1. How do you think the growing use of telecommuters, temporary and part-time workers, and virtual teams affect human resource management? How can managers improve recruiting and retention of these employees?
2. Explain how a manager's personal biases and stereotypes may affect an organization's success in creating a workplace that is culturally competent.
3. Shelley Willingham-Hinton, president of the National Organization for Diversity in Sales and Marketing, was quoted in the chapter as saying, "Our country's consumer base is so varied. I can't think of how a company can succeed without having that kind of diversity with their employees." Why should corporations have workforces that mirror the country's diverse consumer base?
4. As a manager, how might you deal with an employee who is always displaying negative emotions that affect the rest of the team? How might you use an understanding of attribution theory and emotional contagion to help you decide what to do?
5. In what ways might the cognitive and affective components of attitude influence the behavior of employees who are faced with learning an entirely new set of computer-related skills to retain their jobs at a manufacturing facility?
6. It is suggested that optimism is an important characteristic for a manager, yet some employees complain that optimistic managers cause them significant stress because they expect their subordinates to meet unreasonable goals or expectations. How might an employee deal with a perpetually optimistic manager?
7. Do you think leadership style is fixed and unchangeable for a leader or flexible and adaptable? Discuss.
8. Suggest some personal traits that you believe would be useful to a business leader today. Are these traits more valuable in some situations than others? How do you think traits differ from strengths?
9. Using Hackman and Oldham's core job dimensions, compare and contrast the jobs of these two state employees: (1) Jared, who spends most of his time researching and debating energy policy to make recommendations that will eventually be presented to the state legislature and (2) Anise, who spends her days planting and caring for the flower gardens and grounds surrounding the state capital building.
10. To keep people motivated in a tough economic environment, some companies have shifted from annual to semiannual bonuses. Do you think offering semiannual is a good way to motivate the kind of behaviors organizations need to survive the economic downturn? What might be some potential problems with this approach?