Understanding Management Exam 2

• 1. develop the plan
• Define mission, vision

• 2. Translate the plan
• define tactical plans and objectives
• develop strategy map
• define contingency plans and scenarios
• identify intelligence teams

• 3. plan operations
• define operational goals and plans
• select measures and targets
• set stretch goals
• crisis planning

• 4. execute the plan
• use:
• management by objectives
• performance dashboards
• single use plans
• decentralized responsibility

• 5. Monitor and learn
• hold planning reviews
• hold operational reviews

• a blueprint specifying the resource allocations, schedules, and other at ions necessary for attaining goals
• planning helps managers think toward the future rather than thinking merely in terms of day to day activities

a desired future state that the organization wants to realize

the act of determining goals and defining the means for achieving them

• enables them to cope with unexpected events that are so sudden and devastating that they have the potential to destroy the organization if managers aren't prepared with a quick and appropriate response
• reduces the incidence of trouble

• 1. Crisis prevention 
• ( build relationships, detect signals from the environment)
• involves activities managers undertake to try to prevent crises from occurring and to detect warning signs of potential crises 
• building open, trusting relationships with key stakeholders such as employees, customers, suppliers, governments, unions, and the community

• 2. Crisis preparation 
• includes all the detailed planning to handle a crisis when it occurs
• designate crisis management team and spokesperson
• create detailed crisis management plan
• set up effective communications system
• Crisis management plan (CMP) is a detailed written plan that specifies the steps to be taken and by whom if a crisis occurs

refers to the set of decisions and actions used to formulate and execute strategies that will provide a competitively superior fit between the organization and its environment so as to achieve organizational goals

• includes a careful assessment if strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that affect organizational performance
• internal strengths are positive internal characteristics
• weaknesses are internal characteristics that might inhibit or restrict the organizations performance
• threats are characteristics of the external environment that may prevent the organization from achieving its strategic goals
• opportunities are characteristics of the external environment that have the potential to hoop the organization achieve or exceed its strategic goals

• 1. potential new entrants
• 2. bargaining power of buyers
• 3. bargaining power of suppliers
• 4. threat of substitute products
• 5. rivalry among competitors

• 1. Candid Communication
• open lines of communication
• encourages debate
• be honest

• 2. Clear roles and accountability
• delegate authority and responsibility
• create teams
• define roles

• 3. Visible leadership
• motivate people
• shape cultures and values
• model desired behaviors

• 4. Appropriate human resource practices
• recruit employees
• manage transfers and promotions
• provide training

• involve situations that have occurred often enough to enable decision rules to be developed and applied in the future
• made in response to recurring organizational problems

made in response to situations that are unique, are poorly defined and largely unstructured, and have important consequences for the organization

Decisions to acquire a company, build a new factory, develop a new product or service, enter a new geographical market or relocate headquarters to another city are all nonprogrammer decisions

risk

• means that all the information the decision maker needs is fully available
• few decisions are certain in the real world, most contain risk or uncertainty

means that managers know which goals they wish to achieve, but information about alternatives and future events is incomplete

based on rational economic assumptions and manager beliefs about what ideal decision making should be 

• Four assumptions
• 1. decision maker operates to accomplish goals that are known and agreed on. Problems are precisely formulated and defined
• 2. decision maker strives for conditions of certainty , gathering complete information. All alternatives and potential results of each are calculated
• 3. criteria for evaluating alternatives are known. The decision maker selects the alternative that will maximize the economic return to the organization
• 4. decision maker is rational and uses logic to assign values, order preferences, evaluate alternatives, and make the decision that will maximize the attainment of organizational goals

• considered to be normative, which means it defines how a decision maker should make decisions
• Does not describe how managers actually make decisions so much as it provides guidelines on how to reach an ideal outcome for the organization
• most useful when applied to programmed decisions and to decisions characterized by certainty or risk

• 1. Recognition of decision requirement
• 2. diagnosis and analysis of causes
• 3. development of alternatives
• 4. selection of desired alternatives
• 5. implementation of chosen alternative
• 6. evaluation and feedback

• managers conront a decision requirement in the form of either a problem or an opportunity
• awareness of a problem or opportunity is the first step in decision sequence and requires surveillance of the internal and external environment for issues that merit executive attention
• this process resembles the military concept of gathering intelligence
• information comes from periodic financial reports, performance reports and other sources that are designed to discover problems before they become too serious

• diagnosis is the step in which managers analyze underlying causal factors associated with the decision situation 
• ex. what is the stat of disequilibrium affecting us?
• when did it occur?
• where did it occur?
• how did it occur? ect...
• such questions help specify what actually happened and why

• generate possible alternative solutions that will respond to the needs of the situation and correct the underlying causes
• for a programmed decision, feasible alternatives are easy to identify and in fact usually are already available within the organizations rules and procedures
• non-programed decisions require developing new courses of action that will meet the companies needs

• managers try to select the most promising of several alternative courses of action 
• best alternative is one in which the solution best fits the overall goals and values of the organization and achieves desired results using the fewest resources
• managers want to select the choice with the least amount of risk and uncertainty 
• risk propensity- the willingness to undertake risk with the opportunity of gaining an increased payoff

• involves the use of managerial, administrative, and persuasive abilities to ensure that the chosen alternative is carried out 
• may require discussion with people affected by the decision

• decision makers gather informations that tells them how well the decision was implemented and whether it was effective in achieving its goals
• feedback proves decision makers with informations that can precipitate a new decision cycle
• feedback is the part of monitoring that assesses whether a new decision needs to be made

an overall narrow span and more hierarchical levels

a wide span, horizontally dispersed, and has fewer hierarchical levels

• the grouping of positions into departments based on similar skills, expertise, work activities and resource use
• can be thought of as departmentalization by organizational resources because each type of functional activity- accounting, human resources, engineering, and manufacturing represents specific resources for performing the organizations task
• strong vertical design
• people within a department communicate primarily with others in the same department to coordinate work and accomplish tasks or implement decisions that are passed down the hierarchy 
• managers and employees are compatible because of similar training and expertise

• occurs when departments are grouped together based on similar organizational outputs
• sometimes called a product structure, program structure, or self-contained unit structure
• large corporations producing products for different markets 
• divisions are created as self contained units with separate functional departments for each division

• combines aspects of both functional and divisional structure simultaneously in the same part of the organization
• dual line of authority make this approach unique
• evolved as a way to improve horizontal coordination and information sharing
• supports a formal chain of command for both functional (vertical) and divisional (horizontal) relationships 
• provides excellent coordination simultaneously for each geographic region and each product line

• Two-boss employees- those who report to two supervisors simultaneously, must resolve conflicting demands from the matrix bosses
• Matrix boss- the product or functional boss, who is responsible for one side of the matrix
• the top leader is responsible for the entire matrix
• top leader- oversees both the product and functional chains of command, responsible to maintain a peer of balance between the two sides of the matrix

• gives managers a way to delegate authority, push responsibility to lower levels and be more flexible and responsive in a complain and competitive global environment
• cross-functional teams- consist of employees from various functional departments who are responsible to meet as a team and resolve mutual problems
• permanent teams- groups of employees who are organized in a way similar to a formal department 
• team based structure- the entire organization is made up of horizontal teams that coordinate their work and work directly with customers to accomplish the organizations goals

• the firm subcontracts most of its major functions to separate companies and coordinates their activities from a small headquarters organization
• coordinated electronically
• spread all over rather being housed under one roof

• all functions in a specific country or region report to the same division manager
• focuses company activities on local market conditions

exhibit 7.9

• temporary team or committee designed to solve a short term problem involving several departments
• members represent their departments and share information that enables coordination

• increase coordination among functional departments
• a person who is responsible for coordinating the activities of several departments for the completions of a specific project
• located outside of the departments and have responsibility for coordinating several departments to achieve desired project outcomes 
• set budget goals, marketing targets and strategies and obtain the cooperation from advertising, production and sales personnel needed for implementing product strategy

the adoption of a new idea or behavior by and organization

• becoming a goal for companies that want to remain competitive on a global basis
• refers to innovations in products, services, or processes that radically change an industries rules of the game for producers and consumers

• incorporating structures and processes that are appropriate for both the creative impulse and for the systematic implementation of innovations
• ex. a loose, flexible structure and greater employee freedom are excellent for the creation and initiation of ideas; however these same conditions often make it difficult to implement a change because employees are less likely to comply
• managers encourage flexibility and freedom to innovate and propose new ideas with creative departments, venture teams

creating conditions and systems to facilitate internal and external coordination and knowledge sharing

managers put in place processes and structures to ensure that new ideas are carried forward for acceptance and implementation

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• prejudice-tendency to view people who are different as deign deficient
• stereotypes- component of prejudice, rigid, exaggerated, irrational beliefs, associated with a particular group of people

• managers need to start with an understanding of complex attitudes, opinions and issues that already exist in the workplace or that employees bring into the workplace.
• These include factors that shape personal bias; prejudice, discrimination, stereotypes and ethnocentrism

to help people identify their own cultural boundaries, prejudices and stereotypes and develop the skills for managing and working in a diverse workplace

• make employees aware of the assumptions they make and to increase peoples sensitivity and openness to those who are different from them
• help people recognize that hidden and overt biases direct their thinking about specific individuals and groups

• generalized- involves sexual remarks and actions that are not intended to lead to sexual activity but that are directed toward a coworker based solely on gender and reflect on the entire group
• inappropriate/offensive- thought not sexually threatening, it causes discomfort in a coworker, whose reaction in avoiding that harasser may limit his or her freedom and ability to function in the work place
• solicitation with promise of reward- this action treads a fine line as an attempt to purchase sex with the potential for criminal prosecution
• coercion with threat of punishment- the harasser coerces a coworker into sexual activity by using the threat of peer (through recommendations, grades, promotions) to jeopardize the victims career
• sexual crimes and misdemeanors- the highest level of sexual harassment, these acts would, if reported to the police, be considered felony crimes and misdemeanors