MGT 420 All Discussion Questions Module 1 – 8

MGT 420 All Discussion Questions Module 1 – 8

Module 1 DQ 1: How does an understanding of management and organizational behavior lead to organizational effectiveness and efficiency? Why is the study of historical management theories important today?

Module 1 DQ 2: What are the six challenges facing managers in the workplace today? Each student is expected to discuss one of the major challenges, highlighting its importance in the 21st century workplace and how it affects the behavior of people within organizations.

Module 1 DQ 3: What are key managerial skills and competencies? Explain how they vary across management levels.

Module 2 DQ 1: Using examples from your experience, what is the importance of planning to the practice of management?

Module 2 DQ 2: For your organization, or for one with which you are familiar, identify the factors that operate in its general and specific environments. How does this understanding influence the effectiveness of an organization?

Module 2 DQ 3: What is the role of IT in an increasingly global environment? Provide examples of how IT has changed your organization (or an organization with which you are familiar).

Module 3 DQ 1: If you, as a manager, had to help change an employee’s behavior to make him or her more productive, what course of action would you take? How might you use both positive and negative reinforcement?

Module 3 DQ 2: Motivational theory applications argue for recognizing individual differences as well as suggest paying attention to members of diverse groups. Is this a contradiction? Why or why not?

Module 3 DQ 3: Visit the following websites and complete the self-assessments:

Module 4 DQ 1: What are group norms, and what role do they play in behavior and cohesiveness of the group? How does the diversity of a group affect its performance?

Module 4 DQ 2: How are the three characteristics of effective teams evident in each of Tuckman’s five stages of team development? Provide examples to support your response.

Module 4 DQ 3: In a team-based situation, which is more effective: team or individual rewards? Why? Please support your position with a practical example..

Module 5 DQ 1: What role does effective interpersonal communication play in decision making within organizations?

Module 5 DQ 2: Using a practical example, what are the benefits and potential problems associated with conflict?

Module 5 DQ 3: What is negotiation? What are the common negotiation pitfalls? What are the strategies to overcome them?

Module 6 DQ 1: Which power bases lie within the individual? Which are derived from the organization? How are power and politics related?

Module 6 DQ 2: How do emerging leadership theories support innovation and entrepreneurial spirit within organizations?

Module 6 DQ 3: It has long been a dictum of management theory that leaders must adapt their behavior to fit the specifics of a situation. Discuss whether transformational leadership is appropriate for all occasions. In which situations might it not be effective and which theories might be effective instead?

Module 7 DQ 1: Review the five functional areas within the HR department, and explain which one you think is most important and why. Which of these five functional areas works most closely with the rest of the business as a strategic partner, and how might this change depending on the type of company? How do the needs of an organization decide what human and capital resources are required to be successful?

Module 7 DQ 2: In what way is the HR function important to the success of the everyday tasks in an organization? Discuss the competitive advantages that can accrue to an organization that genuinely is committed to workplace diversity? Please make certain that you indicate strategies for overcoming resistance to diversity programs.

Module 7 DQ 3: How does an individual’s faith or worldview inform their personal management practices? 

Module 8 DQ 1: Identify the main types of traditional and horizontal organization structure. Using an organization of your choice as an example how is the structure of the organization a reflection of its environment (including national culture), its goals, and competences?

Module 8 DQ 2” Using an organization with which you are familiar, identify its core culture and the elements of its observable culture as defined by Senge. What do you think would need to be changed in order to facilitate learning? What role would organizational development play in overcoming resistance to change?

Module 8 DQ 3: Using an organization with which you are familiar, identify ways through which feed-forward and feedback controls can be used to assure the high quality of its final outcome. How do these controls lead to effective management?

MGT 420 All Discussion Questions Module 1 – 8