Management Chapter 2 If you put technology together with scientific management

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Schermerhorn and Bachrach Exploring Management 6th edition Instructor’s Manual

decade or more – and he is intent on defined career paths.

The lesson here is there are many ways for people and organizations to reach their goals. But

when it comes to you specifically, a critical issue will always be the fit—or match—between

what you want and the way you like to work and the employer’s practices. Which firm would

you most like to join—Facebook or Zappos? What does this choice say about your career needs

and aspirations? Are you someone who gets excited about switching to a new organization every

few years, or would you rather follow an internal career path and rise to the top of the employer

you start with out of college?

Ethics Check: Tracking Technology Monitors Work Behavior

If you put technology together with scientific management, what do you get? For many in the

trucking industry, the answer is GPS tracking technology that monitors drivers to make sure

they follow their engineered routes and aren’t wasting—or even stealing—company time. How

far should this tracking technology go, and what ground rules should be followed?

Some things to discuss in class:

Facts to Consider: Generations Differ When Rating Their Bosses

Hot Topic: Best Employers for Work-Life Balance

Mike Steinerd, director of research for Indeed.com, says: “Work–life balance feeds passion for

the workplace and contributes to a better overall work environment and morale.” Given the

importance of these issues to workers today, why aren’t all employers on board? What holds

some back, and what causes others to step up with a lot of work–life balance support? How

important are these issues to you? What is on your checklist of “must haves” for your next job as

it pertains to work–life balance?

Schermerhorn and Bachrach Exploring Management 6th edition Instructor’s Manual

Insight: Make Learning Style Work for You

Learning style goes beyond how we prefer to learn, receive, process and recall new information,

although students will explore their personal preferences as they complete the Managerial

Assumptions in the Skill-Building Portfolio as suggested in the Explore Yourself feature. As

Quick Case: Management Style Under Scrutiny

This describes a shift in a management style from one of trust built with employees and team

members over the years to one of micromanaging under the stress of producing big results. Is a

hands-on Theory X approach the best way to get things done when Theory Y has worked best in

the past? Despite the importance of this project, what are the consequences of a shift in

management styles?

Skill Building Portfolio:

Terms to Define:

Analytics

Bureaucracy

Contingency thinking

Operations management

Operations research

Progression principle

TestPrep 2

Multiple-Choice Questions

1. A management consultant who advises managers to carefully study jobs, train workers to

do them with efficient motions, and tie pay to job performance is using ideas from

____________________________ .

Schermerhorn and Bachrach Exploring Management 6th Edition Instructor’s Manual

(a) scientific management (b) contingency thinking

2. The Hawthorne studies were important in management history because they raised awareness

about the influence of _____________on productivity.

3. If Douglas McGregor heard an instructor complaining that her students were lazy and

irresponsible, he would say these assumptions________________________ .

4. If your local bank or credit union is a complex system, then the loan-processing department

of the bank would be considered a ____________________.

5. When a manager puts Dante´ in a customer relations job because he has strong social needs

and gives Sherrill lots of daily praise because she has strong ego needs, he is displaying

6. Which of the following is one of the characteristics of Weber’s ideal bureaucracy?

7. Which principle states that a person should only receive orders from one boss in an

organization?

8. One of the conclusions from the Hawthorne studies was that _______________________ .

9. If an organization was performing poorly, what would Henri Fayol most likely advise as a

Schermerhorn and Bachrach Exploring Management 6th Edition Instructor’s Manual

way to improve things?

10. When a worker is a responsible parent, makes car payments, and is active in local

organizations, how might Argyris explain her poor work performance?

11. ________________ management assumes people are complex, with widely varying needs.

12. The big interest today in _____________ refers to the management practice of using

mathematics and computing power to examine “big data” for insights on business.

13. The highest level in Maslow’s hierarchy is _______________________________.

14. If an organization is considered an open system, work activities that turn resources into

outputs are part of the ______________________ process.

15. When managers make decisions based on solid facts and information, this is known as

_________________________________ .

Short-Response Questions:

16. Give an example of how principles of scientific management can apply in organizations

today.

You can see scientific management principles operating everywhere, from UPS delivery, to

fast-food restaurants, to order-fulfillment centers. In each case the workers are trained to

17. How do the deficit and progression principles operate in Maslow’s hierarchy?

18. Compare the Hawthorne effect with McGregor’s notion of self–fulfilling prophecies.

The Hawthorne effect occurs when people singled out for special attention tend to perform

as expected. An example would be giving a student a lot of personal attention in class with

19. Explain by example several ways a manager might use contingency thinking in the

management process.

Integration and Application Question

20.

Enrique Temoltzin is the new manager of a college bookstore. He wants to do a good job

and decides to operate the store on Weber’s concept of bureaucracy.

Question: Is bureaucracy the best approach here? What are its potential advantages and

disadvantages? How could Enrique use contingency thinking in this situation?

Schermerhorn and Bachrach Exploring Management 6th Edition Instructor’s Manual

be alert to the dysfunctions of bureaucracy that appear when changes are needed or

when unique problems are posed or when customers want to be treated personally. The

demands of these situations are difficult for traditional bureaucracies to handle, due to

the fact that they are set up to handle routine work efficiently and impersonally, with

an emphasis on rules, procedures, and authority.

Self-Assessment 2: Managerial Assumptions

The assessment suggested is Managerial Assumptions in the Skill-Building Portfolio. Students

may be required to complete it prior to class so their results can be discussed as an introduction

to chapter 2, or as a short break in your class presentation. Interpretation is in the Skill-Building

Portfolio.

Instructions

Use the space in the left margin to write “Yes” if you agree with the statement or “No” if you

disagree with it. Force yourself to take a “yes” or “no” position for every statement.

1. Are good pay and a secure job enough to satisfy most workers?

2. Should a manager help and coach subordinates in their work?

3. Do most people like real responsibility in their jobs?

4. Are most people afraid to learn new things in their jobs?

5. Should managers let subordinates control the quality of their work?

6. Do most people dislike work?

7. Are most people creative?

8. Should a manager closely supervise and direct the work of subordinates?

9. Do most people tend to resist change?

10. Do most people work only as hard as they have to?

11. Should workers be allowed to set their own job goals?

12. Are most people happiest off the job?

13. Do most workers really care about the organization they work for?

14. Should a manager help subordinates advance and grow in their jobs?

Scoring

Interpretation

This assessment examines your orientation toward Douglas McGregor’s Theory X (your “X”

score) and Theory Y (your “Y” score) assumptions. Consider how your X/Y assumptions might

influence how you behave toward other people at work. What self-fulfilling prophecies are you

likely to create?

Schermerhorn and Bachrach Exploring Management 6th Edition Instructor’s Manual

Class Exercise 2: Evidence-Based Management Quiz

Instructions

1. For each of the following questions, answer T (true) if you believe the statement is backed by

solid research evidence or F (false) if you do not believe it is an evidence-based statement.

1. Intelligence is a better predictor of job performance than having a conscientious

personality.

3. A highly intelligent person will have a hard time performing well in a low-skill job.

5. Goal setting is more likely to result in improved performance than is participation in

decision making.

7. People behave in ways that show pay is more important to them than what they indicate

on surveys.

Share your answers with others in your assigned group. Discuss the reasons

members chose the answers they did; arrive at a final answer to each question for

Team Project 2: Management in Popular Culture

You’ll notice that the chapter openers in this book bring in movies and television shows from

popular culture. Lots of them have situations and themes that deal with things like leadership,

team dynamics, attitudes, personalities—all the major topics of this textbook. The point is:

Management learning is everywhere; we just have to look for it.

Question

What management insights are available in various elements of our popular culture and

reflected in our everyday living?

Instructions

• Listen to music. Pick out themes that reflect important management concepts and theories.

Schermerhorn and Bachrach Exploring Management 6th Edition Instructor’s Manual

popular television programs have to say about management and working. Also consider

TV advertisements. How do they use and present workplace themes to help communicate

their messages?

Cases for Critical Thinking

Zara International – Fast Fashion’s Style Maker

The case profiles Zara – a story of great supply chain prowess. In this world of “hot today,

gauche tomorrow,” no company does fast fashion better than Zara. Shoppers in 79 countries, and

counting, are fans of Zara’s knack for bringing the latest styles from sketchbook to clothing rack

at lightning speed and reasonable prices. Low prices and a rapid response to fashion trends give

Zara a top ranking among global clothing vendors. Now that Zara has shown the world how to

do “fast fashion” so well, won’t others find it easy to copy their success story?

1. DISCUSSION

In what ways are elements of the behavioral or human resource approaches to management

evident at Zara International? How can systems concepts and contingency thinking

explain the success of some of Zara’s distinctive practices?

Classical management finds the best way to produce a product or service so both

workers and employers benefit from increased efficiencies. Zara seems to have

embraced the efficiencies found in Weber’s bureaucratic form of organizations. The

2. DISCUSSION

Zara’s logistics system and management practices can handle the current pace of growth,

but they will eventually need to be updated. How could quantitative management

approaches and data analytics help Zara executives plan for the next generation of its

logistics and management approaches?

One of Zara’s major competencies is producing goods and services efficiently and effectively. In

what ways does this competency require great strength with the quantitative management

approaches, including operations management?

3. PROBLEM SOLVING

As a consultant chosen by Zara to assist with the expansion of its U.S. stores, you have been

asked to propose how evidence-based management might help the firm smooth its way to

success with an American workforce. What areas will you suggest be looked at for evidence-

based decision making, and why?

Evidence-based management is the process of using data from a large numbers of organizations

to determine facts about effective management practices that can be validated by research.

4. FURTHER RESEARCH

Gather the latest information on competitive trends in the apparel industry, and on Zara’s latest

actions and innovations. Is the firm continuing to do well? Are other retailers getting just as

proficient with the fast-fashion model? Is Zara adapting and innovating to stay abreast of both its

Schermerhorn and Bachrach Exploring Management 6th Edition Instructor’s Manual

major competition and the pressures of a changing global economy? Is this firm still providing

worthy management benchmarks for other firms to follow?

Competitive trends in the apparel industry:

• The internet will continue to take market share from brick and mortar, and more chains

will be forced to shutter less productive doors.

Are other retailers proficient with the fast-fashion model?

There are a number of retailers who have embraced the fast fashion model. They include:

Forever 21, H&M, Peacocks, Xcel Brands and Topshop.

Is Zara adapting and innovating to stay abreast of both its major competition and the other

pressures of a changing global economy?

Yes, Zara is adapting and innovating. However, the competition continues to increase. Here is

how Zara innovates:

• Chases trends and reacts to increased demand by moving an item from factory floor to

Schermerhorn and Bachrach Exploring Management 6th Edition Instructor’s Manual

• Unique product design systems, order administration, production, distribution and

retailing.

• Demand for a product dictates production and delivery. In just 15 days after a product is

designed, it is delivered to stores worldwide.

• Moves an item from factory floor to store shelves in a few weeks

Is the firm still providing worthy management benchmarks for other firms to follow?

It is, however, fast fashion leaders Zara and H&M have both recently experienced shrinking