Q1: What are some differences one might expect among stakeholder expectations for a nonprofit organization versus a for-profit business? Do you think nonprofit managers have to pay more attention to stakeholders than do business managers? Discuss.
Q2: Early management theorists believed that organizations should strive to be logical and rational, with a place for everything and everything in its place. Discuss the pros and cons of this approach for today's organizations.
Q3: what is goal for the class for which you are reading this text? Who established this goal? Discuss how the goal affects your direction and motivation.
Q4: Do you believe mission statements and official goal statements provide an organization with genuine legitimacy in the external environment? When a company such as CVS (discussed in the chapter) makes a decision to stop selling cigarettes because that action conflicts with its mission statement, what do you see as the impact on the public opinion? On future business? Discuss.
Q5: Suppose you have been asked to evaluate the effectiveness of the police department in a medium-sized community. Where would you begin, and how would you proceed? What effectiveness approach would you prefer?
Q6: A noted organization theorist once again, "organizational effectiveness can be whatever top management defines it to". Discuss.
Q7: The manager of a consumer products firm said "we use the brand manager position to train future executives". Why do you think the brand manager position is considered a good training ground? Discuss.
Q8: Why do companies using a horizontal structure have cultures that emphasize openness, employee empowerment, and responsibility? What do you think a manager's job would be like in a horizontally organized company?
Q9: Name some factory causing environment complexity for an organization of your choice. How might this environmental complexity lead to organizational complexity? Discuss.
Q10: Is changing the organization's domain a feasible strategy for coping with a threatening environment? Explain. Can you think of an organization in the recent news that has changed its domain?