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All Textbook Solutions for Principles of Management
What do managers do to help organizations achieve top performance?Describe and explain how Mintzberg defines the managers job.Describe and explain the different levels of management.Describe and explain the three types of managerial skills and how they relate to each level of management.What are the characteristics and traits that you possess that are common to all successful managers?Why should management be considered an occupation rather than a profession?How do managers learn how to perform the job?Explain the managers job according to Henry Mintzberg.What responsibilities do managers have towards people within the organization? How do they express these responsibilities?How do managers perform their job according to John Kotter?How do managers make rational decisions?How does the nature of management change according to ones level and function in the organization?Discuss the role of management in the larger societal context. What do you think the managers of the future will be like?Identify what you think are the critical issues facing contemporary management. Explain.How have the current cultural environment of our country shaped the way that companies are looking at their own corporate cultural standards?What are the potential downfalls and positive influences of the Netflix way?How does Netflixs internal culture negatively or positively affect their ability to stay competitive and deliver cutting edge content?What challenges does New Belgium Brewery face in pursuing environmental goals?Can you think of any other examples of companies that try to do good while also doing well?Would you like to work for an organization that is committed to something more than just profitability, even if it meant your salary or bonus would be smaller?What are some positive outcomes of decision-making for an organization? What are some possible negative outcomes?How is managerial decision-making different from a multiple-choice test?In addition to the owners of a business, who are some of the other stakeholders that managers should consider when making decisions?Explain the two systems used by the brain in decision-making.What is emotional intelligence, and why is it important for decision-making?Give an example of a programmed decision that a manager might face.Give an example of a nonprogrammed decision.What are heuristics, and when are they helpful?How are programmed and nonprogrammed decisions connected to the reflective and reactive systems in the brain?Do you think a culture focused on learning makes sense for Microsoft? Why or why not?What are the advantages of a culture that emphasizes empathetic communication? Can you think of any disadvantages?The job of CEO means making big decisions that impact the entire organization—like deciding to change the culture. How do you think you prepare for that job?Explain the concept of confirmation bias.List and describe at least three barriers to effective decision-making.When is conflict beneficial, and when is it harmful? Why?If you were faced with an ethical dilemma, from whom would you seek advice?Describe some decisions that might be good for an organizations profitability in the short-term, but bad for the organization in the long-termWhat factors would you take into consideration if you were thinking about leaving your job rather than do something unethical?Explain what satisficing is and when it may be a good strategy.What are the six steps in the decision-making process?What are the four steps involved in ethical decision-making?Explain why group decision-making can be more effective than individual decision-making.What are some things that can prevent groups from making good decisions?As a manager, what can you do to enhance the quality of group decision-making?What are some of the factors that enabled to Jen Rubio and Stephanie Korey to make good decisions when they established their luggage company, Away?What are the two systems that the brain uses in decision-making? How are they related to programmed and nonprogrammed decisions?What is a heuristic, and when would it be appropriate to use a heuristic for decision-making?What is confirmation bias? Explain how it can be a barrier to effective decision-making.What is a logical fallacy?What are the two types of conflict? Which one is constructive, and which is destructive?What are the steps in the decision-making process? Which ones do people tend to skip or spend insufficient time on?What can individuals do to improve the quality of their decision-making?What can groups or group leaders do to improve the quality of group decision-making?What are the benefits of decision-making in a group, instead of individually?Why do you think vinyl records are appealing to customers?Do you think the sales growth will continue to be strong for vinyl sales? Why or why not?What research would you want to conduct prior to making a decision to invest in new presses?What were the contributions of the following groups to modern management: Sumerians, Babylonians, Egyptians, Chinese, Greeks, and Romans?What was the Italian Renaissance?What managerial legacy did it leave?Why was Adam Smiths specialization of labor so important?What was the economic and managerial legacy of the Industrial Revolution? What were the challenges?List the contributions from Taylor and his associates.How did Taylor change management?What were the contributions of Fayol and Weber?How did their work compare to Taylors?What is the idea of line of authority and structure?What did the Hawthorne studies, Barnard, and Fayol contribute to management thought?What did the works of Follett and Mayo contribute to management thought?What is the going contribution of systems and contingency management thought?What is the idea of evidence-based management?What contributions did ancient civilizations make to management thought?Describe the role of the Renaissance in shaping management thought.How did the Industrial Revolution change business and the economy?Describe scientific management. How was scientific management different from management techniques that came before it?Who were the key contributors to scientific management?Describe the Hawthorne studies. Was Elton Mayo a humanist?What is the zone of indifference?Describe Folletts concept of conflict resolution.What does open systems say about management?What is contingency management?Define the components of the internal and the external business environments.What factors within the economic environment affect businesses?Why do demographic shifts and technological developments create both challenges and new opportunities for business?What factors within the economic environment affect businesses?Why do change and shifts and technological developments create both challenges and new opportunities for business?Why does the matrix structure have a dual chain of command?How does a matrix structure increase power struggles or reduce accountability?What are advantages of a formal committee structure? Disadvantages?Identify the six major organizational structures.Explain the McKinsey 7-S model.How can employee diversity give a company a competitive advantage?Explain the concept of hiring for fit as it relates to corporate culture.What are some organizational issues that must be addressed when two large firms merge or grow rapidly like Amazon?Explain how several current environmental forces are affecting and will affect organizations and organizational structures effectiveness and efficiency in the near future?What are ways to classify and describe how industries and organizations fit and do not fit with their external environments?What are a few industries and/or organizations that are fitting well with their current environments? What are a few that are not? Why?What are some major differences between organic and mechanistic organizational structures and systems?Which organization would you work best in, an organically or mechanistically structured one, and why?What are some advantages and disadvantages of functional structures?Do you think its true that every organization has a hidden functional structure in it? Explain your answer.Why have functional structures been criticized for not accommodating new changes in the environment?What are some advantages and disadvantages of divisional structures?How is a product structure one type of a divisional structure? Explain.What are some disadvantages in working in a matrix structure and why?What advantages do matrix structures have compared to functional structures?What advantages do geographic structures have compared to a functional structure?What are issues that working in a networked team structure present?In what ways is a virtual organization and structure different from the other ones discussed in the chapter?What major trends discussed at the end of this chapter are different from previous external environments and the ways organizations were organized?What purposes does an organizations culture serve when considering the external environment?How does Exhibit 4.16 facilitate an understanding of how the internal organization functions with external environments?What happened at Wells Fargo with regard to past activities that led to this major scandal?What internal dimensions of the company were part of the problems that occurred?How might the organizational structure of the company have been part of the problems that occurred?Identify and use relevant concepts from this chapter as well as your own thoughts and analysis to diagnose the scandal at Wells Fargo. How could such a scandal have occurred in the first place? Who and what was at fault?Suggest some solution paths the company might consider, using knowledge from this chapter and your own thoughts/research, to avoid such a scandal from reoccurring.What individual and organizational ethical issues can we expect to occur?What are some signs of unethical activities you might notice individually and organizationally?What are terminal and instrumental values?What are ways organizations can employ values to induce people to make ethical choices?What are some ethical guidelines individuals and organizations can use to make ethical choices?Can being aware of the actual values you use to guide your actions make a difference in your choices?How does Aaron Feuerstein exemplify servant leadership principles?If Feuerstein had decided to use the insurance money for other purposes, would he have not been acting ethically?What role does leadership play in how ethically organizations and its members act and perform?Explain what stewardship is and the role of servant leadership.In what ways do law and compliance complement ethics in organizations?How does stakeholder management differ from stockholder management?How do sustainable business practices benefit consumers?Differentiate the roles compliance and CSR programs serve in organizations. Are these the same, or are there differences? Explain.What ways can and do some MNEs demonstrate social responsibility in foreign countries?What are some specific ethical business practices other countries (besides the United States) and regional governing bodies (such as the European Union) practice and demonstrate with regard to the environment and competition?What are some emerging national and global issues and trends in ethics and business ethics?What is the difference between ethics and business ethics?What is normative ethics?Why are values an important element of ethics for individuals and organizations?What are the differences between instrumental and terminal values?Can an individual be ethical without using ethical principles described in the chapter? Explain.Identify major classical ethical principles.Differentiate between the principle of rights and utilitarianism and between justice and universalism.Why is leadership important for ethical conduct in corporations?Identify two types of ethical leaders and the important role each plays.What is the difference between ethics and compliance in organizations?What is CSR, and why is it important?What is stakeholder management?What is the difference between stakeholders and stockholders?What is different about ethics in a global or international context and ethics in a national context or setting?What are some global issues that corporations must face today, and why are these important?Identify some contemporary ethical and compliance trends affecting corporations, employees, and individuals now.What is a moral entrepreneur?Does ethics pay? Explain.After reading this chapter, what are major insights you have about ethics and CSR?What were the sources and causes the problems in the first place? Explain.Who were some of the primary decision makers that led to the illegal sales activities?What were these individuals motives and motivations?How were the illegal and fraudulent activities discovered?Who was to blame?What unethical activities occurred before the illegal actions took place?What would you have done, if anything, had you been one of the sales professionals pressured to engage in unethical, illegal practices there?How would a stakeholder approach, if taken by the companys top leaders and board of directors, have possibly prevented the crisis?Describe the lowering of trade barriers and its impact on international business.What is foreign direct investment?What has the role of the Internet had on international business?Describe Hofstedes approach to defining national culture.Describe power distance and its implications for managers in in cultural contexts.Describe individualism versus collectivism and its implications for managers in cultural contexts.Sescribe uncertainty avoidance and its implications for managers in in cultural contexts.Describe how the GLOBE tools can be used by managers to prepare for cross-national situations.What are the similarities and differences among clusters?Discuss where the United States, Malaysia, and China stand on Hofstedes cultural dimensions.What are the implications of the above differences for how business is conducted in Malaysia and China?How can these cultural differences explain why you were not successful? What should you have done differently?Describe the social institutions that can provide a deeper understanding of cross-national differences.How can managers use insights from Hofstede and GLOBE in conjunction with an understanding of social institutions?How should training to manage cultural and regional differences occur?How should training for cross-cultural assignments be implemented?How and why do companies take various approaches to global operations?Why did Bayer Crop Science decide to move from its original regional organization of units to a more global network of units? What were the advantages and disadvantages of this approach?How did Coen build support for the change? Do you believe this was an appropriate way?What challenges do you anticipate as Coen continues to build a network organization?**Why did McDonalds choose to use strategic alliances to enter India? Why not use exporting or other means?Why is McDonalds facing challenges in India? What disadvantages of strategic alliances do these challenges reflect?What can McDonalds do to address Bakshis concerns?What can McDonalds do about Bakshis use of local Indian courts? How can multinationals adequately prepare for such situations?**What are the factors and approaches that organizations can take when deciding to go global?Explain the term born global and why it is important for companies to take this approach.Why is international management a critical area that all management students should be aware of?Briefly describe the main cultural dimensions of Hofstedes framework. Where does the U.S. stand on each of the dimensions?What is power distance? What are the implications of power distance for how management is conducted in different societies?How is the GLOBE project different from the Hofstede project of cultural dimensions? What are the main findings of the study?What are country clusters? Pick any three clusters and discuss some of the leadership preferences for each cluster.Compare and contrast low-rigor versus high-rigor cross-cultural training. Provide some examples of each type of training.What is predeparture cross-cultural training? What is postarrival cross-cultural training? Which method works best and why?What is a global strategy? When do companies prefer a global strategy?Compare and contrast a global, regional, and local strategy. Discuss some advantages and disadvantages of each method.What are the various means available to companies to go international? When is an exporting strategy most appropriate?What are some of the sources of McDermotts excellence at managing cross-cultural differences? How did his experience managing a deli store at a young age help him develop cross-cultural management skills?What are some of the cross-cultural differences he discovered? Using your knowledge of culture, explain some of these differences.What is your assessment of his lessons for cross-cultural managers? Relate these lessons to the findings of the effective global leader.What do you think enabled Jack Bonneau to start and grow a successful business at such a young age?What personal characteristics and values will Jack need to continue running his business while also attending school full-time?Describe several types of entrepreneurs.What differentiates an entrepreneur from a small-business owner?What are some major factors that motivate entrepreneurs to start businesses?What type of entrepreneur is Apollonia PoilĂ¢ne?What personal ethics drove Apollonias decision to take over the family business?Describe the personality traits and skills characteristic of successful entrepreneurs.What does it mean when we say that an entrepreneur should work on the business, not in it?What are three ways small businesses can be defined?What social and economic factors have prompted the rise in small business?How can potential business owners find new business ideas?Why is it important to develop a business plan? What should such a plan include?What financing options do small-business owners have? What risks do they face?What led MailChimps founders to change its focus on the customers they were selling to?What was MailChimps big idea that changed the business, and why was it so successful?How does the small-business owners role change over time?How does managing a small business contribute to its growth?What are the benefits to small firms of doing business internationally, and what steps can small businesses take to explore their options?Why are small businesses becoming so popular?Discuss the major advantages and disadvantages of small businesses.What is the Small Business Administration (SBA)?Describe the financial and management assistance programs offered by the SBA.What significant trends are occurring in the small-business arena?How is entrepreneurial diversity impacting small business and the economy?How do ethics impact decision-making with small-business owners?What are the differences between classic, multipreneurs, and intrapreneurs?What differentiates an entrepreneur from a small-business owner?What are some major factors that motivate entrepreneurs to start businesses?How can potential business owners find new business ideas?Why is it important to develop a business plan? What should such a plan include?What financing options do small-business owners have? What risks do they face?How do the small-business owners and entrepreneurs roles change over time?What are the benefits to small firms of doing business internationally, and what steps can small businesses take to explore their options?Describe the financial and management assistance programs offered by the SBA.What significant trends are occurring in the small-business arena?How is entrepreneurial diversity impacting small business and the economy?How do ethics impact decision-making with small-business owners?What characteristics made Vic Ahmed a successful entrepreneurs?How did their Ahmed and Steven Cases partnership and shared vision of Rise of the Rest serve their business goals?Is focusing on smaller cities rather than areas like silicon valley a good strategy, why?Why do managers use strategic analysis?How are internal factors different from external factors in a firms competitive environment?Explain the elements of a SWOT analysis.What information does a SWOT analysis provide managers? What information might it miss?Describe a firms macro environment.What does PESTEL stand for? How do managers use PESTEL to understand their firms macro environment?How would you approach this issue if you were the manager in charge of sourcing raw materials for LEGO? How would PESTEL analysis inform your actions?What PESTEL challenges is LEGO trying to address by changing the raw materials used in its products?Explain what favorable PESTEL factors support LEGOs efforts.Describe each of Porters Five Forces. What information does each provide a manager trying to understand her firms micro environment?What are firm resources and capabilities?Describe a value chain and what the activities in the chain represent.What is VRIO? What questions do the letters stand for, and how does using VRIO help a manager make decisions?What resource or capability challenges have Uber and Lyft faced because their fast company growth?What PESTEL factors do you think are contributing to the popularity of ride-sharing services?What industry challenges (think of Porters Five Forces) does the use of self-driving cars address?What is competition, and what is the role of strategy in competition?When does a firm have a competitive advantage over its rivals?Explain the differences between the three business-level generic competitive strategies.How does strategic analysis help a firm develop its own strategic position?Why do managers use strategic analysis?What information does a SWOT analysis provide managers? What information might it miss?Describe a firms macro environment and how managers use PESTEL to understand it.What is a firms micro environment, and why is it important?What is an industry, and how do Porters Five Forces help a manager trying to understand a firms industry environment?What are firm resources and capabilities, and what information does VRIO provide about them?When does a firm have a competitive advantage over its rivals?What are generic competitive strategies, and how are they implemented in a firms value chain activities?What do strategic group members have in common with each other? What impact do firms outside a strategic group have on those in that group?How does strategic analysis help a firm develop its own strategic position? Why should that position be unique?What PESTEL factors supported Teslas success? Which factors posed challenges?How has Teslas strategic position changed since it was founded in 2003?What kind of responses would you expect from Teslas rivals in the automobile manufacturing industry to the Model 3s popularity?What activities make up the strategic management process?What does a mission statement explain about a firm that a vision statement does not?What are the similarities and differences between vision and mission?What strategic analysis tools from the previous chapter would a manager use when planning a strategy for an existing business? What tools would be most helpful for a start-up business?What is the difference between strategic objectives and a strategy?Describe the three levels of strategy and what a manager developing strategy at each level is concerned with.What is a grand strategy, and how does it relate to strategic objectives and the three levels of strategy?What are the three grand strategies, and why would firms pursue each of them?What PESTEL forces (see Chapter 8) have contributed to the transformation of the retail industry?Amazon has entered into the brick-and-mortar store business with the acquisition of Whole Foods. Do you think this is a good move or a bad move for Amazon? Why?What strategic actions do you think a store like Macys can undertake to survive in the current retail industry?What are the three levels of planning, and what kinds of plans do managers develop at each level?Why is strategic implementation most commonly carried out at the operational level?Why is performance evaluation critical in strategic planning?How does the strategic planning process inform itself?What does a mission statement explain about a firm that a vision statement does not?Describe the three levels of strategy and what a manager developing strategy at each level is concerned with.Give an example for why a firm would pursue each of the three grand strategies.What actions can help a firm grow?What managerial skills and actions are included in the planning process?Why are good goals important to the planning process?What are the strategic planning time frames? How do they work together?Why is performance measurement often the start of new strategy development?What reaction do you think employees had when Ray Anderson announced he wanted to change the companys mission?How would you turn the Seven Fronts of Sustainability into SMART goals?How is tying rewards to improved sustainability performance a form of strategic control?