Do you see Facebook or Twitter becoming the dominant social platform in the United States the way WeChat has taken over the Chinese way of life?
> Describe some of REI’s stewardship efforts and how they impact the company’s corporate strategies.
> How does the functional-level strategy differ between Whole Foods and the new 365 stores? Explain.
> Provide a brief SWOT analysis for the new 365 stores.
> Visit an organization and talk to first-line, middle, and top managers about their respective management roles in the organization and what they do to help the organization be efficient and effective.
> Describe how senior management at Whole Foods could have used scenario planning in developing the 365 stores.
> What business-level strategies are these supermarkets currently pursuing?
> List the supermarket chains in your city and identify their strengths and weaknesses.
> What kind of supermarket would do best against the competition? What kind of business-level strategy should it pursue?
> As a group, spend 5-10 minutes generating ideas about the alternative restaurants that the members think will be most likely to succeed. Each group member should be as innovative and creative as possible, and no suggestions should be criticized.
> Spend the next 10-15 minutes debating the pros and cons of the alternatives. As a group, try to reach a consensus on which alternative is most likely to succeed.
> Either alone or in a group, think about the ethical implications of extreme decision making by groups.
> When group decision making takes place, should members of a group each feel fully accountable for outcomes of the decision? Why or why not?
> What is the difference between entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship ?
> In what kinds of groups is groupthink most likely to be a problem? When is it least likely to be a problem? What steps can group members take to ward off groupthink?
> Choose an organization such as a school or a bank, visit it, and then list the different kinds of organizational resources it uses. How do managers use these resources to maintain and improve its performance?
> Why do capable managers sometimes make bad decisions? What can individual managers do to improve their decision-making skills?
> In what ways do the classical and administrative models of decision making help managers appreciate the complexities of real-world decision making?
> What are the main differences between programmed decision making and nonprogrammed decision making?
> What is organizational learning, and how can managers promote it?
> Think about an organization in your local community, university, or an organization that you are familiar with, that is doing poorly. Now think of questions managers in the organization should ask stakeholders to elicit creative ideas for turning around
> Ask a manager to recall the best and the worst decisions he or she ever made. Try to determine why these decisions were so good or so bad.
> To what extent are the decisions entrepreneurs make characterized by risk and uncertainty?
> To what extent are the decisions entrepreneurs make nonprogrammed decisions?
> What roles do creativity and learning from feedback play in entrepreneurial success?
> Identify the criteria you used, either consciously or unconsciously, to guide your decision making.
> What kinds of management changes need to be made to solve them?
> Having answered the previous five questions, do you think in retrospect that you made a reasonable decision? What, if anything, might you do to improve your ability to make good decisions in the future?
> In retrospect, do you think your choice of alternative was shaped by any of the cognitive biases discussed in this chapter?
> Try to remember how you reached the decision. Did you sit down and consciously think through the implications of each alternative, or did you make the decision on the basis of intuition? Did you use any rules of thumb to help you make the decision?
> How much information did you have about each alternative? Were you making the decision on the basis of complete or incomplete information?
> List the alternatives you considered. Were they all possible alternatives? Did you unconsciously (or consciously) ignore some important alternatives?
> Decide what you must know about (a) your future customers, (b) your future competitors, and (c) other critical forces in the task environment if you are to be successful.
> Based on this analysis, list some of the steps you will take to help your new copying business succeed.
> Evaluate the main barriers to entry into the copying business.
> In what cultures might Home Depot find better success?
> What could Home Depot have done to avoid its mistake?
> What kinds of organizing and controlling problems is Achieva suffering from?
> Why is it important for managers to understand the forces in the global environment that are acting upon them and their organization?
> After the passage of NAFTA, many U.S. companies shifted production operations to Mexico to take advantage of lower labor costs and lower standards for environmental and worker protection. As a result, they cut their costs and were better able to survive
> How do political, legal, and economic forces shape national culture? What characteristics of national culture do you think have the most important effect on how successful a country is in doing business abroad?
> The population is aging because of declining birth rates, declining death rates, and the aging of the baby boom generation. What might some of the implications of this demographic trend be for (a) a pharmaceutical company, and (b) the home construction i
> Which organization is likely to face the most complex task environment--a biotechnology company trying to develop a cure for cancer or a large retailer like The Gap or Macy’s? Why?
> Choose an organization, and ask a manager in that organization to list the number and strengths of forces in the organization’s task environment. Ask the management to pay particular attention to identifying opportunities and threats that result from pre
> Find a company on the list that is based in a country other than your home country. How has that company had to adapt to become a global organization?
> What criteria are used to select the great places to work? Do you agree that these criteria are what make an organization a great place to work?
> What are the forces in the global task environment and in the global general environment that affect the organization?
> If you were a manager for a U.S. company in China, would you allow your local employees to use the app as part of their daily business activities?
> Do you think the focus of managers in an algorithm-based business will change dramatically in the near future? Explain.
> Do you think WeChat would be as successful in other cultures as it is in China?
> Describe the main forces in the global task environment that are affecting the organization.
> Explain how these environmental forces affect the job of an individual manager within this organization. How do they determine the opportunities and threats that its managers must confront?
> Describe the main forces in the global general environment that are affecting the organization.
> Analyze the major forces in the task environment of a retail clothing store.
> Devise a program that will help other managers and employees to better understand and respond to their store's task environment.
> Discuss whether your observation reflects an underlying problem. If so, why? If not, why not?
> Discuss why the patterns of communication that you observed might be occurring in your restaurants.
> Discuss whether you should address this issue with your staff and in your restaurants. If so, how and why? If not, why not?
> What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of replacing human managers with “robo-advisers”?
> Either individually or in a group, think about the ethical implications of requiring long hours and extensive amounts of travel for some jobs.
> What obligations do you think managers and companies have to enable employees to have balanced lives and meet non-work needs and demands?
> Discuss why violations of the principles of distributive and procedural justice continue to occur in modern organizations. What can managers do to uphold these principles in their organizations?
> Think about a situation in which you would have benefited from mentoring but a mentor was not available. What could you have done to try to get the help of a mentor in this situation?
> Why is it important to consider the numbers of different groups of employees at various levels in an organization’s hierarchy?
> Why is mentoring particularly important for minorities?
> How does the similar-to-me effect influence your own behavior and decisions?
> Discuss an occasion when you may have been treated unfairly because of stereotypical thinking. What stereotypes were applied to you? How did they result in your being treated unfairly?
> Discuss the ways in which schemas can be functional and dysfunctional.
> Why would some employees resent accommodations made for employees with disabilities that are dictated by the Americans with Disabilities Act?
> What management challenges does the financial services industry face as more and more jobs are automated?
> What advantages can you tell consultants they will obtain when they use the new IT?
> According to the acquisition method of accounting for business combinations, costs paid to attorneys and accountants for services in arranging a merger should be a. Capitalized as part of the overall fair value acquired in the merger. b. Recorded as an e
> When does gain recognition accompany a business combination? a. When a bargain purchase occurs. b. In a combination created in the middle of a fiscal year. c. In an acquisition when the value of all assets and liabilities cannot be determined. d. When th
> An acquired entity has a long-term operating lease for an office building used for central management. The terms of the lease are very favorable relative to current market rates. However, the lease prohibits subleasing or any other transfer of rights. In
> What is the appropriate accounting treatment for the value assigned to in-process research and development acquired in a business combination? a. Expense upon acquisition. b. Capitalize as an asset. c. Expense if there is no alternative use for the asset
> FASB ASC 805, “Business Combinations,” provides principles for allocating the fair value of an acquired business. When the collective fair values of the separately identified assets acquired and liabilities assumed exceed the fair value of the considerat
> What is a statutory merger? a. A merger approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission. b. An acquisition involving the purchase of both stock and assets. c. A takeover completed within one year of the initial tender offer. d. A business combination
> Which of the following is the best theoretical justification for consolidated financial statements? a. In form the companies are one entity; in substance they are separate. b. In form the companies are separate; in substance they are one entity. c. In fo
> Which of the following does not represent a primary motivation for business combinations? a. Combinations are often a vehicle to accelerate growth and competitiveness. b. Cost savings can be achieved through elimination of duplicate facilities and staff.
> On February 1, Piscina Corporation completed a combination with Swimwear Company. At that date, Swimwear’s account balances were as follows: Piscina issued 30,000 shares of its common stock with a par value of $25 and a fair value of
> In a pre-2009 business combination, Acme Company acquired all of Brem Company’s assets and liabilities for cash. After the combination Acme formally dissolved Brem. At the acquisition date, the following book and fair values were availa
> Riggins Company accounts for its investment in Bostic Company using the equity method. During the past fiscal year, Bostic reported other comprehensive income from translation adjustments related to its foreign investments. How would this other comprehen
> On December 31, Pacifica, Inc., acquired 100 percent of the voting stock of Seguros Company. Pacifica will maintain Seguros as a wholly owned subsidiary with its own legal and accounting identity. The consideration transferred to the owner of Seguros inc
> On January 1, NewTune Company exchanges 15,000 shares of its common stock for all of the outstanding shares of On-the-Go, Inc. Each of NewTune’s shares has a $4 par value and a $50 fair value. The fair value of the stock exchanged in th
> SafeData Corporation has the following account balances and respective fair values on June 30: Privacy First, Inc., obtained all of the outstanding shares of SafeData on June 30 by issuing 20,000 shares of common stock having a $1 par value but a $75 f
> On June 30, 2018, Streeter Company reported the following account balances: On June 30, 2018, Princeton Company paid $310,800 cash for all assets and liabilities of Streeter, which will cease to exist as a separate entity. In connection with the acquis
> Allerton Company acquires all of Deluxe Company’s assets and liabilities for cash on January 1, 2018, and subsequently formally dissolves Deluxe. At the acquisition date, the following book and fair values were available for the Deluxe
> Pratt Company acquired all of Spider, Inc.’s outstanding shares on December 31, 2018, for $495,000 cash. Pratt will operate Spider as a wholly owned subsidiary with a separate legal and accounting identity. Although many of Spiderâ
> On January 1, 2018, Marshall Company acquired 100 percent of the outstanding common stock of Tucker Company. To acquire these shares, Marshall issued $200,000 in long-term liabilities and 20,000 shares of common stock having a par value of $1 per share b
> On January 1, 2018 Casey Corporation exchanged $3,300,000 cash for 100 percent of the outstanding voting stock of Kennedy Corporation. Casey plans to maintain Kennedy as a wholly owned subsidiary with separate legal status and accounting information syst
> On June 30, 2017, Wisconsin, Inc., issued $300,000 in debt and 15,000 new shares of its $10 par value stock to Badger Company owners in exchange for all of the outstanding shares of that company. Wisconsin shares had a fair value of $40 per share. Prior
> On May 1, Soriano Co. reported the following account balances along with their estimated fair values: On that day, Zambrano paid cash to acquire all of the assets and liabilities of Soriano, which will cease to exist as a separate entity. To facilitate
> Because of the acquisition of additional investee shares, an investor will now change from the fair-value method to the equity method. Which procedures are applied to accomplish this accounting change?
> Following are preacquisition financial balances for Padre Company and Sol Company as of December 31. Also included are fair values for Sol Company accounts. Parentheses indicate a credit balance. On December 31, Padre acquires Sol’s o
> Use the same facts as in problem (22), but assume instead that Arturo pays cash of $4,200,000 to acquire Westmont. No stock is issued. Prepare Arturo’s journal entries to record its acquisition of Westmont. Data from problem (22) The f
> The following book and fair values were available for Westmont Company as of March 1. Arturo Company pays $4,000,000 cash and issues 20,000 shares of its $2 par value common stock (fair value of $50 per share) for all of Westmont’s co
> Prycal Co. merges with InterBuy, Inc., and acquires several different categories of intangible assets including trademarks, a customer list, copyrights on artistic materials, agreements to receive royalties on leased intellectual property, and unpatented
> In the December 31, 2017, consolidated balance sheet of Patrick and its subsidiary, what amount of total assets should be reported? a. $1,375,000 b. $1,395,000 c. $1,520,000 d. $1,980,000 The separate condensed balance sheets of Patrick Corporation and
> On its acquisition-date consolidated balance sheet, what amount should TruData report as retained earnings as of July 1? a. $130,000 b. $210,000 c. $260,000 d. $510,000 On July 1, TruData Company issues 10,000 shares of its common stock with a $5 par va
> On its acquisition-date consolidated balance sheet, what amount should TruData report as common stock? a. $70,000 b. $300,000 c. $350,000 d. $370,000 On July 1, TruData Company issues 10,000 shares of its common stock with a $5 par value and a $40 fair
> On its acquisition-date consolidated balance sheet, what amount should TruData report as patented technology (net)? a. $200,000 b. $230,000 c. $410,000 d. $430,000 On July 1, TruData Company issues 10,000 shares of its common stock with a $5 par value a
