• Chapter 7: Mass customization of products has become a common approach in manufacturing organizations. Explain the ways in which mass customization can be applied to service firms as well.
• Chapter 7: A top executive claimed that superior management is a craft technology because the work contains intangibles (such as handling personnel, interpreting the environment, and coping with unusual situations that have to be learned through experience). If this is true, is it appropriate to teach management in a business school? Does teaching management from a textbook assume that the manager's job is analyzable and, therefore, that formal training rather than experience is most important?
• Chapter 8: Do you believe that technology will eventually enable high-level managers to do their job with little face-to-face communication?
• Chapter 9: Look through several recent issues of a business magazine (Fortune, BusinessWeek, Fast Company, etc.) and find examples of 2 companies that are using approaches to busting bureaucracy. Explain the techniques that these companies are applying.
• Chapter 9: Do you believe that a no growth philosophy of management should be taught in business schools?