3. Observe employees at work. Observe the process of work, and the interaction among the employees.

Consider some of the following issues:

• Identify the steps that employees follow in completing a work cycle (for example, from taking an order to delivering a product). Can you see improvements that might be made, particularly steps that might be eliminated or streamlined?

• Observe the interaction and mood of the workers.

Are they stressed? Or are they more relaxed? Does it seem to you that these workers like working with each other?

• Listen for signs of confl ict. If you see signs of confl ict, is the confl ict resolved? If so, how did the workers resolve their confl ict? If not, do you think that these workers suppress (bottle up) confl ict?

• Can you tell who is in charge here? If so, how do the other workers respond to this person’s directions? If not, how does the work group sort out who should be doing each task, and in what order? The topic of management history may sound like old news, but many of the issues and problems addressed by Max Weber, Chester Barnard, and other management theorists still challenge managers today. How can we structure an organization for maximum effi ciency and just treatment of individuals? What is the basis for, and limits to, authority in organizations? It is rather amazing that these thinkers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries generated such a wealth of theory that still infl uences our discussion of management and leadership challenges in the 21st century. This exercise will give you the opportunity to draw upon some ideas that trace their roots back to the pioneers of management thinking.