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should review the scenario in the slides. Then, using their assigned dimension,
recommend improvements that would assist the organization in the scenario. Each
group should share their recommendations with the class.
Group Exercise: Which Are the Best Companies to Work for in the United States and
Why?
There is a group exercise available at the end of this manual that describes the best
companies to work for.
Exercise Objectives
Learning organizations actively create, acquire, and transfer knowledge within
themselves and are able to modify their behavior to reflect new knowledge. There are
three ways managers can help build a learning organization.
Possible Topics for Discussion:
• Discuss the reasons why more companies don’t strive to truly become learning
organizations.
2.8 Quality-Management Viewpoint (pp. 63-64)
The Learning Organization in an Era of Accelerated Change
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Major Idea Outline:
A. Organizations, like people, must continually learn new things or face
obsolescence.
1. Managers must try to establish a culture that enhances their employees’
ability to learn.
2. A learning organization has three parts:
a. Creating and acquiring knowledge
(1) Managers try to actively infuse their organizations with new ideas
and information.
C. How to Build a Learning Organization: Three Roles Managers Play
1. Build a commitment to learning—to lead the way by investing in learning,
publicly promoting it, and creating rewards for it.
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a. The manager can reduce the barriers to learning among employees
and within the organization.
b. This involves creating a psychologically safe and comforting
environment that increases the sharing of successes, failures, and
best practices.
SELF-ASSESSMENT 2.3 (p. 64)
Are You Working for a Learning Organization?
Go to connect.mheducation.com and take Self-Assessment 2.3.
Student Questions:
1. What are the strengths and weaknesses of this company in terms of being a
learning organization?
Students should base their analysis on strengths and weaknesses associated
2. If you were CEO of this organization, what changes would you make based on
your survey results? Explain.
3. What suggestions would you make for how this organization might (1) build a
commitment to learning, (2) work to generate ideas with impact, and (3) work
to generalize ideas with impact? Discuss.
The manager can reduce the barriers to learning among employees and within
the organization. This involves creating a psychologically safe and comforting
4. How does the learning score for the organization probably compare with the
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scores of other organizations you are familiar with?
Student answers will differ based on the learning score achieved. Students
Additional Activities:
You can also consult the Connect Instructors Manual for the post-assessment activity
and corresponding PowerPoint slides used for this Self-Assessment in Connect. In
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2.1 What’s the payoff in studying different management perspectives, both
yesterday’s and today’s?
In order to understand why present day management theories are the way they
are, it is important to see their historical roots. These perspectives from yesterday
2.2 If the name of the game is to manage work more efficiently, what can the
classical viewpoints teach me?
The classical viewpoints portray an emphasis on ways to manage more efficiently.
Scientific management described methods to improve productivity of individual
2.3 To understand how people are motivated to achieve, what can I learn from
the behavioral viewpoint?
The behavioral viewpoint emphasized the importance of understanding human
behavior and of motivating employees toward achievement. The behavioral
2.4 If the manager’s job is to solve problems, how might the two quantitative
approaches help?
Management science focuses on using mathematics to aid in problem solving and
decision making. Concepts such as analytics and Big Data fall into management
CHALLENGE: MAJOR QUESTIONS
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2.5 How can the exceptional manager be helped by the systems viewpoint?
The systems viewpoint regards the organization as a system of interrelated parts.
2.6 In the end, is there one best way to manage in all situations?
There probably is no one best way to manage in all situations. The contingency
viewpoint emphasizes that a manager’s approach should vary according to the
2.7 Can the quality-management viewpoints offer guidelines for true managerial
success?
The quality-management viewpoint includes quality control, quality assurance, and
total quality management. Making sure a good or service is of superb quality is
2.8 Organizations must learn or perish. How do I build a learning organization?
Managers can build a learning organization by utilizing three key functions or roles:
(1) build a commitment to learning, (2) work to generate ideas with impact, and (3)
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1. To what extent is GM using evidence-based management? Are they overdoing
it? Explain your rationale.
Evidence-based management means translating principles based on best
evidence into organizational practice, bringing rationality to the decision-making
2. To what extent are the managerial practices being used at GM consistent with
principles associated with management science and operations management
techniques? Discuss.
After the recall was announced, the organization’s senior leadership team is
3. Use Figure 2.4 to analyze the extent to which GM is using a systems viewpoint.
Inputs – Resources needed to investigate the recall and perform the services
needed to bring the automobiles back in par. This includes labor, parts,
MANAGEMENT IN ACTION:
GM’s New CEO, Mary Barra, Must Manage a Major Recall
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4. How are the managerial practices being used at GM consistent with a quality–
management viewpoint? Explain your rationale.
The senior leadership team is overseeing the recall and making sure that
customer needs are being addressed, and that parts are arriving on-time so that
5. To what extent does GM represent a learning organization? Discuss.
GM is creating and acquiring knowledge about what happened with the faulty
ignition switch, and is trying to understand why the issue was not properly
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ESSME
.
Is an Apology Enough?
This dilemma involves a scandal at the University of North Carolina (UNC). The issue
revolves around whether or not the school’s Department of African and Afro-American
Studies offered courses that never met and sponsored hundreds of independent study
Assuming that you are the university’s chancellor, what would you do at this
point in the scandalous saga?
1. Acknowledge wrongdoing, reinstate Mary Willingham to her former position, and
continue the internal investigation.
Accepting liability for wrongdoing and reinstating Willingham may provide justice
for her, but may create problems for the students who went through the program,
2. Acknowledge wrongdoing, but Mary stays where she is. She should not have
blown the whistle to local reporters without first going to upper management at
the university.
To accept wrongdoing, but punish Willingham, does not seem like an idle
combination. Though she would ideally have gone to upper management, we do
LEGAL/ETHICAL CHALLENGE
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3. Reprimand both James Dean and the basketball coach for their comments, and
continue the internal investigation.
James Dean and the basketball coach should probably be reprimanded for their
comments against Willingham if those comments are in such a nature as to make
4. Invent other options.
Students can be creative here. Maybe Willingham should be part of the
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Objectives
• To assess your group’s awareness of the best companies to work for in the
United States in 2015.
Introduction
To pick the 100 Best Companies to Work For, Fortune partners with the Great Place to
Work Institute to conduct the most extensive employee survey in corporate America.
Any company that is at least 5 years old and has more than 1,000 U.S. employees is
eligible for consideration. Companies nominated for Best Companies to Work For lists
The 100 best companies are chosen on the basis of aggregating information from three
criteria. The first is a subjective assessment of each company’s policies and
organizational culture. The second is an evaluation of the company based on a 57-item
survey given to a random sample of at least 400 employees from each company. The
survey assesses topics such as job satisfaction, camaraderie, and attitudes toward
Instructions
Four key organizational characteristics are used to rank all companies being considered
as the best place to work:
• Credibility
• Respect
GROUP EXERCISE: Which Are the Best Companies to Work for in
the United States and Why?
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Below is a list, in random order, of the top 10 companies to work for in 2015. After
forming groups, your first task is to have each individual guess these companies’
rankings based on the attributes listed above. (Number 1 is the highest ranking and
number 10 the lowest.) If you do not know anything about some of these companies, we
suggest that you search the Internet prior to conducting your evaluations. Next, share
your rankings and come to a consensus ranking.
Here are the companies, in random order:
• Boston Consulting Group, Inc.
• Robert W. Baird & Co.
Questions for Discussion
1. What similarities and differences do you see in management approaches across
these companies?
2. What theories discussed in this chapter are being used by these companies?
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1) Southwest CEO: Get to Know Gary Kelly
Teaching Objective: Help students appreciate the competitive nature of today’s global
business environment. Provide an illustration of the various roles an effective manager
must fulfill.
Summary: This news clip provides an overview of Southwest Airlines and an
Questions:
1. What skills does Gary Kelly possess that make him a successful manager?
2. What have been some important factors in Southwest’s organizational
performance?
Low fares have attracted many customers. Since an airline is a service business,
responsiveness to customers is a key to success. Southwest understands its
3. What challenges lie ahead for Gary Kelly in maintaining and building the
company’s competitive advantage?
Challenges include keeping operating costs low in an industry characterized by intense
2) Evolution of Management
Teaching Objective: Help students understand how management has evolved
VIDEO CASES
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Summary: This informational video discusses management thought from the early
Chapter 02 – Management Theory: Essential Background for the Successful Manager
There are no Manager’s Hot Seat exercises for this chapter.
MANAGER’S HOT SEAT