APLIA CONTENT GUIDE
Chapter 1 – Innovative Management for a Changing World
Problem set description: This problem set is based on the material in Chapter 1 of Daft/Marcic, Understanding Management (8e). It covers the
activities, roles, and skills associated with management, and the history of management theory. Students also learn about the process of
becoming a manager, how they will change in the first year after becoming managers, and different types and levels of managers. Students are
introduced to classical, humanistic, and total quality management theories. The problem set ends with a case where students are asked to apply
theories to a modern management problem.
Title
Problem #
Problem Description
AACSB Standard
Bloom’s (Highest
Level)
Managerial
activities and roles
1
Students read accounts of a day in the life of a manager
and analyze them using Mintzberg’s finding on the nature
of managerial work.
Reflective
thinking, Analytic
Applying
2
Students learn the definitions of key terms and concepts
Reflective
Applying
3
Students read scenarios and then identify the skills used
by the manager in each scenario and the level at which
Analytic skills
Analyzing
Becoming a new
manager
4
Students have to analyze personal changes that a manager
will make with experience.
Analytic skills
Analyzing
APLIA CONTENT GUIDE
is viewed. Students also identify changes in the external
management philosophy.
skills
5
Students learn the definitions of key terms and concepts
related to the philosophical changes in how management
Reflective
thinking, Analytic
Applying
Classical
management
theory
6
Students read a scenario and identify the historical
management philosophy described in statements
presented for their review.
Reflective
thinking, Analytic
skills
Evaluating
perspective
skills
Integrating
management
theories
9
Students read a scenario and identify which of the
historical management perspectives is most related to the
scenario presented.
Reflective
thinking, Analytic
skills
Evaluating
APLIA CONTENT GUIDE
Chapter 2 – The Environment and Corporate Culture
Problem set description: This question set covers the external environment (general and task), how organizations adapt to the environment, the
internal environment, organizational culture, and how to manage culture. The problem set is based on Daft/Marcic, 8e.
Title
Problem #
Problem Description
AACSB Standard
Bloom’s (Highest
Level)
Engagement
exercise – Where
do you want to
work?
1
Students are provided four scenarios about organizations
and they choose the organization in which they would like
to work.
Reflective
Analyzing
environment a statement represents. Students also read a
scenario and then identify the level of environment
involved.
thinking, Analytic
skills
Managing the
organization –
environment
relationship
4
Students fill in a chart to show the elements that are
required to turn an adversarial orientation into a
partnership orientation. Students must also identify the
type of relationship in which multiple organizations exist.
Analytic skills
Analyzing
APLIA CONTENT GUIDE
Corporate culture
5
Students apply terms to particular types of organizational
cultures in a diagram and application exercises.
Analytic skills
Analyzing
a given set of conditions.
ways in which Japanese and American managers locate
new facilities in communities.
APLIA CONTENT GUIDE
Chapter 3 – Managing in a Global Environment
Problem set description: This problem set is based on the material in Chapter 3 of Daft/Marcic, Understanding Management (8e). This problem
set covers the global business environment. Students learn to recognize different types of global organizations, different strategies for going
global, the economic and political factors that affect global businesses, and Hofstede’s global cultural dimensions.
Title
Problem #
Problem Description
AACSB Standard
Bloom’s (Highest
Level)
How global are
you?
1
Students are provided four levels of globalization. They
select the level with which they most identify and thus
gain insight into how global they are.
Reflective
thinking,
Analytical skills
Applying
Types of global
organizations
globalization, and they identify the term and sequential
stage of globalization presented in the statements.
thinking, Analytic
skills
APLIA CONTENT GUIDE
APLIA CONTENT GUIDE
Chapter 4 – Managing Ethics and Social Responsibility
Problem set description: This problem set is based on the material in Chapter 4 of Daft/Marcic, Understanding Management (8e). This problem
introduces students to organizational ethics and social responsibility. Topics covered include different philosophies of ethics, moral
development, how to manage employee ethics, social responsibility, and sustainability.
Title
Problem #
Problem Description
AACSB Standard
Bloom’s (Highest
Level)
The ethical
manager
1
Students are provided a video about a new manufacturer
of furniture in NC. Students are then asked questions
about why they did or did not watch the video and the
ethics of their respective behavior.
Reflective
thinking, Analytic
skills, Ethical
understanding
Analyzing
Finally, students must determine the underlying ethical
approach most appropriate to explain the statement.
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Stages of moral
development
4
Students are given Kohlberg’s chart on personal moral
development, and they are required to choose the correct
terms for blanks in the chart. Students are then given a
scenario, and they must determine the level of personal
moral development exhibited.
Reflective
thinking, Analytic
skills, Ethical
understanding
Analyzing
Social
5
Students are provided Carroll’s corporate social
Reflective
Analyzing
APLIA CONTENT GUIDE
APLIA CONTENT GUIDE
Chapter 5 – Managerial Planning and Goal Setting
Problem set description: This problem set is based on the material in Chapter 5 of Daft/Marcic, Understanding Management (8e). It provides an
introduction to the planning and goal-setting process. Students will learn about goal orientations, the difference between goals and plans, the
levels of organizational goals and plans (mission, strategic, tactical, and operational), how to write SMART goals, the benefits and limitations of
planning, and how to implement plans in organizations using Management By Objectives and performance dashboards. This set also covers
strategic planning, including the strategic planning process, SWOT analyses, Michael Porter’s competitive forces and competitive strategies, and
globalization strategies. Students learn to differentiate between different levels of strategic planning and strategy formulation as compared with
strategy execution.
Title
Problem #
Problem Description
AACSB Standard
Bloom’s (Highest
Level)
Goal orientation
1
Students are provided three statements about personal
goals for college and are to choose the statement with
which they most identify.
Reflective
thinking, Analytic
skills
Applying
organizational
levels and must choose the correct answers for blanks in
the diagram.
thinking, Analytic
skills
4
Students are given a scenario and a series of statements
Reflective
Analyzing
APLIA CONTENT GUIDE
Writing SMART
goals
5
Students are provided definitions and statements about
each element of SMART goals. From a group of
statements, students must choose the statement that is
SMART. Students must also determine what is not
appropriate about a series of goal statements.
Reflective
thinking, Analytic
skills
Analyzing
identify the appropriate step-order position.
thinking, Analytic
skills
Students are given a set of definitions and must choose
the corresponding terms.
Reflective
thinking, Analytic
skills
Applying
APLIA CONTENT GUIDE
SWOT analysis
11
Students must answer questions about SWOT analysis as
applicable to a specific scenario.
Reflective
thinking, Analytic
skills
Analyzing
Competitive Strategy is true or false.
thinking, Analytic
skills
APLIA CONTENT GUIDE
Chapter 6 – Managerial Decision Making
Problem set description: This problem set is based on the material in Chapter 6 of Daft/Marcic, Understanding Management (8e). It covers
multiple concepts in decision making: the difference between programmed and nonprogrammed decisions; the differences between decisions
made under conditions of certainty, risk, uncertainty, and ambiguity; the problems that arise with decision making, including satisficing,
bounded rationality, escalation of commitment, and groupthink; the administrative, classical, and political models of decision making; and the
steps involved in the rational decision-making process.
Title
Problem #
Problem Description
AACSB Standard
Bloom’s (Highest
Level)
Decision-making
styles
1
Students are given four statements about decision-making
styles and are to choose the style that best describes their
personal style.
Reflective
thinking, Analytic
skills
Applying
versus non-
programmed
the statement is a programmed or non-programmed
decision.
thinking, Analytic
skills
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Models of decision
making
5
Students are provided a table consisting of decision-
making models, and they must determine the missing
term. Students must also complete fill-in-the-blank
statements.
Reflective
thinking, Analytic
skills
Analyzing
The decision-
statement that best describes the question asked.
Evidence-based
decision making
7
Students must choose statements consistent with
evidence-based decision making. Students are given
research results, and they must choose statements based
on the research results.
Reflective
thinking, Analytic
skills
Evaluating
Students are provided a video, and they must complete
Reflective
Evaluating
APLIA CONTENT GUIDE
Chapter 7 – Designing Adaptive Organizations
Problem set description: This problem set is based on chapter 7 of Daft/Marcic 8e. It introduces students to fundamental organizing principles,
such as work specialization and coordination, and examines how these principles are used to create five organizational structures: functional,
divisional, matrix, team-based, and virtual networks. In addition, students learn the differences between mechanistic and organic organizational
structures and when each type of structure is most effective. Students also relate mechanistic and organic organizational structures to Porter’s
differentiation/low-cost leadership business strategies.
Title
Problem #
Problem Description
AACSB Standard
Bloom’s (Highest
Level)
Students are given a scenario and then a list of statements
Reflective
Analyzing
How do you
1
Students read five statements about delegating and
determine how many of the statements apply to how they
Reflective
thinking, Analytic
Applying
APLIA CONTENT GUIDE
The broken
organizational
chart
4
Students are provided an organizational chart with
highlighted elements. Students must determine which
principle of organizational structures is violated in the
chart.
Reflective
thinking, Analytic
skills
Analyzing
technology and processes, and they must determine the
thinking, Analytic
APLIA CONTENT GUIDE
Chapter 8 – Managing Change and Innovation
Problem set description: This problem set covers chapter 8 of Daft/Marcic 8e. It introduces students to the terms and theories related to
innovation and organizational change. Students learn about the four types of change agents in organizations (inventors, champions, sponsors,
and critics); Lewin’s change process and force-field analysis; why people resist change; tactics for overcoming resistance; and techniques used in
organizational development.
Title
Problem #
Problem Description
AACSB Standard
Bloom’s (Highest
Level)
3
given a scenario about weight-loss plans and factors that
Reflective
thinking, Analytic
Applying
Types of change
1
Students are provided a scenario and three responses to
the scenario. Students then choose the response that is
Reflective
thinking, Analytic
Applying