Do you believe that Smith’s gender played a part in his success? Why or why not?
> Interview a business owner or senior manager. Ask this individual to describe the following things: (1) How broad the competition is in the market in which they operate. (2) What the relative strength of the key competitors is. (3) How they would rank th
> How would you describe The Luxury Closet’s marketing philosophy in terms of utility offered to its customers? Discuss the marketing mix of The Luxury Closet as a start-up.
> Describe the consumer buying process for someone purchasing online luxury products. How do photos and videos fit within the process?
> Describe the Luxury Closet’s segmentation and targeting strategy. What was its value proposition to its target customers?
> What factors in the external environment encouraged Kunal Kapoor to launch The Luxury Closet? Assess the opportunities and challenges that environment presented.
> If you were the marketing manager, how would you handle this matter?
> From an ethical standpoint, what are the obligations of the marketing manager and the risk control manager regarding the introduction of the product in this situation?
> How would you characterize the particular ethical issues in this situation?
> Secondary research can reveal a great deal about the competitive environment in which businesses operate. Government statistics are a great source of free data. If you were researching your country’s competitive environment for businesses, where would yo
> What are the five forces in the external marketing environment?
> Go online and search for at least three companies that are considered great places to work. Describe the compensation, benefits, and perks at each of these companies. Of the three, which is most appealing to you and why?
> What are the disadvantages of buying a Cold Stone Creamery franchise?
> How much will benefit considerations affect your choice of an employer after graduation? What types of benefits would be most and least appealing to you and why?
> What are distinct challenges of managing knowledge workers?
> It is not always appropriate or fair to offer performance-related pay for all jobs and positions. Other bonus systems work better for certain job roles and positions. Why is this the case? Are the alternatives fair? Should the bonuses be solely based on
> What is the value of internal recruitment? Why would an organization consider internal recruitment essential in some cases?
> What is workforce diversity? Why are many organizations keen to make sure they have workforce diversity?
> What are company-wide incentive schemes? Give three examples of plans that are used by some organizations.
> What challenges might you face as a manager working in this environment? How could you overcome these challenges?
> Why might an organization choose to run vestibule training? Under what kind of circumstances is it likely to be used?
> What types of policies and benefits do you believe are most supportive of work/life balance?
> What trade-offs is SAS making to offer the benefits and culture described?
> What would be the advantages of buying a Cold Stone Creamery franchise as opposed to starting a business from scratch?
> After reading about SAS Institute, what would appeal to you most about working there?
> If you were an employee of the Accor Hotels Group, given its customer-centric strategy, how would you expect your performance appraisal to be conducted? Would it be relevant to use both objective and judgmental methods in this performance appraisal? Why?
> As an HR executive at the Accor Hotels Group, you need to identify employees with high potential to become future leaders who embody the strategic approach of the Sofitel brand toward the customer’s experience and to develop a training program for them.
> How does an initiative like Discovery Night positively impact the HR supply-and-demand management in the Accor Hotels Group? Why can this initiative be considered a recruitment tool? To what extent does such an initiative contribute to employees’ trainin
> What do you think most workers would do in this situation? What would you do?
> What are the basic arguments for and against extreme measures to fight unionization efforts?
> What are the ethical issues in this situation?
> Interview the HR manager at a local company about their hiring processes. Describe how they recruit employees to apply for jobs, the steps in the selection process, and their orientation program for new employees.
> What is a realistic job preview, and why is it considered a vital part of external recruiting by many organizations?
> Overwhelmingly, the CEOs of the largest companies in the United States are white males, but women and minorities are making inroads. Identify a leader who is a member of a minority group and describe the challenges that he or she faced and overcame.
> Suppose Reed Hastings asked you for advice on how to make Netflix better. What would you tell him?
> Identify a leader who you believe exhibits charismatic leadership and explain the behaviors that support this conclusion.
> The impact of virtual leadership is likely to grow in the future. As a potential “follower” in a virtual leadership situation, what issues would be of most concern to you? What would the issues be from the perspective of the “leader” role in such a situa
> In terms of cross-cultural leadership, how would you characterize the key cultural differences between countries like the United States and Japan?
> Explain why a school teacher might choose to use reward power to influence her students.
> List and briefly explain the behavioral aspects of decision making.
> In leadership substitutes and neutralizers, what are organizational factors?
> How does a leader differ from a manager? Describe the situational approach to leadership and three major theories within this category. How would the path–goal theory help you identify the most appropriate leadership style in a situation?
> Do you think that you would have enjoyed working for Apple during Jobs’s leadership? Why or why not?
> Describe Jobs with respect to intuition, escalation of commitment, and risk propensity.
> What challenges face employees working for a leader such as Jobs?
> Labor is usually referred to as human resources. Aside from physical work, what else does this include?
> Summarize the basic premises underlying the trait approach to leadership.
> Jobs enjoyed almost cult-like loyalty among his employees. Why do you think people clamored to work for Apple under Jobs’s leadership?
> Do you think Steve Jobs was a charismatic leader? What leads you to this conclusion?
> What are three important lessons from Smith’s career path?
> How would you describe Brad Smith’s leadership style?
> What personal traits does Brad Smith possess that aid him as a leader?
> What would you do to make sure this never happened again?
> What do you think most managers would do in this situation?
> What are the ethical issues in this situation?
> Enterprising people can spot promising opportunities. What do they need to do when they have?
> In 2017, Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu, an Ethiopian businessperson, entrepreneur, and founder of sole Rebels, was named African Female Leader of the Year. Research Alemu’s career. What type of leader is she? How would you describe her leadership style? Do you
> How do you distinguish between reward power and coercive power?
> Assume you are about to start your own business. What would you do from the beginning to ensure that your employees will be satisfied and motivated?
> What would you tell a worker performing a simple and routine job who wants more challenge and enjoyment from work?
> Describe your most recent job in terms of your contributions and the organization’s inducements.
> According to Maslow, what happens when an individual’s set of needs is satisfied? What should an organization do then?
> What is person-job fit? Describe a person-job fit you currently have or have had in the past with an employer, or describe the person-job fit of the instructor in your class.
> What goals are set by using management by objectives? How does this work?
> Describe several strategies and techniques for enhancing employee motivation and give examples of each.
> Using Herzberg’s two-factor theory, determine which factor is more important to you and describe how you would assess a potential employment situation for those factors.
> When output grows more quickly than population, what usually follows?
> Describe your ideal job or career and list the performance behaviors that you think would make you successful.
> What criteria do you have for a great place to work?
> How does a psychological contract differ from a business contract?
> Do you believe that companies have a social responsibility to pay higher wages? Why or why not?
> Use equity theory, expectancy theory, or two-factor theory to explain Aetna’s decision.
> How Maslow’s hierarchy of could needs help explain the relationship between pay and productivity?
> Explain Aetna’s decision in light of the classical theory of motivation.
> What factors motivate you personally?
> Do you think that higher pay caused higher productivity and lower turnover for Aetna? What leads you to this conclusion?
> What would you do?
> What are the laws of demand and supply?
> What do you think most managers would do in this situation?
> What are the ethical issues in this case?
> Interview your employer or an administrator at your college. Ask the manager what they believe motivates their employees. Identify one or more theories of motivation that seem consistent with this manager’s approach.
> What does emotional intelligence and emotional quotient demonstrate about an employee?
> Map out the processes involved in preparing, researching, drafting and finalizing your next major assignment for this course. Work backwards from the deadline and show all the predecessor relationships involved in the process.
> If you were a member of a quality improvement team at your college, what would be five specific high-impact recommendations that you would support? Of those five, which two would be the most important, and briefly explain what strategies you might employ
> Develop a list of internal customers and internal suppliers for a business that you use frequently (or where you work), such as a cafeteria, a dormitory or hotel, or a movie theater. Identify areas for potential quality improvement in these internal cust
> What type of business strategy does Disney use to attract customers to its theme parks? What does the company do to implement its strategy? What are the key operational characteristics?
> Apply the five major categories of operations planning to your college or to a local business.
> What are the five areas that comprise materials management?
> Give an example of a monopoly. Under what business circumstances would monopolies be preferable to the presence of competition?
> Production adds value by providing utility in terms of which three utility factors?
> How important is quality in your day-to-day life? What measures or processes are in place around you to maximize the quality of your work, and how effective are they?
> The Sri Lankan factories draw a correlation between employee motivation and the quality of their tea-processing stages. What motivates and demotivate’s you, and how do you think this affects the overall quality of your work?
> Sri Lankan tea factories have sought to improve quality through the management of the supply chain and by making improvements to the living conditions of on-site workers. When observed through the lens of Hertzberg’s Two-Factor Theory (motivators–hygiene
> Visit the website of two coffee manufacturers or producers. Determine how the firms ensure the quality of their product through the production process. How robust is the process, and how does it compare to the measures put in place by the Sri Lankan tea
> For Sri Lankan tea makers, the quality of the tea is primarily dependent upon management of the supply chain. How can technology be used to manage the supply chain, and what technology do you recommend?
> Using the same airline, identify common customer complaints and the causes for the quality issues. Make at least five suggestions as to how you would improve the customer experience without increasing overall costs.
> Identify a local or regional airline and suggest the major factors that need to be considered in terms of their operations planning. What needs to be addressed?
> To what extent do you agree with the notion that airlines are a high-contact system? What are the implications of this for airlines?
> In most developed nations, what is the most significant sector in terms of employment and national income?
> Identify and describe the features of a domestic environment. Why is it important to a business organization?
> Many reviews of airlines are not objective. Reviews are often tainted by previous experience, popular myths, and issues that are actually beyond the control of the airline. In using these potentially biased reviews, it is important to ascertain which iss
