Business Enterprise Chapter 14 Questions

Chapter 14 EOC Questions 1. Review the definition of management at the beginning of the chapter and briefly define each of the 4 functions. What are the challenges in carrying out these functions in today’s hyper-competitive marketplace? The definition of management at the beginning of the chapter is achieving the goals of an organization through planning, organizing, leading, and controlling organizational resources including people, money, and time. The four functions are planning, organizing, leading and controlling. Planning is determining organizational goals and action plans for how to achieve these goals. Organizing is determining a structure for both individual jobs and the overall organization. Leading is directing and motivating people to achieve organizational goals Controlling is checking performance and making adjustments as needed. The challenges in carrying out these functions in today’s hyper-competitive marketplace is managers face daunting challenges in trying to carry out the functions. These challenges include providing vision and direction for their organization, deciding how to use resources to achieve goals, and inspiring others to follow their lead. 2. How has the role of the manager changed in the last couple of decades? What forces have driven the changes? The role of the manager has changed in the last couple of decades from bos to coach, from disciplinarian to motivator, and from dictator to team builder. The forces that have driven these changes are the acceleration of the business pase and the morphing of the environment. The wake of the economic turmoil has also radically transformed the role of the manager. 3. Define technical skills, human skills, and conceptual skills. How do these three skills connect with the different levels of management? How do critical thinking and decisionmaking skills come into play? Technical skills refer to expertise in a specific functional area or department. Keep in mind that technical skills don’t necessarily relate to technology, people can have technical skills in virtually any field. Human skills refer to the ability to work with and through other people in a range of different relationships. Conceptual skills refer to the ability to grasp a big-picture view of the overall organization and the relationship between its various parts, and its fit in the broader competitive environment. These three skills connect with the different levels of management because the importance of these skills varies according to the level of the manager. Front-line managers must have a high degree of technical skills. Middle-line managers need an especially high level of human skills. Top-level managers must demonstrate excellent conceptual skills. Critical thinking and decision-making skills come into play and have become increasingly important across all three skill sets. Critical thinking helps managers find value even in an overload of information, while decision-making skills help them respond wisely and rapidly with an unwavering focus on customer satisfaction. 4. Which theory of motivation do you find most compelling? What factors should you consider when choosing a motivational approach? Explain your answers. The theory of motivation that I find most compelling is Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X and Theory Y is a motivation theory that suggests that management attitudes toward workers fall into two opposing categories based on management assumptions about worker capabilities and value. I find this theory of motivation most compelling because it appeals to more than one type of person, not expecting the theory to only appeal to one person.The factors that you should consider when choosing a motivational approach are the needs of the company as a whole, the needs of the manager, the needs of the employees, and the needs of the customer. Each of these parties play an important role in the running of a business, so they all need to be considered when choosing a motivational approach. 5. Outline the three levels of management planning in terms of scope of planning and typical questions and concerns. Why does communication within the organization play such a vital role in effective planning? The three levels of management in terms of scope of planning and typical questions and concerns are strategic planning, tactical planning, and operational planning. Strategic planning is high level, long term planning that establishes a vision for the company, defines long term objectives and priorities, determines broad action steps, and allocates resources. Strategic planning is senior management. The planning questions and concerns are “Should we acquire a new company?” and “Should we outsource?” Tactical planning is more specific, shorter term planning that applies strategic plans to specific functional areas. Tactical planning is middle management. The planning questions and concerns are “Should we invest in new equipment?” and “Should we spend fewer ad dollars?” Operational planning is very specific, short term planning that applies tactical plans to daily, weekly, and monthly operations. Operational planning is first line management. The planning questions and concerns are “How should employees be scheduled?” and “How should customers be greeted?” Communication within the organization plays such a vital role in effective planning because it is important for employees to have the full information for the planning to work. If the employees don’t understand what is going on clearly, then will not be able to carry out, even the best laid, plan. Communication is the key to many aspects of business and effective planning is one of those aspects. 6. What is the purpose of a mission statement? Why are the most effective mission statements simple, vivid, and compelling? The purpose of a mission statement is to articulate its essential reason for being by defining its purpose, values, core goals, and providing framework for all other plans. The most effective mission statements simple, vivid, and compelling because they can be easily understood from everyone involved with company from the janitor to the CEO and from customers to investors. 7. Name five potential sources of competitive advantage that might be strengths in a SWOT analysis. Are these advantages likely to change over time? Why or why not? The five potential sources of competitive advantage that might be strengths in a SWOT analysis are premium brand name, proven management team, lower costs/higher margins, higher consumer demand, complacent competitors. These advantages are likely to change over time because firms plan in the context of the marketplace and the marketplace is constantly changing. Companies will need to evaluate where they stand relative to the competition often because companies are always changing in today’s environment. Since the competition needs to be re-evaluated often, this means that the advantages are likely to change over time. 8. What are the pros and cons of each key organizational structure? Which do you think would be the best fit for you? Explain your answer. The pros of line organization are each person is directly accountable to the person immediately above which makes for quick decision making and no fuzziness about who is responsible for what. The cons of line organization are there is a lack of specialist to provide advice or support for line manager, which would mean inflexibility, too much paperwork and even incompetence for medium and large sized companies. The pros of line and staff organization are fast decision making and additional expertise. The cons of line and staff organization are some departments may gain so much power that they become dictatorial, which would pose unreasonable limitations on the rest of the company. The pros of matrix organizations are it encourages teamwork and communication across the organization, offers flexibility in deploying key people, lends itself to innovative solutions, and when managed well it creates a higher level of motivation and satisfaction for employees. The cons of matrix organization are the need for constant communication can bog down a company in too many meetings, the steady state of flux can be overwhelming for both managers and employees, and having multiple bosses can cause conflict and stress for everyone. I think line and staff organization would be the best fit for me because the benefits seem to outweigh the risks in this organizational structure and it seems to have characteristics from the other two structures. I don’t think that line organizations and matrix organizations are best because there seem to be more cons than pros. 9. What are the characteristics of effective leaders? What leadership style do most effective leaders use? The characteristics of effective leaders are trustworthy, visionary, inspiring, empathy, courage, creativity, intelligence, and fairness. The leadership style that most effective leaders use is a combination of the three leadership styles (autocratic, democratic, and free rein) depending on the followers and the situation, not just one approach. 10. If an employee falls short of meeting his or her goals, what factors should a manager consider before engaging in disciplinary action? Explain your answer. If an employee falls short of meeting his or her goals, the factors that a manager consider before engaging in disciplinary action are to provide effective communication, have a reexamination, look at the reasons for not meeting goals, and try to make changes first. This is because there is huge expense in both human and financial terms to discipline employees for poor performances so the managers need to be sure they have explored all the other jobs before resorting to disciplinary action.