Fundamentals of Cost Accounting 3rd Edition William Lanen, Shannon Anderson, Michael Maher - Solutions

Discover comprehensive solutions for "Fundamentals of Cost Accounting 3rd Edition" by William Lanen, Shannon Anderson, and Michael Maher. Our platform provides an extensive collection of solved problems, including step-by-step answers and complete chapter solutions. Access the online solution manual and answers key for detailed guidance on textbook questions. Enhance your learning with our free download of the instructor manual and test bank, designed to support your understanding and success. Whether you seek solutions in PDF format or wish to explore questions and answers online, our resources offer the essential tools for mastering cost accounting concepts.

Assume you are about to purchase a used car (i.e., a decision without “perfect” information). How would go about reducing the uncertainty associated with this decision? What specific steps could you take to make sure you are getting a good car for a fair price? Explain.
1. Why was Nancy rewarded for breaking the rules?2. What types of behavioral factors might have influenced Nancy’s decision?3. Describe what type of decision Nancy had to make. What decision alternatives were available to her besides the one she chose?Nancy Taggart worked in the customer service
Why is diagnosis so vital in organizational change programs?
Explain the concept of organization intervention and why any particular management or organization change can be considered an intervention.
Might some managers attempt to implement a particular intervention, such as TQM, without first diagnosing whether the intervention would be appropriate for their organization’s problems?
Why is it important for managers to reduce the resistance to change openly displayed or covertly practiced by employees?
Evaluate the ethical issues associated with downsizing an organization by reducing its labor force to increase the organization’s long-run chance of survival. What other ethical issues can you identify in the practice of organizational development as you understand it thus far?
Describe the relationships among the steps of the change model depicted in this chapter and the process of unfreezing–new learning–refreezing. Which steps of the model are related to which elements of the relearning process?
How is the appreciative inquiry approach to organizational change different from a problem-solving approach?
Why is top management support so important for the success of an organizational development and change initiative?
Explain the difficulties that you would encounter in attempting to obtain diagnostic information from members of two groups that believe they’re competing for scarce resources.
Explain why a change program should be evaluated and why such an evaluation is so difficult to conduct.
1. What type of change(s) occurred at Bayer?2. What type of employee resistance to change did Bayer have to address?3. What are the positive and negative lessons learned from how change was handled at Bayer?Within a period of only seven months prior to Bayer’s acquisition of a production facility
As a manager, which type of reinforcement would you most likely use with your employees: positive or negative reinforcement? Discuss the pros and cons of each approach.
Why is it exceptionally difficult to distribute rewards based on merit?
Describe a situation you’ve previously encountered where reinforcement theory could have been successfully applied. What type of reinforcement schedule would you have used?
What ethical considerations should be considered before using a behavior modification program in a work setting?
Goal setting is a powerful tool that managers can use to direct employee behavior. However, under what conditions can goal setting lead to undesirable employee outcomes?
Are there any intrinsic rewards for students? Discuss any that you believe apply to you.
Of the nontraditional reward systems described in the chapter, which system in your opinion would be the most challenging to successfully implement and maintain? Explain.
Many jobs are designed so that employees are rewarded not only for their individual contribution but also for their work in groups and teams. Do you think that rewarding team effort is just as motivational as when an employee is rewarded for his or her own contribution? Explain.
Explain the differences between job rotation and job enrichment. Which approach do you feel would be more motivational for the majority of employees?
Under what conditions could you see yourself entering into a job-sharing arrangement with a co-worker? Please describe.
What characteristics of jobs can’t be enriched? Do you believe that management should ever consider any job to be incapable of enrichment?
Explain the relationships between feedback as a job content factor and personal goal setting. Is personal goal setting possible without feedback? Explain.
This chapter has described job designs in various service and manufacturing organizations. In which type of organization is job enrichment likely to be more effective as a strategy of increasing motivation and performance? Explain.
What do you think of companies such as Motorola and Hewlett-Packard that establish job design policies to help employees balance their work and life commitments? Do you think such policies will help these firms attract and retain more employees? Explain.
Think about your current organization or one for which you worked in the past. To what extent would a ROWE (Results-Only Work Environment) fit the organizational culture? Explain.
As you understand the idea and practice of total quality management, do you believe that it’s the wave of the future in American organizations? Explain.
Imagine you are project manager of a crucial product design team project to develop a schedule whereby each member takes a specific role in finishing the required daily tasks. How would you accomplish the desired work?
1. Explain which core characteristics of employees’ jobs will be changed if the consultant’s recommendations are accepted.2. Which alternative redesign strategies should be considered? For example, job rotation and job enlargement are possible alternatives. What are the relevant considerations
Assume that you’ve just started working for a company that does not have an organizational chart that shows reporting relationships. How would you go about determining to whom your boss reports and where your department fits in the overall organization structure?
Compare functional and product departmentalization in terms of relative efficiency, production, satisfaction, flexibility, quality, competitiveness, and development. Consider particularly the possibility that one basis may be superior in achieving one aspect of effectiveness, yet inferior in
Discuss the statement that to manage effectively, a person must have the authority to hire subordinates, assign them to specific jobs, and reward them on the basis of performance. Interview the chairperson of an academic department and determine whether he has this authority.
What implications for managerial spans of control can be expected in organizations that downsize? What additional demands will be placed on remaining managers after downsizing?
Describe managerial skills and behaviors that would be required to manage effectively in a functional department. Are these skills and behaviors different from those required in a product department? Explain.
For what type of organization would you prefer to work? Organic or mechanistic? Explain.
What in your experience has been the dominant contingency factor in the design of the organizations in which you have worked? Technology? Environmental uncertainty? Strategy?
Use the characteristics of mechanistic and organic organizations to describe two different organizations that you know about. After determining the organizational differences, see if you can relate the differences to technological and environmental differences.
Assume that you are starting your own business and want the organizational structure to be a virtual one. What are the advantages and disadvantages of creating such a virtual organization? Explain.
1. Evaluate the concept of “administrative liaison officer” as a strategy for achieving integration. Is this an example of the mutual adjustment strategy?2. How will the officers achieve integration when they will have no authority over either the administrative functions or the programs to be
As a manager of a virtual team, what qualifications and characteristics would you look for in potential team members so that the team’s work would be exceptional?
Why are some group and team members willing to socially loaf on work assignments?
Think of a group project you were involved in for a particular class. Describe how the group evolved or did not evolve.
What is the problem with a high degree of conforming behavior among group members?
You are a manager, and a member of one of your task groups comes to you and says that his group is engaging in groupthink and he is being pressured to conform to their rules. You can’t disclose this information to anyone, yet you want to discourage this group’s cohesiveness. What would you do?
1. What is Johnson’s most pressing problem? Why? 2. What can Johnson do to help her team launch the new product within the six-week timeframe? Be specific?3. Assume Johnson will select a new team to launch another Web-based product after this product is complete. What do you recommend she do
Should the process of negotiation such as the one described in this chapter be implemented to resolve student–faculty conflicts? Why?
Some individuals believe that compromise isn’t a good conflict resolution technique because there’s no distinct winner and the decision reached is probably not ideal for either group. What are your beliefs about compromise as a conflict resolution technique?
Describe how the three types of work interdependence could each lead to conflict between two groups within a specific student organization you’re familiar with.
How can team building help develop trust between members of different departments or groups at an organization?
Some individuals believe that conflict is necessary for change to take place. Comment.
Why do you think many managers avoid confrontations with their employees? Is this a functional and effective way to behave as a manager? Explain.
After completing the self-assessment in the OB and Your Career feature at the start of this chapter, were you surprised at the results of your preferred conflict-handling style? Do you agree with the findings? Explain.
What is meant when it’s said that a manager must be able to diagnose intergroup conflict situations? How can a manager obtain these diagnostic skills?
1. Why might there be high potential for conflict in relationships such as the one enjoyed by Ford-Mazda? 2. What means of managing group conflicts, as discussed in Chapter 9, are used in the Ford-Mazda partnership?3. Why do you think the Ford-Mazda partnership has been so successful, while many
Think of a co-worker, fellow student, or friend who seems to have a high need for power. What methods or tactics does this person use to try to influence others? Explain.
There’s an old saying that “information is power.” What strategies should you follow to acquire and use information in a politically powerful manner? Describe.
Given the seemingly limitless amount of information on the Internet and the fact that anyone can access it with a few keyword searches in Google, do you believe that “information power” is easier or harder to develop nowadays? Explain your answer.
Within the context of a hospital, what makes such subunits as the emergency room and critical care units so powerful? Explain.
Subunit power is an important topic for many managers. Assume you are the CEO of Face-book or some other social networking Web site. Which of the following two subunits would likely be more powerful within the company: the subunit responsible for designing the Web site? Or the subunit responsible
Why is it unrealistic to assume that little or no political game playing exists in an organization such as McDonald’s or Google?
The sponsorship game has also been referred to, in a more negative tone, as “riding someone’s coattails.” Why do you think some view this game in a negative way?
1. Apply French and Raven’s bases of power to Jake and Terry. Explain your answer. 2. If Terry takes the job of supervisor, his bases of power may shift. Explain this change.3. The chapter reintroduces McClelland’s need for power. How would you rate Jake’s and Terry’s “n Pow”? Referring
Compare the trait, behavioral, and situational approaches to leadership in terms of practical value to organizations seeking to identify and develop present and future leaders.
In your experience, can leaders relate to followers both as members of the group and as individuals? What are the implications for leadership theory and practice if you decide that leadership is essentially a one-on-one interaction?
Explain the path–goal theory of leadership. Now apply the main ideas of this theory to a different setting, perhaps the case of a parent attempting to help her daughter improve her college study habits and grades.
Leader–member exchange theory suggests that subordinates who are part of the leader’s in-group will receive better treatment than out-group members. As a member of the out-group, what steps can you take to increase your chances of becoming an in-group member?
Is leadership a characteristic a person is born with, or can it be developed through professional experiences, training, and mentoring? Explain.
Under what circumstances are authoritative or top-down directives as or more effective than a more participative style of leadership?
According to the contingency theory, an alternative to modifying the style of leadership through training is changing the favorableness of the situation. What is meant by changing the favorableness of the situation?
Think about a current or previous supervisor’s leadership style. Which type of supervisor would you prefer to work for: one who leads by displaying consideration or one who leads by initiating structure? Discuss your preference.
In your experience, are leaders flexible enough to adapt leadership styles to the situation or followers? Explain.
Would it be difficult for a manager to accurately determine a follower’s readiness level? Explain.
1. Do you believe that the diagnosis and resulting profile prepared by Management Analysis Corporation were necessary steps in the process of finding a potentially successful group of general managers? Explain. 2. What alternatives are available to modify Joe Morris’s potential effectiveness
Identify any three individuals (past or present) in any field (e.g., business, government, military, religion) who use/used their leadership abilities to build respected, successful organizations. What type of leadership behaviors do/did they use to accomplish this feat?
Compare the available research on the Vroom-Yetton-Jago model of leadership with the transactional explanation. What research is needed in both theories of leadership?
Under what circumstances would leadership effects be neutralized in an organization?
Is it realistic to search for a universal formula or approach to leadership that is effective at most/all types of organizations? Explain.
As you learn more about leadership in this course, what steps can you take to gain more experience as a future leader? Identify three specific ways to gain leadership experience at this point in your life.
How could a leader use attribution theory to explain the poor performance of an employee team that always seems to miss important project deadlines?
Many people consider Winston Churchill’s leadership of Great Britain during World War II to be an excellent example of how to lead successfully during difficult times. What type of leadership did Churchill display?
Which of the theories in Chapters 11 and 12 would be most useful in explaining to someone from India what leadership approaches will be needed to make India more competitive in the international marketplace?
Why is communication such an important skill in charismatic, transactional, and transformational explanations of leadership?
1. To recruit the CEO from the inside seems to work well for Intel. Do you believe this is a sound policy? Why? 2. How can a nontechnically oriented leader like Paul Otellini succeed as CEO in a technical company such as Intel?3. Why do some firms fail to plan effectively for executive
Why is Alfie Kohn’s critique incomplete and not likely to result in the elimination of pay-for-performance reward programs?
What can a manager do to increase the intrinsic motivational factors associated with a job?
1. Welch practices a hard-nosed management style. How can such a no-nonsense approach create a motivational atmosphere? Does Jack Welch use negative reinforcement, goal setting, or behavioral selfmanagement? Or does he use a combination of techniques?2. Jack Welch has set goals to be number one in
Research suggests that stress affects people differently. What are three reasons why this is true?
Why should managers not counsel or provide advice to any employee suspected of being depressed?
Why have some organizations accepted the responsibility for promoting employee wellness and other firms largely ignored the notion of a job contributing to an individual’s stress?
What types of jobs or organizations are a better fit for Type A individuals? For Type B individuals? Explain.
Why do service or help professions (e.g., social work, addiction counseling) result in high amounts of burnout?
What type of social support can a manager initiate in a work setting to help moderate the stress among employees?
What kinds of things can a manager do to better maximize employee–environment fit?
What is the relationship between stress and personality? What aspects of personality might tend to increase stress? Decrease it?
What are some of the costs of unmanaged, chronic stress?
Why is benchmarking the wellness programs of other organizations a recommended practice?
1. What are the primary reasons why many employees are experiencing high levels of stress at work nowadays? Identify and describe these reasons.2. Why do many of the survivors of layoffs experience stress? Conventional wisdom would suggest that these employees should be happy that they didn’t get
What are the four elements necessary to form an enforceable traditional contract or an e-contract? What affect does lack of contractual capacity have on any of the three elements? How might a deficiency in contractual capacity, related to contract formation, be corrected?

Showing 500 - 600 of 6229

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
Last

Fundamentals of Cost Accounting 3rd Edition William Lanen, Shannon Anderson, Michael Maher - Solutions

Step by Step Answers