Exam 1: Management

Henry Mintzberg would describe sisters Kendall and Justine Barber,the co-founders of Poppy Barley Shoes,as taking leader roles within the organization. In this role,how do the sisters spend much of their time?

Narrative 1-3 From the start,Amazon.com has been in a hurry to be a success. According to company founder and chief executive officer (CEO)Jeff Bezos,"Our initial strategy was very focused and very unidimensional. It was GBF: Get big fast." With billions to spend from its initial stock offering (Amazon's stock quickly rose to over $100 per share),Amazon spent $400 million to build eight high-tech warehouses across the country. Each was capable of shipping 60 million items per year,and Amazon needed to control the entire buying transaction,beginning with online ordering,proceeding to quick warehouse handling and boxing,and ending with timely shipping and delivery. Unfortunately,Amazon grew so fast that it soon lost control of the basics. Amazon burned money so quickly that it had to issue bonds to raise another $2.2 billion to keep the company running. Still,it had only enough business and cash to run six of those new warehouses. Consequently,the company took a $400 million loss to close two of the warehouses and lay off 1,500 people. Furthermore,the six remaining warehouses were poorly run. Defective products,which should have been returned to manufacturers,sat on the shelves wasting space. Mystery orders kept showing up. Instead of declining the deliveries,workers put whole truckloads of unordered items on the shelves. Amazon had so much unsold inventory in its warehouses that CEO Bezos sent out an email with a point-blank message: "Get the crap out." Amazon's problem was not its sales,which were growing exponentially,but rather in poor management. As a result,its stock,once valued at over $100 per share,dropped to a low of $6. Amazon has lost more than $3 billion since its inception. As for profits,founder Bezos cautioned patience. In the year that Amazon reported its first quarterly profit that profit amounted to only $5 million on $1.12 billion in sales in its fourth quarter,and Amazon still lost $45 million for the year. Furthermore,it still has long-term debt of $2.2 billion to pay off at the rate of $120 million per year. Results like these would have cost any other CEO their job. If Amazon is ultimately to survive and be profitable,what does it need to do to become a more efficiently run company -Refer to Narrative 1-3. CEO Jeff Bezos must wrestle with basic management issues,such as how to get more done at Amazon with a minimum of effort,expense,or waste. In other words,which of the following will be the goal of the CEO's management strategy?

At which level of management would a manager typically plan an employee picnic,select and order performance awards to be presented at the picnic,and encourage workers to attend the event?

Narrative 1-4 In 2014,Coca-Cola and PepsiCo launched two mid-calorie sodas,Coca-Cola Life and Pepsi Next (in Canada),banking on the health-conscious trend. Health-conscious consumers rejected the drinks en masse since one serving of the new drinks contains about a day's worth of sugar for women. -Refer to Narrative 1-4. Which level of management at each company was responsible for determining that the soda should be added to the product line?

Which of the following titles represents the level of a marketing manager?

Designers such as Marimekko and Marant have partnered with Swedish retailer Hennes & Mauritz (better known as H&M)to sell an affordable line of exclusively designed high-fashion clothing. Hennes & Mauritz will take responsibility for manufacturing and marketing the clothes. What management function guided the alliance between the designer and the retailer?

The classical functions of management are (1)making things happen,(2)meeting the competition,(3)organizing people,projects,and processes,and (4)leading.

Bombardier announced a turnaround plan in 2015,and has provided regular updates to the media and financial world since. According to Henry Mintzberg,which managerial role would have been adopted in order to make these announcements?

The response to the 2016 Fort McMurray,Alberta wildfires was reportedly hampered by incompatible radio systems between different agencies. Which concept would a manager use to resolve this situation?

Martha has been with her company for 15 years. She started at the lowest level in manufacturing and worked her way up through all the management levels. She is now the vice president of operations. Which skill was Martha most likely equally adept at through each level of her progress?

Who typically coordinates and links groups,departments,and divisions within a company?

Who is responsible for placing orders for food and paper supplies and for setting up weekly work schedules at a fast-food restaurant?

The decisional roles consist of four subroles: entrepreneur,disturbance handler,resource allocator,and spokesperson.

A university president is often seen as a figurehead. Which of the following duties are they most likely to perform in that role?

Which of the following functions is typically performed by middle managers?

Upper-level managers may spend more time dealing with people than lower-level managers.

Compare and contrast the relative importance of the three characteristics that companies look for in managers as they rise through the management hierarchy. In other words,describe the similarities and differences in these characteristics among lower-,middle-,and upper-level managers,and explain the reasons for the differences.

A Canadian magazine published a recipe for dinner rolls and the description had a religious connotation. The ensuing controversy forced the magazine to pull its issue off newsstands and issue an apology. Which management function did the magazine employ by issuing an apology to readers?

Narrative 1-3 From the start,Amazon.com has been in a hurry to be a success. According to company founder and chief executive officer (CEO)Jeff Bezos,"Our initial strategy was very focused and very unidimensional. It was GBF: Get big fast." With billions to spend from its initial stock offering (Amazon's stock quickly rose to over $100 per share),Amazon spent $400 million to build eight high-tech warehouses across the country. Each was capable of shipping 60 million items per year,and Amazon needed to control the entire buying transaction,beginning with online ordering,proceeding to quick warehouse handling and boxing,and ending with timely shipping and delivery. Unfortunately,Amazon grew so fast that it soon lost control of the basics. Amazon burned money so quickly that it had to issue bonds to raise another $2.2 billion to keep the company running. Still,it had only enough business and cash to run six of those new warehouses. Consequently,the company took a $400 million loss to close two of the warehouses and lay off 1,500 people. Furthermore,the six remaining warehouses were poorly run. Defective products,which should have been returned to manufacturers,sat on the shelves wasting space. Mystery orders kept showing up. Instead of declining the deliveries,workers put whole truckloads of unordered items on the shelves. Amazon had so much unsold inventory in its warehouses that CEO Bezos sent out an email with a point-blank message: "Get the crap out." Amazon's problem was not its sales,which were growing exponentially,but rather in poor management. As a result,its stock,once valued at over $100 per share,dropped to a low of $6. Amazon has lost more than $3 billion since its inception. As for profits,founder Bezos cautioned patience. In the year that Amazon reported its first quarterly profit that profit amounted to only $5 million on $1.12 billion in sales in its fourth quarter,and Amazon still lost $45 million for the year. Furthermore,it still has long-term debt of $2.2 billion to pay off at the rate of $120 million per year. Results like these would have cost any other CEO their job. If Amazon is ultimately to survive and be profitable,what does it need to do to become a more efficiently run company -Refer to Narrative 1-3. Amazon has had nearly a billion dollars in losses because of poor decisions,such as overbuilding warehouses and investing in failed dotcom companies. Which of the following skills is most important for Amazon's top managers to have to become more effective?

Identify the four different kinds of managers. List one of the basic responsibilities for each of these four different manager types.