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ANSWERS TO CHAPTER 4 QUESTIONS
ANSWER 4.1
The director should take the following actions: (a) schedule
overtime to conduct as much testing as possible before product
shipment; (b) ship the product on time; (c) conduct a risk
development process.
ANSWEER 4.2
The sales manager should proceed as follows:
A. Call a staff meeting, disclose the need of improving sales
effectiveness, review the specific recommendations of the
management consultants, and solicit the opinion from everyone.
C. Invite ideas to promote sales effectiveness beyond the
consultant’s recommendations. Also solicit recommendations
regarding metrics to measure sales effectiveness in order to
monitor progress (e.g., sales dollar per staff, sales growth rate
per region, ratio of sales revenue to sales cost, number of sales
visits per staff, etc.).
ANSWER 4.3
The director should follow the steps enumerated below to make
a choice:
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A. Talk with the three managers separately and inquire about (a)
how their projects are coming along, (b) how their projects will
B. Listen carefully to understand the perceived adverse impact
and assess its significance from the departmental stand point;
what is important to the managers may not be as important to the
director who oversees the entire department. Assess the relative
feasibility of the recommended steps to substitute support.
ANSWER 4.4
Situations like this happen in industry due to narrow-minded,
righteous people with a strong technical background and no sense
of perspective; these people may also have a hidden agenda to
upstage their boss. Managers need to properly deal with these
people.
A. Bill should ask Stanley to reprimand Henry for his righteous
and untactful disputes over technical issues raised before
Marketing, the internal customer.
B. Stanley should call Henry in and restate to Henry the
following points:
(e) Questions on design differences and performance levels
are readily resolved in time, even after the proposal is made to
customer.
C. If Henry exhibits a rebellious/defiant attitude and refuses
to apologize to Bill, then Stanley should make arrangement to
transfer Henry out of Design. Bill and Stanley will no longer
have trust in Henry and his continued presence in the Design
Department will cause group morale to deteriorate. If Henry
expresses regrets and agrees to apologize to Bill, then Henry can
remain in the group.
D. Stanley should call marketing to reaffirm the use of the
ANSWER 4.5
Jerry Lucas should do the following:
A. Hold a private meeting with Sanford to make the following
points:
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Recommend specific ways to strengthen managerial skills
(e.g., taking American Management Association (AMA) short courses
on supervision, how to build teamwork, how to resolve conflicts,
problem-solving and decision-making, etc.).
Ensure understanding and seek acceptance by Sanford of
managerial roles and responsibilities as stated above.
B. Hold a separate meeting with the section chiefs
State the importance of building a good working team where
everyone is expected to contribute. Ask for patience with Sanford
who has been on the job for 2 years. State that he wants Sanford
C. Meet with all Sanford’s people, including Sanford and the
section Chiefs
Praise and identify specific assignments accomplished by
Sanford, each of the section chiefs, and others in the group.
State the importance of these assignments to the division.
Express the division’s appreciation for each job well done.
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D. Review in 6 Months
Transfer Sanford to staff position, if no sufficient
ANSWER 4.6
Yes, the proposal should be accepted because of the following
reasons:
A. It is financially profitable for the company to do so.
Expanding into a new market in the target country at this time
will preemptively position the company for future growth.
B. Business transactions by the company must take into account
the interests of its stakeholders (e.g., investors, customers,
A questionable assertion in the problem statement needs to be
addressed. Foreign investments and global trade are known to
indeed raise the local standard of living which in turn exerts
pressure on local governments to open up trade, upgrade working
condition, institute private ownership systems, induce more
demand for political freedom, and become more democratic. Well
known examples along this line include Taiwan, South Korea and
China. In contrast, by isolating Cuba and Iraq, the U.S.
government has not yet succeeded in driving out the dictatorships
there.
ANSWER 4.7
Cheves (1992) has noted the following characteristics of
effective leaders:
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A. Communicate and listen well by emphasizing clarity in
instructions and intensity in soliciting good ideas and feedback.
B. Remain approachable by being receptive and paying undivided
attention to people.
G. Care about people by exhibiting an interest in others,
showing courtesy, and giving recognition.
H. Be fair, honest and consistent.
I. Give constructive criticism.
ANSWER 4.8
The task force failed to communicate properly to shop floor
workers because of several reasons:
A. Only managers and supervisors were on the task force and they
have no direct hands-on experience in establishing options for
cutting waste. Shop floor workers who must implement the final
C. By not having walked around the shop floor, the plant manager
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failed to notice early on the negative attitude of workers toward
the task force, causing their final recommendations to be “dead
on arrival.”
The plant manager should have done the following:
A. Set up a “quality circle” type of team comprised only of shop
floor workers of different operations who have direct hands-on
knowledge of production and materials handling.
D. Receive reports regularly and offer encouragement. Walk
around the shop floor to stay in contact with workers.
E. Implement the team recommendations and offer rewards and
recognition to team members in the presence of their peers.
ANSWER 4.9
A. The section manager has no idea why the project was running
late. He did not bother to find out by raising questions.
B. The speech started out with a questionable assumption:
project delay was due to a lack of staff motivation. In reality,
project delays could be due to factors beyond the control of the
project team. The format of the speech was also wrong.
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ANSWER 4.10
It was wrong for the regional sales manager to renege his
responsibility to protect the company’s assets by selling to a
customer who was suspected of having financial troubles. Some
companies in pending bankruptcy routinely purchase a lot of goods
to beef up their inventory, thus unethically taking advantage of
unsuspecting suppliers.
The regional sales manager should have done the following:
ANSWER 4.11
Team leaders who are weak in technical skills but strong in
group process skills do not command the respect and admiration of
technically talented team members. Team leaders with a background
in accounting, liberal arts, law, human resources or marketing
ANSWER 4.12
Conflicts between technical professionals and managers exist
primarily due to: (1) the perspectives they each have – for
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ANSWER 4.13
It is a major decision for Company X to consider switching
material type. Key decisions factors involved may include the
following:
A. Customer preference – affected by considerations related to
weight, cost, competitive pressure and delivery schedule.
ANSWER 4.14
Selecting employees is a major management responsibility
which must be carried out carefully. Each of the three candidates
has strengths and weaknesses. A practical way to select
employees is to decide on a rational basis – the Rational
Decision Method:
A. Define the relevant decision criteria which are mutually
exclusive and collectively exhaustive. To be mutually exclusive
the criteria must be independent from each other in order to
avoid doubling counting. To be collectively exhaustive no
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TABLE 4.7 Rational Process for Decision Making
CRITERIA WEIGHT A B C
Being Sociable and Pleasant Personality 10 5 10 10
ANSWER 4.15
Job selection is a highly personal affair. People have
different preferences with respect to current compensation,
future job growth potential, big city versus small city living,
opportunities to find attractive mates, working relationships
with future bosses, status of the regional economy, and other
such factors. Even so, there is a rational way for all to follow
in making a decision. This is the Rational Decision Method.
Answers are to be gauged by the following measures:
1) How well are the decision criteria formulated (mutually
exclusive and collectively exhaustive)?
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Table 4.8 Decision Analysis
Criteria Weight A B C
Salary/Benefits 10 10 8 6
Work Challenges and Internal competition 8 5 7 10
Opportunities to Meet Future Mate 9 10 7 5
In this specific case, Joe Engineer is in favor of accepting the
job in New York City.
ANSWER 4.16
The Director should do the following: (a) schedule overtime
to conduct as much testing as possible before product shipment;
(b) ship the product on time; (c) conduct a risk analysis to