Questions and Answers of Supervision Today

1. What are some of the reasons people at Crystal may resist this change?2. What actions might you suggest for helping the Crystal Company deal with the changes in a positive manner?3. How might this
1. What type of departmentalization is evident in the employee grouping of Sarah’s department? Cite specific examples to support your point of view.2. What are the strengths and weaknesses of this
1. What are some of the reasons that a union is attempting to organize at Faragut Services?2. What things might Faragut Services do to prepare for the organizing effort?3. If you were a supervisor at
1. What do these new supervisors need to know about labor relations and the collective bargaining process?2. Describe the various roles a supervisor may have in labor matters (e.g., organizing
What is the objective of collective bargaining?
Describe the collective bargaining process.
What is collective bargaining? How widely is it practiced?
How do union shops and agency shops differ?
What is the process for establishing a union as the legal collective bargaining representative for employees?
Explain the appeal of unions to employees.
What three pieces of legislation have been most important in defining the rights of management and unions? Provide the highlights of each.
1. Why do you believe most of Kathy Wilson’s employees were resistant to the move? Describe the factors leading to this resistance.2. Assume that you are Kathy Wilson and it is spring 2003. You
Do you think changes can occur in an organization without a champion to foster new and innovative ways of doing things? Explain.
What happens if an attitude change is not refrozen?
Why should supervisors be concerned with an employee’s work-related attitudes?
How can building trust lessen change resistance?
How does an employee’s perception relate to his or her resistance to change?
What signals or cues might tell you that an employee is resistant to a change you’re planning to implement?
Describe the traditional model of the change process.How does it differ from the contemporary view of change?
Give several examples of environmental forces that might affect supervisors and require changes in a department.
1. Was it appropriate for hospital administration to discipline the doctors and nurses for behavior that occurred outside the hospital environment? Why or why not?2. Was this case an example of
Assume you found an apartment that you wanted to rent and the ad said:“$550/month negotiable.” What could you do to improve the likelihood that you would negotiate the lowest possible price?
Why is discipline not always the best solution?
Why is it important to document any disciplinary action you take against an employee?
“A good supervisor will never have to use discipline.”Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Discuss.
How do you assess another person’s power in an organization?
Can an organization be free of politics? Explain.
What is a devil’s advocate? How does a devil’s advocate produce conflict in a department?
When should you avoid conflict? When should you seek compromise?
What is conflict management?
How can conflict benefit an organization?
1. Do you think Joe would have handled the situation differently if Tim had been a less valued worker?Why?2. What is the probable outcome of not filing the accident report on time and with complete
“Supervisors should be concerned with helping their employees cope with both job-related stress and off-the-job stress.” Do you agree or disagree?Discuss.
Differentiate among physiological, psychological,and behavioral stress symptoms. Which are the greatest concerns for supervisors?
What is stress? How can it be positive?
How are incidence rates calculated? Give an example.
Identify three methods of preventing accidents. How can supervisors assist in ensuring that accidents are prevented?
Describe the priority of OSHA investigations.
What are the objectives of the Occupational Safety and Health Act?
1. Why do you think Bill Martin is so concerned about his meeting with his area manager? Should he change the rating methods he uses to evaluate his employees? Why or why not?2. What are some of the
1. Many supervisors say that evaluating an employee’s performance is one of their most difficult tasks. Why do you think they feel that way?2. What can supervisors do to make performance appraisal
Do you believe employee counseling is preferable to disciplining employees? Support your position.
What is a 360-degree appraisal? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using this method of appraising?
What can a supervisor do to minimize distortions in the appraisal process?
Would human errors in the appraisal process be eliminated in small organizations where one person does all the appraisals? Explain.
Compare written essay appraisals with BARS appraisals.
If appraising behaviors are superior to appraising traits, why do you think so many organizations evaluate their employees on criteria such as effort,loyalty, and dependability?
Contrast intrinsic and extrinsic feedback.
What is the relationship between goal setting and performance appraisal?
Contrast the advantages of supervisor-conducted appraisals, self-evaluations, and peer evaluations.
Why, in your opinion, do many supervisors dislike or even avoid giving employees performance feedback?
1. Thomas’ coach survived the fallout, but was heavily criticized for claiming he was unaware of the fraternity-house behavior happening in the locker room. Is it reasonable to believe a coach or
1. Why do you think a team was needed for the design of a complex project like the distribution center for HP? How would you classify this team?2. Do you believe that the advantages accrued from
In two to three pages, explain whether you would prefer to work alone or as part of a team.
Describe why work teams are more acceptable in Japan than in the United States or Canada.
What is the supervisor’s role in gaining external support for teams?
How do you build trust in a team?
Contrast a team’s purpose and its goals.
What skills do all teams need to perform effectively?
Compare a pseudo team with a real team.
Explain the increasing popularity of teams.
Why can’t formal systems be designed to completely eliminate the need for informal groups?
Do cohesive groups always outperform less cohesive groups? Explain.
Give examples of low performance-related norms.
How do norms affect the behavior of employees?
1. What barriers were there to communication between the employees of General Mills and Pillsbury?2. Although not a “different language” per se, how might the language of the functional areas
1. Analyze the communication between the lead supervisor, Sam Case, and the new supervisor in Section A, Paul Banks. What did Sam do wrong?2. How could the problem have been prevented? In your
Contrast the nominal group technique and electronic meetings.
When should supervisors use groups for decision making? When should they make the decisions themselves?
Which view of ethics do you believe dominates in business firms? Justify your response.
What rationalizations do people use to justify questionable conduct?
How does escalation of commitment affect decision making? Give an example.
How might certain decision styles fit better with specific jobs? Give examples.
Why are feedback skills so important to a supervisor’s success?
Contrast passive and active listening.
Do you believe that supervisors can control the grapevine? Explain your position.
What use, if any, can the grapevine serve? Provide a specific example.
How can nonverbal messages be powerful communicators?How can supervisors use non-verbal messages to their advantage?
“Do as I say, not as I do.” Analyze this phrase interms of supervisors being effective communicators,and in terms of its effect on credibility and trust among the supervisor’s employees.
Which type of communication method do you prefer to use at work when sending a message to someone else? Why? Do you have the same preference when messages are being sent to you? Explain.
When is a written communication preferable to an oral one? When is it not preferred?
Why isn’t agreement necessarily a part of good communication?
“Everything a supervisor does involves communicating.”Build an argument to support this statement.
1. How would you describe Galwal’s leadership style?Why?2. Do you think these leadership styles were beneficial for this organization? Why or why not?3. Imagine you are a supervisor working for
1. What critical factors will affect Lesley’s success as a leader? Do you believe these factors would be the same if success were defined as group satisfaction rather than group productivity?2. Do
“Given the emphasis on caring for employees,women may be more effective supervisors.” Do you agree or disagree? Support your position.
What role do credibility and trust play in leadership?
How could a professor apply situational leadership with students in a classroom setting?
How can supervisors be both flexible and consistent in their leadership styles? Aren’t these contradictory?Explain.
Compare and contrast consultative, democratic, and free-rein styles of participative leadership.
What’s the difference between a task-centered and a people-centered supervisor? Which do you believe employees would rather work for? Why? Which would you prefer to work for? Explain.
How are technical, conceptual, networking, and human relations skills linked to effective leadership?
What is charismatic leadership? Why might high self-monitors be more effective leaders? Discuss.
How is intelligence related to leadership?
“All supervisors should be leaders, but not all leaders should be supervisors.” Do you agree or disagree?Support your position.
1. What can Caroline do to become more motivated about her work and overcome the reputation of being passionless about her job?2. What motivational opportunities could Caroline expect from her bosses
1. Using what you have learned from studying the various motivation theories, describe the situation at the cafeteria.2. Describe what you think might be Sean’s biggest challenge in motivating the
How can a supervisor enrich a job?
What motivational challenges does a diversified workforce create for supervisors?
Describe expectancy theory. What are the critical link ages?

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