Question: Jeff Immelt, CEO of GE, tweeted for

> What might be some disadvantages of acqui-hiring? As a manager, how would you draw up a contract with a new employee who was an acqui-hire? Include considerations such as compensation and benefits, performance measures, training, and a noncompete agreeme

> What are the characteristics of an open communication climate? Describe the organizational benefits of managers cultivating an open communication climate.

> What personal skills do you need to keep your financial backers feeling confident in your new business? Which skills are most useful when you’re dealing with more informal sources such as family and friends versus receiving funds from stockholders, a ban

> The 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.

> A college professor told her students, “The purpose of a management course is to teach students about management, not to teach them to be managers.” Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Discuss.

> If you are in charge of training and development, which training option or options—such as OJT, cross-training, classroom—would you be likely to choose for your company’s production line manager? A customer service representative? An entry-level accounta

> One human resource manager recently got a thank you note on her iPhone that said “Thx 4 the Iview! Wud ♥ to wrk 4 u!!!☻” The manager had liked the candidate’s interview, but after getting the note, she put him in the reject pile. Do you think it was fair

> 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?

> As HR manager for a small company that makes computer games and software, what are some steps that you might take to create an employer brand?

> If you were asked to advise a private company about its EEO responsibilities, what two points would you emphasize as most important?

> What does it mean to say that HRM plays a strategic role in driving organizational performance? Consider recruiting, performance appraisal, and compensation strategies as part of your answer.

> 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 secur

> 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.

> Is it wise for managers to evaluate a 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 managers should consider? Discuss.

> Can a manager be effective and successful today without using social media? What do you see as the most important ways for managers to use this technology?

> How might the organizers of an upcoming Olympics use an extranet to get all the elements of the event up and running on schedule?

> Why is benchmarking an important component of TQM programs? Do you believe a company could have a successful TQM program without using benchmarking?

> 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?

> Some people argue that the presence of an outside threat correlates with a high degree of team cohesiveness. Would you agree or disagree? Explain your answer

> 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 bottom-up budgeting.

> 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 colocated team? What about in a global virtual team?

> 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?

> 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? How might you use the various conflict-resolution techniques described in t

> One of the benefits of a strategy map is that goals and how they are linked can be clearly communicated to everyone in the organization. Does a minimum-wage maintenance worker in a hospital really need to understand any goals beyond keeping the place cle

> 1. Intermountain Healthcare is a very large organization with thousands of employees. List at least four methods it uses to communicate with employees. Why do you think this organization feels the need to use so many different methods to communicate? 2.

> If you were asked to design a training program to help managers become better communicators, what would you include in the program?

> Assume you manage a small online business that sells herbal supplements. Without your knowledge, a disgruntled employee has posted damaging information about your company in the company’s blog, including false information about dangerous ingredients in y

> 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?

> 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

> 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?

> 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 med

> 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? W

> 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 16.2: Positive Extrinsic; Positive intrinsic; Negative Extrinsic; Negative Intrinsic

> Based on your knowledge of the following companies, how effective would you say any one of the following acquisitions were in terms of creating synergy a) Microsoft’s purchase of Nokia’s mobile handset and services business? b) Google’s purchase of You

> From the information provided in the chapter example, identify how Western Digital Thailand used both the prevention and the preparation stages of crisis planning.

> 1. What aspects of Camp Bow Wow’s corporate culture are visible and conscious? What aspects are invisible and unconscious? 2. Why did Camp Bow Wow have to change its culture when it became a national franchise? 3. What impact does Heidi Ganahl’s story ha

> Would the task environment for a wireless provider such as U.S. Cellular contain the same elements as that for a government welfare agency? Discuss the similarities and differences.

> 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.

> Can you think of potential drawbacks to retailers using labor waste elimination systems based on scientific management principles, as described in the text? Despite their being about 100 years old, do you believe scientific management characteristics wil

> Why do you think making progress ranks as the most important factor contributing to motivation according to a recent study? How can managers provide a sense of progress for employees working on long-range projects that might not show results for months o

> 1. Does Camp Bow Wow CEO Heidi Ganahl possess qualities associated with contemporary leadership? 2. In what way is Heidi Ganahl’s leadership charismatic and visionary? Give examples. 3. Where does Heidi Ganahl’s leadership fall on the Leadership Grid dis

> 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?

> 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.

> The Hay Group published a report 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 aut

> 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.

> 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 l

> What would you feel about working in a boss less organization? What might be your role as a “manager” in such an environment? Do you think this is a trend that will continue to grow or fade away? Why?

> 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.

> 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?

> You are a middle manager helping to implement a new corporate cost-cutting strategy, and you’re meeting skepticism, resistance, and in some cases, outright hostility from your subordinates. In what ways might you or the company have been able to avoid th

> 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 sta

> What is transformational leadership? Give examples of organizational situations that would call for transformational, transactional, or charismatic leadership.

> 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.

> 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

> 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.

> 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? Mig

> By the time that an online or mobile business starts noticeably losing customers, it is often too late to turn things around. If you were the creator of a successful game app, such as Angry Birds or iShoot, how might you know when it was time to pivot in

> Social entrepreneurship is a growing phenomenon. Do you believe that for-profit businesses can have a social mission? Should they do so, if it means hurting profits?

> 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. Wha

> 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?

> 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 highly-educated employees?

> 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 ha

> Explain briefly what the CPI measures and how it is constructed. Identify one reason why the CPI is an imperfect measure of the cost of living.

> Which do you think has a greater effect on the CPI: a 10 percent increase in the price of chicken or a 10 percent increase in the price of caviar? Why?

> The country Autarka does not allow international trade. In Autarka, you can buy a wool suit for 3 ounces of gold. Meanwhile, in neighboring coun-tries, you can buy the same suit for 2 ounces of gold. If Autarka were to allow free trade, would it import o

> What does the domestic price that prevails without international trade tell us about a nation’s comparative advantage?

> The world price of wine is below the price that would prevail in Canada in the absence of trade. a. Assuming that Canadian imports of wine are a small part of total world wine production, draw a graph for the Canadian market for wine under free trade. Id

> A point inside the production possibilities frontier is a. efficient but not feasible. b. feasible but not efficient. c. both efficient and feasible. d. neither efficient nor feasible.

> List and briefly explain the three principles that describe how the economy as a whole works.

> Suppose that the year you were born someone bought $100 of goods and services for your baby shower. How much would you guess it would cost today to buy a similar amount of goods and services? Now find data on the CPI and compute the answer based on it. (

> Water is necessary for life. Is the marginal benefit of a glass of water large or small?

> You were planning to spend Saturday working at your part-time job, but a friend asks you to go skiing. What is the true cost of going skiing? Now suppose you had been planning to spend the day studying at the library. What is the cost of going skiing in

> Your opportunity cost of going to a movie is a. the price of the ticket. b. the price of the ticket plus the cost of any soda and popcorn you buy at the theater. c. the total cash expenditure needed to go to the movie plus the value of your time. d. zero

> List and describe four determinants of a country’s productivity.

> List and describe four determinants of productivity.

> Suppose that society decided to reduce consumption and increase investment. a. How would this change affect economic growth? b. What groups in society would benefit from this change? What groups might be hurt?

> The world’s rich countries, such as the United States and Germany, have income per person that is about _____ times the income per person in the world’s poor countries, such as Pakistan and India. a. 2 b. 4 c. 10 d. 30

> Henry Ford paid his workers $5 a day in 1914. If the CPI was 10 in 1914 and 237 in 2015, how much is the Ford paycheck worth in 2015 dollars?

> Under what conditions is the production possibilities frontier linear rather than bowed out?

> Describe the three problems that make the CPI an imperfect measure of the cost of living.

> Draw a circular-flow diagram. Identify the parts of the model that correspond to the flow of goods and ser- vices and the flow of dollars for each of the following activities. a. Selena pays a storekeeper $1 for a quart of milk. b. Stuart earns $8 per h

> The residents of Vegopia spend all of their income on cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots. In 2016, they spend a total of $200 for 100 heads of cauliflower, $75 for 50 bunches of broccoli, and $50 for 500 carrots. In 2017, they spend a total of $225 for 7

> The largest component in the basket of goods and services used to compute the CPI is a. food and beverages. b. housing. c. medical care. d. apparel.

> Which contributes more to GDP—the production of a pound of hamburger or the production of a pound of caviar? Why?

> Which contributes more to GDP—the production of an economy car or the production of a luxury car? Why?

> Fill in the blanks: Real GDP (in 2000 dollars) GDP Deflator (base year Nominal GDP (in current Year dollars) 2000) 1970 3,000 1,200 1980 5,000 60 1990 6,000 100 2000 8,000 2010 15,000 200 2020 10,000 300 2030 20,000 50,000

> Angus the sheep farmer sells wool to Barnaby the knitter for $20. Barnaby makes two sweaters, each of which has a market price of $40. Collette buys one of them, while the other remains on the shelf of Barnaby’s store to be sold later. What is GDP here?

> Draw a supply-and-demand diagram for wool suits in the country of Autarka. When trade is allowed, the price of a suit falls from 3 to 2 ounces of gold. In your diagram, show the change in consumer surplus, the change in producer surplus of gold. In your

> When does a country become an exporter of a good? An importer?

> Suppose that Congress imposes a tariff on imported automobiles to protect the U.S. auto industry from foreign competition. Assuming that the United States is a price taker in the world auto market, show the following on a diagram: the change in the quant

> Maria can read 20 pages of economics in an hour. She can also read 50 pages of sociology in an hour. She spends 5 hours per day studying. a. Draw Maria’s production possibilities frontier for reading economics and sociology. b. What is Maria’s opportunit

> The CPI measures approximately the same economic phenomenon as a. nominal GDP. b. real GDP. c. the GDP deflator. d. the unemployment rate.

> When the nation of Ectenia opens itself to world trade in coffee beans, the domestic price of coffee beans falls. Which of the following describes the situation? a. Domestic production of coffee rises, and Ectenia becomes a coffee importer. b. Domestic p

> The demand for beer is more elastic than the demand for milk. Would a tax on beer or a tax on milk have a larger deadweight loss? Why?

> Draw a supply-and-demand diagram with a tax on the sale of a good. Show the deadweight loss. Show the tax revenue.

> Evaluate the following two statements. Do you agree? Why or why not? a. “A tax that has no deadweight loss cannot raise any revenue for the government.” b. “A tax that raises no revenue for the government cannot have any deadweight loss.”

> Sofia pays Sam $50 to mow her lawn every week. When the government levies a mowing tax of $10 on Sam, he raises his price to $60. Sofia continues to hire him at the higher price. What is the change in producer surplus, change in consumer surplus, and dea

> Draw a supply curve for turkey. In your diagram, show a price of turkey and the producer surplus at that price. Explain in words what this producer surplus measures.

> Explain how sellers’ costs, producer surplus, and the supply curve are related.

> An early freeze in California sours the lemon crop. Explain what happens to consumer surplus in the market for lemons. Explain what happens to consumer surplus in the market for lemonade. Illustrate your answers with diagrams.