Collaborators and competitors

1. Prepare your own explanation/theory as to why organizations today find collaboration as important as competition, and why they have a tendency to take on similar characteristics.

Would not collaboration be enhanced just as easily with organizations that had different characteristics? Any ideas?

2. The manager of an established small manufacturing plant said, "We can't compete with large organizations because they have the advantage of economies of scale." How should he manage in order to take advantage of the organization's small size?

3. Put yourself in the role of a university administrator in the following situation.

You have just realized that companies in your university's service area are creating internal "universities" to satisfy their own training needs. What would be your logical alternatives? adopt one alternative and defend it.

4. Poor decision making is a symptom of structural deficiency. It's important to remember that decision making is not an exact science, rather, it is a process based more on instinct and experience. Quick decisions, slow decisions, good ones, poor ones...it's all relative and subjective... Please analyze the decision making within the organization you are presently involved with. Analyzing an immediate supervisor would be best for this exercise. If you are not working please base your response on past work experience.