Management Principles

Blackboard Assignment

*Access this site for a case study on Louis Vuitton.

http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2004-03-21/the-vuitton-money-machine#disqus_thread

*Answer all of the attached questions that apply to this case. You may make strong and obvious assumptions for this assignment only.

*Submit your answers individually in Blackboard by using the attached question set. Show your answers under each question. You must use the question set to answer. Just showing your answers will not be accepted. Show N/A for questions you deem to no be applicable.

*Bring a copy of the questions and your answers to class on the following Tuesday.

PARTIAL QUESTIONS

APPLICABLE TO CASE REVIEW

1. What evidence of the Four Management Functions do you find here? (planning - systematically making decisions about which goals & activities to pursue, organizing - assembling & coordinating the resources needed to achieve plans/goals, leading - motivating employees for high performance to implement plans/goals, and controlling - monitoring/measuring performance to meet the established metrics for the plans& making changes when needed to meet the established metrics for the plans)

2. If you see Planning in this case, what evidence of this did you see? (analyze current situation, anticipate the future, determine objectives, decide in what actions to engage, choose a business strategy, and determine resources to achieve goals)

3. What Managerial Roles do you find in this case? (Interpersonal -leader, liaison, figurehead; Informational - monitor, disseminator, spokesperson), and Decisional - entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator, negotiator)

4. What Managerial Skills do you find being demonstrated in this organization? (technical, interpersonal & communication, and conceptual & decisional)

5. What Managerial Actions do you find management performing in this organization? (thinking strategically, translating strategies into specific objectives, coordinating resources, working with the frontline, performing team responsibilities, and always bring value to the customer)

6. What Organizational Levels do you find involved in this case? (top-level - allocating large resources/establishing high performance standards/create corporate purpose, middle-level - develop individuals/support individual activities/manage short-term organizational purpose/manage long-term organizational goals, frontline - operational implementers/developing new ideas/developing resources/managing continuous improvement, and team leader - operational implementer/facilitator of team effectiveness )

7. If this company is Managing for Competitive Advantage, what strategy do you identify? (innovation, quality, service, speed, and cost competitiveness)

8. What Major Challenges Facing Managers, if any, do you identify in this case? (globalization, technological change, knowledge management, collaboration across departmental "boundaries", and diversity)

9. Do you identify any of Frederick Taylor's Four Principles of Management in this case study? (develop precise versus general work guidelines, select & train the right person for the right job, cooperate with workers to ensure jobs performed match organizational plans, and ensure a division of work between managers & workers)

10. Which, if any, of Max Weber's Characteristics of Effective Bureaucracy do you identify in this case? (division of labor - separated between tasks & authority, authority - established chain of command, qualifications - employees selected & promoted based on their skills, ownership - managers versus owners should run the organization, and controls & rules - applied consistently & fairly)

11. Does this manager practice a Human Relations Approach utilizingMaslow's Hierarchy of Needs in this case? (physiological, safety/security, social, ego/esteem, and self-actualization)

12. If you identify the Open SystemPerspectivein this case, what inputs or human resourcesoutputs do you find? (raw materials, energy, services purchased, equipment acquired, capital or financial resources, information obtained, , technology utilized, goods or products, and services)

13. Do you detect any use of a SWOT analysis in this case? (internal-organizational strengths, internal-organizational weaknesses, external-environmental opportunities, and external-threats)

14. What is the Scope of the External Analysis or the Macro-environment performed here? (laws & politics& regulations, economy, technology, demographics, and social values & natural environment)

15. Do you find "Porter's Five Forces Model" or the model used to analyze the Competitiveness of the Industry Environment in this case? (intensity of rival firms- who are our current competitors, threat of new entrants - are there few or many entry barriers to our industry, power of suppliers - is the company too dependent on powerful suppliers, power of buyers - is the company too dependent on powerful consumers, and threat of substitutes - what substitutes exist for our product or service)

16. What Environmental Analysis do you find management performing in this case? (environmental scanning - O & T analysis / External Analysis / competitive environment, scenario development - create alternative plans for possible outcomes after scanning the environment, forecasting - specific prediction of some key variable in the future environment, and benchmarking - intensely studying the best practices of various firms to understand their sources of competitive advantage)

17. How would you describe management's Responding to the Environment? (adapting to the environment - empowerment / buffering / smoothing / flexible processes, influencing your environment - competitive aggression / competitive pacification / public relations / voluntary actions / legal actions / political actions, and selecting a new environment or change the boundaries of their environment - strategic maneuvering / domain selection / diversification / merger or acquisition / divestiture)

18. How would you describe the Type of Culture in this organization? (group - teamwork, hierarchy - order / rules / regulations, adhocracy- entrepreneurship / creativity, and rational - goal achievement)

19. How would you describe the Ethical Perspectives applied by management in this organization? (egoism - decisions made to maximize benefits for the individual, utilitarianism - decisions made to create the greatest good for the greatest number, relativism - decisions made based on the opinions of others/society, and virtue - decisions made on the basis of what a mature person with good moral character would do)

20. Do you find any evidence of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 in this case? (independent board of directors, adhering strictly to accounting rules, senior management sign off on financial results, and auditors & management providing information on internal controls)

21. Describe the Ethics Program in this organization? (ethical leadership, corporate ethical standards, ethics codes, ethics programs, ethics committee, ethics communication systems, ethics officers, ethics training, conducting regular ethics audits, compliance-based ethics programs, and integrity-based ethics programs)

22. What Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) do you find practiced here? (economic responsibility - be profitable, legal responsibility - obey the law, ethical responsibility - be ethical, and philanthropic responsibility - be a good global corporate citizen)

23. Does the management of this company concern itself with the Natural Environment? (ecocentric management - creation of sustainable economic development & improvement of quality of life worldwide for organizational stakeholders, sustainable growth - economic growth & development that meets the organization's present needs without harming the ability of future generations to meet their needs, and life-cycle analysis - "cradle to grave" analysis for all outputs on the environment)

24. What Formal Planning Steps do you identify here? (situational analysis, creating alternative goals & plans - specific/measurable/attainable/relevant/time-bound, goal & plan evaluation - advantages / disadvantages / potential effects of each alternative, goal & plan selection, goal & plan implementation, and goal & plan monitor & control)

25. Describe the Levels of Planning you find in this case? (strategic goals - major targets or end results that relate to the long-term survival / value / growth of the organization, tactical planning - translates the broad strategic goals into specific goals / plans for each function or team in the organization, operational planning - specific procedures / process performed at the lower levels to carry out the goals of the organization, and aligning all levels of planning - strategic goals / tactical goals/operational procedures & processes to create a seamless organization)

26. Describe the Strategic Management Process in this case? (establishment of mission/vision/goals, analysis of external opportunities & threats - industry profile / industry growth / industry forces / competitor profile / competitor analysis / competitor advantages / legislation & regulations / political activity / social issues / social interest groups / labor issues / macroeconomic conditions / technological factors / stakeholder analysis, analysis of internal strengths & weaknesses - human resources assessment / marketing audit / operations analysis / other internal functional analyses / tangible & intangible resources analyses/ core competencies analysis, SWOT analysis & strategy formulation, strategy implementation, strategic control, and strategic review & change)

27. What Corporate or Organizational Strategy, if any, do you identify here ranging from very specialized to highly diverse that defines the businesses, markets, and industries this organization operates within? (concentration - focus on a single business, vertical integration - expansion into supply channels or distributors, concentric diversification - expansion into related businesses, and conglomerate diversification - expansion into unrelated businesses)

28. What Business Strategy, if any, do you identify here that helps this organization build and strengthen its competitive position in the marketplace? (low-cost business strategy, differentiation business strategy, innovation business strategy, growth business strategy, turnaround business strategy, and quality business strategy)

29. If you identify management making decisions in this case, what Stage of Decision Making do you associate with the decisions? (identifying & diagnosing, generating alternative solutions, evaluating alternatives, making a choice, implementing the decision, evaluating the decision, and making changes to the decision when / if necessary)