Schermerhorn & Bachrach Exploring Management 6th edition Instructor’s Manual
Terms to Define
Active listening
Channel richness
Charisma
Cultural etiquette
Effective communication
Efficient communication
Electronic grapevine
Ethnocentrism
Feedback
Schermerhorn & Bachrach Exploring Management 6th edition Instructor’s Manual
Multiple-Choice Questions
1. Who is responsible for encoding a message in the communication process?
2. Issues of “respect” and “integrity” are associated with _____________ in communication.
(a) noise
3. Which is the best example of a team leader providing descriptive rather than evaluative
feedback to a team member?
4. When interacting with an angry co-worker who is complaining about a work problem, a
manager skilled at active listening would most likely try to _____________.
5. When the intended meaning of the sender and the interpreted meaning of the receiver are the
same, communication is _____________.
6. What happens when a communication is persuasive?
7. How can a manager build the credibility needed for persuasive communications?
8. One of the rules for giving constructive feedback is to make sure that it is always
_____________.
9. When a worker receives an e-mail memo from the boss with information about changes to his
job assignment and ends up confused because he doesn’t understand it, the boss has erred by
making a bad choice of _____________ for communicating the message.
10. The safest conclusion about privacy in electronic communications is _____________.
(a) it’s guaranteed by law
11. A/An _____________ is higher in channel richness than a/an ____________.
(a) memo; voice mail
12. The negative effects of status differences on communication between lower and higher levels
in organizations show up in the form of _____________.
13. A manager who understands the influence of proxemics in communication is likely to
_____________.
14. When a person’s words say one thing but his or her body language suggests something quite
different, the person is sending _____________.
15. If a visitor to a foreign culture makes gestures commonly used at home even after learning
that they are offensive to locals, the visitor can be described as _____________.
(a) a passive listener
Short-Response Questions:
16. What is the goal of active listening?
17. Why do managers sometimes make bad decisions based on information received from their
subordinates?
18. What are four errors team leaders might make when trying to give constructive feedback to
team members?
19. How does ethnocentrism influence cross-cultural communication?
Schermerhorn & Bachrach Exploring Management 6th edition Instructor’s Manual
Integration and Application Questions:
20. Glenn was recently promoted to be the manager of a new store being opened by a large
department store chain. He wants to start out right by making sure that communications are
always good between him, the six department heads, and the 50 full-time and part-time sales
associates. He knows he’ll be making a lot of decisions in the new job, and he wants to be sure
that he is always well informed about store operations. He also wants to make sure everyone is
always “on the same page” about important priorities. Put yourself in Glenn’s shoes.
Questions: What should Glenn do right from the start to ensure that he and the department
managers communicate well with one another? How can he open up and maintain good channels
of communication with the sales associates?
Glenn can do a number of things to establish and maintain a system of communication with his
employees and for his department store branch. To begin, he should, as much as possible, try to
Self-Assessment 15: Feedback and Assertiveness
Instructions
For each statement below, decide which of the following answers best fits you.
1 = Never true 2 = Sometimes true 3 = Often true 4 = Always true
_______ 1. I respond with more modesty than I really feel when my work is complimented.
_______ 6. I ask for a raise when I feel I really deserve it.
_______ 7. If others interrupt me when I am talking, I suffer in silence.
_______ 8. If people criticize my work, I find a way to make them back down.
_______ 9. I can express pride in my accomplishments without being boastful.
_______ 10. People take advantage of me.
_______ 11. I tell people what they want to hear if it helps me get what I want.
_______ 12. I find it easy to ask for help.
Schermerhorn & Bachrach Exploring Management 6th edition Instructor’s Manual
Scoring and Interpretation
Aggressiveness tendency score—Add items 2, 5, 8, 11, 15, and 17.
Passiveness tendency score—Add items 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, and 16.
Assertiveness tendency score—Add items 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18.
The maximum score in any single area is 24. The minimum score is 6. Try to find someone who
knows you well. Have this person complete the instrument also as it relates to you. Compare his
or her impression of you with your own score. What is this telling you about your behavior
tendencies in social situations?
Class Exercise 15: Difficult Conversations
Instructions
1. Identify from the list below the three activities that you find most uncomfortable when part of
a team.
(a) Telling a friend that she or he must stop coming late to team meetings
(b) Pointing out to a team member that his or her poor performance is hurting the team
2. Form three-person teams as assigned by your instructor. Identify the three behaviors with
which each person indicates the most discomfort.
3. Have each team member practice performing these behaviors with another member, while the
4. When finished, discuss the overall exercise, and be prepared to share highlights of the
exercise with the rest of the class.
Schermerhorn & Bachrach Exploring Management 6th edition Instructor’s Manual
Team Project 15: How Words Count
Question
What words do people use in organizations that carry meanings that create unintended
consequences for the speaker?
Research Directions
1. Brainstorm with others to make a list of words that you have used or heard used by people
3. Choose two or three of the words that seem especially significant. Write role-plays that
4. For these same words, write role-plays that display speakers using each word conversationally
with positive intentions but in which they are interpreted negatively by the receiver.
6. Draft a report that explains how people in organizations can avoid getting trapped
unintentionally in problems caused by poor choice and/or use of words in their conversations.
Practice Critical Thinking: Snapchat – the Moments (Snaps) Create the Story
of the Moment
We are in the midst of a constantly shifting technology landscape, and this pace of change is
leading to an extremely fluid intersection of culture, communication, social media, and business.
There may be no other social media company that so closely captures this intersection as
Snapchat, at least for the moment . . .
There has always been a generation gap separating how people in distinct generations interact
with one another, develop social expectations, talk, dress, think, and act. And, today, there are
Schermerhorn & Bachrach Exploring Management 6th edition Instructor’s Manual
Case discussion questions and suggested answers:
1. DISCUSSION As a society, we are reading less and watching/viewing more. What
implications does this shifting societal trend have for the ways that leaders communicate within
their organizations? How managers communicate with employees?How organizations
communicate with customers? What are the implications of these trending patterns for how
organizations train employees? Motivate employees? Can you be as detailed in video-based
communication as you can via written communica-tion? What are some of the benefits of shift
ing communication patterns? What are some of the potential liabilities?
How leaders communicate with employees: through social and collaboration tools – online and
less person-to-person / face-to–face contact. More written contact.
What are some of the potential liabilities? Misunderstanding due to the large variety of
2. PROBLEM SOLVING You’ve been hired by Snapchat’s CEO Evan Spiegel to explain
to gen-Xers (your parents) and baby boomers (your grandparents) how to use Snapchat, how to
make it part of their everyday lives, and how it could be useful to them at work. How would you
describe the way you, personally, use Snapchat? How would you explain how this way of
communicating can be applied across generational lines? What kinds of analogies might you use
to describe Snapchat? How is it different from/better than either Facebook or Twitter? Why does
Snapchat more effectively capture the way that millennials communicate, and why should this
also apply for different generations of potential users? Be as specific as possible.
How to use Snapchat:
There are five main screens to using the Snapchat app: the primary camera, and the four you get
to by swiping in a direction. Swipe up, you get the profile screen. Swipe down, the memories
Schermerhorn & Bachrach Exploring Management 6th edition Instructor’s Manual
How it differs from Facebook:
The possibility of parents, teachers and future employers on Facebook means that millennials’
actions on the network may indeed have social consequences. Facebook’s efforts to increase
their user base beyond young people may have had a profound impact on the social networking
site – a victim of its own success.
As a more direct sharing app, Snapchat is unfiltered (unlike Instagram, which has filters for a
more “visually” perfect image). Snapchat allows users to send snaps for up to 10 seconds (and
Why does Snapchat more effectively capture the way that millennials communicate, and why
should this also apply for different generations of potential users?
3. FURTHER RESEARCH Look into the newest social media companies discussed in
the business press as potential or likely IPOs over the next year or so. What are the attributes of
the companies getting the most “buzz” in the press”? Do you see any common characteristics
across these companies? Are there any that stand out? If you had to specify what, precisely,
differentiates companies getting the most current buzz, which standout attributes would you
choose? Are there more “video–driven” companies out there today? Does Snapchat have an
Schermerhorn & Bachrach Exploring Management 6th edition Instructor’s Manual
emerging rival? In what ways does Snapchat represent a specific threat to larger rival Facebook?
Is Facebook positioned to compete in the “this is me now” space currently dominated by
Snapchat? If not, what could Facebook do on the acquisition side to remain competitive moving
forward?
Social media companies getting the most “buzz” in the press:
Common characteristics:
Standout and standout attributes:
This answer will vary, but most would say that Facebook is a standout. The company recently
reached 2 billion users. Other standouts include Instagram, owned by Facebook.
More video-driven companies out there today?
Yes, Facebook recently added a “Facebook Live” feature which allows for a live video feed.
Snapchat’s emerging rival? Answers will vary, but many agree that Snapchat’s closest rival is
Schermerhorn & Bachrach Exploring Management 6th edition Instructor’s Manual
Suggested Team Exercise for Chapter 15
Break the class into teams and ask the teams to consider each of the flowing communication
scenarios and to discuss and summarize their answers to each scenario:
1. You are the CEO of a company and, because of very poor sales due to the recent
recession, have determined that you need to terminate 10% of your workforce as a cost
control measure. How would you communicate this message to all employees in a large
company with multiple locations?
2. You need to advise an employee who works in customer service that he or she is too
abrasive with customers based on surveys that you have received. Where and how would
you communicate this issue?