SCENARIO 1-5
Sheena Black, manager of operations at New Age Manufacturing and Services Inc., is facing new and different challenges in attempting to maintain the company’s manufacturing operations profitably, while at the same time keeping costs down and employees satisfied with their jobs. Over the years, Sheena has developed a somewhat different style of leadership in that she has become a “walk-about” manager—observing and assisting employees and other managers as necessary. She has also adopted a series of contingency plans to provide for problem solving for unforeseen circumstances which have a tendency to occur at inopportune times.
Sheena Black is keenly aware that overall organizational function and her ability to provide leadership and effective decision making is dependent upon understanding the various disciplines that have contributed to the field of organizational behaviour. She knows that the next several years will require some major changes, not only in the technology used by the company but also in the establishment of programs and initiatives to assist other managers and employees in overcoming workplace challenges. Sheena has identified the following priorities she will need to address:
1) empowering employees to enable them to assume greater responsibility and share decision making;
2) facilitating an improved climate of quality and excellence to challenge competitors in the marketplace;
3) developing a new style of leadership and management that will value diversity and respect individuals in a supportive type of environment; and carefully examining the working conditions and devising strategies to create better job satisfaction and keep employee loyalty.
Sheena is also aware that training must become a major focus so that employees can develop new skills and managers can learn new ways of dealing with the problems of combining technology and human effort.

-Referring to SCENARIO 1-5,assuming that the four areas for development which Sheena has decided upon are reasonable and realistic,what might be her greatest challenge to achieving these?
A)establishing an environment where employees and all managers will "buy into" the process
B)focusing on the global environment and problems associated with doing business in other countries
C)attempting to unify workforce diversity through a more homogeneous approach to management
D)attempting to retain as many aspects of the traditional environment as possible
E)keeping employees happy and satisfied at any cost to the company

Question

SCENARIO 1-5
Sheena Black, manager of operations at New Age Manufacturing and Services Inc., is facing new and different challenges in attempting to maintain the company’s manufacturing operations profitably, while at the same time keeping costs down and employees satisfied with their jobs. Over the years, Sheena has developed a somewhat different style of leadership in that she has become a “walk-about” manager—observing and assisting employees and other managers as necessary. She has also adopted a series of contingency plans to provide for problem solving for unforeseen circumstances which have a tendency to occur at inopportune times.
Sheena Black is keenly aware that overall organizational function and her ability to provide leadership and effective decision making is dependent upon understanding the various disciplines that have contributed to the field of organizational behaviour. She knows that the next several years will require some major changes, not only in the technology used by the company but also in the establishment of programs and initiatives to assist other managers and employees in overcoming workplace challenges. Sheena has identified the following priorities she will need to address:
1) empowering employees to enable them to assume greater responsibility and share decision making;
2) facilitating an improved climate of quality and excellence to challenge competitors in the marketplace;
3) developing a new style of leadership and management that will value diversity and respect individuals in a supportive type of environment; and carefully examining the working conditions and devising strategies to create better job satisfaction and keep employee loyalty.
Sheena is also aware that training must become a major focus so that employees can develop new skills and managers can learn new ways of dealing with the problems of combining technology and human effort.

-Referring to SCENARIO 1-5,assuming that the four areas for development which Sheena has decided upon are reasonable and realistic,what might be her greatest challenge to achieving these?
A)establishing an environment where employees and all managers will "buy into" the process
B)focusing on the global environment and problems associated with doing business in other countries
C)attempting to unify workforce diversity through a more homogeneous approach to management
D)attempting to retain as many aspects of the traditional environment as possible
E)keeping employees happy and satisfied at any cost to the company

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The greatest challenge Sheena might face is establishing an environment where everyone in the organization will "buy into" the process of improving working conditions, employee satisfaction, and training. This may require a significant amount of effort and time to convince employees and managers of the importance of these changes and how they will benefit the organization. Without buy-in, it will be challenging to implement these changes effectively. Focusing on the global environment, unifying workforce diversity or retaining traditional aspects are not the primary areas of challenge for achieving these goals, and keeping employees happy at any cost may not be feasible for the company.

SCENARIO 1-5 Sheena Black, Manager of Operations at New Age Manufacturing and Manufacturing