Use the principles of Weber and Fayol to decide on the system of organization and management that you think will be most effective for your growing organization. How many levels will the managerial hierarchy of your organization have? How much authority will you decentralize to your subordinates? How will you establish the division of labor between subordinates? Will your subordinates work alone and report to you or work in teams?
> 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?
> Which management approach (for example, Theory X or Y) do you propose to use to run your organization? In 50 or fewer words write a statement describing the management approach you believe will motivate and coordinate your subordinates, and tell why you
> What were the group’s norms? How much conformity and deviance existed in the group?
> How large was the group, what type of task interdependence existed in the group, and what group roles did members play?
> Were group members motivated to achieve group goals? Why or why not?
> What type of group was this?
> Would you advise Caruso to try to engage in transformational leadership in this situation? If not, why not? If so, what steps would you advise her to take?
> What steps would you advise Caruso to take to increase the decorators’ motivation to deliver high-quality customer service?
> Given what you have learned in this chapter (for example, from the behavior model and path-goal theory), does Caruso seem to be performing appropriate leader behaviors in this situation? What advice can you give her about the kinds of behaviors she shoul
> Analyze the sources of power that Caruso has available to her to influence the decorators. What advice can you give her to either increase her power base or use her existing power more effectively?
> Either alone or in a group, think about the ethical implications of the use of coercive power.
> To what extent do managers and organizations have an ethical obligation to put limits on the amount of coercive power that is exercised?
> Imagine that you are working in an organization in an entry level-position after graduation and have come up with what you think is a great idea for improving a critical process in the organization that relates to your job. In what ways might your superv
> Discuss why some people still think men make better managers than women even though research indicates that men and women are equally effective as managers and leaders.
> Describe what transformational leadership is and explain how managers can engage in it.
> Discuss why substitutes for leadership can contribute to organizational effectiveness.
> Discuss why managers might want to change the behaviors they engage in, given their situation, their subordinates, and the nature of the work being done. Do you think managers can readily change their leadership behaviors? Why or why not?
> For your current job or for a future job you expect to hold, describe what your supervisor could do to strongly motivate you to be a top performer.
> Think of specific situations in which it might be especially important for a manager to engage in consideration and in initiating structure.
> Describe the steps managers can take to increase their power and ability to be effective leaders.
> Find an example of a company that has dramatically turned around its fortunes and improved its performance. Determine whether a transformational manager was behind the turnaround and, if one was, what this manager did.
> Interview a manager to find out how the three situational characteristics that Fiedler identified affect his or her ability to provide leadership.
> Which parts would be the most important for an effective system to organize and control employees?
> Do you think Cox is high on emotional intelligence? Why or why not?
> Do you think Cox is a transformational leader? Why or why not?
> What traits do you think he is high on, and to what extent does he engage in consideration and initiating structure?
> How would you describe Chris Cox’s personal leadership style, and what sources of power does he possess?
> What signs, if any, did this leader show of being a transformational leader?
> What steps did this leader take to motivate his or her followers? Were these steps appropriate or inappropriate? Why?
> From what you know, do you think this leader was a task-oriented leader or a relationship-oriented leader? How favorable was this leader’s situation for leading?
> What kinds of behaviors did this leader engage in? Were they appropriate for the situation? Why or why not?
> What sources of power did this leader have? Did the leader have enough power to influence his or her followers?
> Design a plan to increase the motivation of pressers to do a top-notch job on all clothes they press, no matter how difficult.
> How do the various management theories discussed in this chapter offer clues for organizing and controlling hotel employees?
> How would you characterize your supervisor’s approach to management? For example, which particular management tasks and roles does this person perform most often? What kinds of management skills does the manager have?
> Design a plan to increase the motivation of spotters to remove as many stains as possible even when they are not being watched by a partner.
> Given what you have learned in this chapter, design a plan to increase the motivation of clerks to provide prompt service to customers even when they are not being watched by a partner.
> Discuss the extent to which you believe that you have a motivation problem in your stores.
> Under what conditions might contingent pay be most stressful and what steps can managers take to try to help their subordinates perform effectively and not experience excessive amounts of stress?
> Either individually or in a group, think about the ethical implications of closely linking pay to performance.
> Discuss why two people with similar abilities may have very different expectancies for performing at a high level.
> Discuss why managers should always try to use positive reinforcement instead of negative reinforcement.
> Describe three techniques or procedures that managers can use to determine whether a goal is difficult.
> Analyze how professors try to promote equity to motivate students.
> Describe why some people have low instrumentalities even when their managers distribute outcomes based on performance.
> For each managerial task, list the issues to solve, and decide which roles will contribute the most to your restaurant’s success.
> Interview a manager in an organization in your community to determine the extent to which the manager takes advantage of vicarious learning to promote high motivation among subordinates.
> Interview three people who have the same kind of job (such as salesperson, waiter/waitress, or teacher), and determine what kinds of needs each is trying to satisfy at work.
> Would a shortened workday motivate you to do a better job? Why or why not?
> Do you think a shortened workday would help improve productivity and decrease worker stress levels? Explain.
> How might providing employees with a shortened workday contribute to motivation from an equity theory perspective and from a need theory perspective?
> What would be your level of self-efficacy on this job? Why would your self-efficacy be at this level? Should your manager take steps to boost your self-efficacy? If not, why not? If so, what would these steps be?
> To what extent would you be motivated by self-control on this job? Why?
> Would there be any vicarious learning on this job? Why or why not?
> What behaviors would your manager positively reinforce on this job? Why? What positive reinforcers would your manager use?
> What needs would you strive to satisfy on this job? Why? What role would your manager play in helping you satisfy these needs?
> Discuss the most important decisions that must be made about (a) planning, (b) organizing, (c) leading, and (d) controlling, to allow you or your partners to use organizational resources effectively and build a competitive advantage.
> What goals would you strive to achieve on this job? Why? What role would your manager play in determining your goals?
> Whom would you choose as a referent on this job? What steps would your manager take to make you feel that you were being equitably treated? What would you do if, after a year on the job, you experienced underpayment inequity?
> What would be your levels of expectancy and instrumentality on this job? Which outcomes would have high valence for you on this job? What steps would your manager take to influence your levels of expectancy, instrumentality, and valence?
> Describe the pay level and pay structure of your consulting firm.
> Describe how you will appraise the performance of each group of employees and how you will provide feedback.
> Describe the training and development the engineers, the clerical/secretarial workers, and the MBAs will receive.
