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?
> 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.
> 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 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?
> 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
> A second group of resistant employees consists of middle managers. Some middle managers resist using your company’s intranet. Although these middle managers do not resist the technology per se and use electronic communication for multiple purposes, they
> What do you think precipitated General Electric’s growth strategy based on merger and acquisition?
> One resistant group of employees is made up of top managers. Some of them seem computer-phobic and are highly resistant to sharing information online, even with sophisticated security precautions in place. What steps will you take to get these managers t
> Some companies track how their employees use their company’s Internet connection and email system. Is it ethical for managers to read employees’ personal email or to record websites that employees visit? Why or why not?
> Either individually or in a group, explore the ethics of using an organization’s Internet connection and email system for personal purposes at work and while away from the office. Should employees have some rights to use this resource? When does their be
> Why do some managers find it difficult to be good listeners?
> Explain why differences in linguistic style, when not understood by senders and receivers of messages, can lead to ineffective communication.
> Explain why subordinates might filter and distort information about problems and performance shortfalls when communicating with their bosses. What steps can managers take to eliminate filtering and information distortion?
> Why do some organizational members resist using groupware?
> Discuss the pros and cons of using the Internet and World Wide Web for communication within and between organizations.
> Which medium (or media) do you think would be appropriate for each of the following kinds of messages that a subordinate could receive from his or her boss: (a) a raise, (b) not receiving a promotion, (c) an error in a report prepared by a subordinate, (
> Interview a manager in an organization in your community to determine with whom he or she communicates on a typical day, what communication media he or she uses, and which typical communication problems the manager experiences.
> Would a management science theory approach to staging the Olympics ensure success? Why or why not?
> Do you see communication apps like Slack replacing face-to-face meetings between supervisors and employees? Explain your answer.
> What are some of the reasons that email communications seem to be so overwhelming and time consuming? What can be done to eliminate the “reply all” approach to business communications?
> How can managers make written communications via email more efficient and more productive?
> What stages of the communication process were particularly problematic and why?
> How could you have handled this situation differently so that communication would have been effective?
> Do you think differences in linguistic styles adversely affected the communication that took place? Why or why not?
> Describe any filtering or information distortion that occurred.
> Why was your communication ineffective in this incident?
> Describe the steps you will take to help ensure that the team has a good balance between conformity and deviance and has a moderate level of cohesiveness.
> Describe the different roles that will need to be performed on this team.
> Do you consider Brazil’s approach to managing the Olympics a closed or open system? Explain your answer.
> Describe the goals the team should strive to achieve.
> Indicate who should be on this important cross-functional team, and explain why.
> Do managers have an ethical obligation to step in when they are aware of social loafing in a self-managed team? Why or why not? Do other team members have an obligation to try to curtail the social loafing? Why or why not?
> Either individually or in a group, think about the ethical implications of social loafing in a self-managed team.
> Imagine that you are the manager of a hotel. What steps will you take to reduce social loafing by members of the cleaning staff who are responsible for keeping all common areas and guest rooms spotless?
> Why do some groups have very low levels of cohesiveness?
> Discuss the reasons why too much conformity can hurt groups and their organizations.
> Think about a group of employees who work in a McDonald’s restaurant. What type of task interdependence characterizes this group? What potential problems in the group should the restaurant manager be aware of and take steps to avoid?
> Think about a group that you are a member of, and describe that group’s current stage of development. Does the development of this group seem to be following the forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning stages described in the chapter?
> What kinds of employees would prefer to work in a virtual team? What kinds of employees would prefer to work in a team that meets face-to-face?
> Describe how the contingency theory of management would help or hinder Brazilian officials with getting the country ready to host the Olympic games.
> Why do all organizations need to rely on groups and teams to achieve their goals and gain a competitive advantage?
> Interview one or more managers in an organization in your local community to identify the types of groups and teams that the organization uses to achieve its goals. What challenges do these groups and teams face?
> What norms do you think would be important in teams composed of millennials and baby boomers?
> Why are some organizations deliberately putting millennials on teams with baby boomers?
> Why might teams composed of millennials and baby boomers benefit from having moderate levels of group cohesiveness?
> What are some of the potential advantages of teaming up millennials with baby boomers?
> What could group members have done differently to increase group effectiveness?
> What could the group’s leader or manager have done differently to increase group effectiveness?
> Was social loafing a problem in this group? Why or why not?
> How cohesive was the group? Why do you think the group’s cohesiveness was at this level? What consequences did this level of group cohesiveness have for the group and its members?
