Choice
1: Mintzberg Managerial Roles Job Shadowing Activity. See pages
19-23 of your textbook
What do managers really do?
Henry Mintzberg defined managerial roles by performing diary studies in
which he spent long periods of time with managers observing what they
actually do.
For this activity, find a manager to shadow. Shadow this person for a
minimum of half a day.
Keep a record of everything the manager does during the time you are
shadowing him or her.
Then, compare the manager's activities with the roles Mintzberg
identified (see below and also p. 20 of your text).
To what extent does the manager you shadowed execute the role Mintzberg
defined?
Which roles were predominate? Which roles were missing? Any roles NOT
on Mintzberg's list that your manager executed?
Write a paper of at least 2 pages, double-spaced, comparing your shadowed manager's roles to those Mintzberg
defined.
Mintzberg's
roles:
- Entrepreneur
- Disturbance handler
- Resource allocator
- Negotiator
- Figurehead
- Leader
- Liaison
- Monitor
- Disseminator
- Spokesperson
Choice 2: Book Analysis Paper:
Choose a
management-related book published within the last five years to read
over the semester. See below for suggestions
and ways to find additional possibilities.
Write an analysis of at least 2 pages,
double-spaced.
- Begin with a brief overview to the book: What are
its major themes, questions asked, sources of information? Then,
address questions such as these (you need not address all of these, nor
are you limited to these questions):
- Does the author suggest a particular theoretical
approach to the topic?
- How might the various topics, concepts, terms, and
issues
studied in this class contribute to the analysis, or suggest a
different interpretation of the topic?
- In what ways do the course's readings,
texts, and class discussions intersect with the material in this book
and how can the principles and ideas in the book be
applied to the material we've read and discussed?
- Discuss the book’s major strengths and
weaknesses,
drawing on course and outside material.
- What can we learn about principles of management
from the book?
- What questions are unanswered?
- What contribution does the book make to the field?
- Where should future research go?
- Critically evaluate the book. Express your
evaluative judgment on the quality, meaning, and significance of the
book. What has the author tried to do, how well has the author
succeeded, and what evidence can you offer to support this evaluation?
How to find an appropriate management-related book:
Go to Business Week Online (in the list below, the lower the number;
e.g., books01.htm, the more recent the books). The list below goes back
to 2001. Note that each page contains an article on that year's best
business books. Note also that not all books listed are really
management-related:
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/list/books01.htm
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/list/books02.htm
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/list/books03.htm
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/list/books04.htm
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/list/books05.htm
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/list/books06.htm
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/list/books07.htm
See also the New York Times Hardcover Business Best Sellers and
Paperback Business Best Sellers: http://www.nytimes.com/pages/books/bestseller/index.html
Scroll down to bottom of page to Other Lists and click on Hardcover
Business Best Sellers or Paperback Business Best Sellers.
Examples of Current Management-related Business
Bestsellers
- TOUGH CHOICES, by Carly Fiorina (Portfolio,
$24.95.) A memoir of Fiorina's six years as chief executive of
Hewlett-Packard until she was forced out by the board of directors.
- THE FIVE DYSFUNCTIONS OF A TEAM, by Patrick
Lencioni. (Jossey-Bass, $22.95.) A fable that illustrates how teamwork
can be restored to even the most troubled and entrenched workplace.
- WHO MOVED MY CHEESE? By Spencer Johnson.
(Putnam, $19.95.) A management expert offers techniques for dealing
with workplace change. GOOD TO GREAT, by Jim Collins. (Harper Business,
$27.50.) Why some companies thrive and others do not.
- SETTING THE TABLE, by Danny Meyer.
(HarperCollins, $25.95.) The transforming power of hospitality, by the
renowned restauranteur.
- THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE,
by Stephen R. Covey. (Free Press, $15.) A new edition of the author's
principles for solving personal and professional problems.
- GETTING THINGS DONE, by David Allen. (Penguin,
$15.) Methods for reducing stress and increasing performance.
- BUILT TO LAST, by Jim Collins and Jerry I.
Porras. (Collins, $17.95.) Visionary companies and what they have in
common.
- HARD FACTS, DANGEROUS HALF-TRUTHS & TOTAL
NONSENSE: Profiting from Evidence-Based Management, By
Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton, Harvard Business School, $27.50
- EXECUTIVE INTELLIGENCE: What
All Great Leaders
Have, By Justin Menkes, Collins, $27.95
- HERSHEY: Milton S. Hershey's Extraordinary
Life of
Wealth, Empire, and Utopian Dreams, By Michael D'Antonio, Simon &
Schuster, $25
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- WALT DISNEY The Triumph of the American
Imagination, By Neal Gabler, Knopf, $35
- ANDREW CARNEGIE, By David Nasaw, The Penguin
Press, $35
- WINNING: The Answers, By Jack & Suzy
Welch, Collins, $12.95
- ANDY GROVE: The Life and Times of an American,
By Richard S. Tedlow, Portfolio, $29.95
- iWOZ: Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I
invented the personal computer, co-founded Apple, and had fun doing it,
By Steve Wozniak with Gina Smith, Norton, $25.95
- ALPHA MALE SYNDROME, By Kate Luderman and
Eddie Erlandson, Harvard Business School Press, $26.95
- MAVERICKS AT WORK: Why the Most Original Minds
in Business Win, By William C. Taylor and Polly LaBarre, Morrow, $26.95
- THE NEW AMERICAN
WORKPLACE, By James O'Toole and Edward E. Lawler III, Palgrave
Macmillan, $27.95
- THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF COMPETITIVE
INTELLIGENCE: How to See Through & Stay
Ahead
of Business Disruptions, Distortions, Rumors & Smoke Screens, By
Leonard M. Fuld, Crown Business, $24.95
- THE MANAGERIAL MOMENT OF TRUTH: The Essential
Step in Helping People Improve Performance, By Bruce Bodaken and Robert
Fritz, Free Press, $22
- WORKFORCE CRISIS: How to Beat the Coming
Shortage of Skills and Talent, By Ken Dychtwald, Tamara J. Erickson,
and Robert Morison, Harvard Business School, $29.95
- THE DISPOSABLE AMERICAN: Layoffs and Their
Consequences, By Louis Uchitelle, Knopf, $25.95
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