CHAPTER 19: MANAGING QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE

1.You have been hired to manage a 20-person staff for Nightlight Travels, a travel agency in Las Vegas. For five years, sales have been hammered by the global recession, and staff morale has plummeted as star employees have left for positions in more secure industries. Key customer relationships have been damaged by the sloppy and unprofessional work habits of the remaining staff members. Your first responsibility as new manager is to create next years' budget for all planned expenditures. But first you must decide if you will adopt a hierarchical approach or a decentralized approach to control. Which one would you choose and why?

2.Some critics argue that Six Sigma is a collection of superficial changes that often result in doing a superb job of building the wrong product or offering the wrong service. Do you agree or disagree? Explain

3.What types of analysis can managers perform to help them diagnose a company's financial condition? How might a review of financial statements help managers diagnose other kinds of performance problems as well?