Chapter 7
Some Human Aspects of Organizing
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
7-1. Q: Outline the steps a large high-technology organization goes through to identify its
plan for personnel acquisition for the next year. Identify the uncertainties that apply to
each step.
7-2. Q: Prepare a resume of your qualifications meeting the criteria described in this chapter.
What (if anything) might you like to add to or delete from this resume format?
7-3. Q: Company representatives take a wide variety of approaches to campus interviews. If
you can remember such interviews (or other interviews if you are beyond your campus
days), critique the approaches used by several such interviewers and your own
preparation for and responses to them
A: Robert Half believes that interviewers are trying to satisfy three questions: (1) Can
7-4. Q: If you have been invited to a site (plant) visit as a result of a campus (or other)
interview, what preparation can you make to optimize the outcome of the visit?
7-5. Q: Describe a performance appraisal technique or form with which you are familiar and
assess its strengths and weaknesses.
7-6. Q: Give an example in which Barnard’s “acceptance theory” of authority seems to apply
especially well
7-7. Q: What are some conditions under which a formal or System I style of leadership would
be most effective, and where would you rely on System II style?
7-8. Q: It is a management dictum that authority should be equal to responsibility. Identify
situations where this is not true, and suggest how this weakness might be compensated
for.
7-9. Q: Is it reasonable that managers from backgrounds other than engineering might find
delegation easier? Support your conclusion
7-10. Q: Describe the purpose, size, preparation for, conduct, and follow-up involved in a
committee meeting with which you are familiar, and critique each of these.