ASSIGNMENT/ONLINE REASEARCH: (INDIVIDUAL)

2nd Assignment: Answer the following questions based on chapter two, Management by Richard Daft. (Choose only three (3) questions). Submit in a red folder. Due on July 9, 2011.

1. A Management professor once said that for successful management, studying the present was most important, studying the past was next and studying the future was least important. Do you agree? Why?

2. How do societal forces influence the practice and theory of management? Do you think management techniques are a response to these forces?

3. Which of the three characteristics of learning organizations do you find most appealing? Which would be hardest for you to adopt?

4. Do economic, social, and political forces affect e-commerce organizations in the same way they affect traditional companies? Discuss.

5. Identify the major components of systems theory. Is this perspective primarily internal or external? Explain.

Online Learning Activity/ Research- Due on July 9, 2011. :

The learning Organization:

Locate information about a recent Malcolm Baldrige National Quality award (MBNQA) winner available at http://www.quality.nist.gov or use www.Google.com then type Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award. Using the three elements of a learning organization presented in Exhibit 2.7(Management by Richard Daft, pp. 61.)List examples of any or all of the three elements that the MBNQA Company illustrates.

Note: Submit in a red folder. Short bond paper, font style times new roman and font size 12.

The 2010 Baldrige Award recipientslisted with their categoryare:

MEDRAD, Warrendale, Pa. (manufacturing)

Nestl Purina PetCare Co., St. Louis, Mo. (manufacturing) Freese and Nichols Inc., Fort Worth, Texas (small business)

MEDRAD, Warrendale, Pa. (manufacturing)

Highlights
This is the second Baldrige Award for MEDRAD. The company also was honored as a recipient in 2003. MEDRADs operating income per employee has shown sustained performance levels for three of the past four years, exceeding benchmark group peers. MEDRADs overall scores measuring repeat sales and referrals were consistently 60 percent or higher from 2007 to 2010, compared to the 50 percent or higher marks for other organizations nationwide. MEDRADs Value Improvement Program puts employee improvement ideas into action. Value delivered from this program increased from $23,000 per employee in 2005 to $45,000 in 2009.

For more than 40 years, MEDRAD has been committed to improving patient outcomes by developing, marketing, and servicing innovative, cost-efficient devices for diagnosing and treating diseases. Sold worldwide to hospitals and medical imaging centers, MEDRADs products include fluid injection systems for radiology and cardiology, endovascular devices for the treatment of cardiovascular disease, and equipment for visualization procedures such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. MEDRAD is a business of Bayer HealthCare.

Market Leadership and Growing Revenues Worldwide

MEDRADs revenues grew steadily from about $120 million in 1997 to approximately $625 million in 2009. For most of its products, the company has sustained and, in many cases, grown its market in the United States and Europe.

MEDRADs operating income per employee has shown sustained performance levels for three of the past four years, exceeding benchmark group peers.

Customer Loyalty Levels Exceed Best-in-Class

MEDRADs overall Net Promoter (NP) scores (a loyalty metric defined by the level of repeat sales and referrals) were consistently 60 percent or higher from 2007 to 2010, compared to the 50 percent or higher marks for other organizations nationwide. In the area of service support, MEDRAD consistently scored 80 percent or higher compared to 50 percent for the best-in-class benchmark. MEDRADs global customer satisfaction ratings using the NP system steadily increased from 50 percent in 2001 to 63 percent in 2010, surpassing the best-in-class benchmark of 50 percent. The company uses its systematic voice-of-the-customer approaches (the in-depth process of capturing a customers expectations, preferences,and aversions) to better focus on customer needs. Customer information is collected from listening posts, trade associations, benchmarking, and other mechanisms deployed globally and tailored by region, business, and language, and then communicated to the appropriate sales team for analysis. The Customer Complaint Process focuses on timely response and successful resolution of customer issues. The process ensures that the organization determines root causes and completes corrective actions. Complaints are aggregated for monthly Customer Service Advisory Board meetings where critical and repetitive complaints are reviewed and Corrective and Preventive Action Requests are generated.

VIP Employees Ensure Success

MEDRADs Value Improvement Program (VIP) captures, measures, tracks, and recognizes employee improvement ideas. VIP participation increased 12-fold from 50 employees in 1999 to more than 600 in 2009. Value delivered from this program increased from $23,000 per employee in 2005 to $45,000 in 2009. This result dramatically surpassed Industry Week magazines Best Plant benchmark level of $10,000 per employee for similar improvement programs. MEDRAD consistently surpassed peer organization standards for employee satisfaction between 2003 and 2006. In 2007, the company began gauging its workforce satisfaction with a more demanding benchmark the 100 Best Great Places to Work survey. MEDRAD recently achieved an 80 percent employee satisfaction rating using this metric, a trend approaching the surveys best-in-class standard of 90 percent.

Strategic Planning Promotes a Flexible and Agile Organization

MEDRAD has created an environment of distributed decision making in support of a culture of high performance. Decision making is done at the point of customer interaction, where the customer can be a client, an employee, or any other stakeholder of MEDRAD. This model allows the organization to respond with agility and speed to the needs of the business units, clients, and employees. MEDRAD deploys a systematic strategic planning process with three time horizons: a 10-year horizon that focuses on long-term vision and strategy; a five-year horizon that stresses portfolio planning and product life-cycle management; and an annual horizon for which applicable elements of long-term strategies are translated into an action plan for the coming year. Five Evergreen Scorecard Goals flow out of the strategic plan and link to the top 12 business objectives. This procedure addresses MEDRADs strategic advantages and challenges (called thrusts). Leadership waterfalls (communicates) the plan to align departments, teams, and individuals. When changes to the plan are needed, MEDRADs Executive Board approves deployment of new action plans or strategic action teams.

Making Caring Part of the Culture

MEDRAD conducts an annual global Day of Caring event in which employees take a day to give back to their communities. Last year, MEDRAD coordinated 63 Day of Caring events worldwide. MEDRAD has established multiple programs to improve the companys environmental systems. For example, emissions accompanying sterilization procedures have decreased rapidly from roughly 55,000 pounds of hydrochlorofluorocarbon and ethylene oxide released in 2007 to approximately 27,000 pounds in 2009, with a planned goal to soon eliminate these

emissions. The organization also has improved its recycling efforts, surpassing the best-inclass benchmark by sending less than 20 percent of its waste to landfills.

Nestl Purina PetCare Co., St. Louis, Mo. (manufacturing)

Highlights
NPPC ranks first in market share for pet care products in North America, has approximately twice the market share of its closest competitor, and has grown its market share by almost 10 percent over 10 years. From 2007 to 2009, NPPC was rated the most trusted pet food manufacturer and led in consumer perceptions as the most recognized pet food company. NPPC is recognized as best in the industry for its outstanding safety performance. In 2010, the company maintained a Recordable Injury Frequency Rate that was 47 percent below the industry average. Additionally, its Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate in 2010 was 45 percent below the industry average, with 11 plants working the entire year with no lost time injuries. NPPC was named a Number One Best Place to Work in St. Louis in 2009 and 2010 by the St. Louis Business Journal. Nestl Purina PetCare Co. (NPPC) is a consumer packaged goods company that manufactures, markets, and distributes pet food and snacks for dogs and cats and cat litter throughout the United States and Canada. NPPC is part of Nestl S.A., the worlds largest food company. The company promotes responsible pet care, community involvement, and the positive bond between people and their pets. Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, NPPC operates 24 manufacturing facilities (20 in 14 states and four in Canada) and 16 regional sales offices in 13 states. The company employs a workforce of approximately 7,000 people and recorded global sales of $12.5 billion in 2010.

Best in Show for Sales and Shares

NPPC has grown its revenue over the past seven years. The company met its 2010 sales goal, despite the nations economic downturn and the fact that the U.S. pet population grew only marginally during this time. NPPC ranks first in market share for pet care products in North America, has twice the market share of its closest competitor, and has grown its market share by almost 10 percent over 10 years in a mature industry. NPPCs sales grew each year from 2004 to 2008 by at least 7 percent and as much as 15 percent. Compared to nine other major food companies, NPPC ranked fourth in sales growth for 2005, ranked third in 2007, and was the benchmark in 2004, 2006, and 2008.

Customer Loyalty Thats Well-Bred

Since 2000, NPPC has ranked number one with consumers either alone or in a tiein the University of Michigans American Customer Satisfaction Index for pet food. NPPC also ranks in the top 5 percent of all major consumer packaged goods companies as rated by retailers in the Performance Monitor survey. From 2007 to 2009, NPPCs brand awareness was approximately twice that of its nearest competitor. In the same time period, NPPC also was rated the most trusted pet food manufacturer.

Strategic Vision, Planning Put NPPC at the Head of the Pack

NPPCs four-phase strategic planning process has been improved over the years and validated by industry experts. In addition, the processs cycle time has been improved. Using inputs such as market research, voice-of-the-customer data, and workforce capability studies, NPPC develop an annual plan, a three-year planning document, and a three-to-five-year longer-term strategy to look at the retail landscape, refresh current strategies, and develop new areas of advantage in the market. Senior leaders set the companys vision and establish values based on the company founders 4 Talls (Stand Tall, Think Tall, Smile Tall, and Live Tall), which they have enhanced by adding a 5th Tall, defined as We create tall with innovation. Leaders

communicate these ideals through a variety of methods and ensure that they are aligned with the recruitment and hiring process through NPPCs Selecting for Success program. The 5 Talls are integrated with NPPCs competitive success factors and organizational strengths through the Blueprint for Success.

Safety Found in Every Bite

NPPC is recognized as best in the industry for its outstanding safety performance. In 2010, the company maintained a Recordable Injury Frequency Rate that was 47 percent below the industry average. Additionally, its Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate in 2010 was 45 percent below the industry average, with 11 plants working the entire year with no lost time injuries. NPPC uses a four-fold strategy to ensure that its products are safe for animals, people, and the environment. This prevention-based approach is designed to manage regulatory compliance and anticipate public concerns with current and future products and operations. It includes measures for all key risk areas with methods for setting clear standards; providing training; and performing audits, inspections, and process improvement. NPPC exceeds all food safety standards specified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Association of American Feed Control Officials, and federal regulations under Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points programs.

Best Place to Work in St. Louis

NPPC was named a Number One Best Place to Work in St. Louis in 2009 and 2010 by the St. Louis Business Journal. The employee survey on which this selection is based includes topics such as alignment, trust, manager effectiveness, and job satisfaction. NPPCs aggregate measure was the benchmark for St. Louis in 2008, 2009, and 2010. NPPC is committed to hiring, training, and retaining people who love pets, are performance-driven, and understand that customer focus leads to success. The company also uses internships and transitional assignments to identify promising candidates for future positions. NPPC assesses workforce engagement and satisfaction through external benchmark surveys; internally designed, functionally specific surveys; and focus groups. Metrics assessed include workforce retention, absenteeism, grievances, safety, and productivity. Survey results are integrated with action plans that lead to customized improvement plans by department. From 2006 to 2009, voluntary turnover at NPPC dropped 60 percent. Absenteeism consistently remained at very low levels, beating the national average by 65 to 75 percent.

Caring for Pets and Their Owners

NPPC supports community projects on three levels: those related to pets (dogs/cats); local causes (such as United Way of St. Louis); and, as funds are available, miscellaneous projects. Local site (manufacturing facilities and sales offices) managers have autonomy to determine which community projects they support but generally follow a similar protocol.

Freese and Nichols Inc., Fort Worth, Texas (small business)

Highlights
For the past four years, Freese and Nichols has achieved revenue growth between 12 and 16 percent, exceeding the industry benchmark in 2009 by 10 percentage points. The company has never had any debt throughout its 116-year history, except for debt from notes payable to divesting stockholders and a long-term lease for company-wide infrastructure. Freese and Nichols has a strong ability to build long-term client relationships, retaining 42 percent of its key accounts for more than 30 years and 71 percent for more than 10 years. Honors for superior workforce satisfaction, professional development, and employee engagement include recognition as one of the top 25 Best Companies to Work for in America (2009) by the Society for Human Resource Management; the 2010 Top Workplace among mid-size companies from The Dallas Morning News; and one of the Civil Engineering News Top 40 Best Civil Engineering Firms to Work For in multiple years. Freese and Nichols is a Texas-based multidiscipline consulting firm that offers services in engineering, architecture, environmental science, planning, construction services, and program management. Founded in 1894, Freese and Nichols has been involved with major public projects

across the state; in fact, flying at 10,000 feet from El Paso to Texarkana, one is never out of sight of one of the firms projects. Freese and Nichols clients operate in public arenas and regulated environments where actions affect policy, plans, and everyday well-being. Among the markets served by Freese and Nichols are municipalities, water districts/river authorities, military/government organizations, higher education institutions, transportation entities, and energy organizations. The corporate headquarters for Freese and Nichols are in Fort Worth, Texas. Other offices are in the following Texas cities: Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Denton, Garland, Houston, Lubbock, McKinney, Pearland, San Antonio, and Tyler. The firms revenues total $80 million, and it employs 449 people.

Blueprint for Fiscal Accountability

For the past four years, Freese and Nichols has achieved revenue growth between 12 and 16 percent, exceeding the industry benchmark in 2009 by 10 percentage points. The firm also has maintained profitability over this same period, while the engineering industry has seen minimal growth and modest profit. The company has never had any debt throughout its 116-year history, except for debt from notes payable to divesting stockholders and a long-term lease for company-wide infrastructure. The debt-to-equity ratio has decreased 6 percent over the last four years, reaching 3 percent, and is lower than the industry benchmark of 8 percent. Freese and Nichols builds a sustainable organization through growth in retained earnings and use of restricted funds that support key business needs as well as growth strategies during a time of economic crisis. Between 2005 and 2010, retained earnings grew from about $9 million to around $16 million with cash reserves and restricted funds invested in new offices, support strategic initiatives and technology upgrades, finance acquisitions, fund shareholder divestiture payments, and cover larger deductibles on professional liability insurance as a way to decrease premiums.

Service Engineered to Highest Specs

Freese and Nichols has a strong ability to build long-term client relationships, retaining 42 percent of its key accounts for more than 30 years and 71 percent for more than 10 years. Consistent with the long-term client relationships, the firm adheres to a Hedgehog Concept (the single thing that the organization aims to do well): Be the very best at client service, resulting in long-term mutually beneficial relationships. Client interactions, preferences, needs, and other key information are tracked through an integrated sales system with processes and tools used throughout the firm. This process strengthens peer-topeer relationships between the firms employees and clients. Executive visits by senior leaders are used as a deeper way to understand big-picture client needs.

Solid Employees, Strong Company

Freese and Nichols workforce satisfaction and engagement trends and levels, as indicated by employee opinion surveys, have remained at or above 4.6 on a 5-point scale for the past three years, exceeding industry-best levels. Honors for superior workforce satisfaction, professional development, and employee engagement include recognition as one of the top 25 Best Companies to Work for in America (2009) by the Society for Human Resource Management; the 2010 Top Workplace among mid-size companies from The Dallas Morning News; 2009 Private Practice Professional Development Award by the National Society of Professional Engineers; a Best Place to Learn from the American Society for Training and DevelopmentDallas Chapter (2007); and one of the Civil Engineering News Top 40 Best Civil Engineering Firms to Work For in multiple years. Professional development is a key workforce engagement factor for the firm. Freese and Nichols University offers a comprehensive curriculum focused on strengthening or maintaining the firms core competencies and developing leadership. Senior executives, group managers and retired leaders often participate as instructors, facilitating transfer of their knowledge and experience to others.

Role-Model Ethics and Civic Service

In 2007, Freese and Nichols received the National and Tarrant (County, Texas) Area Business Ethics Awards given by the Foundation for Financial Service Professionals and sponsored locally by the TCU Neeley School of Business. The firm was recognized as having the strongest ethics by The Dallas Morning News 2010 Top Workplaces program.

Volunteer hours for Freese and Nichols employees, including management, exceeded 7,000 in 2010, an increase of approximately 1,800 hours over 2007 levels. Freese and Nichols matches non-owner, employee United Way donations dollar-for- dollar, resulting in a total United Way contribution of nearly $200,000 in 2010. The Dallas Business Journal recognized the firms efforts by naming it one of the 25 Most Philanthropic Companies in the DallasFort Worth area in 2010.

Process and Planning Yield Results

Freese and Nichols has a comprehensive, year-long strategic planning process to identify key focus area indicators, critical actions, and balanced scorecard measures. Participants in the planning process represent all areas of the organization, including a management level Futures Committee charged with examining trends and changes likely to affect the firm in 5 to 15 years. Freese and Nichols also uses a catch-ball process to cascade plans to divisions, groups, and individuals to ensure that resources are committed and agreed-upon strategies are implemented. Freese and Nichols measures process effectiveness for levels and trends such as backlog the revenue remaining to be earned on signed contractswhich grew from 11 months to 13 months between 2007 and 2009. Over the past five years, the companys backlog has matched that of the best-performing comparable firms. During the same period, net revenue per employee grew 36 percent.