Discussion:
"Attribute of Organizations"
• From the first vignette, "Employee Autonomy: A Little Freedom Goes a Long Way ", assess the advantages and disadvantages of providing employees with autonomy in their jobs. Select the most enjoyable job that you have had, and think of ways in which that employer could have increased the autonomy of that job.
• As organizations restructure and cut back on staff, a burden is placed on the employees that remain. Imagine that you work for an organization that has just cut back on staff and you, a remaining employee, are feeling overburdened with the extra work. Propose ways that the organization could address the shortage that would still result in cost savings but also allow employees to feel less burdened.
e-Activity
There was a time when John Wood was just another, able and upcoming Microsoft executive. Now he is a social entrepreneur, fighting illiteracy through a nonprofit called Room to Read. So far, the organization has built over 100 schools and 1,000 libraries in Cambodia, India, Nepal, Vietnam, and Laos. Self-reflect and identify one or two social projects that you would like to become involved in. Use the Internet to research the social project(s) that you are interested in. Be prepared to discuss.
"Leading the Whole Organization Strategically"
• From the second vignette, "Finding the Leader in You: Jim Senegal's Strategy at Costco is to Not Follow the Crowd", analyze the strategies that Costco uses to ensure success. Determine whether or not Costco's strategy for its stakeholders is applicable to other companies. Support your reasoning.
• From the e-Activity, evaluate the importance of being involved in a social project. Describe the project(s) that you have selected and examine how being involved with these projects would help you as the leader of an organization.
"Transfer It"
• Determine ways you plan to apply what you learned in this course to your current or future position.
• Create a persuasive argument of this type of course being a requirement for higher level management within organizations.
"Sum It Up"
• Rate the three most important concepts that you learned in this course in order of importance (one being the most important).
• Write a speech that you would give to a friend in an elevator summing up the contents of this course. You have 30 to 90 seconds to inform your friend of the most important elements.