Managing the Company of the Future Coursera Quiz Answers

Managing the Company of the Future

Week-1

1. What are the major drivers of change facing business leaders today? (Tick all that apply)

Innovation
Social and demographic change
Sustainability Concerns
New technologies
Management Education
The rise of emerging economies

2. What has been the primary model of organizing in the business world so far? (Please select the correct answer)

Bureaucracy
Dictatorship
Democracy
Leadership

3. What is the relationship between leadership and management? (Please select the correct answer)

Leadership and management are substitutes
There is no relationship between leadership and management
Leadership and management are synonyms
Leadership and management are complementary

4. Which of the following point to the fact that the traditional model of management is failing? (Tick all that apply)

People are feeling disempowered in organizations
People do not like spending time in their workplace or with their supervisors
Performance in organizations is increasing
There is a high level of engagement in companies

5. Which role of the manager can give organizations an advantage in the ‘post-knowledge’ era? (Please select the correct answer)

Worker and expert
Information conduit and expert
Empathizer and Implementer
Monitor and controller

6. Based on Vineet Nayar’s talk, what is an important role that catalysts played within HCL? (Please select the correct answer)

Create reverse accountability
Created a robust structure
Increase sales
Insulate power centers from accountability

7. Based on Vineet Nayar’s talk, what were the consequences of making the results of the 360-degree survey available to all employees? (Tick all that apply)

Created competition between managers
Promoted collaboration between employees and managers
Increased trust among managers and employees
Helped create better leadership
Led to changes in the compensation system for managers

8. Based on Terri Kelly’s talk, what are some of the management innovations that WL Gore created? (Tick all that apply)

Creating a spaghetti structure
Innovation time-off
Self-deciding what an employee wants to do
Determining who will be a leader based on who wants to follow them
Removing titles in the organization

9. Consider the following scenario and make a decision.

You are a manager in a large IT firm in UK. In the last survey done within the organization, you find that employees reported very low engagement levels and you suspect that this is affecting their work. You are considering which action to take to increase engagement levels, from among the following options: (Please tick all that apply)

Provide greater responsibility to the employees for making their own decisions
Work with the managers of these employees to improve their skills in coaching and supporting their employees
Use greater hierarchical authority to make sure that the team focuses on their work
Use extrinsic rewards to motivate them

10. Which management innovation was created by Toyota? (Please select the correct answer)

Assembly Line
Multidivisional structure
TQM
Removing job titles

Week-2

1. Which of the following is true about business models and management models? (Please tick the options that are true)

A Business model reflects choices about how to motivate employees
Among other things, a Business model reflects choices about what products an organization will sell
Among other things, a management model reflects choices about how to co-ordinate activities within organizations.
The only role of the management model is to address the drivers of change in the business world such as social changes, rise of emerging markets, etc.

2. What are the dimensions along which the traditional and alternative models of management differ? (Please select the correct option)

Bureaucracy, Hierarchy, Extrinsic Rewards, Linear Alignment
Emergence, Collective Wisdom, Intrinsic rewards, Obliquity
Co-ordinating activities, Making decisions, Motivating employees, Defining Objectives
Sources of revenue, Cost structure, What to make/buy, How to make a profit

3. You will find below two statements about management models. Based on the course material, please reflect on these statements and determine if they are true.

Statement A: The alternative principles of management such as emergence, collective wisdom, intrinsic rewards and obliquity are always the ‘right’ choice for an organization.

Statement B: The changes in the business world (as discussed in Module 1) are making the principles of the alternative management model increasingly useful but the right choice of which principles you should use depends on the context of the organization.

Based on the above statements, please select one out of the following:

Only statement B is true
Both statements A and B are true
Only Statement A is true
Neither statement A not statement B is

4. Based on the course material, which management principle can be defined as: “The guiding structures that stimulate individuals to coordinate their activities, in a focused way, of their own volition.”? (Please select the correct option)

Bureaucracy
Hierarchy
Collective Wisdom:
Emergence

5. What are the elements on which bureaucracy and emergence differ? (Please select all that apply)

The kind of products and services a firm sells
The way people are rewarded
Their ability to promote creativity
Their ability to empower people

6. Consider the following hypothetical example and then answer the question based on that:

The Government of Endor uses a model of management whereby public officials are encouraged to find projects that they think they can contribute to. There aren’t many formal rules or procedures and people form teams based on what needs to be done for the overall mission of serving the people of Endor. The team then divides tasks together based on each individual’s ability to contribute to the overall team goal; and teams self-organize based on a few very simple rules.

Which principle is the Government of Endor using? (Please select the correct option)

Linear Alignment
Hierarchy
Bureaucracy
Emergence

7. The ‘collective wisdom’ of a large number of people can be channelled to aggregate inputs for which of the following things?

A: Creating an output

B: Making a decision

C: Mobilizing effort and buy-in

Please select the correct option from the following:

B and C
A and C
A and B
A, B and C

8. Based on the lecture and reading material, which of the following organizations uses collective wisdom as a key feature of its management model?

Red Hat
Oticon
Tata
Enron

9. Under which of the following conditions might collective wisdom fail?

When there is no single boss or expert making the decision independently
Strong intrinsic motivators
Peer recognition
Loss of interest among the contributors

10. What is the relationship between bureaucracy and emergence? (Please select the correct option)

Bureaucracy and emergence are on completely opposite ends of a continuum such that you can either have only bureaucracy or only emergence.
There is no relationship between bureaucracy and emergence.
Bureaucracy and emergence are different names for the same concept.
While there is a tension between bureaucracy and emergence, there are some hybrid models whereby which an organization can reconcile the two principles to a large degree.

Week-3

1. What role does motivation play within organizations and why do managers need to think about how to motivate employees? (Please select the correct option).

Using motivational drivers effectively disempowers employees
Motivating employees effectively makes organizations slow moving and bureaucratic
Using motivational drivers effectively allows managers to give better direction to the effort of employees.
Focusing on motivating employees allows managers to move up their hierarchy of needs to meet their physiological needs.

2. What is the relationship between Douglas MacGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y; and intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation? (Please select the correct option)

Theory X is very closely linked to the concept of extrinsic motivation while Theory Y is very closely linked to the concept of intrinsic motivation.
Theory X is very closely linked to the concept of intrinsic motivation while Theory Y is very closely linked to the concept of extrinsic motivation.
There is no relationship between Douglas MacGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y; and intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation.
Theory X is very closely linked to the concept of extrinsic motivation and Theory Y is also very closely linked to the concept of extrinsic motivation.

3. For which kind of outcomes are material drivers relatively more useful? (Please select the correct option)

Creative outcomes
Doing good for the society
Narrow outcomes
Mobilizing followers

4. Intrinsic motivators based on personal drivers are more suitable for which of the following four job roles? (Please select the correct option)

Unskilled labour
Shareholders
Assembly line workers
Scientists

5. Based on the discussion in Module 1 and Module 3, which of the following is true about the drivers of change in the business world and the principle of motivation? (Please select all that apply)

Social changes are leading to changes in the way we need to motivate people
People in emerging market countries require different motivational systems
Concerns around sustainability are making extrinsic motivators more important
Technology is making it easier for us to motivate people in different ways

6. Which of the following is a limitation common to all four principles of the traditional management model? (Please select the correct option)

They are too complicated to manage
They tend to reduce innovation and creativity
They provide a direct link between input and output
They take control from the hands of the management

7. Consider the two examples of organizational objectives below:

“At Microsoft, our mission is to enable people and businesses throughout the world to realize their full potential.” (http://www.microsoft.com/enable/microsoft/mission.aspx)

“Facebook’s mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.” (http://investor.fb.com/faq.cfm)

Which of the above is an example of objectives set through obliquity? (Please select one option)

Both Microsoft and Facebook
Neither Microsoft nor Facebook
Only Facebook
Only Microsoft

8. Which of the following statements is true about oblique principles? (Please select the correct option)

Having oblique goals implies that the organization does not care about profits
Oblique goals must be novel or elaborate
Oblique goals cannot be supported by explicit measures
Oblique goals create ambiguity

9. What is a common feature of the four alternative principles of the management model? (Please select one option)

They all use authority to manage
They impose tight control over components of the organization
They all enforce order
They are all designed to empower employees

10. The Discovery model is characterized by which types of ends and means? (Please select the correct option)

Loose means and Loose ends
Loose means and Tight ends
Tight means and Loose ends
Tight means and Tight ends

Week-4

1. Based on responses from organizations, which of the following statements is true about how organizations want their management model to change? (Please select the correct option)

On average, most executives would like to move their organizations a little towards the alternative models of management from where they are.
On average, most executives would like their organizations to continue using the same model as they have at the moment.
On average, most executives would like to move their organizations a little towards the traditional models of management from where they are.

2. Given the gap between the traditional models of management and the alternative models of management, what are organizations likely to encounter? (Please select the most appropriate option)

Organizations are likely to encounter forces pulling them towards both the traditional models of management and the alternative models of management.
Organizations are likely to encounter forces pulling them towards only the alternative models of management.
Organizations are likely to encounter forces pulling them towards only the traditional models of management.

3. Which of the following is not an approach to developing an innovative management model? (Please select the correct option)

Experimental change from below
Decisive change led by the CEO
Sustaining the status-quo by rigorously following established rules and procedures
Inventing a distinctive model from the start and sustaining it

4. Which of the following is a unique feature of the start-up approach to developing an innovative management model? (Please select the most appropriate option)

Allowing middle managers to experiment and then find a model that works best under the circumstances.
Starting with an established and well working management model that can be adapted to make it innovative.
Getting the right colleagues and co-founders is not very critical when using the start-up approach.
Starting with a blank canvas allows the founders to impose their own values on the organization; thereby avoiding having to inherit and adapt an old model.

5. Which of the following is a key challenge when using the start-up approach to developing an innovative and distinctive management model? (Please select the most appropriate option)

Keeping the project teams small
Sustaining the distinctive model that was developed in the start-up phase can be very difficult as the organization grows
The founders find it challenging to impose their own values on the organization.
Maintaining a transparent environment

6. Which of the following are true about taking the top down approach to developing an innovative management model? (Please select all that apply)

In the examples of using the top down approach discussed in the course, there was always a clear focus on a guiding theme around what the CEO was trying to achieve.
The top down approach gives instantaneous results and requires little to no reinforcement.
The top down approach to developing an innovative management model can only be taken for dimensions such as emergence and collective wisdom but not for intrinsic motivation and obliquity.
This approach works best with a CEO who is secure and has been given a clear mandate for decisive change.

7. Which of the following are true about the likelihood of success of the bottom-up approach to developing an innovative management model? (Please select all that apply)

Making sure that what you as a middle-manager are trying to do aligns with an existing strategic priority can increase the likelihood for the new model to be successful.
Building partners and capabilities can reduce the likelihood for the new model to be successful.
Making a clear business case and showing how the new model can generate financial savings can increase the likelihood for the new model to be accepted.
Getting immediate visibility from senior management even when the idea is just in the initial stages can increase the likelihood for the new model to be successful.

8. Which of the following are some of the key principles of management experimentation? (Please select all that apply)

Developing a detailed business plan and implementing it in a regimented fashion
Acting on “gut” feel without an explicit hypothesis
Iterate your idea by getting feedback early and adapting accordingly
Focus on causes, not symptoms

9. Which of the following are potential ways to learn from outliers? (Please select all that apply)

Improve understanding of current practice by learning from the outlier’s experiences
Careful use of “observe and apply”
Focus on the underlying principle adopted by the outlier company
Replicating the outlier’s model exactly in your own company

10. Which of the following is a reason for the ‘observe and apply’ practice of learning from outliers, failing to work? (Please select the correct option)

The company trying to apply the practice has made a perfect observation of the practice
There is no reason for the observe and apply practice to fail.
The complementary practices required for the focal activity to work are not present in the company that is trying to apply them.

Week-5

1. What would be the logical end to the following sentence?

The drivers of change such as technology, rise of emerging economies, etc. are bringing about greater transparency, automation and changing expectations of employees. This is likely to bring about …….” (Please select the correct option)

…a reinforcement of the status quo such that the role of the manager remains unchanged.
…a change in the relative importance of the different parts of a manager’s role in a way that increases the emphasis on elements such as monitoring and control.
…a change in the relative importance of the different parts of a manager’s role in a way that increases the emphasis on softer elements such as empathizing and helping get work done.
…a change in the relative importance of the different parts of a manager’s role in a way that reduces the emphasis on softer elements such as empathizing and helping get work done.

2. in the context of this course, what is a viable alternative to thinking about management as “how do we get our employees to do what we need to get done”? (Please select the most appropriate option)

Scheduling planning meetings to define what the management wants to get done
Communicating up front what actions are desirable and required from all employees
How should we act to harness the latent enthusiasm and skill of employees given their aspirations, fears and concerns?
Starting from what needs to get done and then thinking about the resources needed to get it accomplished.

3. Tips such as skip-level meetings, reverse mentoring, and web enabled discussion forums serve which of the following purposes? (Please select the most appropriate option)

Monitoring and controlling.
Establishing bureaucracy.
Allows bosses to see the world through the eyes of their employees.
Developing specialized expertise.

4. Which of the following is a reason that makes it difficult for us as managers to do what we know we should? (Please select the most appropriate option)

Our ability to give freedom and recognition to others, and share information widely.
Managing comes naturally to us.
Our inherent biases which produce a conflict between our conscious rational part of the brain and the emotional subconscious part of the brain.
Our ability to avoid taking charge and to embrace errors.

5. Which of the following is a way to reinforce the good behaviours that go with the conscious part of the brain and become a better manager? (Please select all that apply)

Package work into projects
Keep full control under all situations
Learning to let go
Focus on your strengths
Seek advice
Always avoid errors

6. What is an important way to change our style of working in order to increase productivity, effectiveness and the quality of work that we do? (Please select the most appropriate option)

Increase time spent on tiresome and easily off-loadable tasks
Focus on high value-added tasks
Focus on low value-added tasks
Increase time spent on desk-based work

7. Which of the following is true about the Limited Liability Corporation (PLC)? (Please select all that apply)

The limited liability company is coming under a lot of pressure because the financial market constantly scrutinizes the actions of the executives of a PLC, leading to short-term and narrow thinking.
The company exists as a legal entity where ownership is separated from control.
The owners have unlimited liability and will be held accountable beyond their investment and stake in the company.
It is the default ownership model for large companies today.

8. What is an advantage of alternative models of ownership such as partnerships, trusts or cooperatives over the limited liability company form of ownership? (Please select the most appropriate option)

These alternative models are typically more short-term oriented than the limited liability form.
These alternative models all restrict the amount of liability owners have over the activities of the company.
These alternative models are new and have only existed in the recent times while the limited liability form has existed for over 150 years.
These alternative models are typically more long-term oriented than the limited liability form.

9. Which of the following trends are bringing about a change in the nature of work that we do? (Please select the most appropriate option)

Gen Y prefer to work for only one company throughout their professional lives.
Technology is forcing us to work in traditional offices.
Sustainability agendas of companies require a different ownership structure of the company.
Many jobs are being outsourced to emerging economies.

10. Which of the following are key dimensions of work that are changing as a result of the major drivers of change? (Please select the correct option)

Technology, social change, and Sustainability concerns.
Bureaucracy, Collective Wisdom and Linear Alignment.
Ownership form, modes of organizing, employment relationships.
The nature of work we do, where we do our work, and how work varies over our working lives