Management Chapter 1 Do you think Target made any major mistakes

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1.5 To be a terrific manager, what skills should I cultivate?

The three skills that exceptional managers cultivate are technical, conceptual, and

human. Technical skills consist of job-specific knowledge needed to perform well in

1.6 To be an exceptional manager, what roles must I play successfully?

The Mintzberg study shows that, first, a manager relies more on verbal than on

written communication; second, managers work long hours at an intense pace;

1.7 Do I have what it takes to be an entrepreneur?

The following characteristics have a positive correlation with entrepreneurship: 1)

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1. From a management perspective, do you think Target made any major

mistakes? Explain.

The first mistake can be attributed to Mr. Steinhafel releasing a number of

affected customers that was much higher than what may have actually been the

2. Which of the four principal managerial functions were exhibited by CEO Greg

Steinhafel?

Steinhafel was exhibiting the leadership function. Leading is defined as

3. Which of the seven managerial challenges discussed in this chapter is Target

facing? How are they handling these challenges?

A major challenge Target is facing is related to information technology. The

MANAGEMENT IN ACTION:

Target CEO Works to Regain Consumer Trust after the Company Was Hacked

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Another challenge is related to competitive advantage. Target must be

responsive to customers, which means it has to invest in call centers and

4. What is your evaluation of Steinhafel’s ability to effectively execute the three key

managerial roles—interpersonal, informational, and decisional? Explain.

Steinhafel is known for visiting locations and talking with the staff on site, which

shows some interpersonal strength. When the data breach occurred, and at the

5. If you were a consultant to Target, what advice would you give to senior

management about handling a crisis like this? Discuss.

Consultants should recommend Target continue balancing the interests of all its

stakeholders, including employees, customers, shareholders and regulators. It is

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.

To Delay or Not to Delay?

You have been hired by a Vice President to create an employee attitude survey and

What would you do?

1. Deliver the presentation as planned. A key decision here is how to balance loyalty

and integrity. You were hired to prepare a warts-and-all report—to discover the

true state of employee attitudes. Your report presents these facts accurately. As a

2. Give the presentation but skip over the negative results. Delivering a sanitized

report may spare your Vice President from negative consequences. MAY spare. It

3. Go back to the meeting room and announce that your spouse has had an accident

at home and you must leave immediately. You tell the group that you just received

4. Invent other options. Discuss. Some students may see significant shades of grey

instead of black-and-white “positive” or “negative” choices. If you go ahead with

the presentation, giving honest evaluations, can you describe “problem areas” in

softer terms? Or present employee responses by limiting your interpretation to

LEGAL/ETHICAL CHALLENGE

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Objectives

• To see how time is allocated in a top management position.

• To start to think about how you might spend your time in a top management position.

• To see what you think about this kind of job and what functions are performed.

Introduction

Managers must allocate their time appropriately. If as a manager you continuously

Instructions

The following is from Charles Handy’s Understanding Organizations:

A senior manager’s diary: One senior division manager sat down to review what he

regarded as the major responsibilities of his job. He listed six key areas for himself:

1. Relations with head office: communicating with the top managers.

2. Long-term and strategic planning: the plans that position the company over time.

3. Operational responsibilities for particular ongoing activities: the day–to-day activities

As a group, estimate in percentages how you think this senior manager allocated his

time to these six key areas. (The senior manager’s percentages are included at the end

of this exercise.)

What areas would you add to his list? Why?

GROUP EXERCISE: How Well Do Managers Manage Their Time?

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Questions for Discussion

1. How do your percentages compare to the senior division manager’s time

allocation?

2. Why do you think that 1, 3, and 4 take so much of his time?

3. In this changing world do you think that more time should be spent on 2, 5, and

6?

4. How do managers “know” how to allocate their time? In his position, would you

allocate your time differently? Why or why not?

Answers

After outlining the six key areas of responsibility in his job, the division manager then

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Students may complete the “Office Romance: Groping for Answers” Manager’s Hot

Seat exercises in Connect for this chapter.

I. Introduction

The scenario portrayed in this video segment highlights important and realistic

II. Learning Objectives

1. To assess students understanding of the analytical decision making approach

and to apply it to a novel scenario.

III. Scenario Description:

Overview: Abbe Willsby and Randall Keene are co-leaders of a 15-employee team in a

retail/fashion company. Soon after Randall separated from his wife, the two began an

affair… Six months later Abbe breaks off the relationship after hearing rumors that

Profile:

• Bill Schule has been working in a managerial capacity for over 22 years at

various companies. Presently, Bill is a Senior Sales Executive at

MANAGER’S HOT SEAT

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References: The references included in the DVD are:

• Concepts in Decision Making (PPT 1-3)

Back History: Unbeknownst to Schule, Willsby and Keene had been engaged in a

serious office romance for the past 6 months. Their romance had little effect on the

office environment – the pair had gone from productive team leaders to productive team

leaders in love, without any disruption……until the affair ended. A week of hostility and

anger permeated the Willsby-Keene team, with a huge drop in productivity reported at

Scene Set-up: Keene receives the email before Schule and barges into his office.

Scene Location: Schule’s office, HypeTec Wear; Tuesday morning 8.45am

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Bill immediately expresses concern over the use of company email for personal matters.

Randall acknowledges this concern but continues to plead his case by expressing that

Abbe was being irrational and should be removed from the department.

Afterthoughts – Summary: Bill thinks that it is entirely possible to prevent litigation at

this point. He plans to do some more investigation but believes that a solution can be

agreed to by all parties. He reinforces his position that he needs to talk to Abbe and get

Dossier: The specific artifacts included in the DVD are:

1. Willsby’s email (August)

IV. Discussion Questions:

The References and related Discussion Questions may be found in PowerPoint slides

1-1 to 1-12.

1. Would this situation be an example of programmed or non-programmed decision

making? Why? (PPT 1-2 &1-3)

Students’ responses will vary – focus should be on their thought process and

justification rather than on which one they picked. It may depend on how often a

Chapter 01 – The Exceptional Manager: What You Do, How You Do It

2. What would be an example of a satisficing decision in this scenario? What

consequences/benefits would this approach have? (PPT 1–2)

Students’ answers will vary. Any answer that is not mutually agreeable to HR, Abbe,

3. What is Bill’s greatest concern?

A. Productivity.

3. Assume you are Bill and you decide to use an analytical (or rational) decision

making strategy to handle this situation (PPT 1-4 & 1-5). The analytical decision

making approach involves the following steps:

1. Recognize need for decision

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Describe in detail the specific actions you would take for each step. Be sure to address

the following questions in your answer:

a. Who would you talk to?

b. Where would you go for more information?

c. What relevant policies, procedures, laws are relevant here?

4. Bill’s first step should be:

A. Call Abbe.

B. Call HR.

5. Randall wants to hear Abbe’s side. Bill should:

A. Tell him.

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6. Bill is discussing possible outcomes.

A. It’s too early

B. It’s appropriate

1. Evaluate Bill and Randall’s active listening and communication skills

(“Components of Active Listening” and “The Communication Process”; PPT 1–

7 to 1-9). What did each do effectively? How could they have improved?

1. Randall’s agitated. What should Bill do?

A. Stop Meeting.

B. Hear him out.

C. Call Abbe in.

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2. Abbe and Randall chose to communicate about their personal relationship via

email. What are the disadvantages of using this communication medium for

this purpose? What would have been a more effective way for Abbe and

Randall to communicate? (PPT 1-10)

Email should not have been used for personal business according to the company’s

policy. This puts the company at risk if email of this nature was distributed to the

general public.

 2. What is the concern about email use?

a. It’s not secure.

b. It’s not efficient.

c. Easy to misinterpret.

Learning Objective #3: To have students identify key issues related to inter-office

romances and the legal and managerial implications, therein.

Chapter 01 – The Exceptional Manager: What You Do, How You Do It

1. What guidance is HR likely to provide to Bill? What future actions are Bill’s

responsibilities? What actions should HR take? (PPT 1–11)

HR should provide guidance in terms of the dating policy the organization has and the

sexual harassment policy. Appropriate disciplinary action should be taken if it is written

2. Abbe and Randall were co-leading a team. Does this situation pose the

potential for a lawsuit based on quid pro quo or hostile work environment

sexual harassment? Why? (PPT 1-11)

3. Should the fact Abby and Randall were involved in a relationship be reflected

on their performance evaluation? Who should be held accountable for the

lower productivity of their team? (PPT 1-12)

If disciplinary actions were taken, it is probably not necessary to restate the specifics of