Questions and Answers of Essentials Of Management

Access Fortune magazine’s website and read on three topics in the “Careers” section. How can these sources help you in developing a career strategy?
Search the Internet for “performance appraisal.” What criteria are used for evaluating performance? On what criteria would you like to be evaluated as a student, a subordinate, or a manager?
It has been argued that firms have an obligation to train and develop all employees with managerial potential. Do you agree? Why or why not?
What are some typical failures in manager development and training? Can you explain these failures? What would you recommend to overcome the shortcomings?
Evaluate the advantages and limitations of different approaches to on-the-job- training.
In the job that you now have or that you expect to have in the future, what kind of coaching and management development would be most beneficial to you?
What are the main characteristics of OD? How does OD differ from manager development? Do you think OD might work in your organization? Explain why or why not.
Select an organization that you know and analyze its management development efforts.
What kinds of conflicts have you experienced in an organization with which you are familiar? What were the causes of the conflicts? What was done, if anything, about resolving these conflicts?
Try an online course that offers a badge of progress for your LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn provides online training that may serve this purpose.
Search the Internet for “open university.” What are the advantages and disadvantages of the Open University?Compare the Open University with the traditional university.
Search for “organization development” on the Internet.Discuss your findings with the class.
What is motivation? How does effective managing take advantage of and contribute to motivation?
What are Theory X and Theory Y assumptions? State your reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with these assumptions. What are some misunderstandings of these theories?
Why has the Maslow theory of needs been criticized? To what extent is it valid?
Compare and contrast the Maslow and Herzberg theories of motivation. On what grounds has the Herzberg theory been criticized? Why would you suspect that Herzberg’s approach has been very popular
Explain Vroom’s expectancy theory of motivation. How is it different from the Porter and Lawler approach? Which appeals to you as being more accurate? Which is more useful in practice?
Explain McClelland’s theory of motivation. How does it fit into a systems approach?
“You cannot motivate managers. They are self-propelled.You just get out of their way if you really want performance.”Comment.
To what extent and how is money an effective motivator?
What motivates you in striving toward excellence in your work at school? Are these motivating forces shown in any of the models discussed in this chapter?
The instructor may take a survey in class and ask students to respond to two questions: (1) “Can you describe in detail when you felt exceptionally good about your job?” and (2)“Can you
Collect information on an organization that you know and identify the reasons why people contribute to the goals of the enterprise.
Identify three leaders from your organization or your LinkedIn contacts and ask them their philosophy on leadership.
Surf the Internet for the term “motivation.” You will get many“hits.” Select one for class discussion.
Use a popular search engine and type the first and last name of any authors discussed in this chapter. Did you find information that goes beyond what has been discussed in this chapter? If so, what
What do you see as the essence of leadership?
How are leadership theory and styles related to motivation?
Why has the trait approach as a means of explaining leadership been so open to question?
Select a business or political leader whom you admire and identify his or her style of leading by applying the managerial grid or the continuum of behavior model of Tannenbaum and Schmidt.
What is Fiedler’s theory of leadership? Applying it to cases of leaders whom you have known, do you perceive it as being accurate?
What are the advantages and limitations of the path-goal approach to leadership?
If you were selected to be the group leader for a class project (e.g., to make a case study of a particular company), which leadership style or what behavior would you use?Why?
Analyze a situation in which you were the leader. Which leadership approach discussed in this chapter helps explain why you were a leader?
Analyze a case in this book using the group approach.Specifically, the class should be divided into groups of about five students. Each group should select a spokesperson, who will present the case
Use any search engine to find sources for the term“business leadership.” Do you find different views on leadership?
Jack Welch of General Electric is considered by many an effective leader and manager. Scan the Internet for “Jack Welch” and identify his leadership behavior.
A prominent novelist and critic of the management scene has said: “I don’t think we can go on very much longer with the luxurious practice of hiring ten men to make one man’s decision. With all
Distinguish between a committee, a team, and a group.
What are the reasons for using committees? If there are good reasons, why are committees criticized so much?
What is the relative effectiveness of individual and committee action in functional activities? Identify the activities that can be undertaken most effectively by a committee.
Describe and discuss the nature of misapplications of committees.
What would you recommend for making committees effective?
Go to the Internet and find out what has been written about team management.
What are the major characteristics of groups in organizations?
Discuss the case in this chapter in groups. Divide the class into groups of various sizes (e.g., groups of 3, 6, 9, and 12 students). Each group is to analyze the case and make recommendations. A
Interview two managers and ask about their experiences in committees. Do they have a positive or a negative view of committees? What have they found to be most important for making committees
Review the decision-making process at your organization or the organization that you may wish to join. Identify three ways in which it may be improved.
Search the Internet for the term “virtual team” and see how companies develop and apply tools for virtual teams in real situations.
Search the Internet using the key words “Asch effect” or“Asch experiment.” Find out the details of the experiment.
Briefly describe the communication process model. Select a communication problem and determine the cause (or causes) by applying the model in your analysis.
List different channels for transmitting a message. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the various channels.
What are some kinds of downward communication? Discuss those used most frequently in an enterprise you are familiar with. How effective are the various types?
What are some problems in upward communication? What would you suggest for overcoming the difficulties?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of written and oral communication? Which do you prefer: written or oral?Under what circumstances?
What is information overload? Do you ever experience it?How do you deal with it?
How well do you listen? How could you improve your listening skills?
Discuss the role of electronic media in communication.
Recall a situation that occurred at home or at work and identify the communication problems that you observed or experienced. Discuss how the communication model in this chapter can help you locate
Go to the library and do research on a public figure who communicates well. Discuss this person’s characteristics as they relate to communication.
Listen to an earnings’ call. How does the CEO communicate with analysts?
Search the Internet for the term “electronic data processing”or “EDP.” Find out the definition of the term and see how it evolved through the history of business communication.
Use a search engine to find out about various forms of wireless or mobile communications. How can each type of wireless device enhance your business communication capability?
Planning and control are often thought of as a system;control is also often referred to as a system. What do these observations mean? Can both statements be true?
Why is real-time information not good enough for effective control?
What is feedforward control? Why is it important to managers? Besides the example of inventory control mentioned in this chapter, can you think of any other areas in which feedforward would be used?
Why do most controls of overall performance tend to be financial? Should they be? What else would you suggest?
“Profit and loss control is defective in that it does not emphasize return on investment; the latter is defective in that it places too great an emphasis on present results, possibly endangering
If you were asked to institute a system of “tailored” controls in a company, how would you go about it? What would you need to know?
In benchmarking, companies compare their performance with best practices. Why do you think firms that have an effective system are willing to share information with other companies?
Design a control system for measuring the progress that you make in your course work. Apply the feedback and feedforward concepts discussed in this chapter.
Interview two managers about the controls used in their companies. Can you identify standards against which performance can be accurately measured? How is performance measured against the standards
The widespread use of analytics among organizations requires more people with education in this field. Explore the curriculum of your university to identify classes in analytics or statistics that
Search the Internet for the term “feedforward control.” How does it differ from feedback control?
Search the Internet for the term “profit and loss statement.”What is it?
The techniques of control appear to be as much techniques of planning as they are of control. In what ways is this true?Why would you expect it to be so?
If you were going to institute a program of special control reports and analyses for a top manager, how would you go about it?
PERT is a management invention that takes basic principles and knowledge and, through design to get a desired result, comes up with a useful technique of planning and control.Analyze PERT with this
Give examples of how information technology has affected you.
Do you use Twitter? If you do, how do you use it? What are the advantages/ disadvantages in using Twitter?
How will e-commerce affect you in the future on buying or selling of goods and services?
How would you feel about your personal data being stored in the CRM system of the organization with which you are doing business?
Prepare a budget for your studies at the university. What are the advantages in preparing a budget? What are some problems?
Select an organization that you know and show how it uses computers or conducts e-commerce.
Select a firm in which you have an interest in working for and conduct a balanced score card analysis from publicly available information. Given your analysis, do you believe the organization is on
Identify two enterprise software applications that may help organizations better control their costs and operations.Describe them to the class and give examples of their use.
How would you measure the productivity of managers and other knowledge workers? Explain in detail.
Why is the field of production and operations management good to use as a case example of planning and control techniques? Why do you think this area was favored for analysis and productivity?
Distinguish between the planning and control techniques that are usually found only in production and operations management and those that are found useful in all areas of management. Why is there a
Explain the nature of and reasons for each step usually found in the development of a production and operations management program.
There are many typical layouts used in the design of a production program. Which one is ordinarily used for the manufacture of automobiles? Why?
Real-time information can be widely used in the area of production, but this does not solve the problem of control.Why?
What tools generally found in operations research have been widely used in production and operations management? Do they have anything in common? If so, what is it?
Why do you believe that quality control circles have been used so much in Japan?
Draw the layout of your apartment or house and indicate the pathways you take while doing your typical daily chores.Show any rearrangements you could make that would increase your effectiveness and
Interview several managers in a local company and ask how they measure the quality of their operations.
Toyota was the first to adopt the JIT system. Dell applied the virtual network to JIT. Search the Internet for the term“just-in-time.” Find out how JIT is used by enterprises.
Search the Internet for the term “total quality management.”How is the approach used by organizations? Present your findings to the class.
Why is the environment external to an enterprise so important to all managers? Can any manager avoid being influenced by the external environment?
Identify the elements of the external environment that are likely to be the most important to each of the following: a company president, a sales manager, a production manager, a controller, and a

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