MGMT 2301 Comprehensive Exam

Contrast the classical economic and socioeconomic models of business, and summarize the arguments for and against CSR:

-There exists a lot of disagreement over what social responsibility involves: is a business only responsible of making a profit, or is it also supposed to make both economic and social contributions? -The classical economic model suggests that since companies are in charge of satisfying people needs by manufacturing goods, making a profit and social responsibility are the same thing. -The socioeconomic model suggests that society has broader expectations for businesses. Supporters of this model believe the classical model is obsolete. This model believes businesses have an obligation to respond to the needs of all stakeholders while making a profit. Advocates of this model point out that many groups in society besides stockholders have a stake in corporate affairs (retired employees, suppliers, governments, competitors...). Some companies even conduct a stakeholder audit: identification of all parties that might be affected by the organization).

Identify at least 4 of the nine cross-cultural competencies of global managers and contrast ethnocentric, polycentric, and geocentric attitudes toward foreign operations.

1. Building relationships 2. Valuing people of different cultures 3. Listening and observing 4. Coping with ambiguity 5. Translating complex information 6. Taking action and initiative 7. Managing others 8. Adaptability and flexibility 9. Managing stress Ethnocentric attitudes are very home-country oriented, polycentric attitudes are very host-country oriented and geocentric attitudes are very world oriented. Geocentric attitudes will lead to a better product quality, improved use of resources, and more profit.

Describe the 6 step internationalization process and distinguish between a global company and a transnational company

1. Licensing 2. Exporting 3. Local warehousing and selling 4. Local assembly and packaging 5. Joint ventures 6. Direct foreign investments A global company is one that does business simultaneously in many countries but pursues global strategies administered from a strong home-country headquarters (a present-day reality). A transnational company is envisioned as a decentralized global network of productive units with no distinct national identity (a futuristic vision).

Identify and briefly explain the seven steps in the PROCEED model of employee selection.

1. Prepare (job analysis, job description, and interview questions) 2. Review (ensure the legality and the fairness of the questions) 3. Organize (assign the questions to an interview team) 4. Conduct (collect information from the candidate) 5. Evaluate (judge the candidate's qualifications) 6. Exchange (meet and discuss information about the candidate) 7. Decide (extend a job offer or not)

List at least 6 reasons why employees resist change, and discuss what management can do about the resistance to change.

1. surprise 2. competing commitments 3. ignorance 4. lack of trust 5. fear of failure 6. passive-aggressive behavior In order to help alleviate the resistance to change management can choose from several strategies including education and communication, participation and involvement, facilitation and support, and explicit and implicit coercion.

Identify and explain the major contribution the business ecosystems model makes to strategic thinking:

A business ecosystem is an economic community of organizations and all of their stakeholders, including customers and suppliers. This makes a big contribution to strategic thinking: organizations need to be as good at cooperating as they are at competing if they want to succeed. By balancing cooperation and competition, companies coevolve into a dominant economic community.

Define the term human capital and identify at least four of Pfeffer's people-centered practices.

A systems approach to HR strategy views both current and future employees as being human capital that needs to be developed to its fullest potential. The seven practices described by Pfeffer are provision of job security, rigorous hiring practices, employee empowerment, performance-based compensation, comprehensive training, reduction of status differences, and sharing of key information.

Describe a transformational leader, and explain Greenleaf's philosophy of the servant leader.

A transformational leader is a leader who, unlike a transactional leader, is a visionary and is charismatic dedicated to change. Greenleaf's philosophy of the servant leader helps aspiring leaders integrate what they have learned about leadership. The servant leader is motivated to serve rather than to lead. Clear goals, trust, listening skills, positive feedback, foresight, and self-development are the characteristics of a servant leader.

Explain the concept of media richness and the Lengel-Draft contingency model of media selection.

According to the Lengel-Draft contingency model, media richness is determined by the amount of information conveyed and the amount of learning promoted. Rich media such as face-to-face communication are best for non-routine problems. Lean media such as impersonal bulletins are suitable for routine problems.

Discuss organizational control form of a strategic perspective.

According to the performance pyramid, strategic control involves the downward translation of objectives and the upward translation of performance measures. Both external effectiveness and internal efficiency criteria need to be achieved.

Explain the significance of cohesiveness, roles, norms, and ostracism in regard to the behavior of group members.

After someone has been contracted to a group, cohesiveness encourages continued membership. Roles are social expectations for behavior in a specific position, while norms are more general standards for conduct in a given social setting. Norms are enforced because they help the group survive, clarify role expectations, protect self-images, and enhance the group's identity by emphasizing key values. Compliance with role expectations and norms is rewarded with the social reinforcement; noncompliance is punished by criticism, ostracism, and ridicule.

Explain how managers can be more effective in interviews.

All employment tests must be valid predictors of job performance. Because interviews are the most popular employee screening device, experts recommend structured rather than traditional, informal interviews.

Explain how groupthink can lead to blind conformity.

Although a fairly high degree of conformity is necessary if organizations and society in general are to function properly, blind conformity is ultimately dehumanizing and destructive. Research shows that individuals have a strong tendency to bend to the will of the majority, even if the majority is clearly wrong. Cohesive decision making groups can be victimized by groupthink when unanimity becomes more important than critical evaluation of alternate courses of action.

Explain the management of antecedents and consequences in behavior modification.

Behavior modification is the practical application of Skinner's operant conditioning principles. This involves managing antecedents (removing barriers and providing helpful aids) and consequences to strengthen desirable behavior and weaken undesirable behavior. Proponents of behavior modification prefer to shape behavior using positive reinforcement rather than negative reinforcement, extinction, and punishment. Continuous reinforcement is recommended for new behavior and intermittent reinforcement for established behavior.

Distinguish extrinsic rewards from intrinsic rewards, and list four rules for administering extrinsic rewards effectively.

Both extrinsic and intrinsic rewards, when properly administered, can have a positive impact on performance and satisfaction. There is no best single employee compensation plan. A flexible and varying approach to employee compensation will be necessary in the coming years due to workplace diversity. Four rules can help managers maximize the motivational impact of extrinsic rewards: rewards must satisfy individual needs, one must believe that their effort will lead to rewards, rewards must be equitable, and rewards muct be linked to performance.

Summarize the leadership lessons learned from the GLOBE project.

Charismatic and value-based as well as team-oriented leadership styles were found to be widely applicable, no matter the local culture. The self-protective leadership style was not applicable to any cultures studied. The participative and humane-oriented leadership styles had mixed applicability across cultures. Global managers should use a contingency approach to leadership, adapting their styles to the local culture.

Contrast the competitive and the cooperative conflict styles.

Competitive conflict is a destructive cycle of opposing goals, mistrust and disbelief, and avoidance of discussion, coupled with disbelief and a win-lose attitude. In contrast cooperative conflict involves a cooperative cycle of cooperative goals, trust and reliance, and discussion coupled with a win-win attitude.

Specify and discuss at least four of Deming's famous 14 points.

Deming formulated his famous 14 points in an effort to revolutionize Western management practices. In summary, they urge managers to seek continuous improvement through extensive training, leadership, teamwork, and self-improvement. The points call for doing away with mass quality inspections, selecting suppliers only on the basis of low cost, fear, slogans, numerical quotas, and barriers to pride in workmanship. This transformation, according to Deming, is everyone's job.

Explain how Deming's PDCA cycle can improve the overall management process.

Deming's plan to do check act cycle forces managers to make decisions and take actions on the basis of observed and carefully measured data. This procedure removes quality-threatening guesswork. The plan to do check act cycle also helps managers focus on what is really important. Plan to do check act work never ends, because lessons learned from one cycle are incorporated into the next.

Identify and describe the four social responsibility strategies, and explain the concept of enlightened self-interest:

Depending on the approach a company has towards social responsibility, it can work with one strategy or another. From lower to higher degree of responsibility: -Reaction: Will deny responsibility while striving to maintain the status and resisting change. -Defence: Uses legal and public relations tactics to avoid assuming responsibilities. -Accommodation: In response to pressure, the company assumes additional responsibilities. For example, threatened by the government. -Proaction: Takes the initiative with a progressive program that serves as a role model for the industry. Proponents of social responsibility would prefer proactive answers.

Identify and describe 5 conflict resolution techniques.

Destructive conflict can be resolved through the use of problem solving, superordinate goals, compromise, forcing, or smoothing.

Discuss the criteria and determinants of team effectiveness.

Determinants of team effectiveness 1) people related factors: Mutual trust and team spirit, good communication 2) Task related factors: Clear objectives and project plans. Proper techniques direction and leadership. 3) Organization related factors: Involves and supportive management, stable goals qand priorities. Criteria 1. Innovative ideas 2. Goals accomplished 3. Adaptable to change

List two practical tips for each of the modern communication technologies (e-mail, cell phoes, and video conferences), and summarize the pros and cons of telecommuting.

E-mail, supposedly a real time saver has quickly become a real time waster. Organizations need to create and enforce a clear e-mail policy to curb and abuses and to improve message quality. Cell phone users need to be discreet and courteous in order to avoid broadcasting privileged information and/or offending others. Videoconferencing restricts how people communicate because televised contacts are more mechanical than face-to-face meetings. Although telecommuting can reduce travel time and expense and can offer employment to nontraditional employees, it restricts normal social contract and face-to-face communication in the workplace.

Distinguish among equal employment opportunity, affirmative action, and managing diversity.

Federal equal employment opportunity laws require for the managers to make hiring and other personnel decision based upon the ability of performance and not personal prejudice. Affirmative action is the process of making up for past discrimination and is evolving into management diversity. Appreciation of personnel differences within a heterogeneous organizational culture is the goal of managing diversity programs. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 requires employers to make reasonable accommodations so people with disabilities can enter the workforce.

Identify three types of control and the components common to all control systems.

Feed forward control is preventative in nature, whereas feedback control is based on the evaluation of past performance. Managers engage in concurrent control when they monitor and adjust ongoing operations to keep them performing up to standard. The three basic components of organizational control systems are objectives, standards, and an evaluation-reward system.

Describe the three types of forecasts:

Forecasting means doing predictions, projections, or estimates of future situations in the environment in which the company operates. The idea is to sketch an outline of the future to enable better decision making today. There are three types of forecasts: -Event outcome forecasts: "What will happen when a given event occurs?" To predict the outcome of a highly probable future event. -Event timing forecasts: "When will a given event happen?" To predict when a given event will happen. -Time series forecasts: "What value will a series of periodic data have at a given point in time?" To predict future values in a sequence of periodically recorded statistics. For example: sales forecast.

Explain the concept of emotional intelligence in terms of Goleman's four leadership tactics.

Formal leadership consists of influencing relevant others to voluntarily pursue organizational objectives. Informal leadership can work for or against the organization. Leadership theory can be evolved through four major stages: trait theory, behavioral styles theory, situational theory, and transformational theory. A promising trait approach is based on Goleman's four dimensions of emotional intelligence: self-management, social awareness, self-awareness, and relationship management.

Describe how goal setting motivates performance.

Goals can be an effective motivational tool when they are specific, difficult, participatively set, and accompanied by feedback on performance. Goals motivate performance by directing attention, encouraging effort and persistence, and promoting goal-attainment strategies and action plans.

Explain from a cross-cultural perspective the difference between high-context and low-context cultures, and identify at least four of the GLOBE cultural dimensions.

High-context cultures place more of an emphasis on the nonverbal aspects of communication such as situational messages than low-context cultures do. 1. Power distance 2. Uncertainty avoidance 3. Institutional collectivism 4. In-group collectivism 5. Assertiveness 6. Gender equality 7. Future orientation 8. Performance orientation 9. Humane orientation

Discuss Hofstede's conclusion about the applicability of American management theories in different cultures and explain what comparative management researchers have learned about management styles.

Hofstede suggests that rather than imposing American management styles on local cultures, they should instead be adapted to them. Generally it has been found that in the U.S. and Canada incentives are of utmost importance while in many eastern Europe and Asian nations target and goal-setting are emphasized. Thus, each international manager needs to tailor their managerial style to match the local culture.

Explain what human resource management involves.

Human resource management involves human resource acquisition, retention, and development. The four key human resource management activities are: human resource strategy, recruitment and selection, performance appraisal, and training.

Identify and describe the eight generic influence tactics used in modern organizations.

Influence is fundamental to management because individuals must be influenced to pursue collective objectives. Researchers have identified eight generic influence tactics used on the job: consultation, rational persuasion, inspirational appeals, ingratiating tactics, coalition tactics, pressure tactics, upward appeals, and exchange tactics.

Explain how to deal with communication overload and outline a workplace policy for social networking sites.

Information overload is a by-product of the digital communication age. Clear objectives and priorities are fundamental for cutting through the clutter and noise. A workplace policy for using social networking sites needs to satisfy these four criteria: approval for authoring public messages with company resources, no unauthorized use of company logos, trademarks, or intellectual property, personal opinions should be labelled as such, and no disclosure of confidential or proprietary company information.

Explain how job enrichment can be used to enhance the motivating potential of jobs.

Job enrichment vertically loads jobs to meet individual needs for meaningfulness, responsibility, and knowledge of results. Personal desire for growth and a supportive climate must be present for job enrichment to be effective.

Identify the four leading reasons why U.S. expatriates fail to complete their assignments and discuss the nature importance of cross-cultural training in international management.

Job performance issues, family and/or individual culture shock, and homesickness are the leading reasons why expatriates fail their assignments abroad, a very costly problem. Systemic cross-cultural training-ideally including development of interpersonal, observational, and stress management competencies-is needed. Expatriates also must be flexible and able to handle ambiguity. Specific cross-cultural training techniques include: documentary programs, training via a culture assimilator, language instruction, sensitivity training, and field experience.

Discuss how performance appraisals can be made legally defensible

Legally defensible employee appraisals allow for managers to make objective personnel decisions. The four key legal criteria are job analysis, behavior-oriented appraisals, specific written instructions, and discussion of results with ratees.

Specify at least three practical tips for improving each of the following communication skills: listening, writing, and running a meeting.

Listening does not get sufficient attention in communications training. Active, cooperative listening is to be encouraged. Writing skills are no less important in the computer age. Written messages need to be specific, simply worded and concise. Meetings, an ever-present feature of organizational life, need to be focused and agenda-driven if time is to be used wisely.

Describe how managers can improve the motivation of personnel who perform routine tasks.

Managers can counteract the boredom associated with routine task jobs through the use of realistic job previews, job rotation, and limited exposure. This third alternative allows for employees to earn an early departure time.

Contrast the ingredients of good training programs for both skill and factual learning and explain training program evaluation.

Managers can ensure their training techniques pay off by using techniques appropriate to the situation. Training programs should be designed with an eye toward maximizing the retention of learning and its transfer to the job. Successful skill learning and factual learning both depend on goal setting, practice, and feedback. But skills should be modeled, whereas factual information should be presented in a logical and meaningful manner. According to the Kirkpatrick model training programs can occur at four increasingly rigorous levels: reaction, learning, behavior, and results. More emphasis is needed on the behavior and results levels to ensure transfer of training to the job.

Define the term group.

Managers need a basic understanding of group dynamics because groups are the basic building blocks of organizations. Generating social capital through strong, constructive, and win-win relationships is essential to success today. Both informal and formal groups are made up of two or more freely interacting individuals who have a common identity and purpose.

Identify and describe four types of organizational change, according to the Nadler-Tushman model.

Managers need to do a much better job of managing the process of change. Nadler and Tushman's model identifies four types of organizational change by cross-referencing anticipatory and reactive change with incremental and strategic change. Four resulting types of change are tuning, adaptation, re-orientation, and re-creation.

Explain the motivational techniques taught by Maslow's theory, Herzberg's theory, and the expectancy theory.

Maslow's five-level heirarchy of needs though criticized on the basis of empirical evidence of deficiencies, makes it clear to managers people are motivated by emerging rather than fulfilled needs. Assuming that job satisfaction and performance are positively related, Herzberg believed that the most wages and working conditions can do is eliminate any sources of workplace dissatisfaction. According to Herzberg, the key to true satisfaction, and hence motivation, is an enriched job that provides the opportunity for achievement, responsibility, and personal growth. The expectancy theory is based on the idea that the strength of one's motivation to work is the product of perceived probabilities of acquiring personally valued rewards.

Identify and briefly describe the six stages of group development.

Mature groups are characterized by mutual acceptance, encourage of minority opinion, and minimal emotional conflict. They are the product of a development process with identifiable stages. During the first three stages--orientation, challenge and conflict, and cohesion--power and authority problems are resolved. Groups are faced with the obstacle of uncertainty over interpersonal relations during the last three stages--delusion, disillusion, and acceptance. Committees have a widespread reputation for inefficiency and ineffectiveness because they tend to get stalled in an early stage of group development.

Identify the two key functions that mentor's perform and explain how a mentor can develop a junior manager's leadership skills.

Mentors help develop less experienced people by fulfilling career and psychosocial functions. Mentors engage in extensive tutoring, coaching, and guiding. Mentors are role models for aspiring leaders. Six emerging trends in mentoring are speed mentoring, informal mentoring, reverse mentoring, group mentoring, anonymous mentoring, and free-form mentoring.

Identify each major link in the communication process

Modern technology has made communicating easier and less costly but has had the unintended side effect of information overload. Managers are challenged to improve the quality of their communication because it is a core process for everything they do. Communication is a social process involving the transfer of information and understanding. Links in the communication process include: sender, encoding, medium or channel, decoding, receiver, and feedback. Noise is any source of interference.

Summarize the situation of North American women on foreign assignments.

North American women fill a growing but still small percentage of foreign positions. The two main hurdles women face come from their home-countries: prejudiced managers and self-disqualification. However, once these women are sent abroad they rarely face foreigners' prejudice.

Describe how the unfreezing-change-refreezing metaphor applies to organization development.

Organization development is a systemic approach to planned organizational change. The principle objective of organizational development are increased trust, better problem solving, more effective communication, improved cooperation, and greater willingness to change. The typical organizational development program is a three phase process of unfreezing-change-refreezing.

Identify the five communication strategies and specify guidelines for using them.

Organizational communication is typically too haphazard. Clampitt's communication continuum indicates the five basic strategies are not equally effective. The Spray & Prey and Withhold & Uphold strategies are generally ineffective and should be avoided. The Tell & Sell and Identify & Reply strategies should be used sparingly. Managers need to use the Underscore & Restore strategy as much as possible. Media richness needs to be as high as possible if the preferred communication strategies are to be effective.

Define organizational politics and summarize relevant research insights.

Organizational politics centers on the pursuit of self-interest. Research shows greater political activity to be associated with higher levels of management, larger organizations, staff and marketing personnel, and reorganizations. Political tactics such as posturing, empire building, collecting and using social IOUs, creating power and loyalty cliques, and engaging in destructive competition need to be kept in check if the organization is to be effective.

Identify and describe at least four of the ten general ethical principles:

Our ethical principles are shaped by many factors (family, friends, school...) and they dictate the way in which we behave. Here the most general ones: -Self-interests: Never take any action that doesn't interest you or your team in the long-term. -Personal virtues: Never take any action that is not honest and that you would not be proud to see reported widely in national newspapers. -Government requirements: Never take any action that beaks the law (minimal moral standards in our society). -Utilitarian benefits: Never take any action that does not result in greater good than harm for the society. -Contribute liberty: Never take any action that will interfere with the right of all of us to self-development and self-fulfilment.

Explain how employee engagement and retention programs, open-book management, and self-managed teams promote employee participation.

Participatve management programs foster employee involvement in one or more of the following areas: goal setting, decision making, problem solving, and change implementation. Recent research discovered that employees want to feel a sense of progress more than anything else. Employee engagement and retention programs involve three steps: anonymous employee surveys with behaviorally specific questions about their workplace, department-by-department analysis of results to spot problems, and remedial action with emphasis on transparency and trust. The STEP model of open-book management encourages employee participation when managers Share financial data with all employees, Teach employees how to interpret financial statements and control costs, Empower employees to make improvement and decisions, and Pay a fair share of profits to employees. Employees assigned to self-managed teams participate by taking on tasks that have traditionally been performed by management. Profit sharing or gain sharing, job security, cohesiveness, and protection of employee rights are keys to building crucial employee support for participation programs.

Explain how people tend to respond differently to changes they like and those they dislike.

People who like a change tend to go through three stages: unrealistic optimism, reality shock, and constructive direction. When someone fears or dislikes a change a more complex process involving five stages tends to occur: getting off on the wrong track, laughing it off, experiencing growing self-doubt, buying in, and moving in a constructive direction. Managers are challenged with helping employees deal with reality shock and self-doubt.

Describe Porter´s model of generic competitive strategies.

Porter's model evolved to encompass four generic strategies. It focused on two ways of creating more value in a company that would make it more attractive to consumers than its competitors: cost and differentiation. Four strategies: -Cost leadership: Strategy consisting of keeping the costs and prices of products lower than competitors. This means extensive production or service facilities with efficient economies of scale (low unit costs). Example: Walmart. -Differentiation strategy: A company´s product must be considered unique by the customers in the industry. Advertising and promotion help the product to stand out from the crowd. They depend on the customer´s loyalty to the company and its products. -Cost focus strategy: Organizations attempt to gain a competitive edge in a narrow market by exerting strict cost control. For example: Singapore Airlines has the best prices for business travellers. -Focused differentiation strategy: It involves achieving a competitive edge by delivering a superior product to a limited audience. Companies pursuing this strategy typically charge premium prices for their goods and services. A contingency management approach is necessary to determine which strategy is the most appropriate.

Identify five types of product quality.

Product quality involves much more than the basic idea of "conformance to requirements." Five types of product quality are transcendent, product-based, user-based, manufacturing-based, and user-based.

Explain how companies are striving to motivate today's diverse workforce with quality-of-work-life programs.

Quality-of-work life programs are being used to accommodate and motivate today's diverse workforce. Flextime, a flexible work scheduling scheme that allows employees to choose their own arrival and departure times, has been effective in improving employee-supervisor relations while reducing absenteeism. Employers are increasingly providing family friendly services such as child care, elder care, parental leaves, and adoption benefits. Employee wellness programs and sabbaticals are offered by some companies to reduce health insurance costs, build loyalty, and boost motivation.

Summarize what the Ohio State model has taught managers about leadership.

Researchers who differentiated among laissez-faire, authoritarian, and democratic leadership styles concentrated on leader behavior rather than personality traits. Leadership studies at Ohio State University isolated four styles of leadership based on two categories of leader behavior: initiating structure and consideration. A balanced high-structure, high-consideration style was recommended. According to Blake and his colleagues, a 9,9 (high concern for both production and people) style is the best overall style because it emphasizes teamwork.

Explain how providing a service differs from manufacturing a product, and identify the five service-quality dimensions.

Service providers face a unique set of challenges that distinguish from manufacturers. Because we live in a predominantly service economy, it is important to recognize these challenges: 1. direct customer participation, 2. immediate consumption of services, 3. provision of services at customers' satisfaction, 4. the tendency of services to be more labor oriented than manufacturing, and 5. the intangibility of services, making them harder to measure. Consumer research uncovered five service-quality dimensions: reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy, and responsiveness. Consumers consistently rate reliability as being number one.

Describe at least three of the seven total quality management process improvement skills.

Seven basic total quality management process improvement tools are flow charts, fishbone diagrams, Pareto analysis, control charts, histograms, scatter diagrams, and run charts.

Specify the essential components of an organization's policies for dealing with sexual harassment and alcohol and drug abuse.

Sexual harassment as well as drug and alcohol abuse are contemporary human resource problems that require top-management attention and strong policies. A sexual harassment policy needs to define the problem behaviorally, specify penalties, and be disseminated and enforced. Useful ways to fight substance abuse within the workplace include drug testing for job applicants and employees and referral to professional help and rehabilitation.

Describe the path-goal theory of leadership and explain how the assumption on which it is based is different from the assumption on which Fiedler's contingency theory is based.

Situational-leadership theorists believe there is no single best leadership style, rather, different situations require different styles. Many years of study led for Fiedler to conclude that task-motivated leaders are more effective in either very favorable or very unfavorable conditions, whereas relationship-motivated leaders are best suited for moderately favorable conditions. The favorableness of a situation is dictated by the leader's control of the situation and ability to get the job done. Path-goal leadership theory, an expectancy perspective, assumes that leaders are effective to the extent they can motivate followers by clarifying goals and clearing the paths to achieving these goals and valued rewards.

Define the term "corporate social responsibility", and specify the four level in Carroll´s global CSR pyramid:

Social responsibility is a relatively new concern of the business community. -CSR is the notion that corporations have an obligation to constituent groups in a society other than stockholders and beyond that prescribed in the law or union contract. -According to Carroll´s model, today´s companies have four areas of responsibility: economic (making a profit), legal (obey the law), ethical (do what is expected by stakeholders), philanthropic (be a good global corporate citizen). Companies aren't supposed to choose only one approach; they must be all fulfilled.

Define the term "strategic management", and explain its relationship to strategic planning, implementation and control:

Strategic management is the ongoing process of ensuring a competitively superior fit between an organization and its changing environment. More specifically, it is management on a grand scale. A strategy is an integrated and externally oriented perception of how the organization will achieve its mission. Its relationship with strategic planning, implementation and control is that strategic management merges with these to make the business work as a unit. Strategic plans are living documents from a strategic management perspective, they require updating and fine-tuning as conditions change.

Define and discuss the management of virtual teams.

Teams are becoming the structural format of choice. Today's employees generally have better technical skills than team skills. Cross-functional teams are particularly promising because they facilitate greater strategic speed. Although members of virtual teams by definition communicate via electronic media, there is still a need for periodic face-to-face interactions and building. Three sets of factors--relating to people, organization, and task--combine to determine the effectiveness of a work team.

Identify seven basic Internet business models and discuss the strategic significance of social media:

The Internet and social media can offer a great value to companies. There are seven basic Internet business models: commission-based (Adds value by providing expertise and access to a wide network of alternatives), advertising-based (Adds value by providing low-cost content, such as feedback and entertaining program, to audiences), mark-up-based (Adds value through selection, distribution...), production-based (Adds value by increasing production efficiencies, capturing preferences and improving service), referral-based (Adds value by enhancing a company´s product offering. Expertise and feedback are included with referral information), subscription-based (Adds value by leveraging strong brand name, providing information), and fee-for-service-based (Adds value by providing service efficiencies, expertise, and practical solutions). The significance of social media can be studied from two perspectives: -There is no one-size-fits-all Internet strategy: -Customer loyalty is built with reliable brand names and sticky websites: Websites need to satisfy four criteria: high-quality layout, fast service, updated information, and high ranking in search engines. The stickiness of a website suggests the ability to draw the same customer back and back again.

Identify the five bases of power and explain what it takes to make empowerment work.

The five basic types of power are reward., coercive, legitimate, referent, and expert power. Empowerment cannot work without a supporting situation, which may include a skilled individual, an organizational culture of empowerment, an emotionally mature individual with a well-developed character, and empowerment opportunities such as delegation, participation, and self-managed teams.

Identify the four key elements of a crisis management program.

The four elements of a crisis management program are 1. anticipate, 2. plan, 3. staff, and 4. practice.

Identify and describe the four steps in the strategic management process:

The strategic management process is made out of four steps: -Formulation of a grand strategy: It is a general explanation of how the company´s mission is to be accomplished. This strategy is derived from a situational analysis (a technique for matching organizational strengths and weaknesses with environmental opportunities and threats to determine the right niche for the organization). -Formulation of strategic plans: General intentions are translated into more concrete and measurable strategic plans and policies. This is the responsibility of the top management. It requires an objective and a mission statement. They need to turn the good intentions into actions. -Implementation of strategic plans: Top managers need to do a good job of facilitating the implementation process and building middle-manager commitment. This is done by using a systematic filtering-down process (groundwork to ensure that filtering-down process occurs smoothly). Participative management can build needed middle-manager commitment. -Strategic control: This is necessary, since strategic plans might go wrong; and a control is needed to put these plans back on track. Detect and correct problems, in order to keep strategies updated and on target. Strategic management is a dynamic cycle: negative feedback should prompt corrective action.

Explain the concept of synergy, and identify four kinds of synergy:

The term synergy is very valuable for business experts. It occurs when two or more variables interact together to produce a greater effect than the sum of the effects of the variables acting independently. It is called the "1+1=3" effect. -Market synergy: When one product fortifies the sales of one or more other products. -Cost synergy: This can occur in almost every dimension of organized activity. It occurs when two or more products can be designed by the same engineers, produced in the same facilities, and sold by the same salespeople; then the costs of production are much lower. -Technological synergy: It involves transferring technology from one application to another, opening up new markets. -Management synergy: It occurs when a management team is more productive because its members have complementary rather than identical skills.

Identify and describe the elements of effective negotiation, and explain the advantage of added value negotiating.

The three basic elements of effective negotiation are a win-win attitude, a BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement) to serve as a negotiating standard, and the calculation of a bargaining zone to identify overlapping interests. Added value negotiating improves on standard negotiation strategies by fostering a creative range of possible solutions.

Discuss what management can do to improve business ethics:

The typical manager is said to be amoral (morally lazy). Management can encourage ethical behaviour using for different strategies: -Use ethical advocates: Ethics specialists who play roles in management decision-making. He is a critical questioner. -Ethics training: This is regarding amoral managers. Although some experts claim this training is a waste of time because in the heat of the competition ethical lessons are shoved aside, it is very important and includes: management support, discussion of realistic cases, a focus on ethical issues specific to the organization... -Codes of ethics: Published statements of moral expectations for employee conduct. These codes specify penalties for offenders. -Whistle-blowing: What should a manager do when a superior or an entire organization is engaged in ethical misconduct? Report it to outsiders, such as the media, the government or public interest groups.

Discuss why it is important for managers to know about grapevine and nonverbal communication.

The unofficial and informal communication system that sometimes complements and sometimes disrupts the formal communication system has been labeled as the grapevine. A sample of managers surveyed had predominantly negative feelings toward it. Recognizing that the grapevine cannot be suppressed managers are advised to monitor it constructively. Nonverbal communication (such as facial, gestural, and postural body language) accounts for most of the impact of face-to-face communication. Managers can become more effective communicators by doing a better job of giving and receiving nonverbal communications.

Explain the nature and purpose of a SWOT analysis:

This is a very useful tool in management to realize where the company is standing. After doing this analysis, the company can then formulate the grand strategy. This analysis consists of learning what are the company´s strengths and weaknesses compared to its competitors; and at the same time, see what are the opportunities and threats present in the environment where it carries out its activity. To be successful, the company will try to potentiate its strengths and hide its weaknesses; and at the same time take advantage of the opportunities and fight to avoid the threats.

Summarize the four practical lessons from business ethical research:

This research allows us to go beyond mere intuition to determine more precisely the information. There are four main areas in business ethics: -Ethical hotspots: There exists aa top ten workplace hotspots responsible for triggering unethical behaviour: balancing work and family, poor leadership, poor internal relationships, insufficient resources, company politics, no recognition of achievements... -Pressure from above: Pressure from leaders can be uncomfortable. The challenge for managers is to know where to draw the line between motivating employees to work better, and exerting too much pressure. -Ambiguous situations: In occasions, ambiguous rules lead to bending the rules (no clear rules) -Rationalization: This occurs after or before the fact. Six different strategies: denial of responsibility, denial of injury, denial of victim, social weighing, appeal to higher loyalties, metaphor of the ledger (they are allowed to deviate a little bit from right tasks, due to the labour they provide to the company.

Define total quality management and specify the four basic principles of total quality management.

Total quality management involves creating a culture dedicated to customer-centered, employee-driven continuous improvement. The four total quality management principles are: 1. do it right the first time 2. be customer-centered 3. make continuous improvement a way of life 4. build teamwork and empowerment

Explain why trust is a key ingredient of teamwork, and discuss what management can do to build trust.

Trust, a key ingredient of team effectiveness, is disturbingly low in the American workplace today. When work group members trust one another, there will be a more active exchange of information, more interpersonal influence, and hence greater self-control. Managers can build trust through communication, support, respect, fairness, predictability, and competence.

Describe tempered radicals, and identify the 5Ps in the checklist for grassroots change agents.

Unofficial and informal grassroots change can be initiated by tempered radicals, who quietly follow their convictions when trying to change the dominant organizational culture. Four guidelines for tempered radicals are: 1. think small for big results, 2. be authentic, 3. translate, and 4. don't go at it alone. The 5P checklist for grassroots change is preparation, purpose, participation, progress, and persistence.

Explain at least four ways managers can encourage upward communication.

Upward communication can be simulated by using formal grievance procedures, employee attitude and opinion surveys, suggestion systems, an open-door policy, informal meetings, social media, and exit interviews.

Distinguish between instrumental and terminal values, and explain their relationship to business ethics:

Values are abstract ideals that shape an individual's thinking and behaviour. There are two types of values, and they act as anchors for our ethical conduct, depending on how the value their means in live. -Instrumental values: Enduring belief that a certain way of behaving is appropriate in all situations. For example: honesty -Terminal values: Enduring belief that a certain end-state of existence is worth striving for and attaining. One person may strive for eternal salvation (instrumental value); and other may strive for social recognition (terminal values).