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Kinicki/Williams: Management, 9e: Chapter 1 The Exceptional Manager: What You Do, How You Do It
1-48
MANAGER’S HOT SEAT VIDEO
WORK-LIFE BALANCE
Students may complete the “Work-Life Balance” Manager’s Hot Seat exercises in Connect® for
this chapter.
Introduction
Many organizations recognize the need for work-life balance. This scenario explores this
very issue, as well as prompts discussion about corporate culture. In addition, the case
shows one approach for delivering negative news to disgruntled employees.
Learning Objectives
2. To analyze the influences of corporate culture.
3. To identify effective approaches for delivering negative news.
Scenario Description
Overview
Samantha Peters, technical director at Quantum Gaming, a video-game company,
is conducting a scheduling meeting where she must ask employees to put in a
serious amount of extra time to meet a valued customer’s request. In addition to
various challenges of her leadership, a discussion of the Quantum Gaming's
overall responsibilities to its workers, corporate culture, and work-life balance
issues sidetrack the meeting. The employees pressure Samantha to make a
decision right then and there; however, she cannot confirm their requests before
talking to upper management.
Profile
▪ Samantha Peters—Technical Director, Quantum Gaming—has been a
technical director at Quantum Gaming for 12 years, managing a creative force
of 40 people.
▪ Graham Hulbert—Programmer, Quantum Gaming—has been in the
company’s design department for 21 years and is a little resentful of Peters for
holding the position of technical director, although he hasn’t shown any
ambition for the position himself.
Kinicki/Williams: Management, 9e: Chapter 1 The Exceptional Manager: What You Do, How You Do It
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Copyright © 2020 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
▪ Miranda Cortez—Animator, Quantum Gaming—started working in the team
two years ago after returning from unpaid maternity leave. Before that, she
had been working for the marketing department’s design team, but found her
position too stressful and creatively limited.
▪ Tom Anderson—Modeler/Designer, Quantum Gaming—has been at the
company since he graduated from university last fall. He’s still a little shell-
shocked about being in the working world.
Discussion Questions
Leaning Objective #1 To recognize the need and importance for workers to balance work
and family/life.
Why is it important for Quantum Gaming workers to ask for a balance between work
demands and their life? Why is it a smart move on the part of Quantum Gaming to help
workers strike this balance?
Leaning Objective #2 To analyze the influences of corporate culture.
What is the corporate culture of Quantum Gaming based on the meeting? Is this a place
where you would like to work? Why or why not?
Kinicki/Williams: Management, 9e: Chapter 1 The Exceptional Manager: What You Do, How You Do It
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Copyright © 2020 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
before current ones are finished in an effort to bring in more business and increase
revenues. Finally, Quantum values the bottom line by pandering wholeheartedly to
Arcadian’s last-minute request to change their game’s central character.
The answer to the second question will vary by students’ personalities. While most
probably wouldn’t enjoy the working conditions at Quantum Gaming, some will thrive in
it.
Leaning Objective #3 To identify effective approaches for delivering negative news.
How effective was Samantha’s approach in delivering the negative news?
Kinicki/Williams: Management, 9e: Chapter 1 The Exceptional Manager: What You Do, How You Do It
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APPLICATION-BASED ACTIVITY
There are no application-based activities for this chapter.
Kinicki/Williams: Management, 9e: Chapter 1 The Exceptional Manager: What You Do, How You Do It
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CREATING A PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Prepared by Angelo Kinicki©
Background on Personal Development
Personal development is an active, circular process that one pursues in order to improve a small
set of targeted skills or competencies. In the current context, we are interested in developing
competencies associated with career readiness. Chapter 1 discussed the 27 competencies
associated with career readiness: These competencies were categorized into the knowledge, soft
skills, attitudes, and other characteristics (KSAOs) needed to become career ready. The overall
goal of this assignment is to assist you in creating a development plan targeted at improving your
career readiness.
The assessment phase generally entails the use of self-assessment surveys. Your text contains
links to 40 Self-Assessments that relate to various career readiness competencies. The purpose of
these assessments is to obtain a baseline evaluation of your interpersonal strengths and
weaknesses along a host of relevant competencies. The key decision in this phase is to select the
set of competencies you want to develop. We recommend one of two approaches. The first is to
focus on two of the following competencies based on the frequency with which these
competencies were discussed in the Career Corner sections within your textbook: Understanding
the Business, Critical Thinking/Problem Solving, Emotional Intelligence, Positive Approach, and
The second phase entails the creation of a development plan to build on strengths and reduce
weaknesses. This plan should specifically identify what you intend to do in order to develop
yourself. There are six generic categories of developmental activities you should consider using
when creating your plan. They are:
1. Learning from on-the-job or school-related activities. Examples include:
CAREER
READINESS
Kinicki/Williams: Management, 9e: Chapter 1 The Exceptional Manager: What You Do, How You Do It
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• Represent your team at a meeting or formal presentation.
2. Learn from off-the-job activities. Examples include:
• Join community groups.
3. Model others who possess the targeted competencies. This may involve:
• Identifying people in the class/organization who possess the desired competency
4. Educational activities.
• Take formal courses or attend training seminars.
5. Experiment. Try out new behaviors and ways of working and see what happens. Discuss
results with others.
6. Consult the detailed feedback that comes with the Self-Assessment being used. This
feedback provides specific recommendations for how you might improve the KSAO
being measured.
The third phase involves marshalling the resources and support needed to accomplish the plan.
Kinicki/Williams: Management, 9e: Chapter 1 The Exceptional Manager: What You Do, How You Do It
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Copyright © 2020 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
someone other than yourself (e.g., your team members, friends, family members, professors, or
people from the company in which you intern).
This assignment requires you to work on all these four phases. Let us now consider a process for
helping you identify which of the career readiness competencies to focus your developmental
activities.
Kinicki/Williams: Management, 9e: Chapter 1 The Exceptional Manager: What You Do, How You Do It
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Getting Started
Once you have taken the relevant Self-Assessments, it is important to categorize your scores into
strengths and weaknesses. The feedback report for each assessment will assist in making this
determination. As you look over the feedback from each assessment, concentrate on what you
Choose Development Areas
People typically think about development as “fixing”—improving problem areas or overcoming
“weaknesses.” Development is not only about working on weaknesses, it also is about building
strengths—capitalizing on what you do well and getting even better at it so that you can become
As you think about development areas, be sure to consider your strengths. Because of your
specific career goals, there may be a higher payoff to working on a specific strength. The issue
is: Where can you and your future/current organization get the biggest payoff from your efforts?
Here are the steps to follow:
1. Set aside time to read and think about the questions listed below. Your objective is to
2. Take out a separate sheet of paper for notes and record your answers to the questions
3. Consider this general question when selecting priority development areas.
“Would working on these areas support my current and future career goals, my
performance goals at school or work, and/or my effectiveness at personally influencing
others? Could working on these areas improve my ability to obtain a job after
graduation, working with others on school/work projects, or meeting personal/family
needs?
A. Strengths: Which competencies were evaluated as strengths? Is this an important
competency you need to model for others? Is it an area you want to improve in
Kinicki/Williams: Management, 9e: Chapter 1 The Exceptional Manager: What You Do, How You Do It
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order to gain recognition and support? If you were to focus on this strength and
improve it, would it enhance your current or future success and influence?
B. Liabilities or weaknesses: What competencies were rated lowest? Are there
problem areas where improvement is needed? Would working on these problem
areas improve your current or future job performance? What is the biggest
roadblock to your career success based on your assessments? What can happen if
you don’t act on your weaknesses? What are the areas you need to focus on to
improve your ability to manage change, work with others, and influence others?
Do you really want to improve? Do you really believe that you need to improve
these areas? Are you motivated to change?
4. You are now ready to select two KSAOs for development. Do not select until you
reconsider the general question that was posed earlier: “Would working on these areas
support my current and future career goals, my performance goals at school, work,
and/or my effectiveness at personally influencing others? Could working on these areas
improve my success in my future internship, working with others, or meet personal/family
needs?
5. Write the label or description of the competency/style/behavior in the space below.
Development Areas:
Competency 1: _____________________________________________________
Competency 2: _____________________________________________________
Kinicki/Williams: Management, 9e: Chapter 1 The Exceptional Manager: What You Do, How You Do It
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Preparing a Personal Development Plan
There are three subtasks associated with this step.
1. Begin by writing your Leadership Style Summary Paragraph (this needs to be
submitted with your detailed development plan).
Write a paragraph self-description about strengths and talents, leadership style, and potential
areas for improvement or modification. Write it as though someone else were describing you.
2. Determine the developmental actions you will employ.
Consider the six generic types of developmental activities discussed earlier and determine which
ones are best suited for your targeted competencies. It is recommended that you obtain
3. Complete the personal development plan posted on Blackboard.
The key is to be thoughtful, detailed, and realistic.
Kinicki/Williams: Management, 9e: Chapter 1 The Exceptional Manager: What You Do, How You Do It
Personal Development Plan Date: Jan 3, 2019
Development Areas
(List the competencies/
styles/behaviors
targeted for improvement)
List the Action Steps Required (What
will you do to improve in this area?)
Success Criteria (How will
success be measured?)
Target Dates
Start Completion
Resources Required/
Potential Barriers to Resolve
1. Assertiveness
(Weakness)
1. Read the book. The assertiveness
workbook: How to express your
ideas and stand up for yourself at
work and in relationships / Randy J.
Paterson”
with Power) and Project 10 (Inspire
Your Audience)
1. Complete the exercises
in the book. Choose 5
action items from the
book and put them into
practice. After one
week, ask for feedback
from the team on those
particular items and
verify if they agree to
2. At the end of the
speech, get ratings from
3. Getting elected to
student government
position.
Jan 2019
Mar 2019
The book. The assertiveness
workbook: How to express
your ideas and stand up for
yourself at work and in
relationships / Randy J.
Paterson
too much and not speaking
up.
People-pleasing. Prone to
avoid potential conflict
situation.
Kinicki/Williams: Management, 9e: Chapter 1 The Exceptional Manager: What You Do, How You Do It
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Copyright © 2020 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
3. Apply for student government
position and put into practice
assertiveness to convince the
interviewer.
5. Express my opinion when I disagree
with someone on an issue.
4. Getting ideas pushed
through the student
government body 60%
of the time.
5. 50% of time, people
should accept my
inconvenient is asked of
me.
Self-esteem. Lack of self-
esteem and self-confidence.
Aggressiveness. In trying to
be assertive, need to make
sure that conduct is not
Jan 2019
Jul 2019
2. Problem Solving /
Analytical Skill
(Strength)
1. Complete one Sudoku a week.
2. Join Toastmasters and take up the
role of speech evaluator. Critically
evaluate each speech and put forth
evaluation in front of the audience.
against the views of the columnist.
Then write a paragraph stating the
arguments for that opinion.
4. Volunteer to come up with the
1. Target 50%
improvement on
Sudoku solving time.
2. Take feedback from the
audience and other
evaluators and also
figure out if there was
something that I might
have missed out on any
70% of the time.
Jan 2019
Jan 2019
Jun 2019
Oct 2019
Aug 2019
Time Management. Few of
these activities will depend
on my effective time
management. With increasing
workload, I may tend to
deviate from the plan.
Role Availability. Due to
space constraint, Evaluator
Kinicki/Williams: Management, 9e: Chapter 1 The Exceptional Manager: What You Do, How You Do It
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5. Apply two recommendations from
Management book to develop
cognitive fitness:
a) Exposure to new experiences.
Engage in 1 activity every
month that I have never done
before.
Possible options could be
playing golf, watching
American football, volunteering
for Net impact club activities,
learning languages, etc.
Should be able to meet the
target 100% every month
for the next 10 months.
Jan 2019
Mar 2019
Kinicki/Williams: Management, 9e: Chapter 1 The Exceptional Manager: What You Do, How You Do It
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Jan 2019
Oct 2019
Kinicki/Williams: Management, 9e: Chapter 1 The Exceptional Manager: What You Do, How You Do It
Personal Development Plan Date:_______________
Development Areas
(List the competencies/
styles/behaviors
targeted for improvement)
List the Action Steps Required (What
will you do to improve in this area?)
Success Criteria (How will
success be measured?)
Target Dates
Start Completion
Resources Required/
Potential Barriers to Resolve
1.
Kinicki/Williams: Management, 9e: Chapter 1 The Exceptional Manager: What You Do, How You Do It
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2.
Kinicki/Williams: Management, 9e: Chapter 1 The Exceptional Manager: What You Do, How You Do It
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Copyright © 2020 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
COPYRIGHT © 2019 KINICKI AND ASSOCIATES, INC.
