YOUR NAME
MINI CASE 02: THE VISIONARY BOSS
Discussion Question: Assuming that you do not immediately subscribe to the Managerial
Openings List and begin a job search, how can goal setting help you achieve that vision?
Using the list of benefits of goal setting as a guide, identify five top issues
(considerations) that you will use as guiding principles to help formulate your plan.
My expectations: I am expecting a minimum, ½ page, individually written, and
thoughtful response uploaded to the appropriate Mini Case Assignment location on
Blackboard.
BEGIN YOUR WRITTEN RESPONSE BELOW THIS LINE:
MINI CASE 02: THE VISIONARY BOSS
Lera Zelenskaya
Overview: There are a total of three (3) Mini Case Assignments. They are numbered Mini Case
Assignment 01, 02, and 03. While each case builds on the previous case assignment, each of the
Mini Case Assignments will be completed and submitted separately as freestanding assignments.
Examples: You can refer to two Mini Case Assignment example if you need some help in
visualizing what a sample response might look like.
Read: Beginning below, you will read the short scenario that provides background, opinions
from managers, survey information, and theory (from one of the business management books). It
then proposes a Mini Case scenario made up of a hypothetical situation involving employees.
Finally, based on the background and case scenario, it asks you to respond and answer a
discussion question (an application of learn-by-doing).
My expectations: For each Mini Case Assignment, I am expecting a minimum, ½ page,
individually written (on a new, blank document), and thoughtful response uploaded to the
appropriate Mini Case Assignment location on Blackboard.
YOU WILL BEGIN READING THE SPECIFIC MINI CASE JUST BELOW
THIS LINE BREAK
MINI CASE 02: THE VISIONARY BOSS
Goals help managers translate general intentions into specific actions. Debra Mesch
defines a goal as a plan for a desired outcome.1 And goal-setting theory posits that people who
set goals perform more effectively than those who do not set goals.2 David Chag, GM of the
Country Club of Brookline, Massachusetts, states, “Goals establish an end result, a direction of
pursuit, a method of measurement, and foster team work and achievement. Goals help us
perform beyond our capabilities and keep us on focused when the going gets tough.”
1
Mesch, Debra J., Jiing-Lih Farh, and Philip M. Podsakoff. "Effects of Feedback Signs on Group Goal Setting,
Strategies, and Performance." Group and Organization Management, Vol.19, No.3, (September 1994), pp. 309-333.
2
Locke, E. A. and Latham, G. P. A Theory of Goal Setting and Task Performance (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice
Hall, 1990).
There are many benefits of goal setting. Some of the more notable advantages of goal
setting that managers can benefit from include these:
Goals help to direct attention and actions because they give managers a target. 3 People can
become confused if they do not have a specific goal toward which to direct their efforts.
Goals nurture an atmosphere that produces specific results within specific time periods.
Goals are useful in helping people perform at peak levels. Setting goals makes managers
aware of the mental, emotional, and physical energy they will need for the task and
encourages them to conserve and mobilize energy carefully.
Goals can help bolster persistence. The absence of strong goals can distract from one’s
mission and foster a temptation to quit when facing a challenge.
Goals aid managers in developing innovative strategies. Club managers that set important
goals will be surprised at how ingenious they can be in devising their strategies to reach their
goals.
Goal setting will provide managers with a short and long-term game plan. If set properly and
realistically, managers can map out their futures with their clubs, or effect plans to achieve
other aspirations.
Goals can assist in preventing stress. A comprehensive goals program can help avoid
burnout and produce positive feelings.4
3
O’Hair, D. and Friedrich, G. W. (1992). Strategic Communication in Business and the Professions (Boston:
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992).
4
Stallworth, H. (1990, June). “Realistic goals help avoid burnout.” HR Magazine, Vol. 35, 6, (June 1990), p. 171.
MINI CASE: THE VISIONARY BOSS
You may know her. Susan is a big-picture person—a visionary. As vice president and
creative director of one of the oldest, most prestigious advertising agencies in the Midwest, she is
also president of the 900-member club where you are the chief operating officer and general
manager. She has a vision for the club—a picture of the club in the year 2020. She paints with
words how things will be—white-glove service, flowers at every tee, walnut paneling in the
library, soft colors in the dining room, oriental rugs in the great lounge. The board
overwhelmingly supports her plan. She turns to you and says, “Make it happen.”
Gulp! You have been on the job three months and know:
The service staff is mostly part-time students that average six months at the club before
moving on.
The tee boxes are irrigated from the roughs by large, 10-gallon-per-minute, impact
sprinklers.
Termites have been discovered in the existing roof joists above the library.
The wall paint in the dining room contains dangerous levels of lead.
The great lounge roof leaks. When one of the engineers was in the attic trying to repair the
leak, he noticed that the sprinkler-system water pipes (fire protection) are wrapped in
asbestos.
For the past 10 years, the club general managers have also served as club treasurer. You
notice that the reserve for capital replacements and projects account for the 50,000 squarefoot clubhouse has not been funded for 10 years and that the account balance is $13,000.
DISCUSSION QUESTION
Assuming that you do not immediately subscribe to the Managerial Openings List and
begin a job search, how can goal setting help you achieve that vision? Using the list of benefits
of goal setting as a guide, identify five top issues (considerations) that you will use as guiding
principles to help formulate your plan.
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