Questions and Answers of Fundamentals Of Management

Using online resources, identify a significant innovation that came about as a result of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Describe the process by which the innovation was developed. Did the actual process
How about you? How surprised are you to learn how fast a blue-chip corporation with a line of householdname products can collapse? Do you think that we live in times that make such stories as
If you’re in the process of making a career choice, you need to have a firm grip on your own abilities, preferences, and limitations. This is particularly true for recent college graduates, who are
About a decade ago Geoff Colvin, a long-time editor at Fortune magazine and a respected commentator on economics and information technology, agreed to play a special game of Jeopardy. The occasion
Interview an HR manager and ask (1) what role did HR play in managing employees during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and (2) what permanent changes, if any, did the firm make in HR practices and
If you were an employee at Wegmans, how would you expect your annual performance appraisal to be conducted? Given the company’s customer-relations strategy, which appraisal methods do you think
Of the many different ways of interpreting personality, the widely used Myers-Briggs Type Indicator categorizes individual personality types along four dimensions: 1. Extraversion (E) versus
What about you? Millennials and Generation Y refer to the same thing—generally speaking, people born between the early 1980s and early 2000s. Does this range of birth years include you? Whether it
News flash: American workers aren’t happy with rec-room ping-pong tables and free massages. Or, to be a little more precise: Such perks aren’t enough to make them satisfied with their jobs.
List several of the major events or expectations that tend to be stressful for you. Common stressors include school (classes, exams), work (finances, schedules), and personal circumstances (friends,
Hunter Lovins defines employee engagement as “the goal of creating supportive, collaborative, and rewarding work environments.” Compare her understanding of employee engagement with the
“Again, what about you? Consider the definition of employee engagement in Question 2. Do you think that you’d be responsive to an employer’s efforts to engage you in your job? What kind of
Did you feel increased stress during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic? Why? How did you cope with it? Are you still using any of those stress management methods today?
The global recession in 2007–2009 and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic slowed down Tesco’s plans for expansion. Why might Tesco have been more harmed by these events than Walmart?
Some experts report that employee engagement “has become the new Holy Grail for many organizations” or that it “has long been the Holy Grail for creating thriving and successful
Interpersonal skills refer to your ability to communicate with, understand, and motivate both individuals and groups. This exercise gives you a chance to see whether the factors that motivate you
Consider each of the following perspectives on motivation: needs hierarchy, two-factor theory, and reinforcement theory. How would each of these perspectives contribute to an understanding of why
Lee Iacocca started his career at Ford in 1946 in an entry-level engineering job. By 1960 he was a vice president and in charge of the group that designed the Mustang, and 10 years later he was a
Fact 1: If you graduate from college, you’re more likely to get a full-time job than if you hadn’t. Fact 2: If you graduate from college, you’ll probably enjoy higher lifetime earnings than if
Note that all but one of the perspectives in Question 1 fall into the content category. What about process perspectives—expectancy theory, equity theory, and goal-setting theory? Answering the same
Consider the benefits that help make SAS a great place to work in terms of incentive reward systems. In what sense, for instance, can benefits be regarded as an incentive reward system, whether as an
At any given time, there’s no shortage of publications offering practical advice on management and leadership. Recent business bestsellers included such titles as Good to Great, by Jim Collins;
In both this chapter and previous chapters we have examined firms that consistently make various lists of “best place to work.” What strategic advantages do these firms enjoy? Why don’t more
Was Steve Jobs a better leader or a better manager? Why? Is Tim Cook a better leader or a better manager? Why?
Reflect on the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Recall two or three leaders you thought were very effective and one or two others you thought were less effective. Why did you see each in this light? What are
At any given time, there’s no shortage of publications offering practical advice on management and leadership. Recent business bestsellers included such titles as Good to Great, by Jim Collins;
Compare and contrast the leadership styles exhibited by Steve Jobs and Tim Cook.
The behavioral theories of leadership claim that an individual’s leadership style is fixed. Do you agree or disagree? Give examples to support your position. The behavioral theories also claim that
On November 14, 1970, a plane crash took the lives of 37 Marshall University football players, their coach, and 27 other staff and community members who were returning from a game in North Carolina.
Which leadership concepts and models are most illustrative of how Steve Jobs led? Which leadership concepts and models are most illustrative of how Tim Cook leads now?
In your opinion, if you had to choose either Steve Jobs or Tim Cook to lead your company, who would you choose? Why?
How did the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic impact how you communicate? What have been the most positive changes you’ve made or have observed others making as a result of the pandemic?”
The management of a large retailer wants to leverage the company’s enormous purchasing power to buy products in bulk quantities at relatively low prices. The plan calls for individual stores to
At Univision, a manager was having trouble communicating because of always sitting behind a large desk. Recall and discuss an office or home you may have been in recently that communicated specific
Because more than half the information in any face-to-face exchange is conveyed by nonverbal means, body language is a significant factor in any interpersonal communication. Consider, for example,
For a firm like Univision, identify the most common forms of vertical communication and horizontal communication flow.
In what ways does communication differ when it occurs in the digital format? What are the drawbacks of digital communication? What are some of the benefits of digital communication?
In 2012, Amy Cuddy, a social psychologist who teaches at Harvard Business School, delivered a presentation at the prestigious TED Global Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland. Her subject was body
Dr. Brad Wesner, cited as a consultant for Univision, said “Everybody thinks that communication is just something you do. Our challenge is getting them to believe that it is something you really
One recent survey found that employees wanted to engage with senior managers through internal social media: 42 percent, for example, would be willing to talk with line managers or team leaders over
How good are you at “thinking outside the box”? Are you fixated on functionality? Try solving the following problem before googling the solution. You have the three items pictured here: a book
Business organizations, of course, don’t have a monopoly on effective groups. Basketball teams and military squadrons are teams, as is a government policy group such as the president’s cabinet,
You’ll play this game in three separate rounds. In round 1, you’re on your own. In round 2, you’ll work in a small group and share information. You’ll also work in a small group in round 3,
Explain the advantages and disadvantages of open innovation and multidisciplinary collaboration in terms of team cohesion. What aspects of such teams, for example, may increase cohesiveness? Which
During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic there was disagreement about the need for face coverings. Some people thought face masks should be required for everyone all the time, others thought face masks
Describe a case of interpersonal conflict that you have observed in an organization. Describe a case of intergroup conflict that you have observed. (If you have not observed any, interview a worker
In a review of the research on workplace diversity, Beryl Nelson, a former software-engineering manager at Google, referred to several studies showing that teams “whose members are
Consider teams formed for multidisciplinary collaboration or as a result of open innovation in terms of role structure. Is role structure, for example, likely to be set or to evolve differently than
Gratton and Erickson describe two leadership styles among leaders of multidisciplinary teams: • Relationship-oriented leaders tend to foster “an environment of trust and goodwill in which people
What kinds of control methods and systems does The Cheesecake Factory rely on? Which type of control is most important at the level of an individual restaurant? How about for the company as a whole?
You’re a middle manager in a small manufacturing plant. Today is Monday, and you’ve just returned from a week’s vacation. The first thing you discover is that your assistant won’t be in today
Although corporate budgets are obviously much more complicated, the basic processes of creating a corporate budget on the one hand and a personal budget on the other share a few important features.
Select two different kinds of organizations with which you have some familiarity. For each one, identify how its control systems and processes may have changed during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.
Let’s suppose that you’re the manager of a factory that manufactures automotive bumpers. When the fourth quarter rolls around, you see that you aren’t on track to meet your quota by your
Describe how budgets may be helpful for methods improvement in restaurant operations. What kinds of information would you hope to gain from the budgets?
Identify a major U.S. restaurant chain that has recently received poor quality ratings. Who are its customers, and what are the basic causes that led to declining quality?
You’re the customer-service manager of a large auto parts distributor. The general manager of a large auto dealer, one of your best customers, has sent the following letter, and it’s your job to
What is the basis of Tesco’s success?
Think of a recent occasion when you purchased a tangible product—say, clothing, a digital device, a backpack, or professional supplies—which you subsequently came to feel was of especially high
How easy (or hard) would it be for rivals like Walmart or Carrefour to adopt Tesco’s data management techniques?
Marc Chardon knows that when he talks about the “flight to quality,” he has to explain himself. “When I say ‘flight to quality,’” he says, “I’m talking about the observable trend of
What measures of quality and productivity are most relevant for firms like Walmart and Tesco?
If Tesco’s managers asked your advice on whether or not to reenter the U.S. market, what would you say?
What is the culture of your college, university, or place of employment? How clear is it? What are its most positive and most negative characteristics?
Boeing and the Boeing Foundation donate upward of a quarter billion dollars each year to social and community causes. How do you reconcile this with the behaviors described previously?
All managers face a variety of goals, challenges, opportunities, and, of course, demands on their time. Juggling all these demands successfully requires a clear understanding of priorities,
As we saw in this chapter, effective managers must be prepared to switch back and forth among the four basic activities in the management process. They must also be able to fulfill a number of
This self-assessment will help you understand your current understanding of the practice of management and your own approach to management. This assessment outlines four important functions of
Everybody knows what a grand piano looks like, although it’s hard to describe its contour as anything other than “piano shaped.” From a bird’s-eye view, you might recognize something like a
You’re a Netflix employee, and Reed Hastings has just stopped by your desk. “I’d like to know,” he says, “what do you like most and least about working here?” How do you think you might
You’re the founder and owner of a small media company, and Netflix has indicated an interest in buying your business. Reed Hastings wants you to stay on and run the business as a unit of Netflix.
You’ve been contacted by a marketing research company doing work for Netflix. The researcher asks if you use Netflix and, if not, why? If you do use Netflix, the researcher asks what you like and
More than 70 percent of the world’s supply of cacao beans comes from small family farms scattered throughout several small West African nations, including Ivory Coast and Ghana. These farmers,
Identify the major stakeholders that have a vested interest in Boeing. What does the opening case say about each one?
Can you think of dimensions of the task environment that are not discussed in this chapter? Indicate their linkages to those that are discussed.
Identify a situation where a firm competes with another firm but the two firms also have a strategic alliance or joint venture. Explain why situations such as this exist.
How would you assess the CEO compensation for both the departed and the new Boeing CEO?
Use online resources to find Codes of Ethics for three different businesses. Assess each one in terms of its strengths and weaknesses
In your opinion, how do the ethical practices and social responsibility portrayed by Boeing compare to those of most other large businesses?
In your judgment, why has LVMH been so successful?
SWOT is an acronym for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The idea behind SWOT is that a good strategy exploits an organization’s opportunities and strengths while neutralizing
How have changing customer demographics affected LVMH? How well positioned is the firm to address these changes?
For the past several years Sergey Brin and Larry Page have been running one of the world’s largest technology companies. They have named their enterprise Alphabet because they felt that it held a
Which of the major decisions noted in the case were made under conditions of certainty, risk, and uncertainty?
Entrepreneurs and start-ups and new ventures play a variety of important roles in society. If these roles are so important, do you think that the government should do more to encourage the
Comment on the role that globalization has played in Chobani’s success.
Managers often find it necessary to change an organization’s degree of centralization or decentralization. Begin this exercise by reflecting on two very different scenarios in which this issue has
Using the job characteristics theory as a framework, propose changes to the job of Transportation Security Officer to make it more engaging and motivating.
Identify five ways in which digital coordination affects your daily life.
Most likely you have never heard of a business called Alshaya; the Kuwait-based business M. H. Alshaya Company does not have great name recognition. But that’s exactly how the privately held
The opening case lists the five major units within the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Review that list of these units from the case and describe the basis of departmentalization
During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic many organizations required their employees to work remotely and maintained little or no staff at their headquarters. Is this the same as a virtual organization? Why
Two other luxury good companies, Swiss luxury giant Richemont and French-based Kering, have come to recognize the effectiveness of Arnault’s strategy and have started trying to imitate it. What
The Great Recession did surprisingly little damage to LVMH. While the firm’s revenues were essentially flat during this period it remained profitable. Use online resources to look into how the
Much business activity in the United States was shut down in Spring 2020 to help combat the spread of COVID-19. In April and May some businesses started to re-open, although often under different
Psychologists Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman conducted much of the research contributing to the current state of our knowledge about decision-making biases. Tversky and Kahneman tested tendencies
In your opinion, which one decision has made the greatest impact on Viking’s success? Why?
Individual decision making, of course, has its advantages— speed, simplicity, lack of conflict. At times, however, these advantages are outweighed by other considerations. In particular, solitary
Select any one of the decisions made by Hagen as described in the case. Trace through the steps that he may have followed using the rational decision-making process as a framework.
Consider the following list of business decisions. Which decisions would be handled most effectively by group or team decision making? Which would be handled most effectively by individual decision

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