Mid-Term

Organizational Communication - COM 365 - March 13, 2002 - Davis Foulger

Answer Three of the following four questions:

  1. What is a time and motion study? How did they reflect classical management theories? What famous time and motion study led to the development of human resources theories? What happened that classical management couldn't explain? How do human resource theories explain what happened? What do managers do differently under human resources approaches as a result?
  2. What is the concept of satisficing? How does it modify Chester Barnard's human relations approach to management. How does it set up the human relations approach?
  3. McGregor's Theory Y proposes that "People not only accept responsibility, but actively seek it." Maslow proposes that "The conditions that foster individual growth are also good for the organization." Likert recommends "System IV", a participative approach to management. What implications do these assertions have for management and for the use of self-managed teams?
  4. Use Shein's six formal properties of organizational cultures to explain the workings of Weick's sense-making model:
    Compare Shein's properties of cultures to Weick's processes within systems? What corresponds to what?

    Answer two of the following four questions:

  5. What are the five types of social power? Relate the four dialectics associated with organizational feminist critical theory to thse types of power. To what extent are feminist theory "revolutionary" with respect to organizations.
  6. What is the most important thing you can do in the course of an interview? Why? What is the most important thing you can do after starting a new job? Why?
  7. Discuss the problems of upward distortion in subordinate/supervisor relationships. How do gatekeeping, summarization, and withholding contribute to upward distortion. Under what conditions can Fayol's Bridge resolve the problems of upward distortion?
  8. Discuss leadership as a set of traits, a set of skills, and a set of perceptions. How does each view of leadership contribute to leadership success? What can we do to become more effective leaders?