Ch 4
‘axero’ has a nice set of suggestions about how facilitate effective communication in the workplace.
There are some general principles that underlie the specific tips offered there. What broad principles do you see? There is no right answer. I am asking you to use your judgment. (200-250 words)
Ch 5
Here’s a nice treatment on workplace ethics, and it includes a number of examples:
https://www.thebalance.com/did-you-bring-your-ethics-to-work-today-1917741
Some ethical violations are correctable, and even forgivable in an otherwise good co-worker. List three breeches of workplace ethics that you believe would make termination of a co-worker (supervisor or supervisee) necessary, and state why you think so. (200-250 words)
Ch 6
When times are tough and money scarce (always the case for nonprofits and governments, and not that unusual for for-profits), you may find the recommendations here helpful:
I don’t think the author was trying to rank order her recommendations—she may have had no particular order in mind. But, I would like you to do just that, i.e., rank order her list in terms of most important to least important, in your opinion. After you re-rank her list, explain why you thought the item you put first was the best recommendation, and why you thought the last one on your list should be last. (200-250 words)
Note this is in Forbes. If you use an ad blocker, you will be asked to temporarily disable it.
Ch 7
Tuckman’s stages of team development (“forming, storming, norming, etc.”) is a fairly useful model. However, here’s a brief description of the model that offers a couple of criticisms. Summarize those criticisms. (200-250 words)
http://infed.org/mobi/bruce-w-tuckman-forming-storming-norming-and-performing-in-groups/
Ch 8
Here’s a nice cautionary article on something this author call the “New Groupthink”. What is he trying to warn us about? (200-250 words)
Ch 9
From the business pages of the Houston Chronicle, here are some consequences of conflict.
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/positive-negative-consequences-conflict-organizations-10254.html
For three of the five ‘effects’ in the list, find a concrete example from the news, describing what happened in each case in about 3 sentences each.
Ch 10
What, in your opinion, is the single biggest risk associated with having a workforce that is not very diverse? There are plenty of opinions out there online to help you, but I am not recommending any one in particular. Just look around and you’ll start to pick up a couple of common themes. (200-250 words)
Ch 11
The State of Idaho is a right to work state. This means that there are extra burdens on union attempts to organize, and thus less overall union activity. Still, many of you are from other states where union activity is common, and some of you Idahoans may eventually move to such states. So, it is a good idea to pay attention to the points made in this chapter. Also, the general points about large scale bargaining and negotiation are useful no matter what your situation is or will be.
My only question for this chapter is a simple one: People commonly believe that collective bargaining is a process that benefits workers (as it often does). What are some benefits to employers? (150-200 words)
Ch 12
Leaders are said to be “transformational” while managers are said to be “transactional”. It is certainly possible for a manager to also be a leader, but let’s assume that is not the case for this question—you have to be one or the other.
What does it mean to be transformational rather than transactional? Can you think of any circumstance in which it might be better to have a manager rather than a leader? (200-250 words)
Here’s a staring point from a pretty good site:
http://changingminds.org/disciplines/leadership/articles/manager_leader.htm