Assignment:
Unit I Managerial Decisions Making Class
1. Discuss your thoughts and feelings about ethics and fairness in managerial decision-making. Do you believe we are becoming a less ethical nation? Why or why not.
Question 1
1. In 2001, Polaroid filed for bankruptcy protection. Investigate this filing. What caused the bankruptcy? Can it be traced to an escalation of commitment?
Question 2
1. During the Cold War and post-Cold War eras, the United States and the Soviet Union have been competing with one another in attempts to gain a strategic advantage over one another. The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) was born out of that competition. Discuss the SDI and how the United States and the Soviet Union applied the competitive escalation paradigm.
Question 3
1. Discuss how perceptual bias affected President George W. Bush's decisions that lead the United States into war in Iraq in 2003. Did judgmental bias play a part in these decisions?
Question 4
1. In the 1960s, Britain and France decided to jointly fund and build a supersonic transport that became known as the Concorde. Research the decision to build and fly the supersonic transport Concorde. Then, discuss how the sunk costs and an escalation of commitment affected their decisions.
Unit II Communication Skills For Learders Class
1. Read the Tupperware box on page 200 in your textbook. Answer one of the Leading Questions and provide a specific example to support your answer. Please use class material to support your examples.
Question 1
1. Of the roles listed on pages 211-213, which role or roles do you typically assume in groups, teams, and meetings? Identify two task and two social roles you usually do not assume. Why don't you assume these roles?
Question 2
1. Develop a meeting agenda for an upcoming meeting. Develop a meeting goal or goals, and identify the sequence of agenda items. After you have written your agenda, write a brief explanation of why you structured your agenda as you did. Use the information on pages 234-236 as a basis for your rationale.
Question 3
1. Identify all the ways you have communicated, using media or technology, in the past week to collaborate virtually with someone. Identify how the presence of anonymity, physical appearance, distance, and time (see textbook, p. 207) have had an effect on your virtual communication.
Question 4
1. Identify a team that you are currently participating in, or a team with which you have worked in the past. Identify norms and any explicit ground rules that were developed for the team. Even if the team did not have an explicit mission statement, as you reflect on the team goals and objectives, develop a team mission statement for the team using the guidelines presented in this chapter (pp. 216-217).