Managers may most effectively approach the complex problems of individual differences by first assuming that the differences are neither good nor bad, and that no one right solution exists. Diagnostic questions the manager must ask concern: the nature of the difference; the underlying factors; and the stage to which the interpersonal difference has evolved. Available courses of action include: avoidance, repression, conflict, and problem solving. .....more

Effective interviews optimize communication with a time constraint. Methods for planning and preparation, building a rapport, developing information, and following up are important constructions. The most important issue is realizing how one''s biases and attitudes affect the collected information. Preparation should reinforce the purpose of the interview and should include a time limit and outline. The best tone is one of friendliness. The interviewer .....more

Sales management training and development programs often fail to give a clear concept of what managing really is. Consequently, sales managers concentrate on the non-managing elements of their positions, rather than managing activities. The sales managers'' effectiveness in getting results through sales personnel is essential to the marketing effort and significantly affects a company''s profit and loss.

Two studies investigating resistance to change reveal that the social aspects of change, rather than the technological aspects, cause the most strident resistance in workers. Everyday changes among employees working closely together elicit little resistance. Management action, usually initiated by staff people outside of the small work group, brings on the symptoms of resistance. The manner in which staff specialists effect changes threatens and disrupts .....more

A cognitive style model provides some explanation of the processes affecting managers'' assessment of their environment. Systematic thinkers tend to look for methods, make plans, define the quality of solutions in terms of method, discard alternatives quickly, conduct ordered searches for additional information and complete all steps of the analysis they have begun. Intuitive thinkers keep the overall problem continuously in mind, redefine the problem .....more

Regular use of the relaxation response counteracts the harmful effects of stress. Stress creates high blood pressure, or hypertension, through the documented "fight-or-flight" response of the hypothalamus. The relaxation response is an innate, integrated set of physiologic changes opposite to the fight-or-flight response. There are many techniques that elicit the relaxation response. Various investigations indicate that regular use of one of these .....more

Organizational learning is a process of detecting and correcting errors. Single loop learning is a process in which organizations are able to correct matters in order to achieve stated objectives. In double loop learning, problems are examined and corrected even though correction requires challenge to underlying policies and objectives. When policy or objectives are not questioned, organizational behavior may camouflage errors. Organizational games .....more

Power, the critical element in managerial behavior, is representative of efficacy and capacity, as well as dominance and oppression. An individual''s power comes from his or her position in an organization and access to resources, information, and organizational support. Power positions allow job discretion, recognition, and task relevance. The more communication with superiors, peers, and subordinates, the more powerful the position is. Powerlessness .....more

Research indicates that manipulation of subordinates by their superiors occurs because of the structure of the superior-subordinate relationship. Subordinates must recognize and resolve eight dilemmas of self-protection derived from the theory of individual development (formulated by Erik Erikson), which arise in a hierarchical organization. A superior who displays qualities of introspection, empathy, preparedness, commitment, and hope will be able .....more

Managers and subordinates often experience confusion about what style to use when they write letters and memorandums. They make revisions and rancor builds. Style is more than a matter of using words with appropriate denotations; it is also using words with appropriate connotations. Thus, style is partly a matter of tone. A workable definition of style in business writing is: that choice of words, sentences, and paragraph format which by virtue of .....more

Information technology alters the individual''s relation to the task. The new relationship is called "computer-mediated." The computer mediation of simple jobs creates tasks that are routine and unchallenging, while demanding focused attention and abstract comprehension. The "information environment" refers to the quality of organizational life when the computer mediates jobs and influences both horizontal and vertical relationships. Computer mediation .....more

To be successful, senior executives need to cultivate five skills. First, they need to develop a network of information sources in order to keep informed about a wide range of operating decisions being made at different levels in the company. Second, they need to husband their energies and time and concentrate on a limited number of significant issues. Third, they need to cultivate a sensitivity to the power structure in the company. The fourth skill .....more

The management at Trail Manufacturing was so excited about installing new flexible machining equipment in their factory that they neglected to guage the impact it would have on the workers who actually ran the machines. Mike Trail, the company''s owner and president, is torn between his chief engineer who encourages radical changes, and his machinists who believe the company is making a huge mistake. Four experts in operations management comment on .....more

According to a survey the author conducted for the International Women''s Forum, women managers are succeeding by drawing on what is unique to their experience as women. Because they have historically been expected to play a supportive and cooperative role, women have learned how to manage effectively without relying on their control of resources and power to motivate others. They tend to be more interactive in their leadership than men.

What are the responsibilities of oil and gas companies in a warming world? This case examines the example of BP. In the late 1990s, BP became the first oil and gas major to recognize the impact of fossil fuel emissions, yet it struggled thereafter to set a coherent strategy that balanced the social and business imperatives of climate change with investor demands for competitive returns. In 2020, BP set net zero targets and promised to cut oil and .....more

The new but now familiar techniques of corporate communication--focus groups, surveys, management-by-walking-around--can block organizational learning even as they help solve certain kinds of problems. These techniques do help gather simple, single-loop information. But they also promote defensive reasoning by encouraging employees to believe that their proper role is to criticize management while the proper role of management is to take action and .....more

Virtually everyone agrees that the old covenant between employer and employee--under which companies offered at least a measure of job security in exchange for adequate performance and some exhibition of loyalty--is dead. Some management thinkers argue that instead of the traditional focus on employment, the focus should now be on employability. That means having the competitive skills required to find work, when you need it, wherever you can find .....more

In my role, I''m the guy who catches it all. I can''t seem to get people to stand still and listen, and I can''t continue to take all the hostility. I don''t know how much longer I can last in this job." The executive who speaks these words is one of several who describe their feelings of burnout in this article, first published in May/June 1981. Anyone can feel overwhelmed by the challenges posed by complex organizations and the need to deal with .....more