Question: What kinds of techniques discussed in the

> Interview some employees of an organization to ask them about the organization’s values, norms, typical characteristics of employees, the organization’s ethical values and socialization practices. Using this information, try to describe the organization’

> With the same or another manager, discuss the distribution of authority in the organization. Does the manager think that decentralizing authority and empowering employees are appropriate?

> What are the building blocks of competitive advantage? Why is obtaining a competitive advantage important to managers?

> Find and interview a manager and identify the kind of organizational structure that his or her organization uses to coordinate its people and resources. Why is the organization using that structure? Do you think a different structure would be more approp

> Look at the organizational chart. What type of structure does Hitachi have?

> Find the Hitachi Vision Book. How will the journey toward its vision affect the structure of Hitachi?

> Click on the message from top management. What does this information tell you about how the structure might change or stay the same in the future?

> What impact do you think this acquisition will have on Microsoft’s organizational culture? On LinkedIn’s organizational culture?

> Using the information in the article alone, how do you believe Microsoft is organized?

> Based on recent Microsoft acquisitions that have not appeared to be successful, do you think the LinkedIn deal makes sense from an organizational standpoint? Explain your reasoning.

> Now that you have analyzed the way this organization is structured, what advice would you give to its managers to help them improve how it operates?

> What are the principal integrating mechanisms used in the organization? Do they provide sufficient coordination among people and functions? How might they be improved?

> Is the distribution of authority appropriate for the organization and its activities? Would it be possible to flatten the hierarchy by decentralizing authority and empowering employees?

> Identify an organization that you believe is high performing and one you believe is low performing. Give five reasons why you think the performance levels of the two organizations differ so much.

> How many levels are there in the organization’s hierarchy? Is authority centralized or decentralized? Describe the span of control of the top manager and of middle or first-line managers.

> What kind of organizational structure does the organization use? If it is part of a chain, what kind of structure does the entire organization use? What other structures discussed in the chapter might allow the organization to operate more effectively? F

> Can you think of any ways in which a typical job could be enlarged or enriched?

> Using the job characteristics model, how motivating do you think the job of a typical employee is in this organization?

> Which contingencies are most important in explaining how the organization is organized? Do you think it is organized in the right way?

> Which of these structures do you think is most appropriate, and why?

> Discuss how you can improve the way the current functional structure operates so it speeds website development.

> What kind of culture would you help create to make the company’s structure work more effectively?

> Discuss the pros and cons of moving to a (a) multidivisional, (b) matrix, and (c) product team structure to reduce website development time.

> In what ways do you think you will be able to improve on the operations and processes of existing sandwich shops and increase responsiveness to customers through better product quality, efficiency, or innovation?

> In what ways can managers at each of the three levels of management contribute to organizational efficiency and effectiveness?

> Think of your direct supervisor. Of what department is he or she a member and at what level of management is this person?

> Identify the product attributes that a typical sandwich shop customer wants the most.

> How big a layoff, if any, is acceptable? If layoffs are acceptable, what could be done to reduce their harm to employees?

> What criteria would you use to decide which kind of strategy is ethical to adopt and how far to push employees to raise the level of their performance?

> Either by yourself or in a group, think through the ethical implications of using a new functional strategy to improve organizational performance.

> What is innovation and what are some strategies managers can use to develop successful new products?

> Why is it important for managers to pay close attention to value chain management if they wish to be responsive to their customers?

> What is efficiency, and what are some strategies managers can use to increase it?

> What are the main challenges in implementing a successful total quality management program?

> What is CRM and how can it help improve responsiveness to customers?

> Go to a local store, restaurant, or supermarket; observe how customers are treated; and list the ways in which you think the organization is being responsive or unresponsive to the needs of its customers. How could this business improve its responsivenes

> Describe the difference between efficiency and effectiveness and identify real organizations you think are, or are not, efficient and/or effective.

> Ask a manager how responsiveness to customers, quality, efficiency, and innovation are defined and measured in his or her organization.

> What products would be most helpful to your new organization system, and why?

> What tips about improving your personal work flow do you want to try out after reading the tips, and why?

> How does Tesla’s decision to produce its own batteries impact management of the company’s value chain?

> Do you think Musk’s recent decision to buy SolarCity will have an impact on Tesla Motors’ business strategies? Explain your reasoning.

> Describe how Tesla is creating a competitive advantage by bringing battery production in house.

> What is the output of the organization?

> What product attributes do customers of the organization desire?

> Describe the value chain activities that the organization uses to produce this output.

> Try to identify improvements that might be made to the organization’s value chain to boost its responsiveness to customers, quality, efficiency, and innovation.

> Like Mintzberg, try to find a cooperative manager who will allow you to follow him or her around for a day. List the types of roles the manager plays and how much time he or she spends performing them.

> In what ways can these managers develop a program to increase quality and innovation?

> What critical lessons do these managers need to learn about value chain management?

> Using scenario planning, analyze the pros and cons of each of each alternative.

> Think about the various clothing retailers in your local malls and city, and analyze the choices they have made concerning how to compete along the low-cost and differentiation dimensions.

> Either by yourself or in a group, decide if the business practice of paying bribes is ethical or unethical.

> If bribery is common in a particular country, what effect would this likely have on the nation’s economy and culture?

> Should IBM allow its foreign divisions to pay bribes if all other companies are doing so?

> What is the difference between vertical integration and related diversification?

> Pick an industry and identify four companies in the industry that pursue one of the four main business-level strategies (low-cost, focused low-cost, and so on).

> Ask a middle or top manager, perhaps someone you already know to give examples of how he or she performs the management functions of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. How much time does he or she spend in performing each task?

> What is the relationship among corporate-, business-, and functional-level strategies, and how do they create value for an organization?

> How can scenario planning help managers predict the future?

> Describe the three steps of planning. Explain how they are related.

> Ask a manager about the kinds of planning exercises he or she regularly uses. What are the purposes of these exercises, and what are their advantages or disadvantages?

> Ask a manager to identify the corporate- and business-level, strategies used by his or her organization.

> Which corporate-level strategy is REI using?

> What makes REI different from other outdoor gear and apparel retailers?

> 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?