Management The Essentials 5th Edition Stephen P. Robbins, Mary A. Coulter, David A. DeCenzo, Megan Woods - Solutions

Describe the key components of the human resource management process and the important influences on that process. LO9
Discuss the tasks associated with identifying and selecting competent employees. LO9
Explain how employees are provided with needed skills and knowledge. LO9
Discuss how organisations provide a safe working environment. LO9
Describe strategies for retaining competent, highperforming employees. LO9
Discuss contemporary issues in managing human resources. LO9
How does HRM affect all managers? LO9
Imagine you are the store manager of your local independent supermarket. Which of the HRM areas depicted in Figure 9.1 do you think you would be directly involved in? LO9
Some critics claim that corporate HR departments have outlived their usefulness; that their purpose isn’t to help employees but to shield the organisation from legal problems.What do you think? What benefits are there to having a formal HRM process? What are the drawbacks? LO9
Do you think it’s ethical for a prospective employer to delve into an applicant’s life by means of interviews, tests and background investigations? What if those investigations involved looking at your Facebook, Instagram or Twitter accounts? Explain your position. LO9
Which recruiting sources would you use to recruit for the position of (a) a hairdresser, (b) a school principal, and (c) a CEO? LO9
Discuss the advantages and drawbacks of the various selection devices. LO9
What are the benefits and drawbacks of realistic job previews? (Consider this question from the perspective both of the organisation and of a potential employee.) LO9
List the factors that influence employee compensation and benefits. LO9
What, in your view, constitutes sexual harassment?Describe how companies can minimise sexual harassment in the workplace. LO9
Discuss the external environmental factors that most directly affect the HRM process. LO9
What environmental influences are contributing to the growing use of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander reconciliation action plans (Hint: Review the chapter on aspects of the external organisational environment.) LO9
Realistic job previews help in retaining new employees. If you were writing a realistic job preview for Thomas’s role, what would you include? Why? LO9
How could Rebecca have used employee counselling to help Thomas better meet NexGeneration’s performance expectations? LO9
What does the case illustrate about the challenges of managing workforce diversity? Do you think NexGeneration has a sincere commitment to diversity, or just a superficial one? How could NexGeneration improve its support for its Indigenous employees? LO9
How is HHH practising strategic HRM? LO9
What sort of recruiting channels would you suggest HHH use to find new cleaning staff? Why would you recommend those channels? LO9
What are some of the advantages of using prerecorded videos to teach employees safe cleaning practices? What would be the disadvantages? LO9
Is it ethical to use ‘undercover’ evaluators to collect performance information about staff? What issues does it raise? How could those be addressed? LO9
HHH is attempting to diversify its workforce to include more people who have English as a second language. How might the company need to adapt its HRM to be inclusive of those new employees? LO9
Define organisational change, and compare and contrast views on the change process. LO5
Explain why change might be unsuccessful. LO5
Describe what managers need to know about employee stress. LO5
Discuss techniques for stimulating innovation. LO5
Why is managing change an integral part of every manager’s job? LO5
Contrast the ‘calm waters’ and ‘white-water rapids’metaphors of change. Which of these would you use to describe your current life? Explain your answer. LO5
Organisations typically have limits to how much change they can absorb. As a manager, what signs would you look for that might suggest your organisation has exceeded its capacity to change? LO5
Think of an unsuccessful change attempt you have witnessed. (It could be a change you have tried to make in your own life, or a change that was attempted in an organisation you’re familiar with.) Why did the change fail?Which of the reasons for change failures applied in that situation? LO5
If you were in charge of implementing an organisational development initiative, which of the techniques for overcoming barriers to change would you use? Why? LO5
How are opportunities, constraints and demands related to stress? Give an example of each. LO5
How do creativity and innovation differ? Give an example of each. LO5
Review the factors that foster innovation depicted in Figure 10.4 . Which three do you think would be the most powerful in fostering innovation? Why do you think they would be the most influential? LO5
How does an innovative culture make an organisation more effective? Could an innovative culture ever make an organisation less effective? Why or why not? LO5
What types of change is Mates in Construction trying to facilitate? LO5
How is MIC facilitating organisational development on building and construction sites? LO5
What barriers might prevent MIC from successfully fostering change? How could those barriers be overcome? LO5
How could mining and construction companies reduce the stresses experienced by workers in the industry? LO5
Does HHH have an organisational culture that supports innovation? Which of the cultural variables detailed in Figure 10.4 seem to be present at HHH?Which ones are missing? LO5
How could Mia use Kurt Lewin’s ideas about change to increase the chances of her initiative being adopted? LO5
What techniques for overcoming barriers to change are used in HHH’s approach to change management? LO5
How could HHH minimise stress for employees when implementing new changes? LO5
Define and explain motivation. LO3
Compare and contrast early theories of motivation. LO3
Compare and contrast contemporary theories of motivation. LO3
Discuss contemporary issues in motivating employees. LO3
Most of us have to work for a living, and a job is a central part of our lives. So, why do managers have to worry so much about employee motivation issues? LO3
What is motivation? Explain the three key elements of motivation. LO3
Contrast lower-order and higher-order needs in Maslow’s needs hierarchy. LO3
What role would money play in (a) the hierarchy of needs theory, (b) two-factor theory, (c) equity theory, (d) expectancy theory, and (e) motivating employees with a high nAch? LO3
What are some of the possible consequences of employees perceiving an inequity between their inputs and outcomes and those of others? LO3
What are some advantages of using pay-for-performance programs to motivate employee performance? Are there drawbacks? Explain. LO3
How could managers use the job characteristics model to encourage and support workforce diversity efforts? Explain. LO3
In difficult economic times, managers may not be able to use financial rewards or employment security to motivate or reward their staff. What could they use instead? LO3
What are some of the pros of tailoring rewards to meet the preferences of individual staff members? What are some of the cons of doing that? LO3
Look back at the chapter-opening ‘Fact or Fiction’ and how it was ‘debunked’. Evaluate this wage decision in light of that. LO3
Explain each of the employee productivity/motivation concerns. Which of these do you think is most critical? Why? LO3
Expectancy theory says employees are motivated when they see a clear link between effort, performance and rewards. By that logic, do you think employees would find Price’s approach to be motivating or de-motivating? LO3
What problem(s) might managers face under this new pay approach, and how could they use knowledge about employee motivation to help them deal with those problem(s)? LO3
What needs seem to motivate Jack and Bianca in their jobs? How are they meeting those needs in their work? LO3
What goals do you think Bianca and Jack would say they have in their jobs? How powerfully do you think those goals motivate them? LO3
What job characteristics does Bianca’s job have?What job characteristics does Jack’s job have? LO3
If Mia were to set up an employee recognition and reward program for her region of HHH, what rewards do you think would be most meaningful for Jack? For Bianca? LO3
Should Mia introduce a pay-for-performance program at HHH? Why or why not? LO3
Define leader and leadership. LO6
Compare and contrast early leadership theories. LO6
Describe the four main contingency leadership theories. LO6
Describe modern views of leadership and the issues facing today’s leaders. LO6
Discuss trust as the essence of leadership. LO6
Define the terms leader and leadership and discuss why managers should be leaders. LO6
‘The problems with trait theories of leadership is that they become self-fulfilling prophecies.’ Discuss. LO6
What does each of the behavioural leadership theories say about leadership? LO6
What would a manager need to know to use Fiedler’s contingency model? Be specific. LO6
Do you think that most managers in real life use a contingency approach to increase their leadership effectiveness? Discuss. LO6
How would LMX influence an organisation’s attempts to promote diversity and inclusiveness? LO6
Do you think trust evolves out of an individual’s personal characteristics or out of specific situations? Explain. LO6
Do followers make a difference in whether a leader is effective? Discuss. LO6
Think of a leader you know (or know of) who has accomplished extraordinary outcomes. What type of leader were they: Transactional? Transformational? Charismatic?Visionary? Why do you think they were so successful? LO6
When might leaders be irrelevant? LO6
What sort of leadership behaviours does Jacinda Ardern demonstrate? LO6
Applying situational leadership theory, what leadership style did Ardern use during the COVID-19 pandemic? LO6
Would you describe Jacinda Ardern as a transformational, visionary or charismatic leader? LO6
Which dimensions of trust do you think have been the most important for Jacinda Ardern’s leadership? LO6
What makes Mia a leader? How does she influence Bella? LO6
What styles of leadership behaviours are mentioned in this case? LO6
According to Bella, which of House’s four leadership behaviours does Mia use? LO6
How does Mia inspire and empower her team members? LO6
How does Mia generate trust? LO6
Describe what managers need to know about communicating effectively. LO2
Explain how technology affects managerial communication. LO2
Discuss contemporary issues in communication. LO2
Why isn’t effective communication synonymous with agreement? LO2
Identify four forms of ‘noise’ that can disrupt a communication process. For each one, explain how it disrupts communication. LO2
Ineffective communication is the fault of the sender.’ Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Discuss. LO2
Which do you think is more important for a manager:speaking accurately or listening actively? Why? LO2
Select two barriers to effective communication and explain how they disrupt the communication process. How could these barriers be minimised or eliminated? LO2

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Management The Essentials 5th Edition Stephen P. Robbins, Mary A. Coulter, David A. DeCenzo, Megan Woods - Solutions

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