Homework #4 for MGT3000

Organization Management
HW # 4
Chapter 5
Matthew Henderson

1. What strategic plans could be adopted by MSU at which you are taking this management course to compete for students in the marketplace?  Would these plans depend on the school’s goals?

MSU could adopt several strategic plans to improve their competitive advantage.  If MSU could identify and exploit what sets them apart from other schools (core competency), it might produce a more efficient business model and they could offer their services for a more competitive price.  MSU could build a stronger synergy between their various departments and outside vendors.  This would create a more diverse business model and they could offer more services for a more competitive price.

These plans take into account the school’s goals.  They are methods used to achieve those goals.  The plans should be developed with goals in mind.

MSU could also adopt one of Porter’s Competitive Strategies of Differentiation, Cost Leadership or Focus.  Differentiation would set MSU apart from other schools, Cost Leadership would make classes available at a lower cost, and Focus would increase MSU’s customer loyalty.

Any of Porter’s Competitive Strategies would depend on MSU’s goals.  These strategies are put in place to reach a specific goal.


2. One of the benefits of a strategy map is that goals and how they are linked can be clearly communicated to everyone in the organization.  Does a minimum wage maintenance worker in a hospital really need to understand any goals beyond keeping the place clean?  Discuss.

A minimum wage hospital maintenance worker does not need to understand the goals of the organization to perform his/her duties.  However, it might be beneficial to both the organization and the worker if they were to understand the goals.  Not only does it give the worker a sense of purpose and direction, but it also helps the maintenance worker make decisions in the best interest of the hospital’s goals.  The maintenance worker can do his/her required duties without understanding the goals of the hospital, but he/she can go above and beyond required duties if he/she understands the goals of the hospital.

Perform a SWOT analysis for Metro State University of Denver.  Do you think university administrators consider the same factors when devising their strategy?

Strengths	Opportunities		Ideas
Quality Education	Consumers		Exceed Accreditation and Curriculum Standards to preempt unpredictable changing environment and help improve US Worldwide Education Standings
Communications	Investors		Exploit strengths for broader scale of academic recognition
Student Involvement	Diversity of Programs		Market various locations and public transportation to help eradicate parking threat
Community Involvement	Expansion of Programs		Market Federal Grants/Loans and Competitive Costs to Unemployed
Competitive Costs	Competitive Costs		Market Quality of Education and Accreditation to offset higher costs
Transportation	Community Involvement		Use communication strengths in student outreach
Partnership w/ other schools	Government Funding		Use communication, partnerships and community and student involvement to offset crime
Facility Locations	Low National Employment		Use Communication and outreach to educate students about school/curriculum
Federal Grants/Loans	Federal Student Incentives		Ensure availability of Student Financing
Accredited	National Regard for Education		Partner with Primary Schools to improve education (tutors, in-class help, guest speakers, etc…)
Reputation	Partnerships
Weaknesses	Threats
Higher costs than some	Academic Recognition
Parking	Program Costs
Educating about Curriculum	Parking
Outreach	Government Funding
Academic Recognition	High National Employment
	School Shootings/Crime
	Worldwide Education Standings (US is low)
	Substandard Primary Education
	Accreditation Standards
	Curriculum Standards

I would imagine that MSU Administrators consider these factors and more when devising strategic plans (or at least I would hope they do).

3. In order for companies to remain competitive, their strategies must focus on three things. Describe these three focuses.

Core Competencies: These are the things that set a company apart from its competitors.  These are the things at which the company excels.  Exploiting Core Competencies can give a company a competitive advantage because they acquire a certain expertise more so than competitors.

Build Synergy:  Departments and Partners all working together toward a common goal.  This can give the company a competitive advantage in cost, market power, and technology or management skill.  This can add value to existing resources.

Deliver Value: Value is benefits vs. cost of what the company is offering (service or product).  A consumer will generally shop for the most benefits at the lowest cost.  By exploiting core competencies and building synergy, companies can increase the benefits of what they offer and also offer it at a lower cost.


4. Explain how Porter's competitive strategies may be useful to an organization. List the common characteristics of each strategy.

Porter’s competitive strategies say that an organization may adopt one of three strategies to generate a competitive edge.  An organization can use one of these strategies in combination with a SWOT analysis and strategic planning to develop a strategy to pull ahead of the competition.

Porter’s Competitive Strategies are:

Differentiation: Creative “outside the box” thinking, strong marketing, flexible yet coordinated, strong research ability, reputation for quality or innovation.

Cost Leadership: Efficient procurement and distribution, central authority, tight cost control, standard operating procedures, easy to use manufacturing.

Focus: Flexible, customer relationships, empowered lower employees, measures cost of service and maintaining customer loyalty, frequent/detailed control reports, can use combination of differentiation and cost leadership.

Homework #3 for MGT3000

Organization Management
HW # 3
Chapter 4
Matthew Henderson

1. Dr.  Martin Luther King, Jr., said, “As long as there is poverty in the world, I can never be rich...As long as diseases are rampant, I can never be healthy…I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be.”  Discuss this quote with respect to the material in this chapter.  Would this idea be true for corporations, too?

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was using the Justice Approach in this statement to point out the unethical treatment of people worldwide.  His statement claims that the world is unethical because of its seemingly unfair treatment of those in poverty and those with disease.  Dr. King was a well known advocate of Distributive Justice, saying that different treatment of individuals should not be based on arbitrary characteristics; instead everybody should be treated equally.  Dr. King’s statement is saying “the chain is only as strong as its weakest link, so let’s improve the quality of our links”.

There may be some corporations that adopt this Distributive Justice Approach, but there are quite a few that adopt an Individualism Approach or Utilitarian Approach.  Their view of the chain would be, instead of strengthening weak links, to eject or replace weak links for the greater good of the chain (the organization or themselves).

2. Environmentalists are trying to pass laws for oil spills that would remove all liability limits for the oil companies.  This change would punish corporations financially.  Is this approach the best way to influence companies to be socially responsible?

This approach might be effective on a preconventional moral level depending on the size of the corporation.  The company may decide that the financial punishment is more expensive than exceeding limitations and change their ways.  However, it is more likely that the financial punishment will be planned for and the corporation will still save money by exceeding limitations and paying citations.  Generally, a company willing to exceed environmental limitations is looking out for their own self-interest.

In order for environmentalists to see a real change, they would need to find some way to develop the morality of the corporations from within.  The corporation that decides to exceed environmental limits is most likely preconventionally morally developed.  Once they develop a Conventional or Postconventional moral code, they will monitor their environmental limits and take responsibility to ensure they don’t exceed those limits for the good of social expectations and their own internal values.

3. Is it socially responsible for organizations to undertake political activity or join with others in a trade association to influence the government?  Discuss.

It is socially responsible to themselves, their workers and their shareholders.  It is irresponsible to the “greater society”.  Organizations are generally looking out for the best interest of themselves and their shareholders.  If they can do this through politics and/or trade associations, they will.  They will find any way to bend the rules or change the rules in their favor.  This ensures that they will have a handle on the changing environments.  It is the epitome of uncertainty avoidance.

On a broader social level, this type of action takes deciding power away from the people who, in a democracy, are supposed to be the ruling force.  This type of action not only portrays a corrupt and conniving organization, but also a corrupt and conniving political and/or trade system.  So it is irresponsible on a greater social scale.

4. A noted business executive said, “A company’s first obligation is to be profitable.  Unprofitable enterprises can’t afford to be socially responsible.”  Do you agree?  How does this idea relate to the bottom-of-the-pyramid concept?  Discuss.

Considering the thousands of successful non-profit companies, many of whose goals are socially responsible, I do not agree with this executive’s saying.  These non-profits are more interested in social responsibility than they are profits.  If a company is determined, they can be socially responsible without profit.  However, if they value profit over social responsibility, then they will probably trade one for the other.

The bottom of the pyramid concept says that corporations can alleviate poverty and other social ills, as well as make significant profits, by selling to the world’s poor.  This idea is saying that a corporation can be both profitable and socially responsible at the same time.  Its idea is that by being socially responsible, an organization builds a market for itself.

5. Which do you think would be more effective for shaping long-term ethical behavior in an organization: a written code of ethics combined with ethics training or strong ethical leadership?  Which would have more impact on you?  Why?

While both ideas have value, I think strong ethical leadership would be more effective than written code and ethics training.  Considering the leaders are the ones who build the organization’s culture, they would also be the ones hiring new management and employees, so hopefully they would use their strong ethics to decide who and who not to hire.  Ideally, this would create an environment of strong ethical people.  However, even if they didn’t there’s an old proverb, “lead by example,” and even unethical people under ethical management will most likely follow the example they are given.

A written code is very impersonal and seems almost more like a set of rules (and we all know rules were made to be broken, right?... like the fresh coat of paint that says “don’t touch, wet paint”… people still touch it).  Ethical training can be seen as more of an obligation than a help.  It is probably helpful, but it can also be easily written off as “unnecessary” or “boring”.  Even with these systems in place, there always seems to be at least one person who thinks of themselves as “above the law” and they usually come from higher-up.

Personally, I would rather have strong ethical leadership.  Not only would I be grateful that I am working for an ethical person, but I also would have some assurance that the organization will follow that leader’s ethical path.  I feel like most people have a great moral compass, just not everyone decides to follow its direction.  With strong leadership, I think people would choose to use their compasses more.

Homework #2 for MGT3000

Organizational Management
HW # 2
Matthew Henderson

1. What do you think is your strongest component of cultural intelligence?  Your weakest?  How would you go about shoring up your weaknesses?

Personally, I think my strongest component of cultural intelligence is Mindfulness.  I generally find that if I am mindful of my culture, knowledge and skills often follow naturally.  My weakest component of cultural intelligence would probably be Knowledge.

I could probably improve my knowledge by being Mindful and paying attention to and taking note of cultural subtleties, while at the same time increasing my repertoire of cultural skills.

2. What steps could a company take to avoid making product design and marketing mistakes when introducing new products into India?  How would you go about hiring a plant manager for a facility you are planning to build in India?

A company can take the time to gain knowledge of the Indian culture.  For instance, if a company was knowledgeable of the Indian culture, they would not introduce beef as a product because most Indian cultures see the cow as a sacred animal.  In South India, meat of any kind would not be terribly appreciated because the majority of that culture is vegetarian.  Having that knowledge will save a company from making some very costly mistakes.

My first requirement for a plant manager in India would be that they have an in-depth knowledge of Indian culture… preferably someone who has lived in India for a given time and has been a part of its culture.  It would also be advantageous if they had experience with my culture so that they could be a bridge between the two cultures.  Other than that, they would also need excellent interpersonal, communication and organizational skills… and a good attitude.

3. How might the social value of low versus high power distance influence how you would lead and motivate employees?  What about the value of low- versus high-performance orientation

If I were to find myself managing a high power distance environment (which I would prefer to never do) I would probably lead and motivate employees by using intimidation, discouragement and fear (ie: “my way or the high-way”).  Military boot camp comes to mind as an example of a high power distance environment.  I think it would be a position delivering more negative than positive affirmation; more punishment than rewards.

If I were to find myself managing a low power distance environment I would probably lead and motivate employees by using rewards and encouragement.  I would probably have a closer personal relationship with the employees and acknowledge their achievements as well as giving them credit for the overall company achievements.  Likewise, I would share in the responsibility of failures and/or mistakes.  This would be an environment of positive affirmation, encouragement and rewards.

In a high performance oriented environment I would probably lead and motivate with blunt, direct, explicit and concise criticisms, directions and feedback.  I would encourage education and further education and I would reward those whose performance stands above the others.

In a low performance oriented environment I would lead and motivate by creating a culture of ideal performance.  I would have a closer personal relationship with the employees and encourage them to take the time they need for their personal affairs.  I would value creativity and innovation over performance.

4. Should a multinational corporation operate as a tightly integrated, worldwide business system, or would it be more effective to let each national subsidiary operate autonomously?

A multinational corporation should try to attain a balance of autonomy and integration.  Depending on the cultures of where the subsidiaries are located, too tight integration would most likely mean that the corporation adheres to only one culture and this could cause some disturbances in the internal and external environment of that corporation.  Too much autonomy could cause individual subsidiaries to develop their own internal cultures that might not meet the intended brand of the corporation.  I think a corporation should maintain a certain level of autonomy and allow some cultural differences, but they should also maintain a level of integration so that those autonomous cultures don’t veer too far off course.  In terms of effectiveness, subsidiaries will be more effective if they can develop their own autonomous cultures and/or environments, though not necessarily more efficient for the overall corporation.

Homework #1 for MGT3000

Organizational Management 
Homework # 1

Matthew Henderson

Please type your answers, and submit in class by due date

1. What do you think are the most important forces in the external environment creating uncertainty for organizations today?  Do the forces you identified typically arise in the task environment or the general environment?

Customers – Task Environment
Competitors – Task Environment
Suppliers – Task Environment
Labor Market – Task Environment
Technological – General Environment
Natural – General Environment
Sociocultural – General Environment
Economic – General Environment
Legal/Political – General Environment
International – General Environment

2. Why do you think that many managers are surprised by environmental changes and unable to help their organizations adapt?  Can a manager ever be prepared for an environmental change as dramatic as that experienced by airlines in the United States following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington?

Many managers only deal with a few external factors.  This provides mostly internally focused environment.  However, when external factors increase or change, internally focused managers may be unprepared, unable or unwilling to adapt to these changes.

Managers can be prepared for environmental changes using various strategies, including: boundary-spanning roles, interorganizational partnership, and mergers or joint ventures.  These methods can help an organization adapt to even the most dramatic of environmental changes.

3. Why are symbols important to a corporate culture?  Do stories, heroes, slogans, and ceremonies have symbolic value?  Discuss.

Symbols help identify an organization’s key values, beliefs, understandings and norms.  They are important in helping an organization identify itself.

Stories, heroes, slogans and ceremonies all have symbolic value.  They serve as the rhetoric used within an organization to improve morale, set standards and reward exemplary work.

4. General Electric is famous for firing the lowest-performing 10 percent of its managers each year.  With its strict no-layoff policy, Valero Energy believes people need to feel secure in their jobs to perform their best.  Yet both are high-performing companies.  How do you account for the success of such opposite philosophies?

General Electric has created an achievement culture where Valero Energy has created an involvement culture.

General Electric has created a highly competitive, no-nonsense, environment where the manager’s performance literally determines whether he/she keeps his/her job.  This drives competitive people to perform to the best of their abilities, and if they don’t make the cut, there’s someone waiting to replace them.  So General Electric is always providing to their customers, people who strive for excellence in a very specific area.

Valero Energy’s involvement culture emphasizes involvement and participation of employees.  These employees are given the time to adapt and learn new and various ideas.  This fosters a well-rounded and adaptable employee/manager.

General Electric employees are most likely highly driven and experienced in a very specific area whereas Valero Energy employees may be more relaxed and able to address a broader area and adapt to new areas too.