管理学打印.docx

1. How do managers differ from nonmanagerial employees?The answer to this question used to be straightforward, but the line between managerial and nonmanagerial employees has blurred as more employees take on task once reserved for managers. To keep the answer from becoming too complicated, the best way to address this question is to focus on the fact that a managers job is about helping others do their work. 2. Explain the universality of management concept. Does it still hold true in todays world? Why or why not?Management principles are needed for the efficient and effective operation of organizations, regardless of the level of the manager or the industry in which they operate. This is true for todays organizations now more than ever. The global environment of today ensures that organizations will face staunch competition. Failure and weakness on the part of management ultimately lead to loss of market share and organizational closure. Also, gone are the days when managers could bluff their way through their dealings with employees who have become more demanding and aware of their legal rights.Does the way that that contemporary organizations are structured appeal to you? Why or why not?Exhibit 1-10 lists some of the important differences between the traditional organization and the contemporary organization. These differences include flexible work arrangements, employee work teams, open communication systems, and supplier alliances. Organizations are becoming more open, flexible, and responsive to changes. Students should reflect on these new elements and defend their selections1. Explain why studying management history is important.While the study of management history reviews the work of experts in the past, from apractical side it shows the techniques and implementations that companies are usingtoday. For example, the principles learned from Scientific Management are still usedtoday in manufacturing. Assembly line layouts, work processes, and compensationplans in modern organizations are modifications of the foundation laid by men andwomen like Taylor. The same is true for the work of Weber, Fayol, and more recentlyDeming. The organizations we work in today are the result of an evolution ofmanagement concepts, not something completely newDescribe the two perspectives on how much impact managers have on anorganizations success or failure.In section 1 of chapter 2, the omnipotent and symbolic views of management arepresented. The omnipotent view supports the idea that a manager is directlyresponsible for the success and failure of the organization. Top CEOs (andhead football coaches) would be more likely to be held accountable for the entireorganizations outcomes while lower level managers would be held responsiblefor the outcomes in their respective departments. This view adopts the premisethat managers set the priorities/goals of the organization and are responsible formaking major success oriented decisions. If the goals and decisions managerschoose are correct, then the organization should thrive. The symbolic view is acounterpart to the omnipotent view and asserts that much of an organizationssuccess or failure can be attributed to factors in the external environment, suchas competition, economic conditions, or governmental influences. According tothis view, management decisions are often flawed and poorly implemented dueto factors beyond their direct control. Considering the random and ambiguoussituations managers face, they should not be held responsible for organizationalperformance.2. Why is it important for managers to understand the external environmentcomponents?The external environment consists of numerous factors that have an impact onthe organization. Political and legal factors (such as government regulations),demographics that affect labor supply, and technological developments directlyaffect the management of an organization, including planning and decision makingDescribe an effective culture for (a) a relatively stable environment and (b) adynamic environment. Explain your choices.An effective culture for a relatively stable environment would likely emphasizeoutcomes such as quality and productivity and would give significant attention todetail. It would not require high levels of innovation, risk taking, oraggressiveness.Conversely, an effective culture for a dynamic environment would likely emphasize aggressiveness, innovation, risk taking, and team orientation. To stay ontop of continual environmental changes, this organization would have a culturethat celebrates productive work behaviors.8Discuss the impact of a strong culture on organizations and managers.At one time, researchers supported a direct connection between the strength ofan organizations culture and its performance. Today, we know that the strengthof an organizations culture is more closely tied to acceptance of anorganizations values. Exhibit 2-7, gives five employee related outcomes ofstrong vs. weak cultures. In the end, strong cultures aid a manager in fulfillingtheir functions: planning, organizing, leading and controlling.Contrast ethnocentric, polycentric, and geocentric attitudes toward global business.The ethnocentric, polycentric, and geocentric views vary by their degree to which theholder adheres to the belief that their culture is the best and their willingness to acceptbest approaches from other cultures. An ethnocentric attitude is the parochialistic beliefthat the best work approaches and practices are those of the home country (the countryin which the companys headquarters are located). A polycentric attitude is the view thatemployees in the host country (the foreign country in which the organization is doingbusiness) know the best work approaches and practices for running their business. Ageocentric attitude is a world-oriented view that focuses on using the best approachesand people from around the globe. Managers with this type of attitude have a global viewand look for the best approaches and people regardless of origin.Contrast multinational, multidomestic, global, and transnational organizations.A multinational corporation (MNC) refers to a broad group of organizations and refers to any type of international company that maintains operations in multiple countries. The types of MNC vary with respect to the degree to which they decentralize decision makingacross countries in which they operate. One type of MNC is a multidomestic corporation,which decentralizes management and other decisions to the local country. A globalcompany is a MCN which centralizes its management and other decisions in the homecountry. This type of company takes a world view of operations, seeking to maximizeefficiency by producing goods that have a global appeal. Finally, the transnationalcompany eliminates artificial geographical barriers and seeks the best possiblearrangement without regard to country to maximize efficiencies and competitiveadvantage.5. Describe the different ways organizations can go international.Management makes its first attempt to go international by using global sourcing, in whichcompanies take advantage of lower costs and minimal risk.Next, managers may go international by exporting products to other countries and/orimporting products from other countries. Exporting and importing involve minimal riskand provide more control over the companys product(s).In licensing (primarily used by manufacturers) and franchising (mainly used by serviceorganizations), management continues to look at ways to enter the global market, and atthe same time, avoid investing a lot of capital.Strategic alliances and joint ventures allow partners to share both the risks and therewards incurred in business conducted by the partners through the alliance.Establishing a foreign subsidiary involves the greatest commitment of resources and thegreatest amount of risk of all of the stages of going international. Companies setting up aforeign subsidiary do not have to share profits with a partner but, at the same time, donot have a partner who will share the loss if a business enterprise fails.6. Explain how the global political/legal and economic environments affect managers of global organizations.From Chapter 2, the external environment includes both political/legal and economicfactors. As part of the environment, both of these factors influence organizationalperformance. For global organizations, these factors become more important andcomplex because organizations now have to deal with the political and economicenvironments of the countries in which they operate. For example, now managers notonly have to know what is legal (or illegal) in their home country but also the countries inwhich they sell or manufacture their products or services.3. Distinguish between surface-level diversity and deep level diversity. Why is it important tounderstand the difference between the two?Surface-level diversity is the easily perceived differences that may trigger certain stereotypes.Deep-level diversity are the differences in values, personality, and work preferences that canaffect the way people view organizational work rewards, communicate, react to leaders,negotiate, and generally behave at work. By focusing on deep-level diversity, organizations are able to go beyond the divisive issues of race and other differences that can cause stereotypes and seek to understand the ways people think or feel.5. Describe the issues associated with each of the types of workforce diversity.In section 4.3, the authors describe seven types of workplace diversity: age, gender, race ðnicity, disabilities/abilities, religion, GLBT, and other forms. Employees and organizationshave differing responses to each of these types of diversity. For example, company responsesto age have been very different to their responses to GLBT issues. After reading through thissection students may provide their own personal experiences and issues with belonging to oneof these categories.10. Is there a difference between wrong decisions and bad decisions? Why do goodmanagers sometimes make wrong decisions? Bad decisions? How can managersimprove their decision-making skills?Time pressures, incomplete information, and higher levels of uncertainty in todaysbusiness environment may lead to ineffective decision making. Managers can improvetheir decision-making skills by focusing on six characteristics of effective decisionmaking, including focusing on important criteria, logic and consistency; blendingsubjective and objective thinking with analysis; requiring the information necessary toresolve a particular dilemma; gathering relevant and informed opinions; and remainingflexibleWhat types of planning do you do in your personal life? Describe theseplans in terms of being (a) strategic or operational plans, (b) short orlong term plans, and (c) specific or directional plans.Students responses to this question will, of course, vary. Students maymention their planning to meet educational and career goals. Encourageyour students to think about their everyday lives and the types of daily,weekly, monthly, and yearly planning they7. Describe the role of competitive advantage and how Porters competitive strategieshelp an organization develop competitive advantage.An organizations competitive advantage is what sets it apart, its distinctive edge. Acompanys competitive advantage becomes the basis for choosing an appropriatecompetitive strategy. Porters five forces model assesses the five competitive forces thatdictate the rules of competition in an industry: threat of new entrants, threat ofsubstitutes, bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers, and currentrivalry. Porters three competitive strategies are as follows: cost leadership (competingon the basis of having the lowest costs in the industry), differentiation (competing on thebasis of having unique products that are widely valued by customers), and focus(competing in a narrow segment with either a cost advantage or a differentiationadvantage).Explain the contingency factors that affect organizational design.An organizations structure should support the strategy. If the strategy changes, thestructure also should change. An organizations size can affect its structure up to acertain point. Once an organization reaches a certain size (usually around 2,000employees), its fairly mechanistic. An organizations technology can affect its structure.An organic structure is most effective with unit production and process productiontechnology. A mechanistic structure is most effective with mass production technology.The more uncertain an organizations environment, the more it needs the flexibility of anorganic design.2. Differentiate between matrix and project structures.A project structure, unlike the matrix structure, has no formal departments whereemployees return at the completion of a project. Instead, employees take their specificskills, abilities, and experiences to other projects. Also, all work in project structures isperformed by teams of employees.5. What types of skills would a manager need to effectively work in a project structure?In a boundaryless organization? In a learning organization?In all of these types of organizations, flexibility and adaptability are critical. In the projectstructure, conflict management skills are particularly useful. In a boundarylessorganization, the ability to interact effectively with people at all levels and in all areas ofthe organization is crucial to success. In a learning organization, a manager needs theability to communicate both by listening and by speaking because of the frequency andimportance of sharing information in this type of organization.How does HRM affect all managers?Since a managers most valuable resource are the people who work in the organization,obtaining the right employees at the right time and placing them in the right places isessential for managerial success. To motivate, retain, and equip these employees foroptimal performance, a manager must have knowledge and skill in human resourcemanagement.8. List the factors that influence employee compensation and benefits.The factors are: employees tenure and performance, kind of job performed, kind ofbusiness, unionization, labor or capital intensive business, management philosophy,geographic location, company profitability, and size of company.Describe the different types of groups and the five stages of group development.A group is two or more interacting and interdependent individuals who come together toachieve specific goals. Formal groups are work groups that are defined by theorganizations structure and have designated work assignments and specific tasksdirected at accomplishing organizational goals. Informal groups are social groups.The forming stage consists of two phases: joining the group and defining the groupspurpose, structure, and leadership. The storming stage is one of intragroup conflict overwho will control the group and what the group will be doing. The norming stage is whenclose relationships and cohesiveness develop as norms are determined. The performingstage is when group members began to work on the groups task. The adjourning stageis when the group prepares to disband.Compare groups and teams.Characteristics of work groups include a strong, clearly focused leader; individualaccountability; purpose thats the same as the broader organizational mission; individualwork product; efficient meetings; effectiveness measured by influence on others; anddiscusses, decides, and delegates together. Characteristics of teams include sharedleadership roles; individual and mutual accountability; specific team purpose; collectivework products; meetings with open-ended discussion and active problem solving;performance measured directly on collective work products; and discusses, decides, anddoes real work.5. Describe the four most common types of teams.A problem-solving team is one thats focused on improving work activities or solvingspeci