136 exam 3 reading/lecture

What are the trends in the business environment? What does each of them mean?

*Global marketplace. NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) stimulated global trade. Since, U.S. manufacturing companies have moved to developing nations that provide cheap labor pools. For moral reasons, some people boycott companies who use overseas "sweatshops" to produce and manufactured goods going into the U.S. *Information technology. Access to the same and equal information sources democratizes management. The internet will give every individual the potential of working anywhere at any time. *Joint ventures/Strategic alliances To cope with escalating costs of high-tech research competitors will form alliances; this is referred to as "coopetition." This helps bring about new products. Employees need to be open to new ways of doing business as we never really know who will end up working for. *Consumers demand for higher quality and faster service. Consumers want what they want when they want it. Amazon is the top responder to these consumer desires. Managers must listen to their employees more than ever to determine what customers are experiencing and what changes to make to get their loyalty. *Increasing product differentiation and customization. Because of increasing competition, there is more demand to individually tailor products and services to the needs of the specific customers. *Vendors as partners. Suppliers will be viewed as business partners, rather than adversaries. Managers will need to be able to work more effectively and efficiently with people both inside and outside the organization. *Flatter hierarchies. Whole layers of management have already been eliminated in the US orgs. The only managers who will be needed are those who can add value with their own technical expertise and serve as coaches to others working with them. *Smaller organizations. In the past, large industrial organizations were seen as the employer of choice and manufacturing drove the US economy. Now, manufacturing is less than 20% of the economy and opportunities are emerging in the service and information sectors. Small business employ more people than all the fortune 500 companies combined. *Cross-functional teams. As things become more complex and sophisticated, there is increased need to coordinate decision-making and problem-solving across organizational departments. *Self-managing teams. These are teams that are able to perform to standards without a manager on the premises overseeing every employee's actions. Substantially changes the traditional role of the manager. Managers will act more as a support to the teams rather than as enforcers of rules. *Aging of the labor pool. Older people are working part time rather than retire. This means that many educated, younger people will be the managers of older, more experienced workers. *Empowerment of employees. No more "It's not in my job description." Employees are expected to do whatever needs doing in order to fulfill the demands of customers. Everyone needs to think like a leader. *Lifelong education and retraining. Organizations have to commit to regular ongoing education and training for their employees. Employees need to keep "sharpening the saw," in order to stay competitive in their roles. *Flexible schedules and working conditions. Day care, elder care, and on-site schools for their employee's children will increase. Businesses are allowing more flexible schedules and working from home. *Health orientation. In an effort to keep health care costs down, employees will be asked to share an increasing amount of health care costs. Incentives will be offered for quitting smoking, maintaining a healthy diet, and exercising. *Concern for the environment. Recycling will become profitable and organizations will want to advertise themselves as eco-friendly. Packaging needs to be streamlined.

Know all the information regarding all of the theories of employee motivation: a. Thorndike's Law of Effect b. Expectancy Theory c. Goal-setting Theory d. McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y e. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs f. Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory g. New Science Systems Theory h. McClelland's Need for Achievement, etc.

*McGregor's Theory X versus Theory Y -This theory asserts that how a manager perceives others influences how that person will manage. Theory X managers view employees as lazy and unmotivated to do good work. They see their role as manager as forcing these lazy employees to show up on time, work hard, and avoid errors. -Theory Y managers see employees as naturally motivated to do a good job. They see their role as providing self-motivated employees with resources enabling them to produce high-quality results efficiently. Theory X managers are viewed as a "boss," rather than as a leader. Higher level and more educated workers will no longer tolerate a Theory X style of management. The Theory Y style has been shown to be much more effective in producing engaged, committed, and satisfied employees. *Thorndike's Law of Effect -Thorndike's basic idea is that a behavior that is followed by positive consequences (a reward) will likely to be repeated. This may sound like a big "duh," except that in actuality very few managers do in fact "catch" their employees being "good" and then reward them accordingly. Just like when training a puppy, the reward must happen immediately after the desired behavior. Also, instead of scolding or punishing bad behavior, good leaders use the opportunity to teach the correct behavior. *Expectancy Theory -This theory is concerned with employee's expectations and how they influence their performance. Most of us have an expectation that any extra effort we put in will be noticed; but often our extra goes unnoticed. If this continues, at some point we will stop putting in the extra effort. So, as managers, it is vital that we show that we have noticed each employee's extra effort. *Goal-Setting Theory -This theory states that people have conscious goals that energize them and direct their behavior toward a particular end. This theory teaches us that goals can be motivating or de-motivating. Stretch goals that set too high can be discouraging when we shoot for them and miss. We want our employee to experience successes (preventing the "death spiral".) Goals should be set that are challenging, but attainable. It is also important to involve your employees in defining and setting goals. *Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs -According to Maslow's theory, we have five levels of needs beginning with physiological needs such as the need for food and water at the lowest level, and then moving up through safety, belongingness, self-esteem, and self-actualization. Maslow contended that people have ego and self-actualization needs that come into focus only after lower level needs are met. This theory points out that managers should not make the mistake of assuming all their employees are at the same level of needs as they are. Managers should consciously provide opportunities that will enable employees to be satisfied at their current need level and then help them move up the hierarchy to higher-level needs. *McClelland's Needs Theory -This theory asserts that people have basic, yet varying, needs for achievement, affiliation, and power. Some people have a high need for achievement and just can't wait to become "President" of something. (Someone referred to this as nPOW—a strong, internal need for power.) Others have a stronger need to be liked by and connected to others (affiliation). McClelland's research revealed that successful managers and leaders have high achievement and power needs and a somewhat lower need for affiliation. It's hard to make hard decisions if you have a strong need to be liked. However, too strong of a need for power can lead to behaviors that others resent. (Being "power hungry" is not recommended.) *Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory -Herzberg stated that there are two factors in the workplace that are directly related to employee motivation: Satisfiers and dissatisfiers. -Dissatisfiers are those things that have a high potential for making employees dissatisfied, but little potential for making them satisfied or motivated. This includes things like company policies, working conditions, pay, coworkers, supervision practices. -Whereas satisfiers do have the potential for making employees "happy." This includes the nature of the work itself, actual job responsibilities, opportunity for personal growth and recognition, and feeling of achievement. -To truly motivate employees, managers should look more toward Herzberg's satisfiers. Managers cannot ignore dissatisfiers because they can cause employees to get upset. -Some think that Herzberg's main contribution to the topic of motivation was to get managers thinking more about intrinsic rewards rather than just extrinsic rewards. An extrinsic reward, such as a raise or a promotion, is one given to a person by the manager or some other person. An intrinsic reward is a reward a worker derives directly from performing the job itself: "Good work is its own reward" is an old, but powerful, expression that summarizes much of this theory. *New Science Systems Theory -Margaret Wheatley expanded systems theory to make it more applicable to humans in work environments. Instead of assuming, as original(biological) Systems theory did, that all organisms seek homeostasis/balance/stability/equilibrium, humans, in fact, also seek growth and challenge. If humans experience too much stability, they will become restless, bored, and begin to lose self-esteem, vitality, and confidence in their abilities to adapt, to change, and to improve. Therefore, she recommends that all managers continuously build in the right amount of challenge and growth opportunities in order to keep top talent internally motivated and satisfied with their work.

What are the four advantages of a solution-focused approach?

--A helping conversation is efficient. Concentrating on solutions and only solutions will enable the person to move toward action in less time. --The person who is being helped will find it easier to work out an appropriate solution by applying his/her mental resources directly on where s/he wants to have happen. --The person will have an increased sense of responsibility and accountability. The person will end up owning the solution which will lead to more felt responsibility and pressure to follow through. --The person's confidence is increased and will become more optimistic about his/her abilities to deal with problem situations and goal achievement.

What are the four solution-focused principles and what are reasons given for why each one is important?

--You don't have to understand the cause of a problem to solve it. The back story can serve as a platform of understanding on which to move forward. --Focusing on the future creates more useful energy than focusing on the past. People are motivated to reduce the discrepancy between what currently exists and the picture in their heads of what they want. The combination of discomfort with one's current state and a focus on a desired future will generate useful energy. --Small steps lead to big changes. Small steps help the person to overcome inertia of doing nothing, provide an immediate sense of progress, and maximize the probability of success. Small steps lead to stable solutions because evolve from a series of small experiments. They are more stable because each piece of a solution must survive the test of effectiveness before it is combine with other pieces that result in progress. --Differences make a difference. Helping people to change requires discovering what s/he wants to be different in their lives and when what they are going to do differently to achieve it. People cannot work their way out of problem situations by maintaining the status quo. Finding differences is crucial to change.

What is benchmarking? What is the difference between the traditional approach to benchmarking and the current "creative" approach to benchmarking?

. A key approach to information gathering is benchmarking. Traditional benchmarking is defined as "the continuous process of measuring a business's practices against the organizations toughest competitor." Benchmarking enables organizations to keep up with competitors who are doing well by emulating the successful processes that the competitors are doing. However, "creative" benchmarking strategizing, takes into account ALL successful organizations' processes, NOT just direct competitors. See "creative benchmarking example."

What were the qualities of effective organizations? What are each of them about?

According to various sources, the following are believed to be necessary practices for organizations to survive and thrive. *Continuous improvement ("Kaizen") of processes and output through information gathering, readjustment, and innovation. A key approach to information gathering is benchmarking. Traditional benchmarking is defined as "the continuous process of measuring a business's practices against the organizations toughest competitor." Benchmarking enables organizations to keep up with competitors who are doing well by emulating the successful processes that the competitors are doing. However, "creative" benchmarking strategizing, takes into account ALL successful organizations' processes, NOT just direct competitors. See "creative benchmarking example." *Providing of real time, continuous feedback to leadership and employees. Nobody can truly know how they are performing and how they can improve without open, honest feedback. *Clearly stated vision, values, mission/purpose, and goals. Vision--An image of an organization's desired future. Values--The guiding principles that get the organization where it plans to go. Purpose or mission--What the organization is here to do. Goals--Milestones the organization expects to reach along the way. *Job security. Job security demonstrates commitment to employees and develops employees who understand the organization. Most believe that this is an "old-fashioned ideal" that cannot be expected "these days." *Rigorous selection of employees. Employees who are good fit for the organization—in terms of skills, abilities, and other attributes—will stay with the organization and enhance performance. *Self-managed teams. Teams will permit employees to pool information and create better solutions, as well as enhance worker control over work processes. *Comparatively higher salary than the competition. Prevents top employees from going to the competition for higher pay. *Contingent compensation is also offered. Connects performance outcomes with desirable rewards. *Training. Employees need training to identify workplace problems and contribute to innovative solutions. *Reduction of status differences. By reducing both symbolic (e.g., titles) and substantive (e.g., pay) inequities, all employees will feel more valued. (This one is controversial—not everyone believes this is the best approach.) *Sharing of information. Employees can only contribute if they have adequate information about their own jobs and the status of the organization as compared to their vision, values, and goals. (More traditional organizations are resistant to share high-level, financial or policy information with employees.)

What are the definitions of an organization's vision, value, mission/purpose, and goals?

Clearly stated vision, values, mission/purpose, and goals. Vision--An image of an organization's desired future. Values--The guiding principles that get the organization where it plans to go. Purpose or mission--What the organization is here to do. Goals--Milestones the organization expects to reach along the way.

What is continuous improvement? What are the two key ways of doing this?

Continuous improvement ("Kaizen") of processes and output through information gathering, readjustment, and innovation. A key approach to information gathering is benchmarking. Traditional benchmarking is defined as "the continuous process of measuring a business's practices against the organizations toughest competitor." Benchmarking enables organizations to keep up with competitors who are doing well by emulating the successful processes that the competitors are doing. However, "creative" benchmarking strategizing, takes into account ALL successful organizations' processes, NOT just direct competitors. See "creative benchmarking example."

What are Goleman's six leadership styles? What are the behaviors associated with each one? Know everything that was said in lecture.

Daniel Goleman's six leadership styles. Leaders who used styles that positively affected the climate had decidedly better financial results than those who did not. Executives use six leadership styles, but only four of the six consistently have a positive effect on climate and results. It is suggested that leaders/managers should have at least four of the six styles in their "repertoire" of management approaches. The two styles that are negative on climate are okay to have in the repertoire but those two should be used sparingly. 1. Commanding: Demands immediate compliance. Higher level, educated employees have short-lived tolerance for this style. Only appropriate in emergencies. 2. Authoritative: Mobilizes people toward a vision. Defines standards but allows individual discretion and leeway. 3. Affiliative: Creates harmony and builds emotional bonds among the entire organizational team. 4. Coaching: Develops people for the future. (Time-consuming) 5. Democratic: Forges consensus through participation. Asks employees: "What do you think?" (Time-consuming) 6. Pace-setting: Sets high standards for performance and models the standards. Seems to be always "raising the bar" to overly challenging levels which can quickly result in employee "burnout."

What are the eight typical roles of effective managers? What's involved with each one?

Eight Typical Roles of Effective Managers *The leader looks beyond the current day-to-day work requirements and determines where the organization needs to go. Leaders move their organizations forward by thinking strategically about the directions they need to take. Leaders form relationships beyond the organization to build and maintain the reputation of the organization *The director is able to define a problem and take the initiative to determine a solution. The director uses planning and goal-setting skills and determines what to delegate and ensures that individuals understand what they are being asked to do. *The contributor is expected to be task-oriented and work focused, ensuring that his own personal productivity is attended to along with motivating others. *The coach is engaged in the development of people by teaching skills directly and by creating a caring, empathetic orientation: being helpful, considerate, sensitive, approachable, open, and fair. *The innovator facilitates adaptation and change, paying attention to the changing environment, identifying trends impacting the organization, and, then, determining needed changes for the success of the organization. *The organizer takes responsibility for planning work, organizing tasks and structures, and then following up to ensure that what is committed to is completed by attending to technological needs, staff coordination, crisis handling, and so forth. *The facilitator fosters a collective effort for the organization, building cohesion and teamwork, and managing interpersonal conflict. *The observer pays attention to what is going on in the unit, determining if people are meeting their objectives, and watching to see that the unit is meeting its goals. The observer is also responsible for understanding what is important for the team to know and ensuring that information overload does not occur.

What is "wrong" with a problem-focused conversation?

It goes nowhere because it ends up back where they started because a problem-focused conversation searches for answers regarding the problem, causes why things are not working, and who's at fault. No solution emerges. It often elicits a story about what the person doesn't want, things that are wrong, forces beyond her control, the burdens she is under fault finding, and the fact that she is stuck and doesn't know what to do.

Know the information in the summary of the chapter.

No one theory can describe all of the elements essential to effective leadership behavior. It is important that leaders assess themselves, their followers, and the dynamics each situation to have a better understanding of what is best to achieve organizational purposes.

What are the differences between leadership and management?

Leaders are motivational in nature, where managers focus on maintaining performance. Leaders produce change and movement and managers produce order and consistency.

What is the definition of leadership and focuses of leadership? (Very short paragraph on page 72) (You do NOT need to know the information in the box on that page.)

Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal. The focus of leadership research can include group processes, a personality perspective, an act or behavior, the power relationship between leaders and followers, and an instrument of goal-achievement. Leadership involves influence, occurs with a group context and involves goal attainment.

What are the differences between "leading" and "managing?" What are the necessary competencies required to be a successful leader and manager?

Managing and leading are not the same thing. There is considerable overlap between the two roles, but there are also significant differences. Generally, leaders are concerned with the future and the external environment more than managers, and leadership does not require an actual position. In other words, everyone can lead regardless of what role they are in. (Example: Apollo 13). Managers engage in more present-tense concrete activities. Managers have to meet clearly stated goals and get results through other people. What managers are required to do requires being in a "management role." Effective leaders and managers: *Reduce uncertainty. Uncertainty—typically brought on by change—is uncomfortable and it is the role of leaders (and managers) to reduce the uncertainty their people are experiencing. *Have a clear vision at all times. A vision is what bonds the people of the organization. Talk about it. Be consistent. *Have clear values at all times. Values guide people during turbulent times. Talk about them. Be consistent. Walk their talk. Be whatever you expect others to be. Don't be threatened by your employees' competence. *Are proactive. Confront challenges as soon as they arise. (Even better is to be one who engages in "crisis proofing.") Put a stop to behavior that is against the organization's values. Have zero tolerance for political infighting, gossiping, unproductive, unethical, or illegal conduct. *Give continuous feedback. Let employees know how they are doing. Give lots of praise for jobs well done; and provide constructive feedback on how to improve at the exact time the work is occurring. *Expect employees (and themselves) to make mistakes. In high-pressure, fast-moving environments mistakes are going to be made. Avoid blaming or dwelling on them. Frame all mistakes as learning experiences. Keep anonymous "crowdsourced" diaries of all lessons learned from mistakes (as well as lessons learned from successes.) *Seek feedback. Elicit feedback from everyone within and outside the organization that are affected. View all complaints as precious. Immediately work to resolve anything that is "off-standard." *Thrive on challenge. Leading (and managing) are challenging. Find your own joy in being challenged. Then offer your frame to others when they are feeling unsure of their abilities or level of stamina needed to meet their objectives. *Know individuals. Communicate differently based on the known goals and "sensibilities" of each of the individuals within the organization. Learn what motivates each person and be flexible in what you do and say based on those differences. Give closer attention to those who need it and give more space to those who deserve it. Reinforce cooperation. Make collaboration a standard value of the organization. Reward/acknowledge those who help others achieve goals. Facilitate, when possible, win-win (integrative solutions) to conflict resolution. Allow for compromises (satisficing) only after a win-win strategy couldn't be achieved.

What are the four ways in which a solution-focused leader is able to exhibit transformational leadership?

The best use of our cognitive abilities is to apply them toward finding workable solutions. As a solution-focused leader, you are able to exhibit transformational leadership in the following ways: --Intellectual stimulation: Helping them examine critical assumptions, utilize different perspectives, overcome obstacles, and turn problems into solutions --Inspirational motivation: Your optimism and confidence will inspire others to do as you do. --Idealized influence: You serve as a role model for what you expect others to do in the organization—"don't bring me problems; bring me solutions." --Individual considerations: Can help individuals to create strategies for continuous improvement and promotes self-development in a way that encourages them to take initiative.

What are the qualities of "solution talk?"

We can direct the focus of a person's thinking so as to raise the awareness of possibilities for the future, increase choices by developing new options, and strengthen self-confidence through the identification of competencies and resources.

Know the basic focus, and the strengths and shortcomings of the following leadership approaches: Trait, skills, style, situational, path goal, and servant leadership.

a. The trait approach—Traits that leaders exhibit. People want to view their leaders as being gifted or possessing special characteristics. Personality assessments, Myers Briggs, position descriptions to determine fit. Doesn't take into account situational effects. Haven't established a definitive list and thus endless lists have emerged. Traits are inherent and so isn't applicable for training and development. b. The skills approach—Particular leadership skills varies depending upon where leaders reside in the management hierarchy. Leadership outcomes are direct result of a leader's competency in problem-solving, social judgment, and knowledge. Makes leadership available to everyone. Expansive view, but maybe too much so, limiting its precision. c. The style approach—A general approach to leadership behaviors based on concern for people (relationships) and concern for production (tasks). Research issues. d. The situational approach—Focuses upon assessing subordinate's developmental position and adapting his/her leadership style to match the subordinate developmental level. Requires leaders to demonstrate a strong degree of flexibility. High directive behavior = developing; low directive behavior = developed. Directing and coaching are higher and supporting and delegating are lower. It clearly outlines what you should and should not do in various settings. It stresses that effective leaders are those who can their style based on task requirements and subordinate needs and that leaders need to treat each subordinate according to his/her unique needs. Research issues. e. The path-goal approach—It is the leader's job to help subordinates reach their goals by directing, guiding and coaching them along the way. Leaders must evaluate task and subordinate characteristics and adapt their style to fit those characteristics. Highlights the important ways that leaders help subordinates. A negative, though is that it treats leadership like a one-way event. f. NOT the LMX theory g. NOT The transformational approach h. The servant leadership approach: Different from the others in that is is concerned with putting followers first. Leaders must be altruistic and have a strong motivation to help others. Can result in community and societal change. Provides a counter-intuitive approach to the use of influence and that leaders should share control. Have to have willing subordinates. "Putting others first" conflicts with other principles of leadership. May be overly moralistic.