Question 1

Think of an organization (any size, any industry, and any country) that is facing trouble or performing poorly currently due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

(a) Assuming you are the CEO, what should be done to change the organization's ways of getting things done to reverse its fortune or performance. Please be specific and justify your answers.

(b) While proposing the plan to the employees, some degree of resistance is experienced. Describe the reasons for their resistance and the tactics that you would use to overcome the resistance to change.

Question 2

(a) Suggest some personal traits that you believe would be useful to a business leader facing trouble or performing poorly.

(b) Based on your opinion, among charismatic leadership, transformational leadership and transactional leadership, which one is better? Why? Give examples of organisational situations and real leaders to explain your answer.

Question 3

(a) A survey of teachers found that two of the most important rewards were the belief that their work was important and a feeling of accomplishment. According to Maslow's theory, what needs do these rewards meet?

(b) Motivating employees to work is one of the most challenging aspects of management. Assume that you are a project manager for a 10-year project in a multinational corporation. Based on various motivation theories and methods that you learnt, how will you motivate your employees to work on this long-term project that might not show the outcomes or results within these 10 years?

Question 4

(a) Assume you manage a small online herbal business. 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 your bestselling supplement. What specific steps would you take to minimize the risk of this crisis?

(b) Good communication makes organisations successful. While modern organisations use social media as internal communication channel among employees, how the social media influence organisational communication of upward communication, downward communication and horizontal communication?