why not?
> How can restaurant managers help explain a company’s decision to do away with tipping for its employees that will keep diners happy and coming back for more meals?
> What types of conflicts are described in this Case in the News?
> What could you have done differently to more effectively manage conflict in C2?
> What conflict management strategies were used in C1 and in C2?
> What was the source of the conflict in C1 and in C2?
> Briefly describe C1 and C2. What type of conflict was involved in each of these incidents?
> A third group of resistant employees is made up of members of groups and teams who do not want to use the groupware that has been provided to them. You think the groupware could improve their communication and performance, but they seem to think otherwis
