Short Answer:
1. What is the goal in studying and applying organizational behavior concepts? Pick one of the four organizational behavior disciplines and use a brief example to describe how it relates to this goal
2. What factors determine whether teams are successful? Please briefly describe each factor.
3. Identify and define four of the seven key elements in the communication process. Give a specific example of a possible breakdown in a communication flow.
4. There are four forms of personal power. Please identify and explain any three of the four forms
5. Describe and illustrate with an example an advantage that face-to-face communication has over written communication. Describe and illustrate with an example an advantage that written communication has over face-to-face communication.
Essay Questions:
1. You are the manager of a business that cleans airliners. You are contracted by airlines to perform quick cleanups on planes between flights as well as more extensive cleanings while planes are parked overnight. The airline industry is facing financial pressures and these pressures have trickled down to you. The airlines are having their planes cleaned less often and, as a result, they are dirtier when they are cleaned. It also seems like passengers are increasingly likely to leave really gross stuff behind.
The work is difficult. Your employees have not received raises in some time, and it is likely that they won't receive raises in the near future. The employees, individually and as a group, are quite open about not liking their jobs. Your managers are placing pressure on you to make the employees more productive. You subscribe to the theory that workers who are more satisfied with their jobs are more productive. You cannot give the employees raises but you do have a very limited amount of discretionary funds. What can you do to increase the workers' level of job satisfaction? Provide five specific steps you could take.
2. You lead a team of marketing professionals. At a recent team meeting, Curtis and Andrea got into an argument in front of you and are no longer speaking to each other. Curtis came to you and complained that Andrea always tries to get all of the attention. Andrea came to you with that same complaint about Curtis after the argument. Recently, you and your entire team took the Life Styles Inventory (LSI). Andrea is Conventional while Curtis is Competitive. Your style is Humanistic-Encouraging. You plan to hold a meeting with the three of you. What four specific things will you cover and how will you approach each part of the communication differently based on the LSI results?
3. As a manager of people, it is inevitable that you will have to deal with conflict issues. In our studies, we have identified the need to resolve conflict when it is seen to be counter to the organization's goals, and in some cases, to stimulate conflict to arrive at organizational goals or increase performance. Select any two of the nine conflict-resolution techniques. Explain how each technique could be used to reduce or eliminate conflict. Provide an example scenario for each. (15 points for each technique with an example scenario) Select one of the four conflict-stimulation techniques. Explain how that technique could be used to improve a group's performance. Provide an example scenario.
4. Monica was recently promoted to the manager role for a large function in her organization that oversees global regulatory compliance for the company's products. Her prior department, Customer Complaints, is just one of the functional groups that provide input for her new department's charter. Monica is tasked with revising a set of complex processes to improve the quality and timeliness of regulatory reporting, and she has asked you for some recommendations about team format. Considering the numerous inputs and outputs of the affected processes and the global-reporting requirement, should Monica create a cross-functional team, a problem-solving team, a virtual team, or a hybrid? After careful analysis, write up a recommended team format and defend your reasons for the type of team Monica should establish.