UNIVERSITY OF LETHBRIDGE
FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT
MGT3360 FINAL EXAM OVERVIEW
1.
20 Multiple Choice Questions................................ 20 x 1........................ 20
2.
3 Essay Questions from choice of 5..................... 3 x 15........................ 45
65
Think through your answers ahead of time and be concise. Group discussion of
questions is encouraged, but the formulation of answers must be an individual
effort. The objective of this method of testing is to encourage you to give more sustained
thought to the application of a conceptual framework than might normally be the case in
a standard time-limited exam. Be sure that your answers strive to apply and illustrate
the theories we have discussed.
Numbers in parentheses following each question give a breakdown of marks where
applicable
This is a WebCT Exam. It is not an “open book” exam. No papers will be permitted
into the Test Center.
Time available for the exam: 120 minutes.
It will available from Monday, April 24th at 10:00am until Wednesday, April 26th at
10:00pm.
The five essay questions you will see on your exam (from which you must choose three)
will be taken from the following eight:
Essay Questions
1.
a) Explain Thompson’s levels of interdependence, b) identify an example of each
level within the academic activities of the university (i.e. teaching or research) and c) use
the example to illustrate the theory.
(5+5+5)
2.
It is ten years from now. You have recently returned to your organization with an
MBA from a well-known graduate school that counts many of your colleagues in other
departments (Engineering, R&D) among its successful alumni. Janet, a senior V.P. in
your department (Marketing), has been showing an interest in your career lately and has
asked for your input regarding a rethinking of your division’s product line-up. You have
recently put forward an idea for a new product but it has received mixed reviews. Several
people at divisional headquarters have actively expressed support saying new products
are needed, but one or two have also come out quite strongly against the idea by
suggesting that it is not technically feasible. A meeting has been called at headquarters to
discuss how to improve divisional sales.
Explain how you will use political tactics before and during the meeting to get your new
product proposal supported.
(3+3+3+3+3)
3.
Putting on his strategic planning hat, the President of U of L would like to
reposition the university as the kind of elite undergraduate school seen on the East Coast
- like Acadia or St. Francis Xavier. In order to do that there will have to be some changes
made that students might welcome such as ensuring small class sizes in all courses,
building more residence spaces, and putting more money into scholarships, but such
changes are not free so tuition will have to rise by at least 25%. Since you are the campus
change guru, he has come to you to tell him how to do it, that is, which type of change
and which mode of change (class handout) he should be using. a) Perform a diagnosis of
the situation using each of the ten contingency factors from the handout and b) make a
change strategy recommendation that draws on your analysis. Remember he doesn’t
want to know if he should go ahead… just how.
((1x10)+5)
4.
Consider the following situation:
You hold the position of construction manager for a company in a foreign country
where your company has taken on a project to build a local school. The building is
substantially behind schedule already and if delayed much longer will not be available for
the start of the school year. Yesterday, a customs official at the port where your
construction materials are being unloaded telephoned to say that there was a problem
clearing your materials through customs. When you met with him, he suggested that the
problem could likely be cleared up… for $1,000. If you do not make this payment, you
are reasonably certain that your materials will sit on the dock for at least a week until
they are released.
Use the moral philosophy framework described in class (Utilitarian, Categorical
Imperative, and Cultural Relativism) to make three distinct arguments regarding what
to do in this situation. Note that you may come up with similar recommendations about
what to do in more than one of your three arguments, but there should be no overlap in
how you get to those recommendations.
(5+5+5)
5.
Which of the following decision approaches best characterizes how decisions
were made in your group this term: management science, Carnegie, incremental decision,
or garbage can? a) Justify your choice in process terms using actual decisions made
by the group as illustrations. b) Was this approach consistent with the contingency
decision-making framework? Why or why not?
(10+5)
6.
For each of the following pairings, use the concepts of horizontal power to
provide a different justification for why the first might have more power than the
second. (i.e. – there are five different sources of horizontal power. Choose the best ‘fit’
for each source from those below so that all sources and all examples are matched up.)
As always, be sure to support your argument with specific assumptions from the
example.
a) the Registrar’s Office vs. the Faculty of Management Undergrad Office
b) software development vs. building maintenance at Microsoft
c) police department vs. public works in a municipal government
d) retail sales vs. e-commerce sales at Sears
e) the Canadian Centre for Behavioral Neuroscience vs. the Education Faculty
(3x5)
7.
The somewhat eccentric President of your company seems genuinely convinced
that something called clan control is the best thing for your firm. The company is pretty
big and composed of several divisions: Food Products, Transportation and Electronic
Gaming. The Gaming division in which you work is pretty small and people seem to get
along well without having to go through the channels to their boss every time something
comes up – which it often does given the technology in this industry! Something else that
you like about this business is the opportunity every year to kick the other divisions’
butts. Things aren’t always as stable in your industry as theirs and their overall revenues
dwarf yours, but you still post a better ROI year in and year out. You just wish that
headquarters could figure out some way to make the competition meaningful instead of
just adding more paperwork and procedures to your life.
What advice would you give the President concerning the appropriate control system:
a) for the company? b) for your division?
(8+7)
8.
You are a vice-president in a firm that has been taking a beating in the
marketplace at the hands of low-cost competitors using third world labor to assemble
their products. You see little future at the low end of the market and would like to focus
more on new product innovation as a competitive edge, but you are concerned that the
existing culture of the firm is too focused on efficiency and cost-cutting. You’re aware of
how Disney uses culture to ensure that all employees (sorry, cast members) get ‘the
message’ and think there is a role for culture in your planned turnaround. a) Using rites &
ceremonies, stories, symbols and language (and your imagination), put together a
proposal to the CEO outlining how you plan to change the culture of the firm to better
align it with the new innovation strategy. b) How difficult do you expect this change to
be?
(3x4+3)