Instructor Note: Asking students to individually think through a warm-up reflection may be a more feasible approach for large online courses.
Review objectives.
Review objectives.
SOURCE: Based on “What Do Managers Do?”, The Wall Street Journal Online, http://guides.wsj.com/management/ developing-a-leadership-style/what-do-managers-do/ (accessed August 11, 2010), article adapted from Alan Murray, The Wall Street Journal Essential Guide to Management (New York: Harper Business, 2010).
Set Objectives: Establish goals for the group and decide what must be done to achieve them
Organize: Divide work into manageable activities and select people to accomplish tasks
Motivate and Communicate: Create teamwork via decisions on pay, promotions, etc., and through communication
Measure: Set targets and standards; appraise performance
Develop People: Recognize the value of employees and develop this critical organizational asset
An argument can be made for each of the answers, although (c) seems most practical.
Organizational effectiveness means providing a product or service that customers value. Organizational efficiency is based on amount and cost of resources necessary for producing a given volume of output. Efficiency and effectiveness can both be high in the same organization.
The ultimate responsibility of managers is to achieve high performance, which is the attainment of organizational goals by using resources in an efficient and effective manner.
SOURCES: Melissa Harrell and Lauren Barbato, “Great Managers Still Matter: The Evolution of Google’s Project Oxygen,” Google Blog (February 27, 2018), https://rework.withgoogle.com/blog/the-evolution-of-project-oxygen/ (accessed January 8, 2019); and Adam Bryant, “Google’s Quest to Build a Better Boss,” The New York Times, March 12, 2011. Courtesy of Google, Inc.
SOURCE: Adapted from Clinton O. Longenecker, Mitchell J. Neubert, and Laurence S. Fink, “Causes and Consequences of Managerial Failure in Rapidly Changing Organizations,” Business Horizons 50 (2007): 145–155, Table 1.
Although some people seem to be naturally more adept at people skills, just as some are naturally more adept at technical skills or conceptual skills, people skills can be learned, and there is no reason to rethink one’s career path unless there is an unwillingness to improve in this area.
People skills can be learned by taking behavioral classes, by modeling one’s interactions after a supervisor or colleague who has excellent people skills, by participating in role playing exercises, and other activities that improve one’s interactional skills.
SOURCE: Based on Exhibit 1.1, “Transformation of Identity,” in Linda A. Hill, Becoming a Manager: Mastery of a New Identity, 2d ed. (Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 2003), p. 6.
SOURCE: Adapted from Henry Mintzberg, The Nature of Managerial Work (New York: Harper & Row, 1973), pp. 92–93; and Henry Mintzberg, “Managerial Work: Analysis from Observation,” Management Science 18 (1971), B97–B110. Informational Roles
Monitor: Seek and receive information; scan Web, periodicals, reports; maintain personal contacts
Disseminator: Forward information to other organization members; send memos and reports, make phone calls
Spokesperson: Transmit information to outsiders through speeches, reports
Interpersonal Roles
Figurehead: Perform ceremonial and symbolic duties such as greeting visitors, signing legal documents
Leader: Direct and motivate subordinates; train, counsel, and communicate with subordinates
Liaison: Maintain information links inside and outside the organization; use e-mail, phone, meetings
Decisional Roles
Entrepreneur: Initiate improvement projects; identify new ideas, delegate idea responsibility to others
Disturbance Handler: Take corrective action during conflicts or crises; resolve disputes among subordinates
Resource Allocator: Decide who gets resources; schedule, budget, set priorities
Negotiator: Represent team or department’s interests; represent department during negotiation of budgets, union contracts, purchases
(d) Is correct because all other answers contain one or more of the informational and interpersonal roles
Decisional Roles
Entrepreneur: Initiate improvement projects; identify new ideas, delegate idea responsibility to others
Disturbance Handler: Take corrective action during conflicts or crises; resolve disputes among subordinates
Resource Allocator: Decide who gets resources; schedule, budget, set priorities
Negotiator: Represent team or department’s interests; represent department during negotiation of budgets, union contracts, purchases
Interpersonal Roles
Figurehead: Perform ceremonial and symbolic duties such as greeting visitors, signing legal documents
Leader: Direct and motivate subordinates; train, counsel, and communicate with subordinates
Liaison: Maintain information links inside and outside the organization; use e-mail, phone, meetings
Informational Roles
Monitor: Seek and receive information; scan Web, periodicals, reports; maintain personal contacts
Disseminator: Forward information to other organization members; send memos and reports, make phone calls
Spokesperson: Transmit information to outsiders through speeches, reports
SOURCE: Based on information from A. I. Kraut, P. R. Pedigo, D. D. McKenna, and M. D. Dunnette, “The Role of the Manager: What’s Really Important in Different Management Jobs,” Academy of Management Executive 3 (1989), 286–293.
Generating profit
Incorrect. Managers in businesses direct their activities toward earning money for the company and its owners, whereas managers in nonprofits direct their efforts toward generating some kind of social impact.
Generating social impact
Correct. Managers in businesses direct their activities toward earning money for the company and its owners, whereas managers in nonprofits direct their efforts toward generating some kind of social impact.
Measuring costs
Incorrect. Nonprofit managers, committed to serving clients with limited resources, must focus on keeping organizational costs as low as possible.
Measuring intangibles
Incorrect. The metrics of success in nonprofits are typically much more ambiguous, and include intangibles such as “improve public health,” “upgrade the quality of education,” or “increase appreciation for the arts.”
