MGT GR 2

In their article, Six Myths About Informal Networks and How to Overcome Them, the authors state many corporate leaders intuitively understand informal networks of employees are increasingly at the forefront. What measures do the authors recommend to defeat the myth "to build better networks, we have to communicate more?"

1. Managers can intervene to sustain informal groups without adding the burden of more and potentially useless communications . 2. Resist tendency to equate communication and socializing with network building. 3. To build better networks, focus on who knows what 4.Build networks that can complement efforts based on assessments of current flows of information . ALL OF THE ABOVE IS RIGHT

What is the the six-step decision-making process

1. Recognition of Decision Requirement 2. Diagnosis and Analysis of Causes 3. Development of Alternatives 4. Selection of Desired Alternative 5. Implementation of Chosen Alternative 6. Evaluation and Feedback

During the diagnosis step of the decision-making process, managers might use the _________________ to uncover the root cause of a problem.

5 Whys method

Which of the following was NOT an obstacle that needed to be overcome by Colorado Springs?

Acceptance from the local community

In their article, Leaders as Decision Architects, Beshears and Gino recommend an approach to structuring an environment in which decisions are made so that people are more likely to make choices that lead to good outcomes. Their approach consists of five basic steps. Which one of these is NOT one of their five steps:

Develop action plans to reach goals and objectives.

Fire Chief McGuire could see the problem from a mile away. Flames were leaping out of the old barn, blown by a west wind. Arriving at the scene, he noticed a young firefighter heading toward the back of the building. The fire chief yelled, "Stop!" but the rookie kept going. McGuire knew that the kid was putting his life in danger by going out of sight. There was no time to waste. Best conflict to use?

Dominating

Psychologists and behavioral economists have identified many cognitive biases that impair our ability to objectively evaluate information, form sound judgements, and make effective decisions. Examples of action-oriented biases are:

Excessive optimism and overconfidence

According to Kotter's article, Why Transformation Efforts Fail, how does one "Empower others to act on the vision?"

Getting rid of obstacles to change . Changing systems or structures that seriously undermine the vision . Encouraging risk taking and nontraditional ideas, activities, and actions. ALL OF THE ABOVE IS RIGHT

Leaders as Decision Architects states there are two main causes of poor decision making:

Insufficient motivation and cognitive biases

If you work in a complex organization in which you see the political model of decision making at work, which of the following is likely true about your organization?

Managers have different interests and are pursuing different goals

In the article, Organization as Theater, the authors stated "to justify [employees'] labor, they want to believe their efforts produce the intended outcomes. Of course, even the best intentions or the most sophisticated technologies do not always yield expected results. Regardless, these activities play a very important theatrical role." The authors illustrate their point with what contexts:

Meetings Planning Performance appraisal Collective bargaining ALL OF THE ABOVE IS RIGHT

Bob is a student at Fresno State University who recently got his first F. Now he has to make a decision about how to get his grades back up. Having recently taken a class on decision making, Bob decides to follow the six-step process for deciding what to do. What problem is Bob most likely to face during the recognition of decision requirement step in the decision-making process?

Not being aware enough of things going on around him to see where problems and opportunities exist

1. According to Kotter's article, Why Transformation Efforts Fail, which of the following are routine errors?

Not establishing a great enough sense of urgency. Not creating a powerful enough guiding coalition. Under-communicating the vision by a factor of ten. Not systematically planning for, and creating, short-term wins. ALL OF THE ABOVE IS RIGHT

Isomorphism, as described in the reading Organization as Theater, refers to

Processes that cause organizations to become more like other organizations, particularly members of the same "organizational field."

Another "myth" from Cross, Nohria and Parker includes "Central people who have become bottlenecks need to make themselves more accessible." What is their recommended solution?

Shift burdens for providing information and making decisions to others in the network .

In the article, Six Myths About Informal Networks and How to Overcome Them, the "reality check" associated with the myth "I already know what's going on in my network" is:

Those who are most adamant in asserting that they know their network are usually the farthest off base.

Two sisters, Carol and Patty, are sitting at the kitchen table discussing what to do for Thanksgiving. They disagree about almost everything: how to cook the turkey, what kind of stuffing to make, whether to serve wild rice salad, how to prepare the yams, and even what kind of pie to serve. Eventually Carol says, "Just do it your way! You always have to be the boss. I'm sick of fighting with you." Patty responds, "That's only because you're so stupid!"Carol and Patty are engaged in ___________ conflict, based on _________________.

affective, emotions

Proposed by Herbert A. Simon, __________________ _________________ means that managers are limited in the extent to which they can use the classical model of decision making, because they only have so much time and ability to process information.

bounded rationality

As an organization becomes more organic, its span of management becomes __________________

broader

Dollar General uses a cost leadership strategy. The Dollar General slogan is "Save time. Save money. Every day!®" Dollar General will be more effective if it has a _______________

mechanistic

The two managers often engaged in ___________________; in today's meeting, they had a spirited debate over the project's optimal workflow, and their disagreement ultimately led to a creative solution.

task conflict