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Fundamentals of Management 7th Edition by Ricky Griffin
Edition 7ISBN: 978-1133627494Fundamentals of Management 7th Edition by Ricky Griffin
Edition 7ISBN: 978-1133627494 Exercise 18
Exercise Overview
Communication skills consist of a manager's ability to effectively receive information and ideas from others and to effectively convey information and ideas to others. This exercise will help you develop your communication skills, while also helping you to understand the importance of knowing the customer segments in an organization's task environment.
Exercise Background
Assume that you are a newly hired middle manager in the marketing department of a large food manufacturer. You have just completed your formal study of management and are excited about the opportunity to apply some of those theories to the real-life problems of your firm. One problem in particular intrigues you. Your boss, the marketing vice president, recently developed a consumer survey to solicit feedback about products from customers. The feedback the firm has received varies considerably, ranging from 2 to 5 on a scale from 1 to 5, which gives your firm no helpful data. In addition, sales of your company's products have been slowly but steadily declining over time, and the marketing department is under some pressure from upper management to determine why.
You have an idea that the survey is not an accurate reflection of consumer preferences, so you make a suggestion to your boss: "Why don't we gather some information about our customers, in order to understand their needs better? For example, our products are purchased by individual consumers, schools, restaurants, and other organizations. Maybe each type of consumer wants something different from our product." Your boss's response is to stare at you, perplexed, and say, "No. We're not changing anything about the survey." When you ask, "Why?" the boss responds that the product has been a bestseller for years, that "good quality is good quality," and thus that all customers must want the same thing. He then says, "I'll spare you the embarrassment of failure by refusing your request."
Exercise Task
On the basis of what you wrote in response to Exercise Task 1, do you think your boss will change his mind? If yes, exactly what will persuade him to change his mind? If no, what other actions could you take in a further effort to have your ideas adopted by the firm?
Communication skills consist of a manager's ability to effectively receive information and ideas from others and to effectively convey information and ideas to others. This exercise will help you develop your communication skills, while also helping you to understand the importance of knowing the customer segments in an organization's task environment.
Exercise Background
Assume that you are a newly hired middle manager in the marketing department of a large food manufacturer. You have just completed your formal study of management and are excited about the opportunity to apply some of those theories to the real-life problems of your firm. One problem in particular intrigues you. Your boss, the marketing vice president, recently developed a consumer survey to solicit feedback about products from customers. The feedback the firm has received varies considerably, ranging from 2 to 5 on a scale from 1 to 5, which gives your firm no helpful data. In addition, sales of your company's products have been slowly but steadily declining over time, and the marketing department is under some pressure from upper management to determine why.
You have an idea that the survey is not an accurate reflection of consumer preferences, so you make a suggestion to your boss: "Why don't we gather some information about our customers, in order to understand their needs better? For example, our products are purchased by individual consumers, schools, restaurants, and other organizations. Maybe each type of consumer wants something different from our product." Your boss's response is to stare at you, perplexed, and say, "No. We're not changing anything about the survey." When you ask, "Why?" the boss responds that the product has been a bestseller for years, that "good quality is good quality," and thus that all customers must want the same thing. He then says, "I'll spare you the embarrassment of failure by refusing your request."
Exercise Task
On the basis of what you wrote in response to Exercise Task 1, do you think your boss will change his mind? If yes, exactly what will persuade him to change his mind? If no, what other actions could you take in a further effort to have your ideas adopted by the firm?
Explanation
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The boss should be lured by the tag line...
Fundamentals of Management 7th Edition by Ricky Griffin
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