Alternative Courses of Action and Communication Pathway Questions Analysis

Please complete all assignments

Part 2

Decision making is the process of identifying and choosing alternative courses of action. While we want to make rational decisions, sometimes we don’t . . . sometimes we make non-rational decisions.

There are four steps in rational decision-making:

• Recognize and define the problem or opportunity-In business the problem can come in the form of customer complaints, supplier breakdowns, staff turnover, sales decline, etc. Organizations proactively seek opportunities to exceed goals, surpass the industry expectations and to expand and grow the business.
• Identify and analyze alternative courses of action-Leaders should seek input from multiple sources to interpret and analyze the problem/opportunity to come up with as many options as possible to solve the issue.
• Choose a preferred course of action-The group want to answer the following: (1) Is the action ethical?; (2) Is it feasible? (costs, technology availability; (3) Is it effective? If your answer to this question is the resolution is “good enough” you want to rethink this solution it will cause more harm than good.
• Implement the preferred course of action-You need to the participation from all teams to successfully implement the action.

Part 3

Managers spend 1/3 of their time communicating up and down the organizational hierarchy. Communication is the transfer and understanding of information from one person to another. The communication model comprises of several parts.

We want to examine the Communication Pathway or medium in which communication is delivered. The Communication Pathway is the pathway messages are sent, including:

• face-to-face meetings,
• electronic mail and online discussions,
• written letters or memorandums, and
• telephone or voice-mail, among others.

While some people may be better at using certain mediums over others, certain mediums can be better suited for the specific message being conveyed.

For this week’s discussion, suppose you are a manager who needs to communicate several messages to employees of the company.

• For each of the messages above:
  • List the medium (telephone, email, text, face-to-face meeting, etc.) you would use to communicate the message.
  • Explain why you choose that medium over the other possible mediums.
• Then, look at the messages from a general sense and explain how your choices affect trust and credibility among the employees.

Part 4

Leadership is the ability to influence others to achieve organizational goals. Organizations spend billions of dollars each year to improve the leadership skills of its employees. Leadership skills are needed within organizations to execute the vision, mission and strategic goals of the organization.

Visit the mind tools website and complete the short Leadership Skills exercise (https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_50.htm). After you explore your strengths and areas for growth, address the following items in your response:

• What are your strengths?
• Where do you have opportunities to grow your leadership skills?
• Based on your assessment results, propose three things you can do to improve your leadership skills.

Part 5

Organizations from time to time must make hard decisions (expand, layoff employees or close a facility). As a manager you will have to use work experiences, advice from supervisors and the organizational culture to support your decision. Organizational culture is the sum of the values and beliefs shared among employees.

Suppose you are a manager who is faced with having to reduce headcount (layoff one of your two employees) in your unit. Sales within the company have declined due to the downward spiral of the economy each department within the organization is faced with making the same decision. Fortunately, you only have to cut one job; others are reducing more.

Mary is in her mid-20s, single, college graduate, she is very hard working and was in the top 10% of the performance ratings this year, she constantly volunteers to travel, work weekends and evenings. However, she supports political causes that could be viewed as contrary to the goals of the company.

Alice is in her mid-40s, has two young children, her husband is a doctor, her performance is good, and she has above average performance reviews. However, she has limited availability on weekends and limitations onovernight travel due to her volunteer work with local charities.

• As a manager who would you select to layoff and why?
• What other factors can be used to decide who gets laid off in organizations?
• How should an organization choose between a decision that is legal and in the best financial interests of the organization, but which could be viewed as unethical?

Part 6

Create a double-spaced 5 to 7 page report that addresses the following: 1) Influence of Politics andPower • Explain how politics and power-play may haveinfluenced the organization’s culture. 2) Sources of Power • Explore the sources of power and describe how management could use this influence to benefit your department and improve organizational performance. 3) Leadership Behavior andCulture • Make recommendations that support how the study of power and politics could influence leadership behavior and improve the organization’s culture. 4) Leadership Influence • Discuss the importance and complexity ofleadership behavior. How does it influence organizational structure and performance? 5) References and Citations • Provide at least 2 quality resources. • In-textcitationsarerequiredwhenparaphrasing orquoting another source. 6) Formatting and WritingStandards • Formatting and writing standards are part of your grade. Align your formatting to the Strayer Writing Standards.

"Looking for a Similar Assignment? Order now and Get 10% Discount! Use Code "GET10" in your order"