Management Chapter 6 Describe Ways Which Oprah Winfrey And John Mackey Whole Foods Demonstrate Strong

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LO 6-6

Recommend a new strategy to revive a struggling business.

Key Terms:

PPT 6.47

PPT 6.48

VIII. Solve the Dilemma—Making Infinity Computers Competitive

A. Infinity Computers Inc. produces notebook computers, which sell

through direct mail catalog companies under the Infinity name and in

some retail computer stores under their private brand name

1. Products are not significantly different from competitors’

2. Do not have extra product-enhancing features

3. Very price competitive

4. Strength from the company’s CEO/president George Anderson and

the highly motivated, loyal staff

5. Weakness from having too many employees and too great a reliance

on 1 product

B. The strategies that initially made the firm successful are no longer

working

could eliminate Infinity.

C. Discussion questions:

1. Evaluate Infinity’s current situation and analyze its strengths and

Infinity’s strengths include the competitive price of its products, the

leadership abilities of its CEO, along with the loyalty and motivation

of its employees. Its weaknesses are its tendency to follow its

competitors instead of innovating, its overcapacity in terms of

workforce, and its reliance on a single product.

2. Evaluate the opportunities for Infinity, including using its current

strategy, and propose alternative strategies.

3. Suggest a plan for Infinity to compete successfully over the next 10

years.

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B O X E D T E X T D I S C U S S I O N Q U E S T I O N S

ENTER THE WORLD OF BUSINESS—The Importance of Middle Managers

Middle managers are responsible for tactical planning and implementing top management’s guidelines.

Middle managers are expected to work across departments, put in long hours, and often remain available

1. What are the challenges middle managers commonly face?

2. What are some good characteristics for effective middle managers to have?

3. Why are the job functions of middle management important to organizational success?

GOING GREEN—Ken Grossman’s Management of Sierra Nevada’s Growth

Sierra Nevada is now building another brewery in Mills River, North Carolina. This is a challenge to

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1. Describe some of the managerial skills that Ken Grossman possesses in successfully leading Sierra

Nevada.

2. How are the breweries increasing the firm’s sustainability?

3. How does Ken Grossman motivate his employees?

RESPONDING TO BUSINESS CHALLENGES—Managers Discover Benefits of Feminine Traits for Leadership

In the past, successful leadership has often been associated with authoritative traits such as decisiveness,

resilience, and confidence. The leadership landscape has been changing. Recurring scandals involving leaders

1. Why are some characteristics traditionally associated as feminine considered important for

leadership?

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2. Why might a lack of empathy create a significant disadvantage in leadership?

3. Describe ways in which Oprah Winfrey and John Mackey of Whole Foods demonstrate strong

leadership characteristics.

S U P P L E M E N T A L L E C T U R E

The Mystique of Leadership

The textbook defines leadership as the “ability to influence employees to work toward organizational goals.”

The text also indicates that there are different kinds of leadership styles that are effective at particular times

and places and in the hands of certain leaders.

There is a mystique about the very word leadership. Leadership abilities may very well be in the eye of the

beholder. Why are some individuals considered to be leaders? These individuals exhibit charisma, courage,

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Colville was aware of how popular Churchill was with the public. It should be noted that Colville admired

Churchill. Nevertheless, Colville witnessed—at extremely close range—some traits that showed Churchill to

be very much a normal human with normal failings. In fact, some of Churchill’s behavior would appear to be

the opposite of that which would influence others to work toward the achievement of organizational goals.

1. Can you think of other well-known individuals who were perceived as great leaders, persons also

known for personal faults or frailties that could have led to a loss of leadership? What made these

individuals great leaders?

2. Which leadership style did the great leaders mentioned above exhibit? Autocratic style? Democratic

style? Free-rein style?

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C O N T R O V E R S I A L I S S U E

Conflicting Communications of Managers

Managers need good human relations, or people, skills. They must be able to communicate goals, and they

have to understand their employees’ needs so that they can motivate them to perform. Managers must also

provide appropriate leadership.

Managers are not always very good at their jobs. Usually, poor management results from poor

communication or interpersonal skills. Typical of some employees’ experience is this one, told by David

Manning, a college student who worked as a radio announcer for a small station in a college town. The

manager-owner of the radio station, Greg Smith, had often told the members of his staff: “I want you to

know that my door is always open. Come in anytime if you have a suggestion to make our station the best on

the air. Come see me.”

1. Did the manager give mixed signals to his employees? Why?

2. Can managers improve their management styles? How?

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S O Y O U W A N T T O B E A M A N A G E R—W H A T K I N D O F

M A N A G E R D O Y O U W A N T T O B E?

What factors are leading to the increasing difficulty of management jobs?

C H E C K Y O U R P R O G R E S S

1. Why is management so important, and what is its purpose?

2. Explain why the American Heart Association would need management, even though its goal is not

profit-related.

3. Why must a company have financial resources before it can use human and physical resources?

4. Name the five functions of management and briefly describe each function.

The five functions of management include planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling.

Planning is the process of selecting a course of action to achieve organizational objectives. Organizing

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5. Identify the three levels of management. What is the focus of managers at each level?

6. In what areas can managers specialize? From what area do top managers typically come?

The areas of management include financial management, production and operations management,

human resources (personnel) management, marketing management, information technology

management, and administrative management. Financial managers deal primarily with an organization’s

7. What skills do managers need? Give examples of how managers use these skills to do their jobs.

8. What are three styles of leadership? Describe situations in which each style would be appropriate.

There are three styles of leadership: autocratic, democratic, and free-rein. Autocratic leaders make all

decisions and then tell employees what must be done and how to do it. Autocratic leaders work best

when dealing with lower-level employees who are poorly motivated and require more supervision to

accomplish the task.

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9. Explain the steps in the decision-making process.

Decision making is a six-step process that occurs at all management levels. The first step involves

10. What is the mathematical formula for perfect management? What do managers spend most of their

time doing?

There is no mathematical formula for perfect management. Most management decisions are largely

subjective.

G E T I N V O L V E D

1. Give examples of the activities that each of the following managers might be involved in if he or she

worked for the Coca-Cola Company:

• Financial manager

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Sample student answer (answers will vary):

• Financial manager: Project income and expenses over Coca-Cola’s next quarter; project income and

expenses for the next year; investigate feasibility of new Coca-Cola projects and investments from a

financial standpoint; collect data on company finances and operations; develop financial and operational

• Marketing manager: Plan the promotion of new Coca-Cola products; select relevant media for

promotional campaigns; appropriate the costs of advertising and other promotional campaigns; develop

pricing objectives of Coca-Cola products; determine effectiveness of pricing strategies; determine

product features; aid in product development and test marketing; oversee commercialization of new

Coca-Cola products; delete products that do not reach certain profit objectives.

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2. Interview a small sample of managers, attempting to include representatives from all three levels and

all areas of management. Discuss their daily activities and relate these activities to the management

functions of planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling. What skills do the managers say

they need to carry out their tasks?

3. You are a manager of a firm that manufactures conventional ovens. Over the past several years, sales

of many of your products have declined; this year your losses may be quite large. Using the steps of

the decision-making process, briefly describe how you arrive at a strategy for correcting the situation.

First, students will have to recognize and define the decision situation. Students should recognize that

the problem is that sales of conventional ovens have declined. They might define the decision situation

as something like, “Investigate options to reduce the losses from decreasing sales of conventional

B U I L D Y O U R S K I L L S

Suggested Answer Key

1. planning (selecting a course of action to achieve organizational objectives)

organizing (structuring resources and activities to accomplish objectives in an efficient and effective

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2. planning (you will need this function to get your group headed in the right direction)

organizing (trying to get this group of employees to carry out the plans will be a challenge)

3. planning (deciding how to accomplish the new goal of making the change)

organizing (you will need to determine what new relationships should be developed in order to

4. directing (you will need to use your leading skills [influence] to get what your department needs)

5. staffing (hiring the right people to carry out the work of the organization)

B U I L D Y O U R B U S I N E S S P L A N

Commence a discussion on what leadership skills are necessary to be an effective leader. What national

figures (government official or corporate figure) do students believe are the best example of a true leader? If

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S E E F O R Y O U R S E L F V I D E O C A S E:

P L A N N I N G D R I V E S T H E S U C C E S S O F F O R D F U S I O N

Case Overview

The release of the Ford Fusion was the culmination of six years of planning, implementation, and monitoring.

Top managers established the mission for the new vehicle as “the most talked about car of 2012.” The three

goals for driving this strategy were to (1) become the company’s highest volume car in order to gain market

share, (2) offer customers unparalleled levels of choice, and (3) have green offerings. When Alan Mulally

1. How did Ford use strategic and tactical planning in its launch of the Ford Fusion?

2. How did the companywide One Ford Plan contribute to the project-specific Launch Readiness plan?

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3. What was the role of implementation in the success of the Ford Fusion?

The Ford Fusion became one of the most popular vehicles in the mid-sized sedan segment because it

T E A M E X E R C I S E

Students will form groups and assign the responsibility of locating examples of crisis management

implementation for companies dealing with natural disasters (explosions, fires, earthquakes, etc.),

T E R M P A P E R O R P R O J E C T T O P I C S

These topics may be assigned as individual or collaborative projects:

2. Management Training

4. Frederick Smith, CEO of Federal Express (or some other CEO)

G U E S T S P E A K E R S U G G E S T I O N S

1. A professor or teacher to talk about careers in management.

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T E A C H I N G S U G G E S T I O N S

2. Discuss the opening vignette and other boxed material. Use the “Boxed Text Discussion Questions” to

3. Go over the “Check Your Progress” in the textbook.

4. Divide the class into six teams. (Large sections may require more than six teams.) Using the “Build Your