CASE STUDIES ASSIGNMENT $1($CHAPTERS $6-7)$

Chapter $6-$ City of Everett Bets Big on Green Buses $($Page $158)$

$1.$ Why do you think Everett set such an ambitious goal for transforming its fleet? Based on its achievements so far, do you think it is likely to meet that goal? Why or why not?

$2.$ What additional training needs among its drivers and maintenance workers do you think the city will need to plan for as it adds electric buses in the next few years? What role will its supervisors play?

$3.$ What factors do you think the city's budget planners will need to take into account as the number of electric buses increases?

$4.$ What contingencies would you advise Everett's transportation department to prepare for?

Chapter $7-$ A Supervision Challenge: How Do You Get Things Done When There Are No Managers? $($Page $162)$

The opening case discusses Zappos and their experiment of replacing the traditional hierarchical organization structure with a holacracy. The case presents the following two questions.

$1.$ Do you think the holacracy Zappos is moving to will succeed?

$2.$ Can you become as a consensus leader in this type of organization and if so$,$ how?

$3.$ What sort of changes will both supervisors and front$-$line employees face in the coming months? What challenges will they face? How will work be delegated in these new work groups?

Chapter $7-$ Problem$-$Solving Case: What Went Wrong at Volkswagen? $($Page $182)$

$1.$ Volkswagen$$s annual report explains that, $$The Volkswagen Group consists of two divisions: the Automotive Division and the Financial Services Division. The Automotive Division comprises the Passenger Cars, Commercial Vehicles, and Power Engineering Business Areas.$$ Does this description sound more like a functional, product, geographic, or customer structure, or some combination of these?

$2.$ Do you think the responsibility for complying with emissions testing was delegated too far down the company$$s reporting structure? Why or why not?

$3.$ If you were advising Volkswagen on what needs to change internally in response to the emissions scandal, what would you suggest?