Ciobanu Alexandra Mihaela

The book used is Organizational Behavior 15 edition by Stephen P.

Robbins and Timothy A. Judge - chapters 1-7,12-15

Chapter 1
Case Incident 1 Lessons for Undercover Bosses
Questions :
1. What are some of the things managers can learn by walking around and
having daily contact with line employees that they might not be able to
learn from looking at data and reports?
2. As an employee, would you appreciate knowing your supervisor regularly
spent time with workers? How would knowing top executives routinely
interact with line employees affect your attitudes toward the organization?
3. What ways can executives and other organizational leaders learn about
day-to-day business operations besides going undercover?
4. Are there any dangers in the use of a management by walking around
strategy? Could this strategy lead employees to feel they are being spied
on? What actions on the part of managers might minimize these concerns?

Answers :
1. First of all, interacting with employees can improve a managers human
skills while understanding how much work is put into finding solutions
to problems, how the managers ideas are implemented and difficulties
that can appear on the way. Managers are mostly occupied with
strategic planning, increasing sales and developing new products but
by talking directly with employees he can obtain valuable information
and insight about the products and the process of obtaining the final
result. Workers have daily experience with a product and can see where
can be brought improvements in the materials, process of making them
or functioning and are able to articulate if the quality is poor. Managers
are not able to learn that from the companys statement of cash flows.
It is important also to learn what motivates employees and what
discourage them, how can the work space can be improved in order to
facilitate a pleasant work environment, what challenges or
opportunities the employees face and some of the most important
things that a manager can acquire interacting with workers are new
ideas. Last but not least, a manager that is trying to interact with
employees can gain insight on what skills can be added to the team in
order to be more productive, can learn how difficult some of the jobs
are and work towards rewarding them either through increased wages,
greater appreciation from the company or improving work conditions.
2. At first it may be awkward when supervisors start spending time with
employees because they can feel over-analyzed, exposed to direct
criticism and depending on how that interaction is at the beginning
they can be stressed but as the time passes and it becomes daily
interactions, this process can become a new relationship between
management and employees. Workers may feel more valued and
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appreciated by the company and that can increase their citizenship

behavior, become more comfortable discussing possible solutions
without the fear of being reprimanded, become more productive and
maybe working toward becoming a united and successful organization.
3. They can instill a change in culture in the organization where a leader
has also the role of a role model and is accessible to the employees in
order to receive input from the lower levels. These employees are
able to reveal significant data concerning day-to-day business
operations. Being straightforward with workload and expectations can
make working in the organization easy and realistic.
4. At first, yes, employees can feel they are spied on and when the
supervisor is around they may feel inclined to look like they are
hardworking and extremely professional, but when he is gone this
attitude may change. It also depends on how the boss is approaching
employees and their work. If he is not establishing an open relationship
and his communication is minimal except telling the workers when and
what are doing incorrectly, then not only the work space in the
organization becomes a stressful environment, with employees that will
start having an withdrawal behavior, but also the outcomes of the
organization will have a poor quality. If the supervisor appears powerful
but relatable, express his wishes regarding operations in advance and is
open to suggestions towards a smoother process than this walking
around strategy can establish a productive and pleasant path between
company management and workers.
Case Incident 2 Era of Disposable Worker
Questions :
1. To what extent can individual business decisions (as opposed to economic
forces) explain deterioration in working conditions for many workers?
2. Do business organizations have a responsibility to ensure that employees
have secure jobs with good working conditions, or is their primary
responsibility to shareholders?
3. What alternative measures of organizational performance, besides share
prices, do you think might change the focus of business leaders?
4. What do you think the likely impact of the growth of temporary
employment relationships will be for employee attitudes and behaviors?
How would you develop a measurement system to evaluate the impact of
corporate downsizing and temporary job assignments on employees?
Answers :

1. It seems that global recession that has affected the economy is

leading to deterioration in individual businesses by making it difficult
for businesses to draw in a steady income and therefore they need
to take harsh decisions in order to keep the business running. Apart
from budget cuts for the business, most of them try to reduce some
costs by reducing work hours, reducing the number of employees in
the company or pay cuts. Part of the budget cuts affects directly the
employee by worsening the quality of the work environment and
increasing the demands for making savings by working with less
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people, less materials or poor quality materials but at the same time
having expectations for the same or better quality of work.
2. I think primarily business organizations have the responsibility
towards their employees by offering them a good working
conditions. Even if the business has a difficult time because of the
recession and layoffs are understandable, employees that have
secure jobs, good working conditions and are being informed on how
they can contribute in order to improve the situation of the business,
will be more loyal, productive and efficient. In addition to the
responsibility, organizations should have moral, ethical and
philanthropic responsibilities. They also have to have the
shareholders interest in mind but mostly they have to ensure that
the business exceeds the difficult times in order fulfill their
obligations towards the shareholders.
3. The alternative performance measures can be lesser time span
required for work, the number of employees in proportion to the
total work done and team performance. The management also
should make sure that employees receive proper recognition and
motivation to obtain the proper results. The leaders of the company
participate more in collaborating with employees in order to be more
committed to the organization and to its goals and also constantly
communicate the changes that occur in the vision of the company
and strategies.
4. The growth of temporary employment can have a negative impact
regarding the attitude and behavior of the employee which also
affects the work quality or may display a negative behavior towards
the colleagues. I think that can occur when the companys
management also has a cold approach towards the employees and
can be solved or at least made better by trying to keep up the
morale by giving recognition for a job well done, trying as much as
possible to cut the layoffs and to assign the right people with the
right knowledge to each department in order to improve the
business and productivity.

Chapter 2
Case Incident 1 The Flynn Effect
Questions :
1. Do you believe people are really getting smarter? Why or why not?
2. Which of the factors explaining the Flynn effect do you accept?
3. If the Flynn effect is true, does this undermine the theory that IQ is mostly
inherited? Why or why not?

Answers :
1. I dont think that people are necessarily getting smarter even if the
tests scores show better results between generations. I think that
now, compared with 1970 we have access to more and more ways of
informing ourselves about different domains, we can educate
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ourselves and auto-motivate ourselves to become more inventive

and more innovative. Technology is evolving each day and even if it
is not intentional, we are forced to exercise and use our brain to
figure out how to use that technology, the access to books and
world-wide news has been facilitated by the internet and also with
technology, teachers have become more and more creative with
ways of motivating and keeping the interest of students. In the past,
a normal family goal was to be happy, to be healthy and to be able
to take care of themselves and the kids. Now, as the word has
evolved, every person wants more and more (travel, technology,
competition, etc.) and in order to obtain that we know we have to
learn, to inform ourselves as much as we can and of course, we have
the necessary tools to do that which is reflected in the scores of the
IQ tests.
2. I think that primarily I accept the Education factor. As I explained my
point of view in the previous answer, I think that the tools used for
educating ourselves or use in schools has evolved immensely and
constantly evolving stimulating us to keep up. I also agree with the
test-taking savvy factor because from the moment we start school
we are used to taking tests and as we advance, the tests evolve too.
3. I dont think that does undermine the concept that IQ is inherited. I
think that it strongly supports the concept of evolutionary change as
changes and stimulating physical and mental capabilities are found
in order to make a person more successful. Those changes and
challenges are constantly evolving and improving and are passed
down through generations.
Case Incident 2 - Increasing Age Diversity in the Workspace
Questions :
1. What changes in employment relationships are likely to occur as the
population ages?
2. Do you think increasing age diversity will create new challenges for
managers? What types of challenges do you expect will be most profound?
3. How can organizations cope with differences related to age discrimination
in the workplace?
4. What types of policies might lead to charges of age discrimination, and
how can they be changed to eliminate these problems?

Answers :
1. Some of the changes can include an increase in work experience,
strong work ethic and commitment to the quality and to the
company, good judgment and lower rates of avoidable absence.
However, there can be some negative changes regarding the
unavoidable absence, lack of working hours flexibility and maybe
reluctance to new technology.
2. The most important challenge would be the age difference, mostly
between younger management and older employees. Each part has
to learn to adapt and communicate, be patient and be clear with the
demands and expectations.
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3. Setting specific goals, constant communication between

management and employees and between all employees within the
company. Including workers of all ages in projects encouraging them
to learn from each other and learn how to work together combining
experience and new ideas.
4. To avoid age discrimination, there can be made reasonable
accommodations keeping in mind that with age some of the physical
abilities diminish so there should be a policy that states a reasonable
amount of weight that can be carried by a worker and stand for
prolonged hours in order to do his job.

Chapter 3
Case Incident 1 Long Hours, Hundreds of E-mails and No Sleep: Does
That Sound Like a Satisfying Job?
Questions :
1. Do you think only certain individuals are attracted to these types of jobs,
or is it the characteristics of the jobs themselves that are satisfying?
2. What characteristics of these jobs might contribute to increased levels of
job satisfaction?
3. Given that the four individuals we just read about tend to be satisfied with
their jobs, how might this satisfaction relate to their job performance,
citizenship behavior, and turnover?
4. Recall David Clarks statement that There are plenty of people who would
love to have this job. Theyre knocking on the door all the time. How
might Clarks perceptions that he has a job many others desire contribute
to his job satisfaction?

Answers :
1. Only certain individuals are attracted to these types of jobs because
being time consuming and stressful most of the time the job
becomes the primary interest in their life sacrificing their personal
life in favor of the job. Even if they are considered workaholics,
constant activity, being passionate about the job and being good at
what they do is gratifying for them. Usually such people are
conscious of titles and high status and enjoy taking such challenges
in order to reach their goals.
2. Mostly, individuals who dedicates their life for these types of jobs,
like to be dominant, to be in control of the situation, to take risks by
making bold decisions and positive results motivates and keep them
in high energy. Also constantly improving their skills, high salary and
traveling to exotic places are increasing the level of job satisfaction.
3. One of the main roles of a manager is to find the appropriate
employee for the job in order to achieve performance for the
company.
- Job performance : when an employee has a job where he can be
productive, can improve his skills and his work is appreciated, his
job performance is constantly improving, striving to achieve

Ciobanu Alexandra Mihaela

companys goals, it increases his loyalty and do their best to

show their hard work.
- Citizenship behavior : Irene Tse, for example, is willing improve
her job performance even more than she currently does and
speaking positively about the organizations while Tony Kurtz and
David Clark are being neutral about citizenship behavior.
- Turnover : these individuals give a negative turnover for job
satisfaction. Some of them are highly motivated by their job and
are striving to exceed the organization expectation, and other are
satisfied with the benefits and opportunities the job offers.
4. Some individuals are motivated by the pressure of knowing that
others want their job and use that knowledge to an incentive to
excel.
Case Incident 2 Crafting a Better Job
Questions :
1. Why do you think many people are in jobs that are not satisfying? Do
organizations help people craft satisfying and motivating jobs, and if not,
why not?
2. Think about how you might reorient yourself to your own job. Are the
principles of job crafting described above relevant to your work? Why or
why not?
3. Some contend that job crafting sounds good in principle but is not
necessarily available to everyone. What types of jobs are probably not
amenable to job crafting activities?
4. Are there any potential drawbacks to the job crafting approach? How can
these concerns be minimized?

Answers :
1. I think that in this economy many people are afraid to take risks by
trying to change their place of work or craft their job and are staying
in jobs that does not offer them satisfaction because of a possible
difficult financial situation or work schedule. I belive that firms are
trying more to create satisfying jobs by being more flexible with job
rotation, job education and training, bonuses or even team
recreational activities.
2. Even though I am currently unemployed, I think that job crafting
would be very helpful in any organization and should be desired in
order to improve performance, productivity and satisfaction for
employees while respecting companys procedures.
3. Some of the jobs that are probably not amenable for job crafting
activities include routine jobs such as assembly line workers and
customer service representative.
4. As a drawback to the job crafting can be loss of focus on the job well
done. Job crafting, at the beginning, can lead to inefficient ways of
completing the tasks and resulting in a loss in productivity. This
drawback can be minimized by closely evaluating and supervising
the work productivity.
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Chapter 4
Case Incident 1 Is It Okay to Cry at Work?
Questions :
1. What factors do you think make some organizations ineffective at
managing emotions?
2. Do you think the strategic use and display of emotions serve to protect
employees, or does covering your true emotions at work lead to more
problems than it solves?
3. Have you ever worked where emotions were used as part of a
management style? Describe the advantages and disadvantages of this
approach in your experience.
4. Research shows that acts of co-workers (37 percent) and management (22
percent) cause more negative emotions for employees than do acts of
customers (7 percent). What can Lauras company do to change its
emotional climate?

Answers :
1. There are several factors that cause organizations to ineffectively
manage emotions and one of them is a poor relationship between a
manager and employees. In some situations, the manager can yell
or adopt a bad attitude towards the employee without realizing that
can be hurtful, the employees dont fool confortable communicating
with their superiors and mostly organizations are unprepared for
dealing with employees emotions and cant relate and take into
consideration different backgrounds. An organization needs to make
sure they keep a strong connection with the employees to ensure
that emotions and mood are up-beat and energetic. I also believe in
compartmentalization. There is a time and a place for everything
and at work it should be adopted a professional attitude while being
considerate for the colleagues emotions.
2. Sometimes, by covering ones emotions can ensure a work to be
finalized but if it is a continuous thing, just bottling everything up
can result in frustration, stress, inability to focus and losing their
confidence. Through the strategic use and display of emotions,
employees can express emotions in a manner way. They have to
know the ways to control their emotions, how to deal with them and
even how to express them in order to solve some of the problems
causing them. Displayed emotions are a way for employees to
reflect on their organization, and having rules for displayed emotions
is one way to control employees in a positive way for the
organization.
3. I worked at a hotel in Greece and displayed emotions as well as
appropriate dress code were important in order to make guests to
feel welcome and confortable. In theory there are no disadvantages
but when the management has a bad attitude towards the
employees in spite of their hard work, it can be obvious when those

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displayed emotions are not sincere and can reflect badly on the
organization.
4. Lauras organization need to recognize that displayed emotions are
handled poorly and to have managers talk with employees when
they arent displaying appropriate emotions in the workplace. They
also can offer training programs for managers and employees about
the proper ways to handle employees emotional concerns as they
are displayed and providing opportunities for open discussions.
Case Incident 2 Can You Read Emotions from Faces?
Questions :
1. Most research suggests we are not very good at detecting fake emotions,
and we think were much better at it than we are. Do you believe training
would improve your ability to detect emotional displays in others?
2. Do you think the information in this case could help you tell whether
someones smile is genuine?
3. Is your own impression of the facial expressions of the eight business
leaders consistent with what the researcher found? If not, why do you think
your views might be at odds with his?
4. One research study found peoples ratings of the positive affect displayed
in CEOs faces had very little correlation to their companys profits. Does
that suggest to you that Hills analysis is immaterial?
5. Assuming you could become better at detecting the real emotions in facial
expressions, do you think it would help your career? Why or why not?

Answers :
1. I believe that informing myself, training and actually paying
attention would improve my ability to detect emotional displays and
meaning encoded into facial expressions.
2. I think that it take a lot of practice in known situations to ensure
proper and accurate interpretation and also knowledge about microexpressions and facial muscles. Therefore, I dont think the
information in this case could help me tell whether someones smile
is genuine.
3. The table suggests that two of the top companies across the world
have leaders with de most genuine smiles. I think that depends on a
lot of factors like personal happiness, some problems that can occur
in the moments before they have a public appearance and can
change their moods, their personality, etc. I believe that in order to
have a genuine smile you have to be happy with your life, what you
accomplish and other personal things and its not about the size of
the company. You can have a business with 10 employees and have
the most genuine smile and positive exterior.
4. Not necessarily considering that some individuals measure their
happiness through money. As they have more and more money, they
believe they become happier.
5. Yes, I think that being able to detect real emotions in facial
expressions would help me at making my job better, at interacting
with colleagues, employees, and bosses better.
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Chapter 5
Case Incident 1 Is There a Price for Being Too Nice?
Questions :
1. Do you think there is a contradiction between what employers want in
employees (agreeable employees) and what employees actually do best
(disagreeable employees)? Why or why not?
2. Often, the effects of personality depend on the situation. Can you think of
some job situations in which agreeableness is an important virtue? And in
which it is harmful?
3. In some research weve conducted, weve found that the negative effects
of agreeableness on earnings is stronger for men than for women (that is,
being agreeable hurt mens earnings more than womens). Why do you
think this might be the case?

Answers :
1. Most employers want agreeable employees because they are
pleasant to be around and may be more helpful with colleagues but
that doesnt necessarily mean that their job performance is also
good. Some studies show that disagreeable employees have a better
job performance because tend to be more focused at work but they
are cold as persons and some of them like agreeable people because
they are easy to manipulate. I think that there is a contradiction in
the question.
2. For jobs like nurses, social workers, educators, customer service and
mostly for jobs that you have to interact with customers being
agreeable is an important virtue. For jobs which require decision
making and leadership qualities, I think that agreeableness can be
harmful to the job.
3. I think agreeableness is mostly known as a feminine feature and it is
expected but for a man it can be misunderstood and be considered
weakness.
Case Incident 2 Leadership from an Introverts Perspective
Questions :
1. Are you more of an introverted or extraverted leader? What can you do to
leverage your personality to be a more effective leader?
2. Under what conditions do you think extraverts make more effective leaders
than introverts? What unique abilities of introverts could make them more
effective in some situations?
3. The case describes some problems introverts might have in leadership
situations. What techniques might they employ to help them overcome
these?
4. What types of developmental experiences do you think would be especially
valuable for introverted leaders?

Answers :
1. I consider myself an introverted leader. In order to become an
effective leader, i should strongly articulate my goals and to
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establish a strong relationship with y employees. To leverage my

personality, I should practice a more vocal management style.
2. In my opinion extroverts leaders are more effective in a sales
position where they can use their confidence and people skills to the
best interest of the company. Introverts have a more successful rate
for effectiveness of tasks and assignments. Introverts have a better
ability to stay focused and are calmer in difficult situations where a
solution is needed.
3. As the case described, an extrovert personality can be strong
minded and more vocal about their opinions and an introvert leader
can become uncomfortable with strong minded and socially
confident people. In order to help them overcome this situations,
introverts should have a strong voice and be confident in his
decision making and opinions in order or attract others attention and
interest.
4. Introverts must be willing to make themselves visible in the
organization in order for their talents to be seen, recognized and
rewarded. In order to be more confident in their abilities, they should
overcome their fear of not doing or saying something wrong and try
to step out of their comfort zone by progressively speaking in public,
participating at trainings regarding public speaking.

Chapter 6
Case Incident 1 Computerized Decision Making
Questions :
1. What are the specific advantages of using computerized decision making?
How can computers be better decision makers than humans?
2. What are the weaknesses of using computers as decision tools? Are
computers likely to have any specific problems in making decisions that
people wouldnt have?
3. Do you think computer decision making systems can effectively take
ethical issues into account? What is the role of human decision makers in
creating ethical choices?
4. Are there advantages to completely disconnecting from the wired world
when possible? What can you do to try to retain your ability to focus and
process information deeply?

Answers :
1. Some of the advantages of using computerized decision making are
the speed and the efficiency in processing informations, are capable
of storing and completing enormous amounts of data and can use
them to spot trends and patterns that a human could miss or simply
never observe. They are better decision makers in situations where
emotions or perception could potentially affect a humans decision
making.
2. Computers are not capable of intuition or creative thought and we
cant incorporate an individuals ethical values. As the technological
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complexity of the equipment evolves can be more difficult to learn

and maintain them and some failures or errors that can occur on a
computer can be more serious and more difficult to correct.
3. I do not think that computer decision making systems can effectively
take ethical issues into account. In making ethical choices, humans
are discussing and question conclusions, can spot opportunities
beyond what data shows, can find alternative solutions while
maximizing the ethical values and achieving the companys goals.
4. There are some advantages to completely disconnect from
technology like computers like improving the information processing
skills and even if the work load can be a bit bigger due to the large
data sets that a computer usually analyze fast, I can divide that data
into smaller sets and analyze them. Another advantage
collaborating with colleagues instead of relying only on computers
and internet for finding solutions.
Case Incident 2 Predictions That Didnt Quite Pan Out
Questions :
1. Despite the difficulty of making predictions, many people confidently make
assertions about what will happen in the future. Why do you think this is?
2. What perceptual or decision-making errors can you identify in these
predictions?
3. Can you think of some predictions youve made that havent turned out the
way you expected?
4. Why do you think its so hard to make accurate predictions?

Answers :
1. Some think that if they believe it than it must be true or may
become true or maybe is just lack of information and a lot of
positivity. Some people make informed decisions to predict a
positive outcome in order to attract investors, to keep investors from
leaving, to refrain customers from panicking and pulling out and
therefore keeping the company afloat.
2. All predictions were false. The decision making error was to put false
hope in people in hopes that company will bounce back as a result.
3. I predicted that I would become a doctor and it would be the only
domain that interests me but now Im studying Business
Administration and I like it very much.
4. Sometimes we are not fully informed, we listen to our intuition or
heart which is not always correct but we want to believe it will
happen, we are bias and we do not take into consideration all the
problems that await to happen and at the moment of the prediction
we ignore them.

Chapter 7
Case Incident 1 Its Not Fair!

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Questions :
1. How does the executive compensation issue relate to equity theory? Who
do you think should be the referent others in these equity judgments?
What are the relevant inputs for top executives?
2. Can you think of procedural justice implications related to the ways pay
policies for top executives have been instituted? Do these pay-making
decisions follow the procedural justice principles outlined in the chapter?
3. Do you think the government has a legitimate role in controlling executive
compensation? How might we use distributive and procedural justice
theories to inform this debate?
4. Are there any positive motivational consequences of tying compensation
pay closely to firm performance?

Answers :
1. The executive compensation issue relates to equity theory because
aspects of equity theory, like referents, are used to determine the
compensation amount for executives. The referent should be
executives in similar businesses with similar concept, type of
location, success level and also have the same gender type position.
Same sex positions will make comparisons accordingly. Some
relevant inputs for top executives are education, level of experience
and competence.
2. The most obvious procedural justice implication used to calculate
executive compensation would have to be employee evaluations.
This way, the system will be viewed in a fair and favorable manner.
3. The government can always have some type of control but if its a
private company, payment is subjective. Distributive and procedural
justice is how fair the type of payment is but I dont know if the
government can legally say that peoples payroll is not fair as long
as the company is successful.
4. Employees who get a raise, are more likely to be more motivated at
work and to be more productive.
Case Incident 2 Bullying Bosses
Questions :
1. How does workplace bullying violate the rules of organizational justice?
2. What aspects of motivation might workplace bullying reduce? For example,
are there likely to be effects on an employees self-efficacy? If so, what
might those effects be? Do you think bullying would motivate you to
retaliate?
3. If you were a victim of workplace bullying, what steps would you take to try
to reduce its occurrence? What strategies would be most effective? Least
effective? What would you do if one of your colleagues were a victim?
4. What factors do you believe contribute to workplace bullying? Are bullies a
product of the situation, or do they have flawed personalities? What
situations and what personality factors might contribute to the presence of
bullies?

Answers :

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1. Workplace bullying demonstrates a lack of interactional justice from

the model of organizational justice. Interactional justice refers to
individuals perception of the degree to which he or she is treated
with dignity, respect and concern.
2. Keeping in mind Maslows Hierarchy of needs, I think bullying affects
most of all Esteem. By bullying an employee it will generate a long
lasting effect and Self-actualization and safety. He or she will not be
able to strive to become that they are capable of becoming.
Retaliation may make the situation worse, but in some cases, the
bully adopts this attitude because of his/her insecurities so I think
that talking with him/her and presenting a united front may reduce
bullying.
3. I think that the most effective way to reduce the effects of bullying is
to talk open about it, to seek help with the appropriate committee
and mostly to do something about it that doesnt include autoisolation and keeping quiet. I think as colleagues, we must firstly be
aware of whats happening, try to talk with the person thats being
bullied and support and encourage him/her to take action against
bullying. Least effective would be leaving the job because the effects
of bullying and not dealing with them would affect any other job
after.
4. The personality factors that may contribute to the presence of
bullies are negative and stressful working environment, low selfesteem and maybe they were a victim themselves at some point
and thinks that this is the way to obtain respect.

Chapter 12
Case Incident 1 Leadership Mettle Forged in Battle
Questions :
1. Do you think leaders in military contexts exhibit the same qualities as
organizational leaders? Why or why not?
2. In what ways not mentioned in the case would military leadership lessons
not apply in the private sector? What might military leaders have to relearn to work in business?
3. Are specific types of work or situations more likely to benefit from the
presence of battle-tested leaders? List a few examples.

Answers :
1. Yes, I think that military leaders exhibit similar qualities as an
organizational leader. They are able to handle stressful situations
and stay focused, are able to take orders, deliver exceptional
performance and they know the importance of delegating tasks and
assigning the right people for specific jobs. They are professional
and are well prepared for strategizing.
2. I think that they would have to learn to be more compassionate and
sensitive to emotions and most of all they would have to learn how
to deal with failure and understand that in business even if it is not
the intended outcome, it is okay and the business has to learn from
the experience and do better. Another important thing form persons
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that come from the military world into the business environment is
how not to rely on the same kind of discipline as in military and how
to approach a failure without the drastic commands.
3. I think that in military they learn about leadership through example
in speaking, behavior and also the importance of a team and
working together for achieving a goal. Also the ability the handle
stress and attention to details in stressful situations.
Case Incident 2 Leadership Factories
Questions :
1. Management consulting firms did very well on a per-employee basis, partly
because they are mostly made up of managers (as opposed to blue-collar
or entry-level workers). How big a factor do you think composition of the
workforce is in likelihood of producing a CEO?
2. Do you think so-called leadership factories are also better places for
nonleaders to work? Why or why not?
3. Assume you had job offers from two companies that differed only in how
often they produced CEOs. Would this difference affect your decision?
4. Do these data support the value of leader selection and leader
development? Why or why not?

Answers :
1. I think that the composition of workforce has an important role in the
structure of a company and producing CEOs. Having employees
with leadership qualities, high academic performance and problem
solving creativity only benefits the company and the evolution of
employees through training, work experience and the opportunity to
learn from colleagues and superiors. I think working in such
environment facilitates and increases the chances of becoming a
CEO.
2. It depends those who arent natural leaders and becoming a leader
is not something they desire may get stuck and become frustrated in
an environment where there is a support system in place and where
managers and supervisors are used to teaching, guiding and
encouraging others to advance and improve themselves. But for
individuals that their leadership possibilities and having the desire to
learn, improve and become one, I think leadership factories is an
ideal place to work and become a skilled leader.
3. I think I would naturally incline to accept the offer from the company
that produces more CEOs but if there are some other details such as
location that is better at the company with less CEOs I would try to
talk with the other company and tell them about the opportunities
that the other job presents and see if they can meet or go above the
offer with trainings or come other benefits.
4. I dont think that the data really supports the value of leader
selection and leader development because it is not specified
whether the CEOs that worked at a specific company had the
opportunity to develop inside the company or had the necessary
liberty and support to improve or it was just another station in
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their carrier and gained the necessary skills in another company with
a less renouned name. If we are just to analyze these data, I think
that being a smaller company (with fewer employees) but with
quality regarding employee skills and leadership qualities, then yes,
it does support the value of leader selection and leader
development.

Chapter 13
Case Incident 1 Delegate Power, or Keep it Close?
Questions :
1. If you were Samantha Parks, how would you prioritize which projects or
parts of projects to delegate?
2. In explaining what makes her decisions hard, Parks said, I hire good
people, creative people, to run these projects, and I worry that they will
see my oversight and authority as interfering with their creative process.
How can she deal with these concerns without giving up too much control?
3. Should executives try to control projects to maintain their position of
authority? Do they have a right to control projects and keep in the loop on
important decisions just so they can remain in charge?
4. What are some tasks in an organization that a top executive should never
delegate to others?

Answers :
1. If I were Samantha Parks, I would evaluate the projects and assess
the level of impact each has on the company and think of which
employees I would trust with some parts of the projects based on
their skills and previous results and then I would try to delegate. In
the text is said that some doesnt believe in sweating the small
stuff but I think that I could delegate but also implicate myself
when it is needed and supervise the projects in such way that it
doesnt interfere with managing and leading the company in the
right direction. I dont think its necessary to do everything by myself
if I choose my team right, be aware of their improvement and
collaborate openly when they need. I believe that delegating but
supervising can bring new ideas and improvements to the projects
that maybe I couldnt see right away but they are beneficial to the
project and company.
2. She should speak with them and present her vision toward each
project, explain that she will maintain her involvement without
overstepping their boundary, tell them her expectations from the
projects and from them and try to collaborate, not dictate.
Establishing a balance between the employees trust and managers
involvement it can be difficult to accomplish but I think its
necessary to try.
3. No, I dont think that managers need to control every project in order
to maintain his/her authority. If the manager trusts his employees to
have a positive outcome and finish a project then the employees will
be motivates to prove that they are worthy. Managers should offer
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input, guidance and supervise the project but without taking charge
of everything and being overbearing.
4. I believe that managers should never delegate investing activities,
core functions or responsibilities and crisis management.
Case Incident 2 The Persuasive Imperative
Questions :
1. Are the precepts of the IBM training program consistent with the concepts
in this chapter? Why or why not?
2. Again based on the chapter, are there other keys to persuasion and
influence that might be added to the IBM program?
3. If you had a manager who wanted you to do something against your initial
inclination, which of IBMs elements would work best on you? Why?
4. Drawing from Chapter 5 , do you think generational values explain the
changing nature of the employer employee relationship? Why or why not?

Answers :
1. Yes, I think that the percepts of the IBM training program is
consistent with the concepts in this chapter because this chapter
explains managerial and political power strategies along with their
benefits and short-comings. The program is a mixture of constructive
and employee-friendly approaches and uses different power tactics
that can move people into specific actions.
2. According to the chapter, keys to persuasion and influence are ration
persuasion, inspirational appeals, personal appeals and pressure.
The most effective appear to be ration persuasion and inspirational
appeals, especially when employees want to be involved in the
decision making process. So, presenting facts and arguments that
demonstrate the benefits, asking for support of those who believe in
the vision and depending of the case, even flattery and praise can
be used.
3. All of the elements of persuasion are important but I think that
understanding the vision can resolve any initial concerns and
reservations.
4. Employees, their needs and demands are constantly changing and
businesses are changing to to meet their employees needs of
evolving and flexibility in order to create a pleasant and productive
work place.

Chapter 14
Case Incident 1 Choosing Your Battles
Questions :
1. How would you ensure sufficient discussion of contentious issues in a work
group? How can managers bring unspoken conflicts into the open without
making them worse?
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2. How can negotiators utilize conflict management strategies to their
advantage so that differences in interests lead not to dysfunctional
conflicts but rather to positive integrative solutions?
3. Can you think of situations in your own life in which silence has worsened a
conflict between parties? What might have been done differently to ensure
that open communication facilitated collaboration instead?

Answers :
1. I could create an environment where discussing openly about issues
it is safe from judging or unwarranted reprimands. I would make sure
that they have enough trust to talk about the problem at hand and
that they know the importance of working as a united group in order
to successfully complete their tasks. By not solving the issue, they
can become frustrated and stressed and that would affect everyone
including the business. A manager can bring unspoken conflicts into
the open by addressing the subject without calling anyone on it and
also making a connection to group goals or morals so that no one
will be offended.
2. Negotiators can make the two parties feel like they are working
towards the same goal. They can use smoothing technique to downplay the differences and emphasize the similarities. Also could use
compromise technique which involves both parties to give
something up in order to work toward a common goal by getting
something but not everything.
3. One example I remember is about the study/work group I was part of
for a project at school where instead of openly communicating about
the problem, silence was used to deal with the situation in the hopes
that it will disappear. Most of my colleagues became more frustrated
and stressed every day until some of them quit the project even if
that affected their grade. It would have been wise for one of us to
address the conflict head on but instead, everyone acted as they
didnt notice or as they werent affected and a solution was never
found and that affected everyone, including the project.
Case Incident 2 Mediation : Master Solution to Employment Disputes?
Questions :
1. Drawing from these examples, what factors do you think differentiate
occasions when mediation was successful and when it failed?
2. One successful mediator, Bostons Paul Finn, argues that if the disputing
parties are seeking justice, Its best to go somewhere else. Why do you
think he says that?
3. Do you think a mediator should find out why the parties want what they
want? Why or why not?
4. The EEOC reports that whereas 85 percent of employees agree to mediate
their charges, employers agree to mediate only 30 percent of the time.
Why do you think this disparity exists?

Answers :
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1. From the examples - motivation of the parties to solve the issue

( success : EEOC uses mediation extensively, and failure : David
Kuchinsky it is not motivated to solve the issue ) and conflict
intensity ( SAG and AMPTP used prolonged negotiation without
success and the conflict escalated )
2. In some cases like loss of a child or a body part cant be
compensated financially. For mediation to be successful, both parties
have to be willing to give something up in order to reach common
ground but in some cases it cant be done. I couldnt participate in
mediation with a murderer.
3. No, I dont think the mediator should find out WHY because he could
become bias. He should be informed of the details of the case
presented and try to find a solution thats in the middle. He is not a
judge or a jury where you try to appeal to their humanity and heart
also. He must be impartial.
4. As this chapter says, the level of the conflict cant be too high for the
mediation to work and both parties have to be willing to
compromise. The percentage of employers that want to mediate
may be so low either because they are extremely firm on their
decision or they dont want to acknowledge the problem in the
hopes it will go away by itself.

Chapter 15
Case Incident 1 Creative Deviance : Bucking the Hierarchy?
Questions :
1. Do you think its possible for an organization to deliberately create an
anti-hierarchy to encourage employees to engage in more acts of
creative deviance? What steps might a company take to encourage
creative deviance?
2. What are the dangers of an approach that encourages creative deviance?
3. Why do you think a company like Apple is able to be creative with a
strongly hierarchical structure, whereas other companies find hierarchy
limiting?
4. Do you think Apples success has been entirely dependent upon Steve
Jobs role as head of the hierarchy? What are the potential liabilities of a
company that is so strongly connected to the decision-making of a single
Individual?

Answers :
1. I believe it is possible for an organization to create an antihierarchy. Once we give employees enough space, time and power
to do their jobs, we also give them the freedom of creativity. In our
times, creativity is a very important thing for companies in order to
improve their products and satisfy their clients. Anti-hierarchy can
create a special environment that can stimulate innovation,
motivating companies to move forward rapidly. Some of the steps
that a company can take to encourage creativity are revoking the
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unity of command, increasing the span of control and repealing

centralization.
2. One of the dangers that may occur might be the difficulty to rein
control of a group after the process is no longer needed. Another
may be the down falling of morale of employees when the creative
deviance is no longer required.
3. Steve jobs always had control issues and found it hard to trust
anyones decisions but himself so he employed only people that
understood and respected that. Other companies hire a much more
diverse workforce and the expectation of this aristocratic/ monarchy
organization structure was not offered as the sole means to
communicate or administer within the company.
4. No, I dont believe that Apples success has been entirely dependent
upon Steve Jobs role as head of the hierarchy. He was a great
visionary and he wanted the full control of the final say regarding
important decisions but he surrounded himself with creative and
smart employees and a board of very competent individuals. He
made many mistakes but he knew how spin the mistake into an
opportunity for improvement. Tying a company so closely to one
strong leading individual can leave a void and unbalance the
company when that person dies or decides to leave the company.
Case Incident 2 Siemenss Simple Structure - Not
Questions :
1. What do Kleinfelds efforts at Siemens tell you about the difficulties of
restructuring organizations?
2. Why do you think Lschers restructuring decisions have generated less
controversy than did Kleinfelds?
3. Assume a colleague read this case and concluded, This case proves
restructuring efforts do not necessarily improve a companys financial
performance. How would you respond?
4. Do you think a CEO who decides to restructure or downsize a company
takes the well-being of employees into account? Should he or she do so?
Why or why not?

Answers :
1. Kleinfelds effort at Siemens suggests that making significant
changes in a company may make people uncomfortable with those
changes. Most people are used with their routine and structure and
are not very receptive to changes and may manifest themselves
through protests line in the Siemens example.
2. Lschers restructuring decisions were made with more
consideration and he didnt made drastic changes all at once. It is
possible that people got over that initial shock of the change and
become more receptive by the time Lscher started his changes.
3. A business makes changes to meet market conditions. Sometimes
that means expanding and creating new departments and
sometimes those changes require downsizing.

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4. Yes, the CEO should take into consideration the wellbeing of the

employees because their morale decreases, productivity and

creativity drops. He also thinks about the legal issues ( unjustified
layoffs ), advance notice and severance packages.

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