CHAPTER TEN END-OF-CHAPTER ACTIVITIES - MGMT201 - GB

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Management

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Apr 30, 2024

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BUILDING MANAGEMENT SKILLS 1. What contingencies are most important in explaining how the organization is organized? Do you think it is organized in the best way? Why or why not? In an organization like a sports team, I believe strategy is the most important factor that affects organizational structure. A clear and effective strategy will guide the organization in one unified direction. I believe the organization I am apert of is organized effectively because every member knows their role and can operate smoothly without being overlooked or micromanaged. 2. Using the job characteristics model, how motivating do you think the job of a typical employee is in this organization? According to the Job Characteristics Model My team's motivation should be rather high. When it comes to skill variety and task identity, we are challenged by our coach in numerous different ways physically and mentally. Our practices are very significant because we do the same exact things we would do on race day and get feedback from Our coach on our performance, giving us high task significance and feedback. The autonomy aspect would be low because our day is determined on how quickly we get through activities. 3. Provide examples of how a typical job could be enlarged or enriched in this organization. My organization could be enlarged by hiring specialty coaches. We currently only have one coach while many of our competitors have several coaches on staff that specialize in events. We have already experienced job enrichment when our coach
was absent for a period of time. This gave many people new roles and responsibilities. We had time to experiment with different approaches to some tasks and allowed us to develop new skills. 4. What kind of organizational structure does the organization use? If it is part of a chain, what kind of structure discussed in the chapter might allow the organization to operate more effectively? For example, would the move to a product team structure lead to greater efficiency or effectiveness? Why or why not? The organizational structure that is most similar to my team would be product structure, by replacing product division with track events and the title of CEO with athletic director and corporate manager with head coach. This structure represents the entire organization. Product structure is the most effective structure that we can have but I do believe we could do a better job of fulfilling this structure. 5. How many levels are in the organization hierarchy? Is authority centralized or decentralized? Describe the span of control of the top manager and of middle or first-line managers. The hierarchy of our organization would have 5 levels from chancellor, to athletic director, head coach, team captain, then athlete. I would also say that our authority is mostly decentralized because we have freedom to pick what events we do and can communicate what we feel like we may need or if something needs to change. When we do need to communicate something to an authority, we report to the next level up instead of directly to a higher up.
6. Is the distribution of authority appropriate for the organization and its activities? Would it be possible to flatten the hierarchy by decentralizing authority and empowering employees? Our team is very decentralized compared to other teams and organizations and it is very efficient for the size of our team. The members of our team are very empowered with the responsibilities we are given. 7. What are the principal integrating mechanisms used in the organization? Do they provide sufficient coordination among individuals and functions? How might they be improved? The formal integrating mechanisms used to coordinate subunits vary in complexity from simple direct contact and liaison roles, to teams, to a matrix structure. In general, the greater the need for coordination between subunits, the more complex formal integrating mechanisms need to be. Direct contact between subunits just contact each other whenever they have a common concern. Direct contact may not be effective, however, if managers have differing orientations that impede coordination. Managers of various subunits may have different tasks. Most of the time during our team activities and practice the principal integrating mechanism would be direct contact but when we communicate outside of physical contact there would be integrating roles between leaders of events and coaches. 8. Now that you have analyzed the way this organization is structured, what advice would you give its managers to help them improve how it operates?
The advice that I would give to managers is to utilize a sequential flow pattern in the process. You want the material to flow through the process in sequence, from station to station. Facilities, especially in manufacturing, often utilize a U-shaped design. The process begins and ends at the front of the facility. This arrangement allows a manager to observe the process over a small, confined space, making it easy to control. Sending parts back in the process can create confusion because tracing the part in the process may become difficult; it can also impede the movement of other parts in the process. If material needs to backtrack, then maintain separate inboxes for the first-time material and returned material, or implement a marking system to distinguish the two. If possible, all parts should progress through the process in the same steps. Aim to remove any decisions on the operator’s part. If the process has decision points, then every part meeting the same criteria should go through the same predictable path. Material movement is a non-value added activity that takes time and can lead to parts getting lost or ending up at the wrong locations. In addition, unnecessary movement can create safety concerns, especially in cases where equipment is required to move parts from place to place. Inventory takes up space in your process, and you can reduce the size of your facility by reducing it. Some inventory is necessary to allow smooth operations, but too much can interfere with the smooth flow of material through the process. A facility design should be flexible to allow for new conditions. If possible, you should be able to reconfigure the design to accommodate the introduction of new products or a change in the mix of products produced or processed at the facility.
MANAGING ETHICALLY 1. What ethical rules (see chapter 4) should managers use to decide which employees to terminate when redesigning their hierarchy? I believe that the manager should use utilitarian rules, and practical rules. the A utilitarian rule is that the manager should make the greatest good for the best people. The practical rule is when a manager has no hesitation about what's best for the company. I also feel like there are some things that can help when it comes to redesigning their hierarchy. As a manager, they are responsible to keep their employees happy. Most of the time, poorly communicated hierarchical redesign creates unrest and complications. Hence, improved the communication and everyone in the hierarchy was well made known of the changes going to take place well in advance. Employees involved/affected in the redesign can have the option based on their capabilities, competence and career based explanation prior to redesign for them to conceive and accept and to move on. Whatever the employee gets prior to redesigning will continue to stay the same after the process. This is to facilitate the idea of buying at the employee and if required, additional benefits were granted. Hierarchical redesign is a process by itself and this should not be coupled with other business objectives of the organization such as employee strength reduction, bringing the cost of the operations down and so on. If there are implications to the stakeholders like government bodies, trade unions, associations, etc., the redesign process should be communicated well before it’s
implementation any ambiguities must be cleared off before actual implementation. The agenda should be transparent and the hierarchical redesign should be sincere to benefit everyone involved. We as managers should expect a performance disturbance during the redesign process and should have mitigation plans in hand prior to implementation. In case employees are willing to leave the organization due to the redesign, we must pay them fairly well as per the rules and regulations of the government as well as what is due for them from the company. 2. Some people argue that employees who have worked for an organization for many years have a claim on the organization at least as strong as that of its shareholders. What do you think of the ethics of this position--can employees claim to “own” their jobs if they have contributed significantly to the organization’s past success? How does a socially responsible organization behave in this situation? I think if a person has worked for a company for many years, and help to make that company successful should be able to say that they are a part of that company. SMALL GROUP BREAKOUT EXERCISE You are a team of local consultants whom Bob has called in to advise him as he makes this crucial choice. Which structure do you recommend? Why? Jamie- Interesting dilemma as I see it. As consultants we should first provide Bob with reassurances of why he asked for our assistance by providing what we feel are pros
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