Management Skills Application Exercises

1. Many companies strive to design jobs that are intrinsically motivating. Visit several small and large company websites and search their career section. What job features related to motivation are highlighted? What type of employees do you think the companies will attract with these jobs?
2. You will be paired with another student in this class. Each of you will take one side of the issue and debate:
   1. Student A: All members of the organization should be given the same specific, difficult-to-achieve goals.
   2. Student B: Specific, difficult-to-achieve goals should only be given to certain members of the organization.
3. Assume the role of sales manager, and write a memo to two of your reports that have the following situations and job performance.
   1. Employee 1: Shawn is a onetime stellar performer. They were twice the top performing salesperson in the company in the past decade. In the past year, Shawn has missed goal by 4 percent. Shawn recently became the parent to twins and says that the reason for missing goal this year was due to the territory being saturated with product from previous years.
   2. Employee 2: Soo Kim is an energetic salesperson who is putting in long hours and producing detailed sales reports, but their performance on the sales side has not met expectations. When you examine the customer feedback page on your website, you notice that they have five times as many positive reviews and glowing comments about Soo Kim.