Exam 1: Introduction to Management and Organizations

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions. The Perfect Manager (Scenario) Amy Kwon has proven herself to be an able manager. Her department has a high project completion rate with the highest-quality product and the lowest defects in her division. In addition, she accomplishes this with fewer full-time people than other managers. She performs all the required functions of a manager, but some say that the "secret" of her success is her ability to direct and motivate others. -Amy's ability to get the same amount of product completed with fewer people is a reflection of her __________.

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions. Joe the Manager (Scenario) As a production supervisor, Joe decides on Friday afternoon how many units of output his employees should produce next week, as well as which products will be produced on which days in the department. He also decides which employees are going to be responsible for operating which machines, since all his subordinates are multi-skilled assemblers. On Monday, he hands out work assignment sheets to inform the employees about which machines each will operate for the week. Joe also announces that the schedule will be challenging because of an increase in the targeted number of output units. He encourages his subordinates by telling them that he is confident they will achieve the production targets because they are such hard-working and skilled employees. Then, during the week, he monitors the daily production output and records the number of units that successfully achieved the company's quality standards, as well as the number of units that were unsatisfactory and had to be scrapped. -When Joe tells the employees he is confident they can achieve the production targets because they are such hard-working and skilled employees, he is performing which management function?

explain how the definition of a manager has changed over time. Include a discussion on why managers are important to an organization.

Directing and motivating are part of the organizing function.

Which of the following is an informational role according to Mintzberg?

Social media platforms for electronic communication have become popular among employees to share ideas in their personal lives, but have not yet become tools used extensively in the workplace.

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions. The Busy Day (Scenario) Don Martin, plant manager at Control Systems, Inc., sighed as he sipped his cup of coffee and reviewed his hectic schedule for the day. He has to escort two company tours in the morning: the first to a newspaper reporter who is writing a story on the new plant expansion, and the second to a group of Control Systems managers from the East Coast. Then he has a meeting with the unit manager, Phil Johnson, to discuss Phil's recent drop in performance (a task he does not enjoy). Next, he is spending a couple of hours reviewing the trade journals he receives from his high-tech association and writing up a brief synopsis for his presentation next week to the division vice-president. Finally, in the late afternoon, he will be reviewing a recent equipment malfunction and deciding whether to bring in extra technicians to get the equipment operating again as soon as possible. Whew! It was just another busy day in the life of a manager. -When Don reviews the new equipment malfunction, what management role will he perform when deciding whether to bring in extra people?

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions. Management Skills (Scenario) Gavin Clayton is vice-president of product development at Canadian Aircraft Manufacturing (CAM). The company specializes in smaller civilian aircraft for commuter airlines and corporate executives. Gavin is trying to decide if the company should proceed in its plans to produce a new larger scale aircraft. He knows that the new aircraft supports the corporate strategy and will enhance their competitive position in the industry. As a former engineer with years of experience in aircraft design and production, he also knows that his company has the skills and capability to produce the new aircraft. In fact, he believes that the new larger aircraft will result in scale economies for CAM-allowing it to produce more profitable aircraft with roughly the same labour resources. Unfortunately, this could be a sore point with the labour union that represents the aircraft assembly workers. While Gavin has always maintained a good relationship with these workers, he knows they are suspicious of management's motives. If the workers perceive the new larger aircraft as a management ploy to increase worker productivity, they will resist the change. Management will definitely have to get the support of the union before they implement the new production plans. Gavin gazes out his window and ponders how best to proceed with the situation. -The fact that Gavin has always maintained a good relationship with the assembly workers is evidence of which managerial skill?

Human skills become less important as managers move into top management.

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions. A Day in the Life of a CEO (Scenario) Carly spent the day "shadowing" her uncle Dave, who is the CEO of a large consumer electronics company. Carly is a business management major at a local college, and one of her class assignments was to interview a business manager. When she approached her uncle about the assignment, he invited her to follow him around for a day to observe the typical business activities of a top manager. She noted that he spent the day dealing with a variety of issues. First he met with a division manager who was having difficulty achieving production targets due to his inability to motivate the employees. Then they visited the assembly line to inspect a new machine designed to increase production output. Uncle Dave had once been a production engineer, and the department supervisor and assembly workers were impressed by his knowledge of the new machine's operating specifications. At lunch they met with a group of local CEOs from other companies where everything from the new hiring laws to the latest economic reports was discussed. After lunch, Carly attended a meeting where the five-year strategic plan for the entire company was being evaluated. For her uncle it was a typical day in the life of a CEO, but for Carly it had been a day full of information that she could use for her class assignment. -At the lunch meeting with other CEOs, Uncle Dave was performing the management role of __________.

New organizations tend to be more __________ than traditional organizations.

Rachel is a marketing manager of a product division at New Tech Corporation. She is presenting a new product idea to the director of research and development, which could lead to a profitable new opportunity for the company. Rachel is performing the role of __________.

Which of the following skills are more important at lower levels of management since these managers are dealing directly with the employees doing the organization's output?

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions. Management Skills (Scenario) Gavin Clayton is vice-president of product development at Canadian Aircraft Manufacturing (CAM). The company specializes in smaller civilian aircraft for commuter airlines and corporate executives. Gavin is trying to decide if the company should proceed in its plans to produce a new larger scale aircraft. He knows that the new aircraft supports the corporate strategy and will enhance their competitive position in the industry. As a former engineer with years of experience in aircraft design and production, he also knows that his company has the skills and capability to produce the new aircraft. In fact, he believes that the new larger aircraft will result in scale economies for CAM-allowing it to produce more profitable aircraft with roughly the same labour resources. Unfortunately, this could be a sore point with the labour union that represents the aircraft assembly workers. While Gavin has always maintained a good relationship with these workers, he knows they are suspicious of management's motives. If the workers perceive the new larger aircraft as a management ploy to increase worker productivity, they will resist the change. Management will definitely have to get the support of the union before they implement the new production plans. Gavin gazes out his window and ponders how best to proceed with the situation. -When Gavin knew that the new aircraft would support the corporate strategy, he was utilizing which managerial skill?

If you achieve a higher level of output for a given input, you have __________.

Which of the following is true regarding a manager's job with respect to customers?

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions. Management Skills (Scenario) Gavin Clayton is vice-president of product development at Canadian Aircraft Manufacturing (CAM). The company specializes in smaller civilian aircraft for commuter airlines and corporate executives. Gavin is trying to decide if the company should proceed in its plans to produce a new larger scale aircraft. He knows that the new aircraft supports the corporate strategy and will enhance their competitive position in the industry. As a former engineer with years of experience in aircraft design and production, he also knows that his company has the skills and capability to produce the new aircraft. In fact, he believes that the new larger aircraft will result in scale economies for CAM-allowing it to produce more profitable aircraft with roughly the same labour resources. Unfortunately, this could be a sore point with the labour union that represents the aircraft assembly workers. While Gavin has always maintained a good relationship with these workers, he knows they are suspicious of management's motives. If the workers perceive the new larger aircraft as a management ploy to increase worker productivity, they will resist the change. Management will definitely have to get the support of the union before they implement the new production plans. Gavin gazes out his window and ponders how best to proceed with the situation. -Gavin's reliance on his previous engineering and design experience to assess their production capabilities best demonstrates which managerial skill?

Supervisor is a common title for whom?

Refer to the scenario below to answer the following questions. The Busy Day (Scenario) Don Martin, plant manager at Control Systems, Inc., sighed as he sipped his cup of coffee and reviewed his hectic schedule for the day. He has to escort two company tours in the morning: the first to a newspaper reporter who is writing a story on the new plant expansion, and the second to a group of Control Systems managers from the East Coast. Then he has a meeting with the unit manager, Phil Johnson, to discuss Phil's recent drop in performance (a task he does not enjoy). Next, he is spending a couple of hours reviewing the trade journals he receives from his high-tech association and writing up a brief synopsis for his presentation next week to the division vice-president. Finally, in the late afternoon, he will be reviewing a recent equipment malfunction and deciding whether to bring in extra technicians to get the equipment operating again as soon as possible. Whew! It was just another busy day in the life of a manager. -When Don meets with Phil to discuss his performance concerns, he will be performing which management role?

The associate dean of business management is responsible for preparing the schedule of classes at a large Canadian university. As she schedules each instructor's classes at specific times, she is performing Mintzberg's role of resource allocator.