MGT605
Leadership and Organizations
Week 1
Discussion
DQ1 In many organizations, being “people-centered”
is considered soft, irrelevant, and unrelated to profitability. Contemplate the
Conscious Capitalism principles (i.e. conscious leadership, stakeholder
orientation, conscious culture, and higher purpose) as a framework and consider
at least two companies that have successfully adopted this business philosophy
to gain success and combat traditional corporate approaches. How do these
companies embody the tenet of “higher purpose” and create deeper
meaning by focusing their goals beyond profits and inspiring their
stakeholders? What connections can you identify between the four principles of
Conscious Capitalism and the Christian concept of putting others before
oneself?
DQ2 Review the “Skills Exhibited by an Effective
Manager” (Table 1-2 in Organizational Behavior). Identify your particular
areas of strength and discuss opportunities for your own development as a
manager.
MGT605
Leadership and Organizations
Week 2
Discussion
DQ1 Discuss the role that emotional intelligence (EI) plays
in the self-leadership. Be sure to provide an analysis of all four dimensions
of EI (self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship
management) in your response.
DQ2 Refer to the results of your “Rokeach Values
Survey” that you completed for this week’s assignment
http://www.wec.ufl.edu/faculty/jacobsons/wis6525/rokeach_value_survey%20personal%20responses.pdf
What are your major terminal and instrumental values? Which
values, terminal or instrumental, are valid predictors of career success in the
workplace? To what extent do you believe your personal values are aligned with
the values of your organization?? What impact does this have on your sense of
belongingness/fit with your organization?
MGT605
Leadership and Organizations
Week 3
Discussion
DQ1 What is the current design of your job? Assume that the
opportunity arose for you to utilize the idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) in
redesigning your job. What would you do to make your job inherently more
motivating? How would you design the feedback and reward systems in the new
job? Be sure to include comments on two content theories and two process
theories and highlight the significance of each theory.
DQ2 Goal setting research suggests that people should be
given difficult goals. Provide an explanation that reconciles this research
finding with expectancy theory. Use a practical example (preferably work
related) to illustrate this.
MGT605
Leadership and Organizations
Week 4
Discussion
DQ1 Refer to Figure 11-2 in the Organizational Behavior
textbook. Which of the reasons for team failure have you experienced and how
would you do things differently to ensure that any team you are involved in
will be successful? Research the tenet of conscious culture and explain its
role in promoting successful teams.
DQ2 Although virtual teams are becoming more prevalent,
there have been mixed reviews on their effectiveness. Read “The Best
Online Platforms for Virtual Meetings,” “5 Tips for Virtual
Collaboration,” and “Yahoo Orders Homeworkers Back to the
Office.” Discuss the steps you would take to manage a successful virtual
team (be sure to discuss how you would choose a platform to use and guidelines
for monitoring virtual team performance).
MGT605
Leadership and Organizations
Week 5
Discussion
DQ1 Many types of negotiations occur in business settings.
This example is indicative of the ethical dilemmas inherent in many
negotiations.
Assume for a moment that you are the owner and CEO of a
small machine and tool company. You have 35 employees, most of whom are highly
skilled machinists who belong to a local union. Generally, you are an open
manager with an abiding sense of fair play and ethics. For this reason, you have
been able to attract workers who are skilled and committed to the company’s
long-term success. In fact, labor relations are calm ? even harmonious. For
example, contract violations are usually handled between you and shop stewards
in a problem-solving context with an almost complete absence of acrimony or
contentiousness. Now, however, you face a serious and unprecedented issue. Due
to an economic downturn, business activity has taken a sharp decline with the
expectation that things will get much worse. You have just met with your
accountant who has informed you there is no other choice but to lay off people
or reduce wages. Your initial meeting with the union representatives shocked
you into reality because it was filled with divisiveness, arguing, name-calling,
and even occasional profanity. Things turn much worse in the second meeting
because the union lawyers are present. After reading the article “Ethics
in Negotiation: Oil and Water or Good Lubrication,” you are stunned to
discover that the deceptive tactics outlined in the article read like a primer
for what the union is doing. Answer the following questions based on the case
and the article:
What type of conflict is occurring in this case, and what
conflict management style would you, as the manager use? Justify your choice.
What are the challenges to effective communication in this
case and how can these challenges be mitigated?
How would evidence-based decision making help in resolving
this case?
DQ2 Workers increasingly rely on means of technology-mediated
communication in the workplace. Besides e-mail, workers commonly utilize tools,
such as instant messaging and virtual meeting spaces, to regularly interact
with coworkers and clients. How do you think such tools impact interpersonal
dynamics in the workplace? What are the benefits and challenges of these tools?
How might those challenges be overcome?
MGT605
Leadership and Organizations
Week 6
Discussion
DQ1 Conduct some web-based research into one organization
that professes to have adopted a servant leadership philosophy (e.g., SWA,
Men’s Warehouse, TDIndustries). What are the organization’s values? Compare
these organizations to another in the same industry using major performance
metrics (employee turnover, market share, profitability, etc.) and conclude
whether or not you think having a servant leader philosophy makes a significant
difference in company performance.
DQ2 Read the article, “Leaders, Too, Need
Support.” How do you see yourself in the role of supportive follower? What
power bases would a supportive follower be more likely to employ? What
challenges do you have with this concept? What can you do to overcome those
challenges?
MGT605
Leadership and Organizations
Week 7
Discussion
DQ1 One of your managers hears you have just completed your
MBA. He looks at you and smirks and says, “All this emphasis on
relationships is overrated. I have always made it clear to my subordinates what
they need to do if they want to remain employed. All I have to say to them is
‘get it done and you will get rewarded, and if not, there will be
consequences.’ It truly is that simple! Developing relationships with employees
and suppliers or contractors, all that stuff is only good in the textbooks. It
never delivers results.” Prepare a response to this manager and post it on
the discussion board.
DQ2 Contrast the tradeoffs involved when an organization
decides it is going to restructure. Be sure that you evaluate the critical
organizational design variables that you would want to consider if you were
heading up such a project. Next, evaluate the organizational chart for your
current organization. Provide recommendations for revising the organizational
design so it more effectively serves the mission of the firm and its many
stakeholders.
MGT605
Leadership and Organizations
Week 8
Discussion
DQ1 Discuss the ethical implications of a leader’s role in
the socialization of new hires into the preexisting culture of an organization.
What responsibility does a company have to inform newly hired persons that it
wants to shape their values, perceptions, and behavior to conform to the
organization’s culture? What impact does socialization have on both individual
and organizational effectiveness? Considering the concept of putting others
before oneself from Topic 1, how could this same concept affect a company’s
culture in regards to its organizational effectiveness?
DQ2 Contrast the corporate values espoused by two Fortune
500 companies. Select two firms that seem to manifest very different cultures.
Your response should focus on the tradeoffs you would experience working in the
two firms in terms of the values you bring to the workplace. How might your
values fit in or clash with the culture of these two organizations?