2013 “Fundamentals of Management”Referential answers for assignmentsChapter1: Managers and ManagementQ4 Is your course instructor a manager? Discuss in terms of both planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Also discuss using Mintzberg’s managerial roles approach.Answer– A college instructor is both an individual contributor and a manager. Planning (defines class goals, establishes plans for achieving goals, and develops lesson plans), organizing(execution and class participation), leading(motivating students, direct the activities of others, select the most effective communication channel, resolve conflicts) , controlling(grading).Mintzberg’s managerial role s: Interpersonal roles: the roles of leader and liaison. Informational roles: monitor and disseminator. Decisional roles: disturbance handler and resource allocator.Q7 Why are managers important to organizations?Answer–Managers are individuals in an organization who direct and oversee the activities of others. Managers perform managerial activities that ensure to achieve organizational goals effectively and efficiently. Providing details about management levels. (Please refer to page 5-6)Q9 An article by Gary Hamel in the February 2009 issue of Harvard Business Review addresses how management must be reinvented to be more relevant to today’s world? Get a copy of that article. Choose one of the 25 grand challenges identified. Discuss what it is and what it means for the way that organizations are managed.Answer–The 25 grand challenges include: ensure management serves a higher purpose, reduce fear and increase trust, reinvent the means of control, redefine the work of leadership, expand and exploit diversity, etc. Choose one of them and discuss. Chapter3: Foundations of Decision MakingQ1 Why is decision making often described as the essence of a manager’s job? Answer– Decision making is a process of responding to a problem by searching for and selecting a solution or course of action that will create value for organisational stakeholders. Everything that a manager does in term of planning, organizing, leading and controlling involves decision making. Managers in organizations also are called decision makers.Q3 “Because managers have software tools to use, they should be able to m akemore rational decisions.” Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Why? Answer– Disagree. Decision making is a complex process which needs information, skills, experiences and creativity. Software tools will allow managers easily gather information and analyze it, but it is doubtful software tools can make managers more rational, as software tools do not make decisions.Rational decision making means making logical and consistent choices to maximize value. Rational decision making must satisfy several assumptions. However, the reality is full of uncertainty and risk. Managers’decision making still will not be perfectly rational by using software tools.Q4Is there a difference between wrong decisions and bad decisions? Why do good managers sometimes make wrong decisions? Bad decisions? How might managers improve their decision making skills?Answer– Wrong decisions can not help to achieve organizational goals, bad decisions do help to achieve goals but may not maximize value or solve problems in a large expense. In addition to uncertainty and risk, time pressure, incomplete information in today’s environment and limited capacity make managers often use intuition to make decisions, so good managers sometimes also make wrong or bad decisions. Managers can improve decision making skills by focus on what is more important, logic and consistency, gathering relevant information, blending subjective and objective thinking with analysis and remaining flexible, etc.Chapter4: Foundations of PlanningQ2 Describe in detail the six-step strategic management process.Answer–The six-step strategic management process involves: Identify the organization’s current mission, goals, and strategies; External analysis (identify opportunities and threats); Internal analysis (identify strengths and weaknesses); Formulate strategies, implement strategies and evaluate results. (Please refer to page 87-89 )Q5 Under what circumstances do you believe MBO would be the most useful? Discuss.Answer–MBO is a process of setting mutually agreed-upon goals and using those goals to evaluate employee performance. MBO makes objectives operational by cascading them down through the organization.Under circumstances where employee commitment is important, where concrete goals help a company directs its efforts, when there is a need coordination and communication in a company, etc.Q9 Do a personal SWOT analysis. Assess your personal strengths and weaknesses (skills, talents, abilities). What are you good at? What are you not so good at? What do you enjoy doing? Not enjoy doing? Then, identify career opportunities and threats by researching job prospects in the industry you’reinterested in. Look at trends and projections. You might want to check out the information the Bureau of Labor Statistics provides on job prospects. Once you have all this information, write a specific career action plan. Outline five-year career goals and what you need to do to achieve those goals.Answer–SWOT analysis is an a nalysis of an organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in order to identify a strategic niche that the organization can exploit. The answer will vary based on students. (Please refer to page 88-89) Chapter5: Organizational Structure and CultureQ2 Can an organizati on’s structure be changed quickly? Why or why not? Should it be changed quickly? Why or why not?Answer– Yes, an organization’s structure can be changed quickly. However, t he speed of changing an organization’s structure depends on its size. A small organi zation can change its structure more rapidly than a large organization. But a large organization can change its structure and does in response to the changing environment and strategy. Whether an organization’s structure should be changed quickly or not de pends on the organization’s strategy, the environment and the form of technology it uses.Q5 Researchers are now saying that efforts to simplify work tasks actually gave negative results for both companies and their employees. Do you agree? Why or why not?Answer–Facing today’s competitive environment, managers need to consider how to allocate limited resources and group activities to achieve organizational goals. Make the right person do the right task. Simplify work tasks can have positive results for companies and employees. For example, work specialization makes efficient use of the diversity of skills that employees hold.Q8 Pick two companies that you interact with frequently (as an employee or as a customer) and assess their culture according to the culture dimensions shown in exhibit5-13.Answer–The answer will vary based on the companies students choose. Culture dimensions include: attention to detail, outcome orientation, people orientation, team orientation, aggressiveness, stability, innovation and risk taking.Chapter8 : Motivating and Rewarding EmployeesQ1 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? Answer– Motivation refer s to the process by which a person’s efforts are energized, directed, and sustained toward attaining a goal. Even though most of us have to work and therefore need a job, managers still have to worry about employee motivation issues. Employees are not always willing to put effort to do their job well. Employeecan work for different rewards: money, recognition, achievement, affiliation, power and so on. Motivation can lead to higher productivity, improve employee satisfaction, reduce the high cost of employee turnover and maintaining the competitive edge. Motivation plays a critical role in achieving organizational goals.Q3 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 aAch?Answer– (a) Money might be a security need, providing shelter, food, and clothing, or it could be a self-esteem need in giving the individual a sense of self-worth. (b) Money is a hygiene factor. (c) Money becomes a measure of fairness—Is my raise, salary appropriate to my position? (d) Money is relevant only to the degree the individual perceives that the monetary reward is appropriate for the amount of effort put forth. (e) Money could be seen as a way to measure success.Q6 Many job design experts who have studied the changing nature of work say that people do their best work when they are motivated by a sense of purpose rather than by the pursuit of money. Do you agree? Explain your position? What are the implications for managers?Answer–The answer will vary. Employees come to organizations with different needs, skills, abilities and interests. Employees need to cooperate with others in today’s diversit y and competitive environment. People do not work only for money, such as professional and technical employees, whose chief reward is the work itself. Employee can work for other rewards: recognition, achievement, affiliation or power. Managers should focus more on the sense of purpose and look at different types of rewards that help motivate employees.Chapter9: Leadership and TrustQ2 What would a manager need to know to use Fiedler’s contingenc y model? Be specific.Answer–The Fiedler’s contingency model proposed effective group performance depends on the pro per match between the leader’s style of interaction and the degree to which the situation gives control and influence to the leader. He isolated three situational criteria—leader-member relations, task structure, and position power—that can be manipulated to create the proper match with the behavioral orientation of the leader. Fiedler argued that leadership style is innate to a person—you can’t change your style. It is necessary to match the leader with the situation based on three situational criteria. (Please refer to page 247-249)Q5 Do you think trust evolves out of an individual’s personal characteristics or out of specific situations? Explain.Answer– Both, trust is in a person given certain circumstances. Some individuals are always trusted regardless of circumstances; others can be trusted to respond inpredictable ways in different circumstances.Q6 Do followers make a difference in whether a leader is effective? Discuss. Answer–Yes,t he ability to influence others outside of one’s own author ity and to perform beyond expectations are essential to high performing organizations and are characteristic of leaders. Leaders have followers. Followers make significant contribution to leaders’effectiveness. Successful leadership is contingent on the f ollower’s level of readiness. “R eadiness” refers to the extent that people have the ability and the willingness to accomplish a specific task. Regardless of what the leader does, effectiveness depends on the actions of his or her followers.Chapter10: Communication and Interpersonal SkillsQ1 Which type of communication do you think is most effective in a work setting? Why?Answer– Each communication method has its own benefits and drawbacks. No one method is appropriate in all circumstances. Justify your choice based on the advantages of communication type that you choose. (Please refer to page 270-272)Q3 Which do you think is more important for a manager: speaking accurately or listening actively? Why?Answer–The answer will vary. Students may think listening actively is more important. Actively listening refers to listening for full meaning without making premature judgments or interpretations, demands total concentration. Correct information can not be returned to employees if managers have not listened actively and correctly heard the information request. Students also can make argument that it is more important for the manager to speak accurately to begin with.Q5 Is information technology helping managers be more efficient and effective? Explain your answer.Answer- Yes, information technology is helping managers to be more efficient and effective. It can improve a manager’s ability to manager employees’ performance. It can allow employees to have more completed information to make decisions. It has provided employees more opportunities to collaborate and share information. Chapter11: Foundations of ControlQ3 How are planning and control linked? Is the control function linked to the organizing and leading functions of management? Explain?Answer–The control process assumes that standards of performance already exist. They are created in the planning function. Objectives are the standards against which progress is measured and compared. An effective control system ensures that activities are co mpleted in ways that lead to the attainment of the organization’s goals. So control is linked to all functions of management, not just organizing and leading.Q7 “Every individual employee in an organization plays a role in controlling work activities.” D o you agree with this statement, or do you think control is something that only managers are responsible for? Explain.Answer– Controlling is the management function involving the process of monitoring activities to ensure that they are being accomplished as planned and correcting any significant deviations. Managers play extremely important role in controlling, however, every individual employee also play a role in control work activities. Both managers and individual employee must make sure activities are completed in ways that lead to the attainment of the organization’s goals.Q8 How could use the concept of control in your personal life? Be specific.(Think in term of feedforward, concurrent, and feedback controls as well as specific controls for the different aspects of our life-school, family relationships ,friends, hobbies, etc.)Answer–The answer will vary. Feedforward control takes place in advance of the actual activity. Concurrent control takes place while an activity is in progress. Feedback control takes place after the action.。
