MGT 5500 Test 4 Review

business successes doesn't lead to

a positive culture

bias

search results driven by search terms

10 values of zappos family

-"wow" through service embrace change create fun and weirdness be adventurous and creative pursue growth be open and honest build positive team be humble and compassionate do more with less

Adapt to feedback

-recognize emotions and responses get support reframe feedback break up task use incentives

principles of active listening

-respond to personal rather than impersonal (result of discomfort of dealing with it) -recognize feelings as well as content - truly understand another person and their feelings -know when to use active listening

active listening 2 components

1. seeking genuienely to understand the other person on 2 levels - surface and deep 2. communicating or reflecting that understanding back to the speaker

how do toxic cultures gain traction?

1. toxic behavior happens 2. repetition makes it feel normal 3. team stops trusting management to act 4. people feel that extreme action is justified

In 2015 Zappos made a move towards a holacracy within their management structure. Because this was such a drastic change, they knew many employees may not to move forward. Given the following descriptions of these employees which employee will most likely choose to leave the company. A. Zach, grew up with a military family, likes structure, enjoys achievement through rank and recognition. B. Susan, creative arts major who grew up in the city, is a self-starter who likes to focus on people not as much as the process. C. Lorenzo is young and ambitious he has never enjoyed strict rules or structure. D. Alex has never quit a project early. She is easily adaptable and likes to work with others, especially to solve large picture problems.

A - Zach naturally attaches to structure

Sandy has been raised in a culture that is very direct when they approach problems. She's used to immediately discussing an issue when it arises, even if that leads to somewhat unnecessary conflict. Ben is the exact opposite. He's used to sitting on a problem for a few days and then eventually leading to peaceful and quiet resolution. What's the difference between these two individuals, according to Fons Trompenaars? A) The way we approach a dilemma is completely personal. B) The way we approach a dilemma is cultural. C) There's only one correct way to approach a dilemma. D) The only resolution to dilemmas is silence.

B

Rita just finished a class where the main subject was giving and receiving feedback. It was empowering to her to realize that when others gave her feedback, she was the receiver and she had all of the power. It is up to her on how she wants to perceive feedback. Fast forward four months to her first performance review and she felt utterly shattered. Her roommate of three years had started a company and had entrusted her with the task of being head of marketing. As her roommate tore into her performance for the past month, the data didn't lie, Rita hadn't been doing a great job. She believed the data and her ego wasn't hurt; she had delivered better work before. She just couldn't believe that her roommate, the person she did the dishes for out of love, was now tearing into her like this. Rita shut down mentally and just nodded and acted as though she was listening. She felt powerless against someone she thought was so close to her. A. Truth B. Relationship C. Identity D. Sensitivity

B - biggest shock was to who was giving her the tough feedback. Her roommate had never talked like this before to her

People are typically afraid of feedback because they fear criticism, even if it can lead to improvement and positive outcomes. Elizabeth Ryan's biggest situation at ALC is dealing with Gretchen Moore's unbearable smell. Ryan's goal is to address this situation appropriately and not upset Gretchen and risk losing an employee within her first week on the job. How can Ryan reframe the feedback in a direct, yet non-insulting manner? A. "Gretchen, you smell so bad. It is nearly impossible to be in the same room with you without vomiting." B. "Gretchen, I need to be completely direct and honest with you. I have received complaints about your hygiene, and I have reason to believe that it is affecting our business. I want to address this because I know you are talented at what you do, but it has become problematic. Is there anything we can do and work together to help with this issue?" C. "Gretchen, Linda is complaining about the way you smell. She is a full-time employee and you are not, so if she is not happy, neither am I." D. "Gretchen, your hygiene has become so problematic that you either need to clean yourself, or you will be fired."

B - reframing the difficult discussion in a respectful way, willing to help in an appropriate manner and is not coming off in an insulting way

In which scenario is Margaret utilizing the two major components of active listening? A. Kobe shares his love of yoga with Margaret. Margaret becomes incredibly excited and proceeds to share her personal experiences with yoga. B. Kobe shares his love of yoga with Margaret. Margaret proceeds by asking Kobe how he began his yoga practice in hopes to better understand his experience. C. Both A and B are correct D. None of the above are correct

B - she is using the major components of active listening to genuinely understand the other person

Professors in the David Eccles School of Business all dress professionally on a daily basis. According to Schein, this is a cultural.... A) Value B) Artifact C) Identity D) Assumption

B - what anyone sees

Marcie recently started a new job at Nutri-treats, a snack food company focused on providing healthy snack options to busy families. She noticed that her co-workers often show up late and have a bad attitude about coming into work. Additionally, the marketing team, accounting team, and operations team never sit by each other during lunch. The different groups seem to keep to themselves and view the other teams as lazy and incompetent at their jobs. For the most part, it seems like everyone who is working there hasn't been there for that long and many are looking to find comparable jobs at different companies. Which of the following is not a sign of a toxic work culture at Nutri-treats? a) A high turnover rate b) Clicks and groups c) A lack of creativity among employees d) A lack of communication among employees

C - does not mention anything about a lack of creativity

Chris is a top performer at his current job. He is hoping that one day he could become a top manager at his company one day. In a recent one on one meeting with his boss, he received critical feedback that he should collaborate with his colleagues on a future project to strengthen his relationships with others in the workplace. Chris's fear of conflict has prevented him from doing the project causing him to believe his goal of being a top manager to be unrealistic. After this Chris has become unhappy at his job and avoided having meetings with his boss. Chris eventually left his position. What response to feedback did Chris display? A) Procrastination B) Denial C) Brooding D) Self-sabotage

C - he withdrew from colleagues and boss and became unhappy

Your company is planning on making a major change. It will become a holacracy. Like we learned in the case study on Zappos, a holacracy has various impacts. What is one thing you can expect? A) Heightened structure B) More management delegation C) Truly distributed authority D) A quick and easy change

C - holacracy, authority is truly distributed. Each person plays a vital role and is expected to be productive and find ways to be productive

On Friday afternoon, Jarred's boss told him that he needs to improve his presentation skills. Jerred was offended and spent the next few days being consumed by negative thoughts regarding his presentation skills. By Monday, Jarred was back to his normal self. This is an example of: A) Baseline B) Swing C) Sustain/recovery D) Self-sabotage

C - how long it takes an individual to get back to their baseline level

How did Tony Hsieh create a collaborative workplace environment that made Zappos an extremely desirable workplace for prospective employees? A. Hsieh implemented the use of Holacracy, focusing on self-management. B. Working with the employees of the company to create core values. C. Focused on "work-life integration" to make the work environment favorable. D. Focused on "work-life balance" to give employees an opportunity to spend more time at home and not be as stressed about work.

D

When reflecting on the environment Tony Hsieh created, what are some of the appealing aspects of his managing method? A. Strong relationship building B. Embracing inner weirdness C. Psychological safety D. All of the above

D

It is the final week of the semester. After studying together for the whole semester, your friend comes to you and expresses that he's anxious for the final exam for his class because he's not confident with some of the materials. To incorporate active listening, what should you say? a. "It should be easy if you just re-read the slides from the professor." b. "Don't worry about it too much, you did okay on the last test." c. "Well, I'm pretty confident for this exam." d. "Which materials are you having trouble with? Do you want to study together for the test?"

D - The listener is asking questions and reaffirming the troubles that the speaker has voiced about which shows the trait of a good active listener

In Can you Fix a Toxic Culture Without Firing People, Noelle asks Marshall "Is there anyway the company can regain your faith?" to which he responds "Honestly, I'm not sure." Based on Marshall's answer, which stage in the "How do toxic cultures gain traction" cycle is the Aurora location in? a. People feel that extreme action is justified b. Repetition makes it feel normal c. Toxic behavior happens d. Team stops trusting management to act

D - he does not trust management to fix anything and isn't sure if there is anything that can be done to regain his faith

You are the founder of a startup, and you are seeking feedback from your associates. One tells you that you don't listen to their ideas enough. You get angry and disregard the feedback. According to the Fear of Feedback article, you are demonstrating which source of fear? A) Overconfidence Bias B) Contrast Effects C) Thinking Patterns D) Negativity Bias

D - negativity bias is about reacting negatively to someone else requesting you to make a change

Marva just had a performance review with her boss, Lucy. However, it was cut short due to the fire alarm going off. In summary, Lucy was very grateful for all of the hard work Marva has put in, but was very candid about her needing to step up her game and specifically her attention to detail. Marva saw that Lucy tried to reschedule their meeting for tomorrow morning but was furious. She was hoping to have asked for a pay bump, but that seemed like a long shot now. She couldn't think of one time she hadn't been on time or filed an inaccurate report. Marva knew that her friend, Gerald, took a management class and called him for some advice. What might Gerald say to Marva to help her have a productive meeting with Lucy tomorrow? A. Tell Lucy you have worked extremely hard these past few months and you aren't sure why she thinks you are lazy. B. Marva could tell Lucy there is no need to reschedule. She will do better and they can catch up next quarter. The message was loud and clear. C. Marva could walk in to the meeting and say, "I thought you were on my team. Your job is to help me succeed and I'm not so sure that you have my back. I thought when we went out to lunch last week that we were friends. I guess not." D. Tell Lucy that she would be happy to continue their meeting the next day and find out exactly how she can improve.

D - this shows her initiative, that she is open to feedback and has no fear of reprisal

Gretchen Moore works at ALC, the largest hair removal company in the country, and someone recently brought to her attention that coworkers and clients have complained about her body odor. Instead of getting offended and worked up about it, she decided to take it slow and go through the proactive feedback process. After assessing steps to improve her smell, she accepted her coworkers' feedback and identified roots that may be the cause. What step is she missing from the proactive feedback process? A. Self-assessment B. External feedback C. Absorbing the feedback D. Taking action toward the change

D- she hasn't taken any physical action towards change yet

Michael has always been confident and talkative, but also a hardworking employee at his current job. When he had his end-of-the-year performance review, he was taken aback when his boss said that he needs to spend more time working and less time chatting with coworkers and talking over others. He was angry after this and told the first coworker he saw about what their boss said, mimicking her rudely and exaggerating what she said. As he turned around to go to his desk, his boss was standing behind him. What is this an example of? a) Procrastination b) Self-sabotage c) Brooding d) Denial

Made things worse by making fun of the boss in front of her

Jared works as physician's assistant at a medical office. Jared loves Greek food that contains a lot of raw onion. His co-workers often comment about his bad breath, but he hasn't changed his behavior and doesn't seem to mind offending others. Margaret is the manager of the clinic and needs to address Jared's bad breath issue before it really starts to negatively impact the clinic. Margaret wants to understand Jared's perspective on multiple levels. What principle can Margaret use to better understand Jared's point of view? a. Recognize Jared's feelings as well as the content b. Think of a response to all of Jared's possible justifications c. Give Jared a verbal warning d. Tell Jared that his breath is offensive to others

a - this is the principle of active listening

what is wrong with wrong spotting

always going to be something wrong, but the right is what you need to grow

holacracy

an organizational structure in which decision-making authority is distributed through loose collections or circles of self-organizing teams distinct, autonomous teams that are still symbiotic

what did employees have to do when entering headquarters?

answer an "identify a fellow Zapponian" quiz

Schein's 3 levels of culture

artifacts, values, assumptions

self assessment

assess own performance, determine which elements are most important

Jake started working as a manager of a software company almost a year ago. His first annual evaluation is approaching and is nervous about what his boss has to say about his performance. During the evaluation, his boss spoke highly of his work and but also added that he should work on communicating more effectively with others. Jake would like to learn how change and improve his work. What is NOT something he should consider when evaluating his boss's feedback? a. Create support systems b. Confront his co-workers about this issue c. Develop realistic goals d. Constructively reframe the criticism e. All of them are necessary

b - confronting coworkers about the issue isn't learning from criticism

jealousy

become suspicious, envious, or possessive of others; debilitate themselves while overidolizing others

Zappos emphasized

building emotional personal connections and genuine relationships with customers - valued those who called 5-6x more than those who ordered online

main unit in a holacracy is a

circle - fluid yet distinct team people set in and out of roles based on what they would like to accomplish and get done

take action

coming to conclusions and acting on info received

reframe the feedback

construct feedback to your advantage

get support

critical to ask for help from trusted friends who will listen and offer suggestions

____ affects you and perception and decision making

culture

how did they make zappos profitable?

cut marketing expenses and focused on repeat purchases of existing customers

relationship

determine whether they are reacting to feedback based on what/who it was that said it

break up task

divide large task of dealing with feedback into manageable, measurable chunks and set realistic time frames for each

other people's views of us can undermine ourselves if we---

do not set boundaries

special self-management offer

each employee offered 3 mo. severance if they feel that self-management is not the right fit - prove they were not there for the salary

through careful leadership

effectively articulate values, start with mission statement and enact employee values

identity

emotional reaction to feedback

why do we have so many crises?

experience of diversity has changed because we lived in ethnic cages but the lids are off

doug lee's company

extremely low morale, widespread disappointment, no camraderie and people threatening to quit

drop ship relatinships

forwarded customer's online orders to brands, which ship shoes directly to customer

Zappos culture

fun, family spirit, embrace weirdness, freedom, trust, strong relationships, employee focus is on customer satisfaction

reactions are 50% ____, 40% _____, 10% ____

genetic; story you tell about what happens; what actually happens in your life

2 parties when feedback is given

giver and reciever

sensitivity to feedback

how far an individual swings after receiving feedback and low long it takes them to recover to their baseline

swing

how far you get knocked off baseline

recovery

how long it takes you to come back

dress culture of zappos

jeans, sneakers, zappos t shirt or hoodie, hugging

absorbing the feedback

keep negative reactions private until you can replace with adaptive responses

signs of toxic culture

low work morale lack of communication employees afraid of boss high employee turnover cliques and groups in office

what does fear of feedback manifest into?

maladaptive behaviors: procrastination brooding denial jealousy self-sabotage

how do firms normally try to develop/change org. culture?

mistakenly focus on artifacts b/c they are easy to observe and easy to change

burning platform

novel/sudden situation necessities change, organizations established responses fail repeatedly and lead to crisis

ask for _______

one thing you are doing or failing to do that is getting in the way of your success

create a japanese garden of

outsider and insider viewpoints to get a better idea of reality

Dilemma

outsider viewpoint vs. insider viewpoint

use incentives

pat yourself on the back as you make adaptive changes

what is an organization's culture?

pattern of basic assumptions developed by a group to cope with the problems of external adaptation and internal integration

no matter what industry you're in, it's a

people business

focused on building a _____ rather than...

pipeline; did not want to groom individuals regarded as top talent

reasons why ALC is underperforming

poor location no marketing strategy compensation structure low morale gretchen stinks

brooding

powerful emotional response. Morbid preoccupation and sense of foreboding - faced with what they can't master, they lapse into isolation and passivity, withdrawing from colleagues

procrastination

procrastinate when we feel helpless and are embarrased; become preoccupied with inessential details and fail to meet deadlines

truth

receiver determines if feedback is valid and accurate

who is the one in charge?

receiver, they determine if they will listen, the validity, and if they will use it

wrong spotting

scanning feedback so we can figure out what is wrong with it and move on

Focus on service

seeking to surprise, amuse, and engage customers through a "wow" experience of customer loyalty

4 steps of proactive feedback process

self assessment external feedback absorb feedback take action towards change

baseline

set point that each of us lives on as baseline degree of happiness/contentment

external feedback

speak to trusted colleagues to collect info, directly ask boss for feedback and specific examples

What did tony do?

spoke quietly, attracted little attention to himself, small physical presence, first CEO to embrace Twitter

the __________ about the feedback has a huge impact on how you feel about it

story you tell

"please at any cost" attitude

take money they would put into marketing and put it it into experience to generate customer loyalty and word of mouth marketing

traeger grills issue

they wanted people who believed in company values

3 triggers to feedback

truth, relationship, identity

self sabotage

unconsciously undercut themselves

recognize emotions and responses

understand that you are experiencing fear and have a maladaptive response. Be self-honest and name emotion and response so you can act accordingly

denial

unwilling or unable to face reality or fail problems. Do nothing about situation and remain miserable

values

what they say - can be talked about and surfaced easily, what you tell someone to explain why things happen the way they do (norms, company philosophies and mission statement)

assumptions

what we deeply believe and act on - learned responses have worked repeatedly and reliably

artifacts

what we see, visible tangible manifestations of culture (dress, logos, behavior)

what is toxic culture?

workplace plagued by fighting, drama, and unhappy employees to the point that productivity is being affected

philosophy of zappos

you can't have happy customers without happy employees, cant have happy employees if not inspired by culture