CH-13-15 Motivating for Performance – Management: Leading and Collaborating in a Competitive World : Book Guide

This Document Contains Chapters 13 to 15 Chapter 13 Motivating for Performance DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. Think of a significant mistake made by someone on a job. How did the boss handle it, and what was the effect? While the mistakes described will differ, students should be able to come to the conclusion that when a boss punishes someone for making a mistake, motivation will go down, and the entire organization will become more fearful. The best method for correcting mistakes is usually to take the person aside and do so one-on-one. Public correction and punishment is embarrassing for others as well as the employee who made the mistake. If the boss handles the mistake as a learning opportunity, motivation is likely to improve. 2. It is difficult for managers to empower their people successfully, in part because the process is not simple but complex. Discuss in depth. Empowering workers refers to sharing power with employees and enhancing their belief that they are influential contributors to the organization. An empowering work environment allows employees to participate in decision-making, design their jobs to have greater freedom, participate in setting their own goals and take responsibility for their work. Perhaps the greatest reason many managers find it difficult to empower their employees is that it involves giving up control and perhaps relinquishing a parental supervisory style. This change may be a challenge since many organizations were created with a somewhat hierarchical structure and top-down management. Effective managers shift their style to give employees more freedom as they demonstrate greater knowledge, skills, and commitment to do a good job. Just as parents must gradually give their children more freedom, good managers are committed to doing the same. In many cases, a manager’s performance is tied to the performance of his or her workers. This can create the tendency or desire to closely monitor worker behavior or control decision-making. In addition, workers often look to managers for guidance and approval; it is then up to the manager to continuously provide workers with information and power to make their own decisions. 3. Think of a job you hold or held in the past. How would you describe the psychological contract? How does (did) this affect your attitudes and behaviors on the job? It may be useful to remind students to reflect on hidden expectations that they have regarding the relationship with their employer when considering this question. The psychological contract refers to the set of perceptions about what an employee owes an employer and what their employers owe them. The extent to which employees view this contract as being upheld or violated impacts their motivation and satisfaction. As stated in the text, people will assess fairness by comparing their contributions to the benefits promised and provided by the organization. When this ratio is perceived as inequitable, employees are motivated to restore equity by doing certain behaviors such as performing at lower levels. Employees may also restore equity perceptually by shifting their expectations of the psychological contract and deciding that the ratio is fair after all. For example, some students may describe jobs where they expected long-term job security or a certain level of salary increase based on merit. If either of these expectations were violated, students might have perceived this as unfair and been motivated to restore equity by reducing effort or quitting the organization. On the other hand, some students may have observed that in an era of downsizing and increased competition, few organizations can provide long-term job security and guaranteed bonuses. Based on this observation, students may have decided that their employment relationship was indeed fair and satisfying. 4. If a famous executive or sports figure were to give a passionate motivational speech, trying to persuade people to work harder, what do you think the impact would be? Why? Great speeches by someone outside of the organization probably will not make much impact. Some members of the audience – especially those with a very high opinion of the famous executive – might be motivated to work harder for a short while. However, the majority would probably clap loudly at the end…and continue to work at their established pace. There would be a tendency to consider the speech in an abstract context (wonderful idea but…) rather than seeing it applied to the individual’s day-to-day problems. In any case, the speech will probably have only short-term, influence on people’s behavior. 5. Give some examples of situations in which you wanted to do a great job but were prevented from doing so. What was the impact on you, and what would this teach you as you try to motivate other people to perform? It may be helpful to have students begin their answers to this question by thinking back to specific situations and then generating a list of the factors that prevented them from doing a good job. This listing may include: Insufficient time – either too little time allowed for the task or poor time management. Lack of clarity as to the assignment – it was never totally clear what was expected. Lack of flexibility – being told exactly what to do so that the task involved very little creativity. Lack of commitment on the part of others involved in the project – leading to inadequate support. Poor performance on the part of others – either they failed to provide their inputs on time, or the quality of their work was inadequate. Lack of positive reinforcement – nobody, commented on the task or provided any feedback. Lack of proper resources – you can only accomplish as much as your tools will allow within the time allotted. Each of these factors has likely caused some students to lose motivation and become frustrated with the project…and each will suggest an obvious step to be taken if one is trying to motivate others to perform. For example, you give very clear instructions as to the objective of the task and yet allow for contributions from the other members of the team. You clearly explain how the task should be done and yet allow the team members some flexibility in doing the task. 6. Discuss the similarities and differences between setting goals for other people and setting goals for yourself. When does goal setting fail, and when does it succeed? The process of establishing goals for other people and setting them for yourself is, or should be, very similar. The goals obviously have to be acceptable to the individual, challenging but attainable, and specific, quantifiable, and measurable. However, it is often far more difficult to set goals for oneself than it is for others since there is a far greater emotional element. One also tends to take into consideration a far wider range of factors when engaged in personal planning. For example, you can tell a subordinate to have his or her part of the project completed by the end of the week. However, personally, you know that other factors are going to have an impact on your ability to complete your segment by the same date (such as the meeting Tuesday morning that may run all day, the need to interview three people by the end of the week, etc.) Measurement of success is a personal judgment. One person may perceive something as a success, and yet another see the same result as a failure. However, for the purpose of this question, it may be appropriate to define successful goal setting as being when the desired task is well done by the established deadline. In general, as indicated above, it means that the goal was an acceptable one to the individual, challenging but attainable, and was specific, quantifiable, and measurable. Goal setting fails when one of these criteria is not met. For example, a sales goal for swimwear may meet all the criteria but not be attainable due to very bad weather. 7. Identify four examples of people inadvertently reinforcing the wrong behaviors or punishing or extinguishing good behaviors. Some examples of reinforcing the wrong behaviors: Telling a salesperson that he or she will be fired if a specific sales level is not met – this can lead to illegal activities in an attempt to meet the goal. Instructing a foreman to increase the percentage of parts shipped – thus motivating him or her to allow sub-standard parts to be shipped rather than focusing on the cause of the problem. Some examples of punishing or extinguishing good behavior: Punishing a worker for not coming to work when sick – which may cause the worker to turn up when ill and pass the illness on to coworkers. Rewarding a salesperson on the basis of the percentage increase rather than on total sales, which may demotivate the high dollar producers. 8. Assess yourself on McClelland’s three needs. On which needs are you highest, and on which are you lowest? What are the implications for you as a manager? McClelland’s three needs are achievement, affiliation, and power (either personalized or socialized), and students will undoubtedly have very different needs. Have students write each of these needs on a piece of paper and then score themselves from 1-10. Discuss the impact that each need can have on how a manager behaves and the outcomes they might achieve as a result. The text points out that American managers who have a high need for achievement, a low need for affiliation, and a low need for power may have to either rethink whether or not they want to be managers. If they do, they will have to consider how they can get the training and experience that would help them develop the appropriate characteristics. 9. Identify a job you have worked and appraise it on Hackman and Oldham’s five core job dimensions. Also describe the degree to which it made you feel empowered. As a class, choose one job and discuss together how it could be changed to be more motivating and empowering. Hackman and Oldham’s five core job dimensions are (1) skill variety, (2) task identity (the completion of the whole), (3) task significance (how important it is), (4) autonomy, and (5) feedback (the extent to which there is positive feedback on individual performance). Students should be able to identify a job that they have had which can be evaluated against these dimensions…and also answer whether or not they felt empowered. Did the job enhance their confidence in their ability to perform? They should also be asked to state whether or not they enjoyed the job to see whether or not there is a correlation between enjoyment and empowerment. The class should select a job that was evaluated as “low” on the majority of the dimensions…and then explore whether or not it would be possible to make it more motivating and empowering. The question that might well be asked is whether or not it is possible to dramatically change highly repetitive, relatively unimportant jobs. 10. Using expectancy theory, analyze how you have made and will make personal choices, such as a major area of study, a career to pursue, or job interviews to seek. According to expectancy theory, the person’s work efforts lead to some level of performance. Students who hate mathematics and feel that they are bad in this subject area will probably avoid a major area of study that has an extensive mathematical component. They would not expect to do well. By contrast, students who enjoyed this subject would expect to obtain good grades. The same is true with regard to a career to pursue. Students will naturally gravitate to those areas that they enjoy and in which they feel they can do well. As far as seeking out job interviews, some students may feel that any interview starts the relationship with the organization and that they have little to lose by scheduling a large number of interviews. Others may select to interview only those companies that are in industries in which they have an interest since they may feel that only in these interviews will they do well. They may see no reason to expend any effort if their performance is unlikely to be rewarded by a position. 11. Describe a time that you felt unfairly treated and why. How did you respond to the inequity? What other options might you have had? Again, students will have individual responses such as getting a parking ticket when they were late a few minutes, a grade that they felt was unfair, or not winning a position on a team or group. Most will have responded immediately with a show of annoyance and disappointment and, quite possibly, by the use of a well-chosen phrase. However, students will differ in how they subsequently handled the situation. Some students will be able to accept the treatment as something best forgotten—one of life’s little annoyances and go on to other things. Others will try to change the event (such as getting the parking ticket waived or the grade changed). And yet others will take the inequity as a spur or encouragement to do better in the future. 12. Provide examples of how outcomes perceived as unfair can decrease motivation. Then discuss how procedural justice, or fair process, can help overcome the negative effects. Student answers to this question may vary. Students may cite work experiences in which they were treated unfairly. For instance, students may discuss how they were passed over for a promotion, even when they were the right people for the job. They may express hostility toward management and tend not to work to full capacity. They may feel that their hard efforts in the past were not properly rewarded. In order to eliminate having employees feel like they have been treated unfavorably, managers should provide procedural justice. This involves using fair process in the decision-making and making sure others know that the process was as fair as possible. Even if people believe that their outcome was inequitable and unfair, they are more likely to view justice as having been served if the process were fair. If the manager explains how she went about making the decision, and the logic behind the decision, and if the decision was made in an unbiased way, it is more likely to be understood and accepted. Negative effects can be avoided. 13. Describe what you expect of your psychological contract with your employer after your graduation. How will you deal if it doesn’t make your expectations? The employment relationship has changed dramatically over the past decade. Students may view the new psychological contracts as unstable and feel that there are no guarantees. Formally, employment relationships were characterized by loyalty in exchange for secure employment. Downsizings and mergers have shaped the psychological contract into a more active, ongoing renegotiation requiring both employees and employers to be adaptable. More and more employers are expecting employees to develop their skills, learn continuously and apply those skills to help the organization succeed. In exchange, employers are competing for competent, motivated, skilled employees by offering them challenging work and fair compensation. Students should consciously and actively manage their own careers by developing marketable skills and seeking employment that provides training and opportunities that challenge them. 14. Set some goals for yourself, considering the discussion about goal setting in the chapter. The goals set by students will vary, but check them to be sure they are all specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound (SMART.) Many students will write “goals” based on activities, such as “Study harder,” when they should be setting goals based on outcomes, such as “Read two chapters in the textbook by 10pm on Tuesday.” Writing action plans for achieving the goal (Step #4 in Exercise 13.2) can also help to clarify goals. EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISES EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE 13.1 - ASSESSING YOURSELF Purpose: To help the reader to think about current and preferred ways of clarifying values and setting goals. Time: 15 minutes (on own or in group setting/class) Resources/Set-Up: None required other than the exercise in the chapter. Activity Instructions: Encourage participants to take this seriously and to complete the exercise in a quiet place before reading the chapter. Bring in to class and discuss in pairs or in small groups, after you cover the material in the chapter on goal setting. The Instructor can also facilitate a large group discussion about the results. Discussion/Debrief: Ask participants questions such as: •In what areas are you particularly strong? •In what areas is there room for improvement? •What are some obstacles you see in becoming more effective at clarifying values and setting goals? •What are some ideas you have (for yourself or others) about improving your/their capacity for goal setting? •What can you as a (student; employee, parent, other (specify) do to improve your capability as a goal setter? •What kind of feedback can you solicit from others to help you meet your goals? •Can you give us an example of someone from your personal or work life [or a character in a novel or play or on TV or in a movie) who you think is good at setting goals? Someone who has overcome personal limitations and improved themselves in a major way? EXERCISE 13.2 - PERSONAL GOAL SETTING Purpose: To allow participants to begin the goal setting process Time: 30 minutes if all goals are written out prior to class 10 minutes if students work on a goal or two (in class) Resources/Set-up: None required other than this exercise which is in the chapter. Encourage participants to take time to do this in a quiet spot where they can be reflective and focus on their short- and long-term goals. Activity Instructions: 1. In the space provided, participants brainstorm their current, mid-term, and long-term goals in the various categories. In this phase, they can be creative and idealistic rather than realistic and pragmatic. (Participants can add or delete categories as they wish.) Note that if you are doing this exercise in class, and time is a concern, you can have students pick two or three goal areas that mean a lot to them, and just work on those goals. Participants then select from each of the six categories the two to three most important goals they would like to pursue in the short-term (next 6-12 months). In this phase, they should be more realistic and pragmatic. (Skip this step if you are doing the exercise in class.) 2. From the twelve to eighteen goals listed participants should choose the three that are the most important to them at this time. They should write a goal statement for each one. (Make the point that goal-setting success is best attained when pursuing only 2-3 at a time). At this point, you might want to say a few goal statements out loud to give the participants an idea of effective goal statements. 3. On a separate sheet of paper, or using the grid in the previous exercise, they should develop an action plan for each goal statement. 4. Participants should transfer the dates of each step for each goal in their action plan to a daily calendar. 5. They should be encouraged to keep an ongoing daily or weekly record of the positive steps they take towards meeting each goal. Discussion/Debrief: 1. After allowing ample time to flesh out the three goals (ensuring they are SMART), ask students to pair up with someone they feel they comfortable within the class, or place them in small groups. 2. Taking turns, each student should explain their goals and how they intend to achieve them. Next, they should ask for feedback. The partner or group may have suggestions for resources or other strategies for achieving the goals. They may also have a sense if the goal is too optimistic or not specific enough. 3. Repeat the process with the partner or members of the group. Encourage participants to change their goals after receiving feedback from their partners or small group members. 4. Encourage the participants to write the dates and steps involved in their action plans in their personal planning calendars, and to discuss their progress with a friend or with their partner or group members. 5. The Instructor might make a point of referring back to these goals in a week or two, as a reminder to participants. Group Discussion Questions: 1. What are some examples of goals being committed to by members of your group (without mentioning names) and what were some of the strategies offered by the group for attaining these goals? 2. What are some of the obstacles that might stand in the way and what were some ideas (posed by the group) for overcoming these? 3. Point out that goal setting can help "ground" participants—especially in times of stress, it helps to know where you're headed! EXERCISE 13.3 - WHAT DO STUDENTS WANT FROM THEIR JOBS? Objectives 1. To demonstrate individual differences in job expectations. 2. To illustrate individual differences in needs and motivational structures. 3. To examine and compare intrinsic rewards. Suggested responses While students’ responses will vary, many will suggest intrinsic motivating factors. Intrinsic motivating factors should be present in a working environment.
1. Advancement opportunities 5
2. Appropriate company policies 5
3. Authority 4
4. Autonomy and freedom on the job 5
5. Challenging work 5
6. Company reputation 5
7. Fringe benefits 5
8. Geographic location 4
9. Good co-workers 5
10. Good supervision 5
11 Job security 5
12 Money 5
13 Opportunity for self-development 5
14 Pleasant office and working conditions 5
15 Performance feedback 5
16 Prestigious job title 4
17 Recognition for doing a good job 5
18 Responsibility 5
19 Sense of achievement 5
20 Training programs 5
21 Type of work 5
22 Working with people 5
Suggested Responses to Discussion Questions 1. Which job rewards are extrinsic, and which are intrinsic? Jobs that offer extrinsic rewards would include a sales commission job and a piece-rate job that would pay the employee on the amount he or she produced. There are group incentives that could pay employees based on the team output or some other variable that could be measured (example, quality of work produced.) Intrinsic jobs are those that will give special recognition for individual or team achievement. 2. Were more response differences found in intrinsic or in extrinsic rewards? This response will vary based on the class perception. 3. In what ways do you think blue-collar workers’ responses would differ from those of college students? Blue-collar worker responses will differ from college student responses in several ways. Blue-collar employees would probably need extrinsic rewards or financial incentives to be highly motivated. College students are motivated because of intrinsic rewards and secondarily, possibly, extrinsic rewards. Teaching Tips 1. Students may need some help distinguishing intrinsic from extrinsic rewards, so the instructor might present a mini-lecture on the subject before the exercise begins. 2. If students have been working in groups throughout the term, ask them to predict what the highest motivator will be for each of the members of their group prior to completing the exercise. Then have them compare the results of the exercise with their predictions. CONCLUDING CASE Big Bison Resorts: Finding the Key to What Employees Value Case Summary: CEO Janette Briggs calls Frank Schuman, V.P. of Human Resources to her office where he finds her engaged in conversation with Pedro Gutierrez, head of operations, and Marlys Higgenbotham, CFO, about her experiences on the reality TV show Executive in Disguise. Janette announces that she is having second thoughts about rolling out the employee of the month program. After spending time with employees in some of the resort facilities, she was amazed at their high level of teamwork, planning, and pride in their work. She turns to Frank and asks what they should “really be doing” as the top managers to motivate their employees. Franks responds in an interesting way. He says” Maybe what we don’t want to do is decide what will make their jobs better. What I mean is that we need to listen before we decide.” Chapter Topics Related to the Case: •Discuss the concept of motivation. •Define ways to create jobs that motivate. •List principles for setting goals that motivate employees. •Discuss the impact of needs on motivation. •Summarize how to reward good performance effectively. •Discuss ways in which people’s individual needs affect their behavior. •Identify causes and consequences of a satisfied workforce. Case Discussion Questions: 1. What kinds of behavior would an Employee of the Month program, as described here, reinforce at Big Bison Resorts? How might the company apply the principles of reinforcement more effectively? Suggested Response: The program would reinforce “model” behaviors by employees that lead to the betterment of the organization through management-type thinking. This includes not just pleasing customers, but also reducing costs. However, the reinforcement is mostly intrinsic, with one or two minor extrinsic parts (i.e., parking space). The organization needs to find a better way to motivate individuals, and this may include some sort of profit-sharing or stock options so employees can enjoy the success of the organization in terms of equity. 2. How might Big Bison Resorts get input from employees to make the company’s jobs more motivating? What impact would this effort have on the company’s performance? Suggested Response: The company might offer rewards for providing useful feedback. Every good idea that Bison Resorts is able to implement will likely save them money or help them become more productive and make more money. These are the things that management should be rewarding. When employees begin to see that they can actually make a difference and improve the company by their input, the managers will see new levels of collaboration, teamwork, and pride in the organization. Additional Discussion Questions: 3. How would Big Bison’s employees perceive the equity of the Employee of the Month program? Compare their reactions to that program with the response you would expect from an effort to involve employees in improving their jobs. Suggested Response: The Employee of the Month program seems very intrinsic compared to an extrinsically-motivating effort to involve employees in improving their jobs, which may be a monetary reward. This may lead to the employees viewing the Employee of the Month program as unappealing. It may be better to reorganize the program for employee of the month in order to attract employees and foster greater motivation. 4. Think about a previous job you have held or hold currently. If you had the power to make such decisions, what would you do to make the job more motivating for employees? Suggested Response: Answers will vary based on student experiences. Chapter 14 Teamwork DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. Why do you think some people resist the idea of working in teams? How would you deal with their resistance? Being asked to work as a member of a team introduces a degree of uncertainty and change, and this generally makes people uncomfortable. There is also a perception that (a) it will involve more time than if they work alone, (b) they will have to coordinate with others, and (c) they will be subject to guidance and leadership from others. Many individuals prefer to be controlling their own pace and direction…and they will have to give up some of this control as part of a team. Resistance to working in a team can be overcome, to some degree, by establishing a specific time frame for the task, assigning clear responsibilities to each individual, and making sure that each individual feels comfortable with his or her role. These steps will make the reluctant individual appreciate that the project will not last indefinitely, that involvement will not be in a poorly organized project, and that he or she will be able to play a clearly defined role. 2. Consider a job you have held to. To what extent did you work in teams, and how effective was the teamwork? What affected the effectiveness? Student answers will vary, but it is important to note what affected how effective the teams were. Horror stories about bad experiences on teams and the outcomes of that would help with class discussions. 3. Experts say that teams are a means, not an end. What do you think they mean? What do you think happens in a company that creates teams just for the sake of having teams because it’s a fad or because it sounds good? How can this pitfall be avoided? Teams are a means of getting things done, not an end result of a company’s strategy. Just having teams in a company will not lead to having teams with productive goals that will allow for an increase in team effectiveness. It is important to assemble teams as needed and with a specific mandate in order to avoid this issue. 4. Choose a sports team with which you are familiar. Assess its effectiveness and discuss the factors, which contribute to its level of effectiveness. Consideration of this question may be helped by two specific questions: Why do some sports teams seem to do well over a number of years and others never seem to improve much? Second, why do some teams with superstars do poorly while those without a star player do well? The key word in this question is “team.” In individual sports, success is a matter of the person’s skills, training, desire, etc. In a team sport, these factors are still important, however, equally (if not more) important is the way these skills are brought together. The key to success in a team environment is whether or not the team functions as a single entity or if it is just a collection of skilled individuals. In order for a team to function together, they must share a common goal and a commitment to work together to achieve it. 5. Assess effectiveness, as in Question 4, of a student group with which you have been affiliated. Could anything have been done to make it more effective? Answering this question needs a systematic approach. First, what was the task or objective of the student group? (What was it trying to do?) Second, how was it organized? Were tasks clearly assigned to members of the group? Was a time frame established for each individual task? And did all the group members see how their responsibilities fitted in with the whole? Finally, was there follow-up and effective communication throughout the activity? 6. Consider the various roles that members have to perform for a team to be effective. Which roles would play to your strengths and which to your weaknesses? How can you become a better team member? As the text points out, team members can play a number of different roles. Individuals who have more job-related skills and abilities than other team members fill task specialist roles. Thus they tend to have greater decision-making responsibilities and provide instructions and advice designed to keep the group moving forward towards the accomplishment of its task. By contrast, group maintenance specialists provide the glue that holds the team together. They tend to have better interpersonal skills and are often seen as the individuals who develop and maintain harmony within the team. They tend to be more concerned with the feeling and satisfaction of team members and help keep the team focused on the big picture. 7. Discuss personal examples of virtual conflict and how they were managed, well or poorly. One example of “virtual conflict” occurred in a team devoted to advancing Civil Rights within a government organization. Some team members felt that their input was not being acknowledged or accepted, and as a result, they withdrew from the team. This decreased diversity in the very team that was trying to increase diversity within the organization. The situation was not addressed directly (the manager used avoidance to deal with the situation), and, as a result, the conflict grew until finally the team was disbanded altogether. 8. What do you think are your own most commonly used approaches to handling conflict? Least common? What can you do to expand your repertoire and become more effective at conflict management? People use different approaches to handling conflict depending upon whether or not they themselves enjoy conflict or prefer to avoid it. Some people really enjoy the tension and anxieties created by a conflict and thus tend to “fuel the fire.” They clearly see conflict as a positive force. Others are made uncomfortable by conflict and see it as unproductive. In fact, some individuals will go as far as to avoid conflict altogether. Even those that don’t like conflict, but are unwilling (or unable) to walk away from it, may try to merely smooth over the situation or de-emphasize the disagreement. This, again, is a form of avoidance. A better approach is to try to clarify the perspectives of the different parties and then aim to eliminate the differences or reach a compromise that, hopefully, satisfies the various parties. Another approach used by many managers is to solicit the various points of view and then reach a conclusion independent of the other parties. This has the advantage of enabling the team or group to move forward with a clear plan of action. The disadvantages are that the involved parties are not involved in the decision, and thus there may be a lack or a loss of commitment and support. Furthermore, the course of action selected may satisfy none of the team members. 9. Generate some real examples of how superordinate goals have helped to resolve a conflict. Identify some current conflicts and provide some specific ideas for how superordinate goals could be used to help. A superordinate goal is a “higher-level goal” towards which all teams need to strive. It is a goal that ultimately takes precedence over the preferences of the individual teams. As stated in the text, invoking superordinate goals is often an effective way of reaching a decision when teams each have valid yet conflicting points of view. Students may generate examples of conflict (such as an argument involving a group of friends) in which some individuals want to do one thing, and others want to do something very different. The superordinate goal of doing something together and having fun may well result in the two groups reaching a mutually acceptable solution. Politics is another area in which examples of the importance and use of superordinate goals may be found. For example, the major parties have very different plans for welfare reform, health reform, and balancing the budget. However, their differences may be subordinated to a perceived overall superordinate goal or need for adopting some form of program. 10. Have you ever been part of a group that was self-managed? What was good about it, and what not so good? Why do many managers resist this idea? Why do some people love the idea of being a member of such a team, while others don’t? Student responses will vary. While a group that was self-managed may have enjoyed a high degree of job satisfaction and would likely experience a high degree of job performance. Self-managed teams are popular, especially where the team can enjoy synergy as a result of their work environment. The reason it may not be a good idea is traditional management thinking would have the perception, the loss of power, responsibility, and authority. People would likely experience a high degree of satisfaction because one is now a part of a self-managed team. People having a difference of self-managed teams that do not work could be based on the type of work or the work environment and philosophy of management. 11. How might self-managed teams operate differently in different cultures? What are the advantages, disadvantages, and implications of homogeneous versus highly diverse self-managed teams? The trend today is toward self-managed teams, in which workers are trained to do all or most of the jobs in the unit, they have no immediate supervisor, and they make decision s previously made by first-line supervisors. Self-managed teams are most frequently found in manufacturing. People often resist self-managed work teams, in part because they don’t want so much responsibility and the change is difficult. But compared to traditionally managed teams, self-managed teams appear to be more productive, have lower costs, provide better customer service, provide higher quality, have better safety records, and are more satisfying for members. Different cultures may place more emphasis on different aspects of self-managed teams. Customizing implementation of self-managed teams according to cultural values according to how each culture responds is an important EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISES EXERCISE 14.1 – STUDENT PROJECT GROUP PROCESSES Objective To explore how students’ project groups develop through various processes. Instructions Think about the last time you were assigned to a student group to complete a course-related project. Next, write down how your group experienced (if at all) each of the four processes of group development: forming, storming, norming, and performing. The instructor assigns students into groups of three and asks team members to share their answers with one another. Student Project Group Processes Worksheet EXERCISE 14.2 – WHICH STYLE OF CONFLICT RESOLUTION WOULD YOU USE? Objective To explore which conflict styles students would use in a variety of workplace scenarios. Instructions Read each of the following workplace scenarios. Next, choose the conflict style being used by the individual in the scenario. Describe why you think the conflict style will (or will not) help resolve the situation. Conflict Styles (see page ____ for definitions): Avoidance Accommodation Compromise Competing Collaboration Conflict Style Worksheet Scenario #1: While at work, Maria and her co-worker notice that a laptop is missing from an employee’s cubicle (note: the employee is on vacation). Maria’s first impulse is to report the missing laptop to the manager. However, her co-worker thinks there may be an innocent reason for the missing laptop. He wants Maria to join him in speaking with employees who are in the office. Maria agrees to team up with her co-worker but insists that if after one hour they haven’t found the missing laptop, they would inform the manager. Maria is using the ________________________ conflict style. To what degree will this style help (or not help) resolve the situation? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Scenario #2: Assume Paul is waiting to hear from her boss whether she is finally going to receive the promotion that she has been promised. Paul’s boss just found out that the budget for the new position for which Paul was slotted has been cut. Consequently, he will not receive the promotion. His boss thinks she can get Paul a job transfer and promotion in another division in the company. She needs a few days to make it happen and doesn’t want to discuss the situation with Paul until it is a done deal. Paul’s boss intends to keep him busy with projects over the next few days until she finds out whether Paul receives the alternate promotion. Paul’s boss is using the ________________________ conflict style until she hears back from her contact in the other division. To what degree will this style help (or not help) resolve the situation? ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ CONCLUDING CASE Excel Pro Drilling Systems Case Summary: Excel Pro Drilling Systems sells drilling equipment around the world from factories in Brazil, China, Czechoslovakia, India, and South Africa. It is profitable but under pressure to improve its impact on the environment. The company’s executives created an Excel Pro Green Team, with members from each of its locations including employees from engineering, production, and finance. At monthly videoconferences, the team members are supposed to offer ideas and plan initiatives. However, conflict has arisen at the first meetings, and the team has so far been unproductive. The executives have come up with a rewards program to motivate better team performance. Chapter Topics Related to the Case: Describe how a team such as the Excel Pro Green Team can benefit the company Discuss how a diverse group of employees can become a true team Identify methods Excel Pro could engage to help build an effective team Discuss the concept of intergroup conflict Identify and recommend methods to manage group/team conflict Case Discussion Questions: 1. What went wrong in the formation of the Green Team? What should Excel Pro have done differently? Suggested Response: Excel Pro formed the team without a formal leader, goals, or procedures, leaving the team members to create these. Some members focused on the need for these, while others jumped into work on the team’s tasks, as they interpreted the tasks. Excel Pro should have established the ground rules when it formed the team or made someone responsible for facilitating the process of defining specific goals, and timelines, and roles and deciding on how the team would meet. In addition, the Green Team’s members need training on how to be effective contributors to a virtual, cross-functional team. 2. What conditions contribute to this team’s cohesiveness? What reduces cohesiveness? Suggested Response: The team members share an interest in the topic of environmental sustainability, and they all have English-language ability, despite being from different countries. The team is a little large for discussions but perhaps small enough that all members will feel like large contributors. The team members share a challenge of improving the company’s reputation, which has been called into question. Other factors reduce cohesiveness. The team members come from different national cultures and time zones. The company has not done much to help the team succeed, and the confusion about what to do interferes with the sense of common purpose. It is unclear how team performance will be measured and rewarded. And when conflict arose, the executives offered a reward system without any apparent effort to understand the source of the conflict. 3. What do you think of the points plan? How should Excel Pro’s management help the Green Team manage its conflict? Suggested Response: A four-stage strategy is often successful for mediating conflict: investigate the conflict, decide how to resolve the dispute, take action by explaining the decision and advice on how to avoid the conflict in the future, and follow-up by monitoring the results and making sure everyone understands the solution. If the executives investigate the conflict, they will likely see that the problem is less a lack of rewards than the lack of a plan. The executives can follow the mediation steps by creating a plan for the team to follow. However, to restore the initial enthusiasm of the teams’ participants, it would be helpful to adopt a strategy of collaboration and have a facilitator or team leader work with the team members to devise a mutually acceptable way for the team to hold its meetings, define its processes and objectives, and measure progress. In addition, the reliance on technology to bring together geographically dispersed participants is probably contributing to the level of conflict. The company could reduce the conflict by bringing participants together in one location early in this process. After establishing greater cohesiveness and clarity, the team can hold most of its meetings as videoconferences. Chapter 15 Communicating DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. Think of an occasion when you faced a miscommunication problem. What do you think caused the problem? How do you think it should have been handled better? Communication is the transmission of information and meaning from one party to another, and miscommunications can occur in all stages of the process ranging from sender and receiver error to noise and inadequate feedback. Sender error – The sender encodes the message incorrectly. He or she knows what message is intended but doesn’t use the right words or uses an inappropriate form of transmission. Receiver error – The receiver receives the message (so communication did occur) but decodes it incorrectly. For example, he or she may read the memo and not understand it or may filter the message through personal biases and interpret it incorrectly. Noise – The reception of the message may be interfered with by surrounding noise (such as the TV set, a barking dog, a dripping faucet, or a group of loud friends). Feedback – There may be no feedback at all, or the feedback may not give any indication that miscommunication has occurred. Most miscommunications can be avoided by the sender ensuring that the message is correctly encoded and transmitted in an appropriate and relatively noise-free manner to the receiver…and that the sender receives feedback that demonstrates that the receiver fully understands the communication. The sender can request a response from the receiver, or the receiver might summarize what they are “hearing.” If the sharing of information is essential to achieve a specific goal or objective, it may be necessary to base the compensation of the two parties on the result of their job efforts. In this way, they will see the impact of failing to share the required information. 2. Have you ever not given someone information or opinions that perhaps you should have? Why? Was it the right thing to do? Why or why not? What would cause you to be glad that you provided (or withheld) negative or difficult information? What would cause you to regret providing/withholding it? Student responses will vary. However, there are times one should not communicate openly because his or her opinion may be from a different culture that could offend someone else. Sometimes the least said is truly the better form of communication. Students must be aware, and they must consider the non-verbal communication form. The right thing to do is to understand the receiver of such communication and the meaning of the communication that will be interpreted before anything is said or expressed non-verbally. One could be glad to withhold negative or difficult communication because it would not offend the receiver of such communication. One must understand the risk associated with the communication richness to offend or attack someone else because they may take this information in a personal sense. Communication of this type should be issue-oriented and not taken to attack the personality of the receiver. One may regret withholding communication because the receiver did not benefit or know the result of such information. Information should be communicated if it is important and if the benefits outweigh the costs of providing this form of communication. On the other hand, not all of your opinions may be worth sharing, or they may not prove beneficial. Other times, we might benefit from some thinking time prior to responding. If communication is making the problem worse, taking time to pause and reflect may prove more useful than providing more immediate communication. 3. Think back to discussions you have heard or participated in. Consider the differences between one-way and two-way communication. How can two one-ways be turned into a true two-way? Two one-way discussions are people talking at each other, but not listening and responding to the points made. In order to make a true two-way discussion, individuals need to send messages that receivers receive and are able to send messages back in response to the initial message. Otherwise, it will just be senders sending their own messages and potential receivers sending their own as well. 4. Share with the class some of your experiences—both good and bad—with digital media. Electronic media can involve written communications (e-mail and fax machines) and verbal communications (teleconferencing and video conferencing). The advantages are generally that of speed and efficiency in delivering messages to a large number of people across vast geographic areas. They lead people to interact more frequently and, while e-mail and fax machines provide a written record of the communication, teleconferencing and videoconferencing provide immediate contact and feedback. The disadvantages include the difficulty of solving complex problems (which require more extended, face-to-face, interaction) and the challenge people have in picking up subtle, nonverbal, or inflectional clues about what the communicator is thinking. Readers tend to take any possible negative comments to a greater extreme than they were intended. There is another disadvantage, which is of growing concern, and that is the security issue. Communications, using any form of electronic media, are susceptible to interception and misuse. 5. Report examples of mixed signals you have received (or sent). How can you reduce the potential for misunderstanding and misperception as you communicate with others? Many students will be able to provide examples—both from their business experiences and personal lives – of situations in which they either received mixed signals or were guilty of sending them. The comment “drop in when you are in the neighborhood” is often found to be a mixed signal. Visitors often find that it was not an open-ended invitation so much as a general interest in getting together at a mutually convenient time. Telling somebody that you “love the dessert” may result in it being provided for every visit when the visitor was merely being polite. A number of steps can be taken to reduce the potential for misunderstanding and misconceptions. In both verbal and written communications, the key step is to make sure that it says exactly what you want to say. Having a friend or colleague act as a “sounding board” can be a useful step. Analyzing the communication and deciding exactly what you want to occur as a result can be another effective step. How do you want the receiver to respond to the communication? Do you want the receiver to be enthusiastic or indifferent? Emotional or passive? Do you want the receiver to merely be aware of something or do you want action taken? Equally importantly, you need to make sure that the mode of communication is consistent with the objectives. For example, if you are going to fire somebody, a face-to-face meeting is far more appropriate than a telephone call since it allows for greater personal interaction. Firing somebody by letter or fax machine is very cold and impersonal. However, even that is better than having somebody else call the individual and leaving a message on his or her answering machine (a true example). 6. What makes you want to say to someone, “You’re not listening”? This phrase can be used in a number of situations if the other person doesn’t respond at all to your question or statement or if his or her comment bears absolutely no relationship to your previous statement, you might well say, “You’re not listening!” However, good manners might suggest that you repeat your previous communication. A more common usage of the phrase is when something has been explained a number of times, and the response of the other party indicates that the message is still not understood. Here the meaning is that the other party is not listening carefully enough and is failing to pick up on key clues in the conversation. 7. What do you think about the practice of open-book management? What would you think about it if you were running your own company? Open-book management is the concept of allowing all personnel within a company to have access to any information…especially financial information. In its ultimate form, employees are taught to understand revenues and costs, productivity, and strategic priorities. The advantage of this practice is that it creates an environment of honesty and openness that many firms believe leads to greater motivation and productivity. If people really understand the company’s situation, then they will appreciate their roles and their importance in its success. The disadvantage of this practice is that your competitors can very readily find out everything that they want to know about your company while you know nothing about their operations and plans. This might give them a substantial competitive advantage. Furthermore, providing employees with unlimited information on the company’s financial situation and plans may well lead to employee dissatisfaction over compensation, career opportunities, etc. The firm may decide that it has had a very good year and thus can afford to invest in new equipment, the hiring of a consultant, etc. The employees, by contrast, might prefer that the profitability be reflected in their compensation. Similarly, knowing that the company is going to discontinue a specific business may make those individuals in that business area very dissatisfied. From a managerial perspective, students will probably be split on whether or not open-book management is a good idea. However, most will probably indicate that they would prefer to work for such a firm. 8. Discuss organizational rumors you have heard: what they were about, how they got started, how accurate they were, and how people reacted to them. What lessons can you learn from these episodes? Rumors can deal with actions, events, and people and may range from being totally accurate to complete fabrications. They can be started by people reading or hearing a piece of information that they then pass on to others, who pass it on to others, and so on. What may have been an accurate piece of information in the original telling may become badly distorted as it passes down the line. In other instances, rumors start because of information being misread or misunderstood while, in some cases, malicious individuals wishing to cause trouble start them. People generally react emotionally to rumors, which is normally the objective of the individual passing on the rumor and thus are motivated to pass it on. If the rumor is favorable, such as the department is moving into new office space their reaction will be favorable if they favor the move and negative if they do not. Very often rumors of unfavorable events can cause considerable harm to the organization. Ideally, individuals should check the validity of information before passing it on. However, they are often not in a position to do so and, in any case, it would spoil the delight associated with passing on the rumor. From a managerial perspective, every attempt should be made to avoid the leakage of information until the company is ready to make a formal announcement. 9. Refer to the section on “The Virtual Office” section. What do you think will be the long-term impact of the mobile office on job satisfaction and performance? If you were a manager, how would you maximize the benefits and minimize the drawbacks? If you worked in this environment, how would you manage yourself to maximize your performance and avoid burnout? Different people will probably react differently. Some will enjoy the opportunity of working out of their homes and on the road and will perform at the same or even higher level. These will be those individuals who like the flexibility of working alone, do not rely on a group environment, and are personally well organized. By contrast, other people will find it an extremely unsatisfying environment. They will miss the structured environment of a regular office and the contacts with other people. They will find it hard to apply themselves to daily tasks and probably will be far less productive. For them, the mobile or virtual office will be a distinct change for the worst. A manager, with subordinates working out of virtual offices, can aim to maximize the benefits and minimize the disadvantages by holding regular group meetings with the members of the team (to provide group support and interaction) and spending more time with them on a one-on-one basis (to provide leadership, direction, and assistance). He or she can also contact each of the members of the team on a daily basis just to make sure no one is experiencing a problem. From the individual perspective, you have to structure your day to make it productive. Time-management becomes far more important, and you have to maintain a firm schedule of work and avoid being interrupted. You need to ensure that you keep in periodic contact with your superior and colleagues. 10. Have you ever made or seen mistakes due to people not speaking a common language well? How do you or will you deal with others who do not speak the same language as you? Cross-cultural communication poses additional challenges in the workplace. A number of strategies can be employed; however, to ease communication between coworkers who do not share a common first language: 1. When there is silence, wait. Do not jump in to fill the silence. The other person is probably just thinking more slowly in the nonnative language. 2. Do not equate poor grammar and mispronunciation with lack of intelligence; it is usually a sign of nonnative language use. 3. Speak clearly and enunciate each word. Avoid using colloquial expressions. 4. Repeat each important idea using different words to explain the same concept. 5. Keep sentences short and avoid passive words. 6. Use as many visual restatements as possible, such as pictures, graphs, tables, and slides. 7. Use facial and appropriate hand gestures to emphasize the meaning of words. 8. Pause more frequently. 11. Have you ever tried to coach someone? What did you do well, and what mistakes did you make? How can you become a better coach? Students are likely to report a variety of experiences where they attempted to coach someone. Examples might include professional relationships where they were in a supervisory position, sports teams, or even providing a friend or coworker with feedback. When giving coaching to someone, it is important to remember the following: 1. Use reflection – repeat and clarify what you believe the other person is saying. 2. Listen – place a greater emphasis on listening than on talking. When someone really listens, people feel that they and their opinions matter and that their ideas and contributions are valued. 3. Observe nonverbal cues – reading body language can help a coach determine how well the discussion is going and to make adjustments. 4. Ask a lot of questions – good coaching is a true dialogue between two committed people. 5. Encourage others to think for themselves – coaching is about helping people think through and solve their own problems. 12. Have you ever been coached by someone? What did he or she do well, and what mistakes were made? How was it for you to be on the receiving end of the coaching, and how did you respond? What is required to be successful as the receiver of someone else’s coaching attempts? Many students are more likely to have been in the role of coachee rather than a coach. Their experiences with being on the receiving end of coaching are likely to vary based on the quality of the coaching they received, as well as other factors such as their own personalities and abilities to receive coaching. To be a successful receiver of coaching it is important to remember: 1. The goal of coaching is to help another person be more effective and achieve his or her full potential, not simply to criticize. 2. Being a good listener goes both ways. Not only should the coach be paying attention to the employee's concerns, but also the coachee should make every effort to receive the coach’s feedback. 3. Use reflection. Repeat back to the coach what you believe he or she is saying. 13. Think about how companies communicate with Wall Street and the media and how analysts on TV communicate with viewers. What concepts from the chapter apply, and how can you become a more astute consumer of such information? Companies communicate with Wall Street by a formal means of press releases and special requirements that are set forth by the Security Exchange Commission. Formal communication must be created to generate a positive image. Favorable public relations are essential for an organization with its stock traded on Wall Street. Electronic media performs a pivotal role in generating news releases, creating a favorable ethical and social perspective for the firm. EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISES EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE 15.1 – INTERPRETING NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION Objectives To become more skilled at interpreting nonverbal communication. Instructions Assume your boss exhibits each of the five behaviors listed below over the course of a month. Read each behavior and then record your interpretation of what it means. Nonverbal Communication Interpretation Worksheet Source: Adapted from Laurence R. Jauch, Arthur G. Bedian, Sally A. Coltin, and William F. Glueck, The Managerial Experience: Cases, Exercises, and Readings, 5th ed. Copyright © 1989. South-Western, a part of Cengage Learning, Inc. EXERCISE 15.2 - LISTENING SKILLS SURVEY Objectives 1. To measure your skills as a listener. 2. To gain insight into factors that determine good listening habits. 3. To demonstrate how you can become a better listener. Suggested responses Student responses will vary.
1. I tend to be patient with the speaker, making sure she or he is finished speaking before I respond in any fashion. 5
2. When listening, I don’t doodle or fiddle with papers and things that might distract me from the speaker. 5
3. I attempt to understand the speaker’s point of view. 4
4. I try not to put the speaker on the defensive by arguing or criticizing. 5
5. When I listen, I focus on the speaker’s feelings. 5
6. I let a speaker’s annoying mannerisms distract me. 3
7. While the speaker is talking, I watch carefully for facial expressions and other types of body language. 4
8. I never talk when the other person is trying to say something. 4
9. During a conversation, a period of silence seems awkward to me. 4
10. I want people to just give me the facts and allow me to make up my own mind. 5
11. When the speaker is finished, I respond to his or her feelings 4
12. I don’t evaluate the speaker’s words until she or he is finished talking. 3
13. I formulate my response while the speaker is still talking. 1
14. I never pretend that I’m listening when I’m not. 4
15. I can focus on message content even if the delivery is poor. 4
16. I encourage the speaker with frequent nods, smiles, and other forms of body language. 4
17. Sometimes I can predict what someone is going to say before she or he says it. 4
18. Even if a speaker makes me angry, I hold my temper. 5
19. I maintain good eye contact with the speaker. 5
20. I try to focus on the speaker’s message, not his or her delivery. 5
21. If I am confused by a statement someone makes, I never respond until I have asked for and received adequate clarification. 4
Suggested Responses to Discussion Questions 1. In what ways did student’s responses on the survey agree or disagree? Student responses will vary and therefore may they may agree or disagree with various statements depending on how they rate themselves as listeners. 2. What do you think accounts for the differences? How well a person listens accounts for the differences in the survey scores. I good listener may have higher scores than a poor listener. 3. How can the results of this survey be put to practical uses? Students with low scores may want to take corrective measures to become better listeners. Teaching Tips 1. This survey can provoke some negative feelings and defensive reactions on the part of some students. Poor listeners may be especially irritated by the survey questions and the issues they provoke. The instructor may wish to ask students before they start, whether or not they think they are good listeners. 2. After the group spokespersons have made their presentations, the class might brainstorm ways to become good listeners. EXERCISE 15.3 - ACTIVE LISTENING Purpose: To practice techniques for effective listening Time: 30-50 min. Resources/Set-up: Need groups of three, copy of the observation rating form (in chapter), list of potential topics to be used (see chapter) Activity Instructions: See chapter Discussion/Debrief: See questions in the text. Some points worth emphasizing relative to these questions include: 1. Behaviors that lead to effective communication and problem resolution. 2. The list of hindering factors should reinforce barriers to effective listening. & 4. If the assigned position was opposite the student's actual position, some might note the difficulty of being persuasive. Others might note how taking the opposite position enabled them to put themselves in the other's shoes more easily—a kind of forced empathy. It's also possible that if the topic was uninteresting or didn't resonate for the student/s, there may have been no discernible difference on which position was taken. This question can be discussed in small groups or as a large class discussion. CONCLUDING CASE Best Trust Bank Case Summary: Best Trust Bank has grown to become one of the world’s top 25 banks with 73,000 employees in 47 countries. The company has built a reputation based on integrity and Paul Wysinsky, Vice President for Human Resources, says that one of the biggest challenges that Best Trust Bank faces is poor communication. He is considering a new training course on preparing a clear written communication for managers in the company. Although he records videos, speaks at company events, leads town hall meetings, and has a live video feed to allow employees to post questions and ideas, he still struggles with the amount of information that is not communicated effectively among all of the employees. Chapter Topics Related to the Case: •Discuss the concept of communication •Identify the importance of having effective communication skills •Describe various communication problems that a company like Best Trust Bank may encounter •Identify various communication channels and mediums the company might engage •Identify and discuss methods to improve communication Case Discussion Questions: 1. How has the media richness of Paul’s communications changed since the days he was a teller? Suggested Response: Suggested responses may identify such factors as greater dependence on the internet and less face-to-face communication. In addition, Paul depends more on written and video communication than live spoken communication. With large organization, communication becomes a greater challenge as more passive methods are utilized. It is easy to see that much of the emotional component of the message can be lost due to the communication medium that is used. 2. What sender and receiver skills are described in this case? Which ones needs improvement? Offer one suggestion for improving the weak skills. Suggested Response: Suggested responses to this question may include information such as the following. The middle managers tend to use memos, reports, and email to communicate problems and issues. Often Paul cannot figure out the primary concern due to poor written communication. Thus he is powerless to resolve or address the matter. The sender must provide a clear, easy to understand message and the receiver must have the resources to adequately understand and interpret the message that is received. A suggestion for improving written communication could be to include a session at the annual manager’s training in which each manager must practice writing a clear memo or email regarding some problem and then share this with other managers in a group setting. The goal would be to support and assist each manager in improving his or her skills, not to criticize them. In addition, samples of good, clear communication could be provided for all who attend. 3. How might Paul improve upward communication and the communication culture more generally at Best Trust? Suggested Response: People send and interpret signals other than those that are spoken or written. Nonverbal messages can support or undermine the stated message. Unless the upper management regularly requests feedback, they are unlikely to get much upward communication. Employees are reluctant to engage in upward communication unless they are feeling a significant amount of pain or discomfort. Companies that utilize upward communication to assist their continuous improvement must regularly request and reward those who take the time to provide useful and helpful upward communication to managers. Additional Discussion Questions: 1. As the case study indicates, there appears to be a lack of clear communication occurring between the middle managers and top management. The company’s future growth and development depends on clear upward communication to identify and resolve issues as they occur. Identify the advantages achieved by using an effective two-way communication process versus only a one-way process. Suggested Response: One-way communication flows from the sender to the receiver with no feedback loop. One-way communication takes the form of downward communication in most companies. In two-way communication, each person is both a sender and a receiver as both parties provide and react to information. One-way communication is faster and easier but less accurate than two-way. Two-way communication is more accurate and usually results in better performance. 2. These managers to be handling its communication process ineffectively or at least not as well as some others do. Identify communication problems that should be avoided by individuals engaging in the communication process. Suggested Response: Problems in the communication process can occur at any or all of the stages such as encoding, transmission, decoding, and interpreting. Noise in the communication system serves as a factor contributing to ineffective communication by creating distortion. Feedback may be unavailable or misleading. Also, subjective perceptions and filtering may add to the ineffectiveness of the communication process. The more that a receiver can respond directly to the sender, the better the chances of interpreting the communication clearly. PART IV SUPPORTING CASE Leading and Motivating When Disaster Strikes: Magna Exteriors and Interiors 1. As a leader, what vision did Robert Brownlee offer? What combination of task performance and group maintenance behaviors did he use? Was this the appropriate combination after the fire? Why or why not? Brownlee’s vision was that Magna would continue to serve its customers and quickly restart operations at the Howell plant. The emphasis was on task performance. In Fiedler’s model (assuming good leader-member relations, which seems to be a reasonable assumption), the unstructured task and Brownlee’s high position power support a task-motivated leader. Students may note that ideally, a leader will engage in both kinds of behavior, but it seems reasonable to ask whether that is a practical approach during a crisis, as in this case. Note that after production was restored, the company made a point of publicly praising the employees’ hard work; this could be seen as group maintenance behavior by Magna’s leadership. 2. What do you think the Magna managers and employees were motivated by most after the fire? Why? Answers will vary. Chapter 13 suggests several possibilities that give students a chance to think beyond extrinsic motivation; the crisis called upon workers to be intrinsically motivated, as the company could hardly pamper them over the first few days. Brownlee’s goal of restarting production in two days met criteria for powerful goals (specific, meaningful, acceptable, challenging, and measurable). Or students may note that avoiding the consequence of not being out of work was a strong driver because it enabled employees to meet basic needs (physiological and safety needs of Maslow’s hierarchy or Alderfer’s “existence” goals). Or students may see the employees as being motivated by a determination to continue serving their customers: their labor to get the plant up and running would have felt significant, and the results of their efforts would have been evident. 3. Management set up a cross-functional reconstruction team, but there is no evidence that this was a self-managed team. Would a self-managed team have been more effective? Why or why not? Answers will vary. In general, self-managed teams offer many advantages. However, there was no time for team building. If team members already have skill in defining tasks, roles, and norms, self-managed teams should engender a high level of cooperation and commitment. However, without these skills, the result could be a dysfunctional team that is slow to act. Solution Manual for Management: Leading and Collaborating in a Competitive World Thomas S. Bateman, Scott A. Snell, Robert Konopaske 9781259927645, 9781259546945