1. What was the most effective group (or team) that you have been a member of? What made that group so effective, what factors influenced the group’s effectiveness? What would you change about that group to become even more effective and productive? Share any experiences and/or examples.

2. Read through the attached Chapter 13 Mini Case Study and respond to the following questions.

Review the Five Styles of Conflict Management on page 425 of your textbook, evaluate and discuss Maria’s best conflict-handling style option(s).

What should Maria do? Why?

3. Choose a leader you admire, write a description summary of this person, including his or her characteristics and attributes that you admire. Explain how he or she has made an impact on your life and why you view this person as a leader. What leadership style does this person reflect? Explain.
 

4. Discuss the similarities and differences between effective leadership and dynamic followership. (You will need to do outside research for this question). In addition, give an example of effective leadership that has or is currently taking place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. (This could be at your workplace or other leadership you have witnessed). Explain how this individual or leadership team was effective with examples.

5. Explain the five major elements of an organizational structure. In addition, why do the elements of structure, such as work specialization, formalization, span of control, chain of command, and centralization have a tendency to change together?

6. Why would a pandemic such as COVID-19 or any other pandemic create an opportunity for organizations to look at restructuring?

7. Given the downsizing and restructuring in many organizations, how can organizations help employees with career management if there are fewer opportunities for promotion? In addition, have you ever experienced restructuring in an organization? Feel free to share your experience(s) with the class.

8. What purpose does culture serve for an organization? How can managers assess the organizational culture? What actions can they take to shape the organizational culture?

9. Read the SHRM Article, Employees Rely on Employer Culture to Navigate Pandemic (Attached). Briefly summarize the article and share your takeaways about the topic.

10. Suppose you want to change your organization’s culture. What sort of resistance would you expect from employees and what are some of the major reasons individuals resist change? How would you deal with this resistance? In addition, discuss the impact of change in regards to organizational behavior in the workplace.

11. Select three types of supply chain risks and explain in- depth how supply chain managers can help mitigate these risks. That is, develop an action plan to mitigate these risks (minimum of 400 words – maximum of two typed pages).