CH. 1 ~ The Exceptional Manager: What You Do, How You Do It {assignment & quiz} ~ MGMT 320 WINTER INTERSESSION 2019 ~ DR. TAMELA D. FERGUSON ~ ULL

Kari is an analytics whiz. She can take huge amounts of data that seem incoherent to many people and use them to make projections and diagnose problems for her organization.

Computational Thinking

Because he can see the big picture, Hudson is able to link the right people up throughout the company from top to bottom.

Conceptual Skills

Laetitia has had great success in advancing her career because she is able to see how things fit together throughout the company.

Conceptual Skills

Travis Kalanick is known as an entrepreneur. Based on what you've learned about entrepreneurs, which of the following is most likely true about Kalanick?

He has a high tolerance for ambiguity. ~ Entrepreneurs typically have a high tolerance for ambiguity, internal locus of control, and high levels of action orientation and self-confidence. Based on what is in the case thus far, it is unclear if Kalanick has high ethical standards.

Anouk always seems to be able to rally her team when it gets to be crunch time.

Human Skills

Milo isn't the only sales manager for his company. He also consistently scores in the top sales tier each month because he does such a great job interacting and gaining trust with both his sales people and his customers alike.

Human Skills

Rick wanted to develop networking skills so he attended an event for young professionals. He didn't know one person and felt too intimidated to talk to others. In considering what went wrong, he realized it may be best to attend these events with a friend or colleague who is already plugged into the network.

Step 4: Evaluate the results of your experimental small steps

The case mentions that Uber's valuation has recently dropped. If a manager at Uber is tracking the company's performance and comparing it to goals, this person would be performing the ______ managerial function.

controlling ~ Controlling is defined as monitoring performance, comparing it with goals, and taking corrective action as needed.

Uber has faced a host of ethical and financial challenges ever since it started in 2011. Which of Mintzberg's roles is most closely related to Uber's senior leadership's responsibility to fix problems the company is facing?

disturbance handler ~ Unforeseen problems—from product defects to international currency crises—require managers to be disturbance handlers, which means they fix problems. Here, Uber's senior leadership is responsible for solving its problems.

Timothy, a restaurant general manager, carefully watches his costs by reusing some items that in the past were immediately thrown away. Timothy is an example of a(n) _____ manager.

efficient ~ Efficiency is the means of attaining the organization's goals. To be efficient means to use resources such as people, money, and raw materials wisely and cost-effectively.

Nonmanagerial

employees either work alone on tasks or with others on a variety of teams. They do not formally supervise or manage other people, and they are the bulk of a company's workforce.

The manager tries to offer overtime as a possible incentive to the employees. In this situation, overtime would be considered an ________ reward.

extrinsic ~ The manager tries to offer overtime as a possible incentive to the employees. In this situation, overtime would be considered an extrinsic reward.

Madison is the warehouse foreperson and ensures products are loaded effectively.

first-line manager

Phillip is the art department head and supervises the art staff.

first-line manager

Loree manages the service desk and makes routine decisions related to customer refunds and merchandise returns. Loree also oversees the daily tasks of the cashiers and front desk employees. Loree is a(n)

first-line manager. ~ Following the plans of middle and top managers, first-line managers make short-term operating decisions, directing the daily tasks of nonmanagerial personnel who are all those people who work directly at their jobs but don't oversee the work of others.

Marissa Mayer is a ______ manager.

general ~ A general manager is responsible for several organizational activities. At the top of the pyramid, general managers are those who seem to be the subject of news stories in magazines such as Bloomberg Businessweek, Fortune, Forbes, and Inc. As the CEO of a large organization, Marissa Mayer would be considered a general manager.

The multiplier effect states that a manager's influence on the organization

has implications far beyond the results that can be achieved by one person acting alone. ~ In being a manager you have a multiplier effect: your influence on the organization is multiplied far beyond the results that can be achieved by just one person acting alone.

Because of her training, Cicely was able to analyze her company's cost structure and make specific suggestions to bring it in line with their competitors in a very short period of time after she was hired.

Technical Skills

Jose was able to perform well in his new job early on because he didn't need extensive training before he could dig in and get to work. He had mastered the ins and outs of the industry at his last job.

Technical Skills

Uber stores every single ride it has provided and uses this data for other purposes, including surge pricing, driver notices, and so on. To which of the seven challenges to being an exceptional manager is this activity most closely related?

Uber's second challenge is related to managing information technology. This includes concepts such as e-commerce, databases, and Big Data. All three of these concepts are related to Uber's storage of ride information.

When Clay, a general manager of a national retailer, moved to a different store in his company that was having difficulty, he knew that sales were low and after talking to his employees, he found morale was also low. At first Clay thought attitudes were poor due to low sales, but after working closely with employees, he realized that the poor attitudes were actually the cause of poor sales. Clay was able to discover the cause of the problem by utilizing ________ skills.

conceptual ~ Conceptual skills consist of the ability to think analytically, to visualize an organization as a whole, and to understand how the parts work together.

The city fire department offers its services to any individual within its city limits, so even Ken, who is driving through the city on vacation, received assistance with a car fire. The fire department is an example of a ________organization.

commonweal ~ One particular type of nonprofit organization is called the commonweal organization. Unlike nonprofit service organizations, which offer services to some clients, commonweal organizations offer services to all clients within their jurisdictions. Examples are the military services, the U.S. Postal Service, and your local fire and police departments.

Studies show that dealing with excessive and unimportant e-mail and text messages in the workplace can lead to

concentrating on the urgent rather than the important. ~ Ed Reilly, who heads the American Management Association, says all the e-mail, cell-phone calls, text messaging, and so on can lead people to end up "concentrating on the urgent rather than the important."

Conceptual Skills

consist of the ability to think analytically, to visualize an organization as a whole, and to understand how the parts work together.

The employees explain that their workload is quite stressful because of the deadlines imposed by the nature of the job itself. Due to this, the source of the job-related stress is

individual task demands. ~ The employees explain that their workload is quite stressful because of the deadlines imposed by the nature of the job itself. Due to this, the source of the job-related stress is individual task demands.

According to management scholar Henry Mintzberg, which three roles do managers play?

interpersonal, informational, decisional ~ According to management scholar Henry Mintzberg, managers play three roles—interpersonal, informational, and decisional.

Which of the following is not mentioned in the case as a key problem facing Yahoo!?

investment in Alibaba ~ Yahoo!'s investment in Alibaba is not mentioned as a key problem in the case. The remaining answer choices were listed as key problems in the case.

resource allocator role

involves setting priorities about the use of resources.

organization

is a group of people who work together to achieve some specific purpose.

Organizing

is defined as arranging tasks, people, and other resources to accomplish the work. Organizing includes determining the tasks to be done, by whom, and what the reporting hierarchy is to be.

Sustainability

is defined as economic development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Controlling

is defined as monitoring performance, comparing it with goals, and taking corrective action as needed.

Leading

is defined as motivating, directing, and otherwise influencing people to work hard to achieve the organization's goals.

Planning

is defined as setting goals and deciding how to achieve them.

Mindfulness

is learning how to focus just on the task or conversation at hand and is actually an invaluable way to get more done. By focusing on one thing at a time, you can complete it fully, put it behind you, and be ready to move on unencumbered by distracting thoughts. Multitasking, on the other hand, divides the mind's attention and actually slows work down.

General Manager

is responsible for several organizational activities. At the top of the pyramid, general managers are those who seem to be the subject of news stories in magazines such as Bloomberg Businessweek, Fortune, Forbes, and Inc.

Competitive advantage

is the ability of an organization to produce goods or services more effectively than competitors do, thereby outperforming them.

Competitive advantage

is the ability of an organization to produce goods or services more effectively than competitors do, thereby outperforming them. This means an organization must stay ahead in four areas: (1) being responsive to customers, (2) innovation, (3) quality, and (4) efficiency.

Knowledge management

is the implementing of systems and practices to increase the sharing of knowledge and information throughout an organization.

Efficiency

is the means of attaining the organization's goals. To be efficient means to use resources such as people, money, and raw materials wisely and cost-effectively.

Meaningfulness

is the sense of "belonging to and serving something that you believe is bigger than the self."

Being a manager can be one of the greatest avenues to a meaningful life, particularly if the manager

is working within a supportive or interesting organizational culture. ~ Meaningfulness is the sense of "belonging to and serving something that you believe is bigger than the self."

Rochelle, the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, met with business leaders from the local community. Afterwards, she spent time informally answering their questions about the company. In answering these questions, which managerial role was Rochelle playing?

leadership figurehead ~ In your figurehead role, you may show visitors around your company. In general, you perform symbolic tasks that represent your organization.

When Fair Oaks' management shares its vision with its 300-plus employees and seeks feedback, it is able to influence employees and gain buy-in from them. Which managerial function is the company performing?

leading ~ Leading is defined as motivating, directing, and otherwise influencing people to work hard to achieve the organization's goals. Here, the sharing of the company's vision with its employees and the desire to influence them so goals can be achieved are examples of the leading function. By soliciting valuable feedback from company employees, Fair Oaks management is contributing to employee motivation; however, motivation itself is not one of the four managerial functions.

In this situation, the manager discusses with her employees an updated deadline for work. As a virtue of her position in the hierarchy of the organization, the manager has

legitimate power. ~ In this situation, the manager discusses with her employees an updated deadline for work. As a virtue of her position in the hierarchy of the organization, the manager has legitimate power.

Davidson Production is keenly aware of the need to strive daily to produce goods and services more effectively than its competitors. Therefore, Davidson's management strives to ________ in order to achieve this standard.

maintain quality and efficiency ~ Competitive advantage is the ability of an organization to produce goods or services more effectively than competitors do, thereby outperforming them. This means an organization must stay ahead in four areas: (1) being responsive to customers, (2) innovation, (3) quality, and (4) efficiency.

Top managers

make long-term decisions about the overall direction of the organization and establish the objectives, policies, and strategies for it.

One of the poor decisions that has plagued Yahoo!'s financial performance was its reluctance to transition its offerings to mobile devices. This is an example of failing at which challenge to being an effective manager?

managing for competitive advantage ~ Competitive advantage is the ability of an organization to produce goods or services more effectively than competitors do, thereby outperforming them. Here, Yahoo! failed at transitioning to a technology that its competitors, such as Google, were embracing. The remaining answer choices are challenges managers face, but they are not related to this particular decision by Yahoo!

At XYZ Manufacturing, employees work together to achieve the company goals and purposes. XYZ Manufacturing is a(n)

organization. ~ An organization is a group of people who work together to achieve some specific purpose.

In February, Pedro, the manager of a pool supply and cleaning company, is looking at the upcoming need for more workers to handle the increased customers in spring and summer. Which of the four key management processes is he using?

organizing ~ Organizing is defined as arranging tasks, people, and other resources to accomplish the work. Organizing includes determining the tasks to be done, by whom, and what the reporting hierarchy is to be.

One employee explains that they have been overworked and underpaid for some time. These issues illustrate the employee's ________, or tension people feel when they are facing or enduring extraordinary demands, constraints, or opportunities and are uncertain about their ability to handle them effectively.

stress ~ One employee explains that they have been overworked and underpaid for some time. These issues illustrate the employee's stress, or tension people feel when they are facing or enduring extraordinary demands, constraints, or opportunities and are uncertain about their ability to handle them effectively.

Yahoo! made $3 billion worth of acquisition decisions that provided it with no, or negative, value. Which of the following roles are most closely aligned with these poor decisions?

resource allocator ~ The resource allocator role involves setting priorities about the use of resources. Here, Yahoo! executives made some poor decisions on their use of resources, including $3 billion worth of acquisitions that have provided the organization with absolutely no, or negative, value.

Marquez, the hotel manager, knows that the number of guests at his hotel has significantly decreased. Therefore, corporate has made it clear that the amount each department can spend on certain items will need to be cut for the year. Marquez needs to work with the hotel department managers on how to cut costs, as a part of his role as

resource allocator. ~ Because you'll never have enough time, money, and so on, you'll need to be a resource allocator as a manager, setting priorities about use of resources.

Emery asked his summer internship supervisor if he could switch between different jobs each month so that he could obtain as many new skills and experiences as possible.

Learn From On-the-Job Activities

Gabriela thinks she may want to start her own company, but she's not sure she's the entrepreneurial type. She takes a few validated assessments of entrepreneurial potential to get a better idea.

Build Self-Awareness

Imani is about to enter the job market. She combs through the list of KSAOs in Table 1.2 of her textbook and chooses Self-Awareness and Oral/Written Communication to work on. She knows these are two important skills to develop before submitting resumes and going on job interviews.

Step 1: Identify the KSAOs you want to develop

Javier is great at making choices. He can assess options and decide which is best for his work group with speed and confidence.

Decision Making

Disturbance Handler

Decisional Roles

Entrepreneur

Decisional Roles

Negotiator

Decisional Roles

Resource Allocator

Decisional Roles

As soon as Kenzie implements a few small steps toward developing one KSAO, she goes back to Table 1.2 in her textbook and picks another KSAO to work on.

Depicts a person improperly using the process

Aspen has a 4.0 grade point average and has already landed several job interviews. She ignores the career readiness development materials contained in her textbook because she feels she's as ready as she's ever going to be.

Depicts a person improperly using the process

Fletch is a natural at sales and marketing but he's heard that data analysis is a hot skill on the job market. He's not interested in an analytics job but decides that since he doesn't have this skill he should spend the next two years earning a degree in data analytics.

Depicts a person improperly using the process

Wilder wants to be as career ready as possible, so he reads through the list of KSAOs in Table 1.2 of his textbook and decides to work on improving every single one of them this semester.

Depicts a person improperly using the process

After identifying the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and other characteristics that impact your current performance, what is the next step?

Determine which concepts are relevant for developing your KSAOs. ~ The second step requires you to consider how you can use the material covered in the chapter to develop your targeted competencies.

Reese started a career journal during her freshman year to document all of her personal developmental efforts during college. She noted her struggles, improvements, and growth, and can now discuss these learning experiences during job interviews.

Experiment

First-line managers

Following the plans of middle and top managers, & make short-term operating decisions, directing the daily tasks of nonmanagerial personnel who are all those people who work directly at their jobs but don't oversee the work of others.

Disseminator

Informational Roles

Monitor

Informational Roles

Spokesperson

Informational Roles

Figurehead

Interpersonal Roles

Leader

Interpersonal Roles

Liaison

Interpersonal Roles

A national sales organization has implemented a set of training courses on its intranet, with a link that allows employees to find and share answers to questions that arise with customers. ________ is the system that allows the sharing of knowledge and information throughout an organization.

Knowledge management ~ Knowledge management is the implementing of systems and practices to increase the sharing of knowledge and information throughout an organization.

Chandler wants to work in HR and would like to increase her knowledge of employment law. She signs up to attend a local continuing education seminar on employment law.

Learn From Educational Activities

As head of the marketing department, Anthony makes an extra effort to be sure the company's advertising campaigns highlight its most cutting-edge innovations.

Managing for Competitive Advantage—Staying Ahead of Rivals

Danica interviews many different types of people in her role. With today's rapidly changing workforce, she knows it's important to hire the best person for each job opening she is filling.

Managing for Diversity—The Future Won't Resemble the Past

Even though he knows they are good people, Fred has to monitor his sales employees' activities to make sure they haven't crossed any lines in trying to win new business.

Managing for Ethical Standards

Xavier has been proactive in his role as sales manager by providing his sales force with new training opportunities to help them deal with sales leads from unfamiliar cultures.

Managing for Globalization—The Expanding Management Universe

When it comes to managing his employees, Tyler always goes the extra mile to build teamwork and camaraderie among his employees.

Managing for Happiness and Meaningfulness

When Olivia started with the company, everyone worked a standard 8 to 5 workday and everyone knew each other. Today, some workers rarely come to the office to do their work, but Olivia embraces the opportunities these arrangements provide.

Managing for Information Technology—Dealing with the "New Normal"

Part of Mirren's role as operations manager is to make sure the company isn't wasting energy or creating excessive pollution in their operations.

Managing for Sustainability—The Business of Green

Which is better: mindfulness or multitasking?

Mindfulness is better because you are focusing on one thing until it is completed. ~ Mindfulness is learning how to focus just on the task or conversation at hand and is actually an invaluable way to get more done. By focusing on one thing at a time, you can complete it fully, put it behind you, and be ready to move on unencumbered by distracting thoughts. Multitasking, on the other hand, divides the mind's attention and actually slows work down.

Spencer wants to be a professional pianist after earning his music degree but is having trouble booking gigs. He gets in touch with several successful local musicians and asks if they would have coffee with him and share wisdom on breaking into the music scene.

Model Others Possessing the Targeted Competencies

Caleb knows everybody and has a large group of friends in the professional community. Parties and events are his comfort zone.

Networking

Sydney is on top of the latest social media trends. She has thousands of Instagram followers and a successful personal YouTube channel.

New Media Literacy

Tim Armstrong was tapped to lead an integrated Yahoo!/AOL subsidiary of Verizon called Oath, and will most likely need to set a new strategic direction. Which of the four principal management functions should he focus on first?

Planning ~ Planning is defined as setting goals and deciding how to achieve them. Setting a new strategic direction would fall under the planning function. Organizing, leading, and controlling may play into strategic decision making but would not be the focus. Operating is not one of the four principal management functions.

Abena is always the first to volunteer for new roles and projects at her organization. She truly loves learning.

Proactive Learning Orientation

Flynn is a model employee in many ways. He arrives early for work and is always willing to go above and beyond his formal job duties, even if it means staying late or working on Sundays.

Professionalism/Work Ethic

Miguel wants to work on his ability to understand the business before his upcoming job interview. He recalls that his textbook includes a discussion of this, so he searches the book for ways to work on this competency.

Step 2: Determine which concepts are relevant for developing your targeted KSAOs

Sarah wants to develop her cross-cultural competency, so she finds two international student events to attend in the upcoming semester to help her learn more about these cultures.

Step 3: Experiment with implementing a few small steps aimed at developing your KSAOs

Jaime is working on a degree in landscape architecture and has decided to run for the office of vice president of his university's chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

Seek Experience From Student Groups and Organizations

Mae has a keen ability to form meaningful relationships with coworkers. People confide in her and feel that she really listens and understands them. Mae enjoys these one-on-one interactions at work.

Social Intelligence

Management theorist Peter Drucker compared the workplace of the future to

a symphony orchestra. ~ The workplace of the future may resemble a symphony orchestra, famed management theorist Peter Drucker said. Employees, especially so-called knowledge workers, can be compared to concert musicians. Their managers can be seen as conductors. The conductor's role is not to play each instrument but to lead them all through the most effective performance of a particular work.

Which of the following would be considered soft skills?

ability to obtain, interpret, and analyze information while creatively solving problems ~ Soft skills include the ability to obtain, interpret, and analyze information while creatively solving problems.

Mike and Sue McCloskey wanted to change the dairy farming industry itself. They did this by opening up their farms to the public to educate people on the farming industry. To which managerial challenge is this most closely related?

managing for competitive advantage ~ Competitive advantage is the ability of an organization to produce goods or services more effectively than competitors do, thereby outperforming them. This means an organization must stay ahead in four areas: (1) being responsive to customers, (2) innovation, (3) quality, and (4) efficiency. Specifically, Fair Oaks Farms is being innovative. Finding ways to deliver new or better goods or services is called innovation. By opening their doors to the public and educating their potential customers on the farming industry, Fair Oaks Farm is being innovative and creating a competitive advantage.

Fair Oaks Farms' manure management, specifically the use of cow manure to power their facilities and fuel their milk tankers, is most closely related to which managerial challenge?

managing for sustainability ~ Sustainability is defined as economic development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Here, Fair Oaks Farms' use of cow manure to power their facilities and fuel their milk tankers is an example of managing for sustainability, because our natural resources are not limitless.

What does being a manager offer to an employee?

many rewards apart from money and status ~ In addition to money and status, there are many rewards to being a manager including experiencing a sense of accomplishment, stretching your abilities and magnifying your range, and building a catalog of successful products or services.

Kala leads the sales force to achieve the company's sales goals for the quarter.

middle manager

Rebecca is the national sales manager and coordinates the activities of her first-line managers.

middle manager

Heather reports to the front desk manager. Heather is responsible for directing the team activities of four cashiers who are responsible for developing a plan to improve customer service. Heather does NOT have authority over other team members, but she provides guidance, instruction, and direction to them. Heather is a(n)

nonmanagerial employee. ~ Nonmanagerial employees either work alone on tasks or with others on a variety of teams. They do not formally supervise or manage other people, and they are the bulk of a company's workforce.

Uber's first challenge is managing for competitive advantage. What function of management is most closely related to setting goals to remain competitive?

planning ~ Planning is defined as setting goals and deciding how to achieve them.

The setting of Fair Oaks Farms' mission, vision, and goals is an example of which managerial function?

planning ~ Planning is defined as setting goals and deciding how to achieve them. Here, the setting of Fair Oaks Farms' mission, vision and goals that will help it achieve its strategy are examples of planning functions.

One employee emphasizes the lack of staff as a main stressor affecting the workload. As the number of staff is limited, this represents ________as a source of conflict in organizations.

scarce resources ~ One employee emphasizes the lack of staff as a main stressor affecting the workload. As the number of staff is limited, this represents scarce resources as a source of conflict in organizations.

Although he can't fire or discipline team members, Sawyer is in charge of making sure his team meets its production goals.

team leader

Luis is the go-to person when the team needs to coordinate their work or when they have conflicts arise.

team leader

Aziz develops the company's human resource policies.

top manager

Sophie analyzes the national sales forecasts of advertising directories and develops projections on long-term industry growth.

top manager

Mike and Sue McCloskey are examples of

top managers. ~ Top managers make long-term decisions about the overall direction of the organization and establish the objectives, policies, and strategies for it. Here, the McCloskey's are top managers as they make the decisions about the overall direction of Fair Oaks Farms. They are also general managers because they are responsible for several organizational activities.

figurehead role

you may show visitors around your company. In general, you perform symbolic tasks that represent your organization.