Part I: Short Answer (40%)
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Directions
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| You have 8 short answer questions worth 5 points each. The short answer questions will come in
various forms such as: List three types of _____ ; Define and explain how three types of
_____ operate; Explain what is meant by ______ ; In the video/case what was meant by
_____? Accordingly, some answers will involve listing terms while other will require
describing terms or concepts in either a few sentences or short paragraphs. You should
also be able to apply them to videos and handouts discussed in class. In general, there
will not be much overlap between the essay questions and the short answer questions. |
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Terms/Concepts
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| Organizational culture |
Leadership |
| Creating and sustaining an
organization's culture |
Leadership trait theories |
| Ways employees learn an organization's
culture |
Leadership styles –situational leadership
theories |
| Motivation |
Transactional vs. transformational leaders |
| Maslow’s hierarchy of needs |
Functions of communication |
| McGregor’s Theory X and Y |
Directions of information flow |
| Hertzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory |
Ways to communicate information |
| Goal-setting theory |
Barriers to effective communication |
| Reinforcement theory |
Functional vs. dysfunctional conflict |
| Ways to motivate employees |
Internal &
external accountability mechanisms
(formal & informal) |
| Leadership vs. power |
Ethical obligations |
| Sources of power |
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Part II: Essay Questions (60%)
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Directions
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| You will have to answer two
of the questions below (30 points each). Each answer should clearly address all aspects of the question.
You should define all key terms/concepts used in your answer. You should also support your
answer using examples from books, lectures, class notes, videos, or handouts whenever
possible. |
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| 1) Write
an essay explaining why organizational culture is important to
organizations. In your essay, be sure to describe the following:
what are the different ways that organizational culture is established;
how do you sustain organizational culture; and, how do new employees learn
organizational culture. |
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| 2)
In the case “The Good and Bad Administrator”,
the workers were unhappy with their supervisor George Krittenbrink.
Describe Krittenbrink’s leadership style in
terms of the theories and concepts discussed in the readings and in class.
Is this style appropriate given the organization’s tasks?
If not, what leadership style would be more appropriate?
What sources of power does Krittenbrink have? Are there any sources of power that he needs to do his job
more effectively? |
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| 3) Identify two individuals from the cases or the
movies we saw who had power over others.
What are their different sources of power? How do these sources of power make them an effective manager?
How do these sources of power make them an effective leader?
Did they use their power effectively?
Why or why not? |
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| 4) In class we discussed three early theories (Maslow’s
Hierarchy of Needs, McGregor’s Theory X and Y, and Hertzberg’s
Motivation-Hygiene Theory) of what motivates individuals.
We also briefly discussed goal-setting theory and reinforcement
theory in class. Briefly
discuss 3 of the 5 theories and describe how each of them could be used to
explain what motivates your performance as a college student.
Which theory(s) do you feel is the most accurate portrayal of what
motivates your performance in PLS 308?
If you are not motivated to perform, why not?
How could these theories be used to describe your lack of
motivation. Make sure to
provide examples to support your answer. |
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| 5) Read the handout “Motivation at Bald Eagle
Software” and answer the following questions: a) How would you try to
improve Hank’s motivation and performance – be sure to provide
specific recommendations; b) Is Hank’s socialization with fellow
employees a problem that needs to be addressed?
Why or why not; c) What do you think of Martin’s quote in the
final paragraph of the handout? What appears to be Martin’s view of
effective management? Do you
agree with him? Why or why
not? You
can download the reading by clicking
here. |
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| 6) Read
the case titled Ann’s Dilemma. You
can download the reading by clicking
here. This is a two part question. Be sure to answer both a and
b. Suppose you are Ann and answer
the following questions: a) Write a memo to your boss, Harry Goetz, that
responds to his request. Be
sure to explain the rationale behind your decision; b) briefly explain the
competing ethical obligations that Ann faces, the options she has for
dealing with this situation, and some of the potential consequences of
these options. |
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7) Suppose
that you are a management consultant and an expert in leadership and
motivation (hopefully this assumption is not too much of a stretch).
A fairly new company, Widgets.Com, has been experiencing decreasing
performance and recently began experiencing high attrition rates.
This is an important problem.
Widgets shareholders are increasingly concerned about the firm’s
profit margins and declining performance figures.
Moreover, the high attrition is exacerbating performance problems
by increasing the firm’s recruitment and training costs. During exit interviews, workers reported poor job
satisfaction causing upper management to conclude that there are
motivation problems among the workers.
Since their workers are paid well above the industry average, upper
management is at a loss for understanding the cause(s) of the motivation
problems. During a recent
meeting of upper management, a brainstorming session produced a list of
“ideas” that could improve the motivation and job satisfaction of
Widget’s workers:
 | Sit
down with workers at least once a year to review their individual
performance and to set goals for the upcoming year.
If the employee meets his/her goals they get either a $500
bonus or the equivalent amount of vacation time. |
| Reward
each employee between $0 and $5,000 based on the results of their
annual performance evaluations. |
| Introduce
a new job-training program that allows workers to develop new skills
or take selected college courses at company expense. |
Evaluate
each option and discuss whether you would recommend its adoption.
What problems do you find with each proposal?
How might you modify these proposals to improve their
effectiveness? If you think
more information is needed before making a recommendation, what
information would you want to know? Your
critique of each proposal should consist of more than whether you
personally like or dislike the idea.
Instead, you should describe the extent that each proposal is
supported or contradicted by the motivation theories covered in the
readings. Be sure to discuss
all applicable motivation theories and comment on any contradictions that
you find.
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| 8) The readings, cases, class
discussion, and lecture notes all highlight the importance of effective
communication. It is also clear that there are numerous barriers to
effective communication. Describe five barriers to effective
communication described in the lecture notes and use specific examples
from the Waco case reading or video to provide examples of each barrier
(i.e., communication problem). |
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