Management Problems

1. Suppose yourself as a potential member of a team responsible for designing a new package for breakfast cereal. Do you think interpersonal skills would be equally important if the team is organized face-to-face versus a virtual team? Why or why not? Might different types of interpersonal skills be required for the two types of teams? Be specific.

2. Experts say that for teams to function well, members have to get to know one another in some depth. what specifically would you do to facilitate this in a co-located team? What about in a global virtual team?

3. You're a manager who employs a participative control approach. You've concluded that corrective action is necessary to improve customer satisfaction, but first you need to convince your employees that the problem exists. What kind of evidence do you think employees will find more compelling: quantitative measurements or anecdotes from your interactions with customers? Explain your answer.

4. What types of analysis can managers perform to help them diagnose a company's financial condition? How might a review of financial statements help managers diagnose other kinds of performance problems as well?