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Managers may use several types of groups, including interactive groups, nominal groups, and Delphi
groups. As competitive pressures force today's organizations to shift toward forms of decision making that en-
courage creativity and sharing of diverse views, managers need to maximize the advantages of group decision-
making and overcome the disadvantages. Useful techniques include devil's advocate, multiple advocacy, and
brainstorming. These techniques can help managers and groups define problems and develop more creative so-
lutions.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. You are a busy partner in a legal firm, and an experienced secretary complains of continued headaches,
drowsiness, dry throat, and occasional spells of fatigue and flu. She tells you she believes air quality in the
building is bad and would like something done. How would you respond?
2. Why is decision making considered a fundamental part of management effectiveness?
3. Explain the difference between risk and ambiguity. How might decision making differ for each situa-
tion?
4. Analyze three decisions you made over the past six months. Which of these were programmed and
which were nonprogrammed?
5. Why are many decisions made by groups rather than by individuals?
6. The Vroom-Jago model describes five decision styles. How should a manager go about choosing which
style to use?
7. What are three types of decision-making groups? How might each be used to help managers make a de-
cision to market a product in a new geographical territory?
8. What is meant by satisfying and bounded rationality} Why do managers not strive to find the economi-
cally best solution for many organizational decisions?
9. What techniques could you use to improve your own creativity and effectiveness in decision-making?
10. Which of the six steps in the decision-making process do you think is most likely to be ignored by a
manager? Explain.
CULTURE/PEOPLE CHANGES
A culture/people change refers to a change in employees' values, norms, attitudes, beliefs, and behavior.
Changes in culture and people pertain to how employees think; these are changes in mindset rather than tech-
nology, structure, or products. People change pertains to just a few employees, such as when a handful of mid-
dle managers is sent to a training course to improve their leadership skills. Culture change pertains to the or-
ganization as a whole, such as when Union Pacific Railroad changed its basic mindset by becoming less bu-
reaucratic and focusing employee on customer service and quality through teamwork and employee participa-
tion. The Leading the Management Revolution box describes one company's innovative approach to culture
change. Training is the most frequently used tool for changing the organization's mindset. A company may of-
fer training programs to large blocks of employees on subjects such as teamwork, listening skills, quality cir-
cles, and participative management. Training programs will be discussed further in Chapter 13 on human re-
source management.
Another major approach to changing people and culture is organizational development. This has evolved as
a separate field that is devoted to large-scale organizational change.
ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Organizational development (OD) is the application of behavioral science knowledge to improve an or-
ganization's health and effectiveness through its ability to cope with environmental changes, improve internal
relationships, and increase problem-solving capabilities. Organization development improves working relation-
ships among employees. The following are three types of current problems that OD can help managers address.
1. Mergers/acquisitions. The disappointing financial results of many mergers and acquisitions are caused
by the failure of executives to determine whether the administrative style and corporate culture of the two com-
panies "fit." Executives may concentrate on potential synergies in technology, products, marketing, and control
systems but fail to recognize that two firms may have widely different values, beliefs, and practices. These differ-
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