Why large organizations tend to have larger ratios of clerical and administrative support staff

Chapter 9

1. Why do large organizations tend to have larger ratios of clerical and administrative support staff? Why are they typically more formalized than small organizations?
2. Apply the concept of life cycle to an organization with which you are familiar, such as a local business. What stage is the organization in now? How did the organization handle or pass through its life-cycle crises?
3. Why do you think organizations feel pressure to grow? How do you think the companies described in the chapter’s BookMark, Small Giants, resist that pressure?
4. Describe the three bases of authority identified by Weber. Is it possible for each of these types of authority to function at the same time within an organization? Discuss.
5. Look through several recent issues of a business magazine such as Fortune, Businessweek, or Fast Company and find examples of two companies that are using approaches to busting bureaucracy. Discuss the techniques these companies are applying.
6. In writing about types of control, William Ouchi said, “The Market is like the trout and the Clan like the salmon, each a beautiful highly specialized species which requires uncommon conditions for its survival. In comparison, the bureaucratic method of control is the catfish—clumsy, ugly, but able to live in the widest range of environments and ultimately, the dominant species.” Discuss what Ouchi meant with that analogy.
7. Government organizations often seem more bureaucratic than for-profit organizations. Could this partly be the result of the type of control used in government organizations? Explain.
8. How does the Salvation Army manage to be “several different kinds of organization at the same time”? Does the Salvation Army’s approach seem workable for a large media company like Time Warner or Disney that wants to reduce bureaucracy?
9. Numerous large financial institutions, including Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch, experienced significant decline or dissolution in recent years. Which of the three causes of organizational decline described in the chapter seems to apply most clearly to these firms?
10. Do you think a “no growth” philosophy of management should be taught in business schools? Discuss.

Chapter 10

1. How much do you think it is possible for an outsider to discern about the underlying cultural values of an organization by analyzing symbols, ceremonies, dress, or other observable aspects of culture, compared to an insider with several years of work experience? Specify a percentage (e.g., 10 percent, 70 percent) and discuss your reasoning.
2. Many of the companies on Fortune magazine’s list of most admired companies are also on its list of most profitable ones. Some people say this proves that high social capital translates into profits. Other people suggest that high profitability is the primary reason the companies have a good culture and are admired in the first place. Discuss your thinking about these two differing interpretations.
3. Can a strong bureaucratic culture also be a constructive culture, as defined in the text and in Exhibit 10.5? Discuss.
4. Why is values-based leadership so important to the influence of culture? Does a symbolic act communicate more about company values than an explicit statement? Discuss.
5. Can you recall a situation in which either you or someone you know was confronted by an ethical dilemma, such as being encouraged to inflate an expense account or trade answers on a test? Do you think the decision was affected more by individual moral values or by the accepted values within the team or company? Explain.
6. In a survey of 20,000 people in 16 European countries plus Russia, Turkey, and the United States, 55 percent of respondents said cheating in business is more common than it was 10 years ago. Do you believe this is truly the case, or have new forms of media simply made cheating more visible? Discuss.
7. What importance would you attribute to leadership statements and actions for influencing ethical values and decision making in an organization?
8. Why has globalization contributed to more complex ethical issues? Do you think it’s possible for a company operating in many different countries to have a cohesive corporate culture? To have uniform ethical values?
9. Explain the concept of conscious capitalism. Do you think managers in companies that take a shared value approach are more likely to behave in ethical and socially responsible ways? Discuss.
10. Codes of ethics have been criticized for transferring responsibility for ethical behavior from the organization to the individual employee. Do you agree? Do you think a code of ethics is valuable for an organization?