Final Exam Hillman
Larger companies tend to have more specialization and greater hierarchy, along with more rules, than smaller firms.
True
Leadership involves neither force nor coercion. A manager who relies solely on force and formal authority (legitimate power) to direct the behavior of their staff is not exercising leadership.
True
Motivation is the set of forces that causes people to engage in one behavior over another. From the manager's perspective, the objective is to motivate people to behave in ways that are in the organization's best interest.
True
Successful leaders manage conflict; they don't shy away from it or suppress it but see it as an engine of creativity and innovation.
True
Suface-level diversity are things that we can see in people such as their gender, race, age, and physical abilities.
True
The key finding of the Hawthorne Studies is that a managers behavior and leadership approach can affect a workers level of performance.
True
The textbook definition of a satisficing decision is one where the manager searches for and chooses an acceptable or satisfactory response to the problem at hand. The decision might be optimal (the best possible solution), but it is not guaranteed to be optimal.
True
The use of corporate intranets can be used to help elevate corporate culture and to try to smooth out the natural differences between departments and divisions that are geographically dispersed.
True
When a manager is faced with a common and frequent set of circumstances (a restaurant manager re-ordering paper cups) and the rules for the decision are well known, this is called "programmed decision making"
True
When using the expectancy theory of motivation, increasing the pay for a high performing employee is non-productive if that employee has a low valence for income.
True
With texting, video conferences, instant messaging, Twitter and dozens of other ways for managers to communicate, it is surprising that email is still the primary way most businesses communicate and how staff should expect to communicate formally with their manager.
True
In class we studied several examples of correlation and causation. As managers, we look for a statistically significant correlation and rely on that over the concept of causation.
False
It is not possible for the formal leader of a group to also function in the role of the informal leader of the group
False
Organizational behavior principles when properly applied can significantly help a company increase its turnover rate and subtly lower its retention ratio.
False
The Hofstede model, introduced in Chapter 2, is a model to show managers which countries have stronger cultural influences which make it easier to do business in that country.
False
The classic definition of group think is when a group of managers come together to brainstorm and assess ideas. A lively debate ensues and after much discussion and analysis, the best idea emerges from the group.
False
The population in the USA is growing more diverse and older. Therefore, in the future, it is less and less likely that older workers will report to younger bosses.
False
The professor believes that you are basically born with the level of Emotional Intelligence you possess and it won't change much over time, which is pretty much true for Locus of Control as well.
False
There are basically two types of decisions managers are paid to make, programmed decisions and non-programmed decisions. Managers who are paid to make programmed decisions are generally paid more than managers who only make non-programmed decisions because it is so much harder to make programmed decisions.
False
As companies grow, they tend to move people into sub-units based on the company's overall strategic direction. Which of the following are ways companies generally DON'T use to create sub-units?
Technology, Experience
Daniel Pink talks about working at a job you love versus a job you hate. When you feel like your work doesn't matter and you are not making an impact in the job, Pink would say what?
That you are in a job you hate because it isn't addressing one of his three core motivators, which in this case is purpose.
Group norms are rules developed by the team lead that determine the tasks, roles, and compensation for each member of the group.
False
If a company is said to be a decentralized organization, it means that their decision making is done at the headquarters and then the orders to execute that decision are decentralized out to the branches
False
The savvy well-schooled manager knows there are several tactics they can employ to influence their staff to accept a new idea and begin to implement it. They might use personal appeals, pressure, ingratiation, and legitimate tactics. Whatever approach they use, they are looking for the best response from their influence attempts. The following are four responses that staff may have. Place them in the order of best to worst responses, from the manager's perspective.
1. Endorsing and becoming an actively involved participant as a result of the influence attempt 2. Going along with what the influencer wants without being personally committed 3. Rejecting the influence attempt but not getting in the way of what the influencer is trying to do 4. Rejecting the influence attempt and actively trying to stop the influencer from doing what she or he is trying to do, or trying to change the influencer's attitudes
You have just announced a very new and controversial office attendance policy. It involves changing the way people can work remotely, with a heavy emphasis on them working and collaborating in-person at the downtown offices. After explaining it and answering questions, you are looking to see the level of support you can expect from your staff. You ask your staff to "give you the finger...." a technique you learned in management class. Place these responses in order from Preferred (1) to Not Preferred (4)
1. This staff person thinks your change is positive and has offered to work with you to help you make the transition easier for everyone. This person shows commitment. 2. This person will go along with what you want because you want them to. We say they are compliant. 3. This staff person doesn't accept your decision to change the office attendance policy, but they are not going to get in the way of what you are trying to do. This person is being passively resistant. 4. This staff person is vocal in public and private about trying to stop you from changing the policy. They want you to change your mind and reinstate the old policy. We say this person is being actively resistant.
Ken Blanchard, in the video you watched on Servant Leadership, says the traditional pyramid must be inverted. According to Blanchard, when you are looking at ALL the stakeholders, what order should they be in, with #1 at the top and #4 at the bottom.
1. Customer 2. Front Line People 3. Operational Leadership 4. Strategic Leadership
During a meeting you notice someone texting their friend and someone else using their computer to check a news feed while your boss is delivering instructions for this months marketing campaign. Unofficially Professor Hillman calls this "backgrounding" and it is considered rude and unprofessional, but in a technical sense, it is considered what in the communication process?
3. Noise - Noise can block or distort messages. Managers should try to eliminate any noise in the environment before they deliver a message.
Most companies are not fully mechanistic or organically organized, but are on a continuum from one extreme to the other. Place these types of policies in a range from the most mechanistic structure (1) to most organic structure (6)
A highly rigid system of administration defined by strict policies and rules applied to the entire company. Only the "C-Suite" (CFO, CEO, COO, etc.) control the way things are done, with some but limited input from others. A controlling bureaucracy that functions by using cross-department meetings, creating task-specific teams, and issue-related task forces. The company is controlled both vertically and horizontally in what is called a matrix-style management style. The company has some structure, but the most important decisions come from project or product teams that are ongoing and have significant influence in how things are done. The company operates in a loosely defined network of organic teams and groups that form, and dissolve as the needs of the company change.
Locus of Control is a key attribute that managers look for in their staff. Which of the following statements are true about locus of control?
A. A person who believes fate, luck, chance , or other people's behavior determines what happens to them is said to have an external locus of control. B. Someone with an internal locus of control believes that they, themselves, are the primary reason they succeed or fail in business.
Daniel Pink offered a theory of motivation in the early 2000's that borrows from several other prior theorists. He indicated that while direct extrinsic rewards will still work for some 20th century tasks, in order to motivate for creativity and innovative thinking, managers should use these items exclusively.
A. Autonomy - People need to feel in control of their job. C. Mastery - People need to feel like they are using their full potential E. Purpose - People need to feel like their work matters and makes an impact
During lecture we discussed three things that Professor Hillman wanted you to know about conflict. What were those three things?
A. Conflict is always occurring in the workplace. We need to know how to manage it. B. Conflict is not fighting, when properly managed, it can be quite productive. C. As managers, we have choices in how we deal with conflict in our department.
Which of the following four statements are true about Theory X & Theory Y?
A. Generally, it would be easier to work for a manager who follows Theory Y than one who follows Theory X. B. Theory X is a set of negative assumptions about workers that leads to the conclusion that a manager's task is to supervise workers closely and control their behavior D. Theory Y says managers should create a work environment that provides employees an opportunity to show initiative and self-direction G. Theory Y is a set of positive assumptions about workers that leads to the conclusion that manager's task is to create a work setting that encourages commitment to organizational goals and provides opportunities for workers to be imaginative and to exercise initiative and self-direction
In the video from Daniel Pink describes a study done by four economists using MIT students. They gave these students a bunch of games requiring creativity, motor skills, and concentration. Which of the following statements are true about what the economists learned from this study with MIT students?
A. If the game or task required even a basic or rudimentary thinking (cognitive) skill, larger bonuses and rewards led to poorer performance. B. As long as the task required only motor skills, bonuses worked as expected. The higher the bonus the greater the performance. C. In India where the experiment was replicated, the people offered medium and low rewards performed about the same, but those given the highest rewards had the lowest performance.
During a story to explain how new graduates could make themselves more valuable in their first jobs, Professor Hillman suggested becoming SME's. Which of the following would he classify as being a SME?
A. If you were a marketing graduate, get as deep into search engine optimazation (SEO) as you can. B. Supply chain majors should get as deep technically into the ERP system of their new employer, like SAP, as they can to answer questions others in the company might have about how the ERP operates. E. Finance people who start their career in jobs using Excel extensively should crack the book on how to create macro's and utilize internal advanced financing functions. They should look for opportunities to optimize existing widely used departmental Excel sheets.
Which three of the following five reasons is why diversity in a company makes business sense
A. McKinsey and Company say that if a company is diverse, it has a 35% greater likelihood of outperforming its competitors than if it isn't diverse. B. Diversity allows for a variety of points of view and approaches to problems and opportunities can improve managerial decision making. D. Diversity can increase the recruitment and retention of valued organizational members.
The Administrative model of decision making is based on three important concepts. What are those three important concepts as listed in the textbook?
B. Satisficing, the idea that the answer is "good enough" but not necessarily optimal C. Bounded rationality, which means people are limited in their ability to comprehend and process information. E. Suboptimizing, which means that managers will never be able to make the ideal decision in a real-world situation, they knowing accept the less-than-best possible outcome.
Google completed Project Aristotle in 2012 and found out that who was on a team was less important to its success than how the team members treated each other. The project identified 5 elements of team success, with the most important one being psychological safety. The video went on to explain psychological safety. Which of the following are part of psychological safety as defined by Project Aristotle?
A. Ostentatious Listening. - Being fully present when another team member talks, nodding your head, reflecting back what they said. D. Conversational Turn-Taking. Each member is encouraged and expected to talk equal amounts of time when the team comes together. No one person dominates and no one is silent.
Managers look to see if their staff has a fit. The textbook talks about four different types of fit for the employee. Which of these is the type of fit discussed in the book?
A. Person-Job fit B. Person-Group Fit E. Person-Vocation Fit F. Person-Organization Fit
According to Herzberg's motivator-hygiene theory, for a worker to like their job and be motivated to do well, not only does the job need motivators, but there are certain hygiene issues that must be addressed. If these hygiene issues are not corrected, no amount of motivators will make the worker happy in their position. Of all the issues listed below, which four are hygiene issues according to Herzberg?
A. The amount they are paid, their salary or hourly wage B. Pleasant and comfortable working conditions C. The relationship they have with their co-workers F. job security
According to your textbook, which of the following statements are true about the term "span of control?"
A. There is no specific agreed-upon number of people a manager can effectively manage, but most agree that any people more than ten will be a problem. D. Narrower spans of control are useful for managing complex and unique tasks. E. Wider spans of control are possible with help from technology, such as monitoring a call center with the help of reporting software on the many call center people working under a manager's control.
Professor Hillman shared his "Managers Communication Matrix" where he listed over a dozen types of communication methods a manager might use to talk to their staff. Place those listed below into order from the Highest level of Information Richness ("A") to the Lowest level of Information Richness ("G").
A. Face-to-Face, One on One B. MBWA C. Video Conference via Zoom - Many to Many D. Phone Call One to One E. Voice Mail F. Email G. Newsletter
Abraham Maslow was a psychologist that developed a well-known "hierarchy of needs". He basically said that the lowest level need must be met before a person will strive for the next need. This has been studied and debated for years, but we continue to reference his hierarchy. Place the needs in the proper order that Maslow offered with A being the highest ordered need (top of the pyramid), and E being the lowest ordered need (bottom of the pyramid).
A. Self-Actualization B. Esteem C. Social D. Safety E. Survival (Food & Shelter)
The textbook is very clear about the steps a manager should take to make a decision. Assume you are the General Manager of a fast-food restaurant. Put the following into the proper order for decision making according to the text book
A. The eating area is too crowded during peak hours and you are losing customers. You need to make a decision to expand or change your menu. B. You and your assistant managers brainstorm and generate various alternatives to expanding the eating area or changing the menu to more take-out, less in-house choices. C. You and your assistant managers do a financial and operational assessment of the top 5 ideas. D. As the general manager, you make the final decision to add 12 more tables to the eating area and expand north into the parking lot. You select the 3rd option of the 5 available. E. As general manager you select a contractor to expand the eating area, expand the parking lot, and fully implement the 3rd idea of the 5 presented. F. Thirty days after you complete the eating area expansion, you meet with your assistant manager and solicit feedback on the decision, you do a "lessons learned" session.
The well-trained manager knows what actions can help de-escalate conflict when they are confronted with it in the workplace. Which of these activities should be avoided?
An employee comes to you complaining about not feeling safe walking to the parking lot after work. You tell them not to worry about it, no one ever has been hurt after dark. It isn't be a big deal and they just shouldn't worry about it. B. When you disagree with one of your staff and they continue to repeat their concerns, raising your voice to get your point across. D. When an employee screams at another person in the lunchroom about LGBTQ issues, you direct both of them to return to their separate cubicles. You then bring them into your office one at a time and encourage them to make their strongest case against the other. You listen to both independently and return with your written decision. E. Crossing your arms and frowning when a staff person approaches you with a concern. Don't communicate hostility with your body language.
Henri Fayol is an important person in the history of management, what is he most famous for?
As CEO of FourChambault Mining, he developed 14 principles of management that are the bedrock upon which much of management is built today.
Professor Hillman pointed out two personality tests that you are likely to take when you enter business. One was the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), the other was:
DiSC
From the textbook, which of the following statements about culture are true?
B. A positive culture takes a long time to form and requires a great deal of trust to be sustainable. C. When espoused values conflict with enacted values, employees' attitudes drop along with overall company performance. E. Cultural artifacts are the physical items in the company, (furniture, awards, ceremonies, office space) that help the company represent their values and culture. F. Some companies claim to have an "open door" policy but when the CEO, CFO, COO and other "C-Suite" executives have their headquarters in a separate office building in a large city by themselves, and rarely make themselves available, the enacted values conflict with the espoused values.
During a lecture, Professor Hillman emphasized several skills a manager must be aware of when trying to influence others. What were the items he recommended they consider?
B. Connect with people emotionally when it makes sense to do so, but don't overuse this and don't make it too personal D. Work with them to establish credibility as their manager, earn their trust E. Don't start using pressure as a hard sell to your staff F. Use rational thinking and logical arguments to develop a compelling position to persuade them.
Theory X and Theory Y is a management concept developed by Douglas McGregor. Which three of these items are TRUE about McGregor and Theory X & Y?
B. Hewlett Packard was founded on the practice of Theory Y, which became incorporated as the "HP Way". It is applied at Google, Apple, 3M, and of course HP as their primary management style. C. Theory X managers assume employees are inherently lazy and unproductive and dislike their work. Managers should create strict work rules to control the behavior of their employees. D. Theory Y managers assume employees will inherently work in the best interest of the company. Managers must create a work setting the allows employees to be self-directed and decentralizes authority.
Jimmy Page, a brand new manager for the Accounts Receivable department in the city's largest law firm, Scruem, Goode & Hardt, has conducted a survey and series of interviews with his staff of 7. Jimmy is a recent graduate of the GVSU management department and wishes to apply some of the things he learned while at school. Jimmy takes over from Fred Smith, who ran the same department for the last 23 years. Fred just retired. Jimmy believes in Herzberg's Two Factor Theory of Motivation and plans to utilize it as he reviews the survey and interview results. Which of the following actions should Jimmy take if he wants to follow as closely to Herzberg's theories as possible?
B. John is a brand new employee to the firm. He is excited about working at SG&H because he just got out of school and has never had a full-time job before. He tells Jimmy that he likes his job and "everything is fine" right now. Jimmy looked at his salary and sees that he is making only 75% of what most of the others in the department make. Jimmy is reluctant to increase his salary because Jimmy's boss has told him to "keep a lid on expenses". Jimmy is going to lay out a career plan for John with clearly labeled milestones of achievement, seminars the firm will pay for John to attend, and a promise for a promotion if John achieves these things in the next 2 years. He believes this will keep John happy until he can address his pay later. C. Bob has been with the department nearly as long as Fred was a manager. His pay is a little above average for his role. Bob isn't unhappy but has said he "wouldn't turn down a raise". Fred kept Bob's job tightly defined and rarely acknowledged him in front of others for the good work he typically did. Jimmy is going to provide Bob some greater responsibility and increased autonomy as his job goes forward. He can't afford to increase Bob's pay, but he believes his action should increase Bob's satisfaction with his job.
The well-trained manager knows that a positive culture will not sustain itself without proper and continuous action by management. Which of the following items are shown to be effective at maintaining a positive culture?
B. Modify your annual review process to evaluate everyone's adherence and support of the firm''s positive culture. Penalize employees who violate the norms and values of the company. C. Review your hiring practices and ensure that people are filtered out of the process if they don't exhibit the positive values the company espouses.
When we studied all the various traits to assess a person to promote them to manager, we reviewed many different personality traits. Which of the following 3 statements are true?
B. Positive organizational citizenship behavior like working extra hours when needed, helping out others, and coming up with creative ideas to help the company are strong attributes for a manager to have. C. Emotional intelligence is something that can either be innate or learned, but it is important for managers to develop this talent. E. A strong internal locus of control, meaning the person believes they are in control of their own fate, is a good personality trait for a manager to possess.
When using goal-setting theory, it is important for the manager to keep in mind not the actual goal, but how the goal should be structured. Pick the items that below that should be part of the manager's "checklist" when setting goals.
B. Specific - the goal should contain no ambiguous language. C. Assignable - A goal should be clearly assigned to a person or a group. E. Measurable - One should easily be able to agree if the goal has been achieved or not. F. Time Based - The amount of time allowed to complete the goal is clear and while not impossible, it is aggressive. G. Realistic - The goal must be challenging and yet attainable in order to be motivating.
The savvy manager knows in order to keep their employees motivated, they may need to "flex" on some of the traditional work arrangements. Which of the following are suggested in the textbook as ways managers might enhance their staff's motivation and performance?
B. Traditionally work has been from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the USA. Some companies allow an employee to use a compressed work schedule, which might be four 10 hour days with three days off. This is an example of a variable work schedule. C. Couples who have young children to get ready for school appreciate managers who allow flexible work schedule. Flex time environments require an employee to be in their office or at their desk during core time, but they can decide where and when to work during flex time. This allows one parent to get the kids on the bus, and the other parent to be home at the end of the day, while still completing a full work schedule for both parents. E. When the cost of transitioning between one employee and another is quite costly, like starting and stopping employees on an offshore drilling platform, a company might use an extended work schedule. The employee might work 12 hours per day for a month, and then have several weeks off in free time, until they return to the job.
Which of the following are true about a "virtual organization" as described in your textbook?
B. For doing the exact same task, the virtual company has a distinct cost advantage and greater flexibility than their "brick and mortar" competitor D. They often don't have a permanent office to work from, and are most often just linked together by technology. E. They contract out and use "1099 employees" for most of their functions.
Emotional Intelligence (EI) is one of the most important skills a manager can develop. Which of the following statements are true about EI?
C. Daniel Goleman defines 5 components of emotional intelligence, self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills. D. EI is defined as the capacity recognizing one's own feelings, and those of others, for motivating ourselves, and managing emotions in ourselves and in our relationships.
Which three of the following statements are true about Expectancy Theory?
C. Motivation will be high when workers believe that high levels of effort lead to high performance and high performance leads to the attainment of desired outcomes. D. Effort leads to performance which leads to outcomes, the essence of the theory F. For the theory to work well, all three of the items (expectancy, instrumentality, and valence) must be high.
Ian Fuhr shares a key phrase at the beginning of his video that helps set the stage for his view on Servant Leadership. What is that phrase?
C. "Service before reward and People before profit"
The Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Model described in your book, states what?
C. Leaders form unique independent relationships with their subordinates and naturally treat some as the "in-group" and some as the "out-group"
If a manager wants to ensure the culture they have created is sustained and enhanced, they can do many things. Which of these is probably the most effective action a manager can take?
Create and share stories of behavior that current and past employees have done that are clear examples of times the values of the company were followed or enhanced.
You were exposed to a new theory of leadership, called Situational Leadership. The basic premise of the theory is that no one leadership style fits all circumstances or followers. Using the "Sit-Lead" model, which of the following scenarios are correct in its application?
D. You've delegated a new customer to one of your best salespeople. They told you they are ready to lead and you want to believe them. They launched into the new relationship with gusto, initially showing high levels of competence and commitment. However, after a few months, they start doubting their abilities because of some problems at the customer. They lost some projects and are starting to wonder if being the lead for this customer is the right thing for them. You diagnose the situation and move them back from the delegating quadrant to the support quadrant. You don't tell them what to do (they have high competence) but you give them lots of support and encouragement (because they are showing variable commitment) E. Your 2nd shift supervisor has been with you for 6 months. They've learned the "ropes" but still have some more to learn but are well on their way. They just encountered their first really difficult problem supervising an insubordinate 2nd shift hourly worker. They are starting to doubt if being a supervisor is right for them. The Sit-lead model says as their boss you should show both strong supportive behavior as well as being very direct on what do to with this 2nd shift employee. This is called the Coaching quadrant. You use this quadrant because your supervisor has improved their competence since they started, but his commitment to the company has dropped and he is beginning to wonder if this is the right place for him to work. F. You have a new employee fresh out of college starting in your department next week. As their manager, you know that their commitment level will be high but their competency will be low. According to the Situational Leadership model, as a leader, you don't need to show them much supportive behavior, but you should use mostly directive behavior. As a result, you are very explicit in your directions, leaving no room for interpretation, guiding them to the proper steps to complete their assigned task.
In class we did a deep dive into the Hofstede Index. Which one of the following statements is correct?
D. Cultures that have a high tolerance for power distance are more comfortable with large gaps in wealth, accepting that socioeconomic disparities persist.
When a middle manager at WD-40 goes to a top manager to inform them they want to fire one of their direct reports, what question is asked of that middle manager?
D. What did you do to help them get an "A?" (achieve their goals)
There are five types of diversity listed in the textbook. Which of the following does the book say can have stronger effects on group and organizational performance than the other types of diversity listed?
Deep-level
In class, Professor Hillman discussed four ways to help reduce the likelihood of social loafing, of the following, which two did he mention in class?
Demand Accountability Make each persons contribution identifiable
The situational leadership video points out it is imperative for a leader to assess the readiness of their staff. What are the elements the leader must measure?
E. Competence F. Commitment
Match these names of important figures in management with the theory or process they are best known for.
F. W. Taylor Scientific Management B.F. Skinner Operant Conditioning Theory Frederick Herzberg Two-Factor Theory of Motivation John Stacy Adams Equity Theory Abraham Maslow Hierarchy of Needs Henri Fayol 14 Principles of Management Mary Parker Follett Behavioral Management Douglas McGregor Theory X & Theory Y
This theory of motivation focuses on people's perceptions of the fairness of their work outcomes, particularly as when it is compared to their inputs and the inputs of others. What is this theory called?
Equity Theory
A powerful way for Managers to monitor their staff is to utilize MBWA. During class lecture, we talked about Monitoring By Working Around (MBWA) which is an effective way to ensure everyone is active and engaged in the workplace.
False
Group decision making is always better than individual decision making
False
From the video that Professor Hillman showed about Path-Goal Theory of Leadership, what did we learn?
For the Path-Goal theory to function properly, Vroom's Expectancy Theory of motivation must also be functioning.
During lecture, Prof Hillman explained Tuckman's model of Team Development. Match the stage with the description.
Forming: Team members get to know each other. They discuss why the team exists Storming: Team members experience conflict because some members do not wish to submit to demands of other team members, role conflict, lack of agreed upon goals Norming: Close ties and consensus begin to develop between team members. Team members agree on "rules" of the team behavior Performing: The group begins to do its work. They fully understand and agree upon why they exist, how they go about their work and what it is they are supposed to do. Adjourning: Temporary or permanent change in membership
The Hofstede Model of National Culture, as presented in class, has 6 dimensions. Which of the following are NOT a dimension considered in his model?
IV. Verbal Communications VI. Profit Motivation
In class, Professor Hillman showed a slide showing the relationship between the three components of Expectancy Theory.
Instrumentality
When managers wish to avoid production blocking when dealing with controversial issues, they use this technique for decision making. The process uses a structured approach to generating alternatives in writing allowing managers time to develop possible solutions. Solutions are presented and evaluated and ultimately the group ranks the alternatives from highest to least preferred. This technique is called:
Nominal Group Technique
There are three ways Managers have to convey information to their staff. A well-trained manager will know how to balance the use of these three methods to be most effective in delivering the messages they want their staff to have.
Non-verbal 55%, vocal intonation 38%, words 7%
Managers get paid to manage and improve the performance of their staff. From the following five statements, which three are true about a manager's ability to improve performance?
Of the formula, P = M + A + E, the "M" or the motivation component is the most difficult to manage. If motivation is deficient, the good manager is faced with the difficult task of trying to figure out what will motivate their employee. Because it can be different for everyone, the manager must work with the employee to determine what motivates the person and then structure the task to utilize that motivation. If someone lacks the ability to do the job, normally we can send them to training to acquire the skills. Getting training, while sometimes costly, can typically be effective for most employees.
Sometimes we ask, "should managers use influence tactics?" and soon realize we use them all the time. The better question is, "which influence tactics should a good manager use?" We know pressure is the least effective tactic and should be avoided, but what about the others? Match the names of these influence tactics with their description on the various tactics managers have in their tool kit.
Offering something valuable in return for cooperation Exchange Asking for a personal favor or to do something "because we're friends" Personal Appealing to aspirations, values, and ideals to gain commitment Inspirational Using logic and facts to persuade someone Rational Persuasion Engaging help of others to persuade someone Coalition tactics
When a new employee learns about the culture of their new company from attending a week-long orientation session , which includes a 1/2 day roundtable discussion with the CEO, this is most often called:
Organizational socialization
In the video we watched, "How To Deal with Different Conflict Styles," the woman gave managers good ways to deal with the various conflict styles they will encounter. Which of the following are true statements she gave during the video?
People using the compete style are very passionate and are very direct. The manager should be just as direct back as that is what they are expecting. Don't take it personally, have your logic laid out. You can't force the avoiding people to tell you what is bothering them, but you can create a safe environment and ask them what they are thinking. Explain their opinion matters and you want to know it. Managers must be careful with people who overuse the accomodating style constantly. It will surprise the manager that one day the over-accomodating person will either blow-up or drop out of sight. People who are trying to use collaboration might need to be reminded that you as the manager have a time-constraint by when the decision must be made. You might need to drop to compromise if a deadline is looming.
The textbook uses a simile when describing organizational culture. If the organization's structure is like its skeleton, then the organization's culture is its:
Personality
There are four basic managerial functions for every manager. Which of these is NOT one of those functions?
Personnel
Of the five sources of managerial power discussed in class with Professor Hillman, he said this one was the most impactful power but also the hardest to obtain
Referent
There are many types of conflicts in the workplace. Some conflicts are better than others. Some conflicts are rarely good. Of the various types of conflicts, which one is most often unproductive in an organization?
Relationship conflict
Which of these following statements is FALSE as it relates to the Hawthorne Studies?
Researchers at Hawthorne, who were following the work of Adam Smith, found that paying the workers more for higher production levels, significantly improved the output of those workers.
During lecture, Professor Hillman talked about how new employees can acquire power. He said they should become a SME. What does that mean?
SME = Subject Matter Expert
Good managers realize the impact the size of the group or team can have on the performance. Membership can be too many or too few. Which of the following statements are true about group size?
The larger the group, the more formal the communications will be required. Very large groups require meeting minutes, agendas, and frequent status communications. A group with many members has more resources available and might be able to complete a large number of independent tasks. Large groups may allow some members to be more comfortable with absenteeism or they may stop trying to make meaningful contributions. When placed into a larger group, some members might participate in social loafing, an attitude where they wouldn't put as much effort as they would if they were working alone.
You are a middle manager for a West Michigan manufacturing company. Your boss informs you that you will be working in Manila for 8 weeks starting a new product line for your company which is part of a long-term strategy to diversify and move into other industries than automotive. You want to prepare to be the best manager you can. You remember your prof from GVSU talking about Hofstede's Model of National Culture and so you get out your old notes from school. You want to know what you can expect from your Manila-based production people who you will be supervising.
The staff will hold you in esteem and refer to you as Mr. or Ms. and as their "boss" even though you ask them to call you by your first name and treat you as a friend. When things go well and you are delivering praise to them, do so as a group or department, not calling out a single person for recognition. Like you, they will want to know what needs to be done soon, so you don't spend time explaining how this new product line works into the long-term growth of the company. Don't expect them to voice many concerns about happiness at work or feel free to talk about their personal opinion. They have a low sense of indulgence with a greater emphasis on restraint.
A term often thrown around in business, is "Org Chart." What is an org chart?
The term "org chart" stands for "organizational chart" and it is a diagram of the various positions within the company. It lists the chain of command and reporting relationships.
The TED talk you were asked to watch on Simon Sinek talking about why leaders make you feel safe, had a number of important points about leaership. Which of the following were points Sinek tried to make? Select only those that are in alignment with the main theme of the talk and mentioned in his speech.
There are people who are at the tops of organizations, and we do what they demand because they have the authority [legitimate power], but they are not leaders. There are others who have no rank or authority, but they are absolutely leaders because they look out for the people next to them, and people gladly follow them [referent power]. It is the leader who sets the tone inside the organization. When the leader makes the choice to sacrifice themselves, or their comforts, or their tangibles, so that their people can feel safe, remarkable things happen [inside the organization]. Leaders have no control over conditions outside the organization, the only place where they control is inside the organization, and that is where leadership matters.
According to Equity Theory, when someone perceives an inequity, particularly an underpayment inequity, they will seek to restore equity. They might do this by reducing their hours worked, taking more vacation, reducing their output (not working as hard), or using a positive approach, simply asking for a pay raise.
True
You were given some tips on how to improve your career as a manager. There were some "Do's" and "Don'ts" for managers to use with their staff, with their bosses, and with other managers. Sort these into "Good" or Poor" behaviors for managers to pursue
Try to put yourself in the other person's position and understand that person's point of view. Change your perspective A. Good manager behavior Arguing vigorously for your own approach and/or refusing to consider changing your position. B. Poor manager behavior Meeting separately with people involved with the conflict. Allowing these people to convince you of the merits of their own case. B. Poor manager behavior Document areas of agreement and disagreement to ensure common understanding. A. Good manager behavior Focusing on interests rather than positions. A. Good manager behavior Talk openly and freely with the other person and express your thoughts and feelings. A. Good manager behavior Ignore the conflict created by your staff, believing it will likely "blow over" and you won't need to deal with it. Sometimes these things resolve themselves. B. Poor manager behavior
The "Why" that Martin Luther King understood and was trying to explain during the 60's and the civil rights movement was this:
Until the Laws of Man are in alignment with the Laws of God, there will be injustice and it must be changed.
We learned when using TKI that every conflict style has strengths and weaknesses. The key for a good manager is to recognize when to use which style and not to use the same style all the time. Which strength or weakness listed below goes with which TKI conflict style?
Use this style when a quick decisive action is needed Competing Constant use of this style and the manager will end up being surrounded by "Yes Men" Competing Looking at a disagreement from each other's insights. Resolving some condition that would otherwise have them competing for resources. Collaboration Very time consuming, shouldn't be used for trivial matters or when deadlines are short Collaboration Effectively used when the manager recognizes a cooling-off period is needed Avoiding When it is very important for the manager to create goodwill with the other party Accommodating The default approach for most managers who are seeking an expedient mutually agreeable solution finding a middle ground. Compromising When overused, it can make matters worse by postponing decisions or others may make decisions by default Avoiding
In the video by Daniel Pink discussing his Theory of Motivation, he introduces the "Candle Problem". What is the candle problem and what is the issue that it points out?
We have a problem when we see the box that we need to overcome. This problem is called "functional fixedness". We believe the box can only have one purpose which is to hold the tacks, but when creativity is applied, it can also be used to hold the candle to the wall.
Ian Fuhr has run all the onboarding programs for new employees at each of his companies. He thinks it is very important to ask this question of his new employees:
What is the purpose of work? People answer it is to make money. He says they are wrong, the purpose of work is to serve others.
We watched a video from Simon Sinek discussing how some people and companies are leaders by naturally employing what he calls the "Golden Circle". Place these items in order as to the importance from Sinek's point of view.
Why - Why do you do what you do? How - How do you do what you do? What - What do you do?
During lecture, Professor Hillman showed a slide explaining the differences between Accessibility, Diversity, and Inclusion. Complete the phrase discussed in class:
having your voice heard at the table.
Ian Fuhr says that Servant Leaders don't motivate people. He says that Servant Leaders
create a working environment that is conducive to people motivating themselves.
In class, Professor Hillman frequently repeated this phrase. Please complete it: "Personality traits that enhance managerial effectiveness in one situation....
may actually impair it in another (any strength overused becomes a weakness)