COB 487 FINAL EXAM QUESTIONS (WRITTEN/ORAL)
Career Anchors
a. What is a career anchor?
b. What three aspects of a person do career anchors cover holistically?
c. How many career anchors are there? Explain in brief what each career anchor stands
for.
d. How much time does it take on average to identify your career anchor? Why so long?
Can you speed up the process?
e. How is the concept of Career Anchors relevant to Strategic Management? - Answer -
a. One element in a person's self-concept that he/she will not give up, even in the face
of difficult choices.
b. 1) What are my talents?
2) What are my main motives?
3) What are my values?
c. 8 Career Anchors:
Technical/Functional Competence (TF) = Expert, Specialization, intrinsically rewarding,
Promotion => Conflict
General Managerial Competence (GM) = Management per se, Specialization as
obstacle, Reach the top, Skills required: analytical, interpersonal, emotional
Autonomy (AU) = Own way, Independent careers, No close supervision,
Contract/project work
Security/ Stability (SE) = Safety, Secure, Tenure, Golden Handcuffs
Entrepreneurial Creativity (EC) = Create new, Pursuing dreams relentlessly
Service (SV) = Serving others, Improving the world, Serving humanity
Pure Challenge (CH) = Conquering anything, Overcoming obstacles, Challenge
Lifestyle (LS) = No career anchor?, Total lifestyle integration
d. Up to 10 years. Reality shocks, new challenges that reveal hidden talents. Cannot
speed up.
e. Can help find more befitting positions, increase employee satisfaction/productivity
Leadership Styles
a. Briefly describe 7 leadership types identified by Plato.
b. Which leadership type is the most praiseworthy according to Plato? Why so?
c. Mention 6 main contemporary leadership styles, and outline one advantage and one
disadvantage for each of them.
d. Key considerations on Leadership - Answer -a. Shepherd = notion of care, protect
flock from danger
Doctor = service to patients and wellbeing, specialized skills required
Navigator = steers crew through rough water, spec. skills required
Artist = visionary, inspirational
Teacher = educating people, more intellectual
Weaver = uniting several strands of wool into single garment (diverse people into one)
Sower = hands-off approach, giving ideas for others to develop
b.
, c. Authoritarian: Imposing expectations and defining outcomes. More efficient, but kills
creativity.
Participative: Involving team members in the decision-making process. Increases
employee motivation, but communication failures can happen
Delegative: Focuses on delegating initiative to team members. Positive work
environment, but responsibility not clearly defined.
Transactional: Rewards, punishments, and other exchanges. Creates more followers
than leaders.
Transformational: Inspires followers with a vision. Higher morale for employees, can
lead to deviation of protocols.
Servant: Main goal is to provide service to employees. Decisions based on the benefit
of all, role of the leader is lessened.
d. Leadership position vs. being a leader, leader vs. manager,
Visionary+Charismatic+Transformational
Intellectual Assets
a. What is Intellectual Capital?
b. What is "investing in a company" today?
c. Human Capital: 3 pillars & their key insights
d. Why is diversity important?
e. Social Capital, & key players in Org. Network
f. Key aspects of a network, and what determines its power?
g. What are dynamic capabilities?
h. How is new knowledge created?
i. Intellectual property rights: its costs, role of state, and when helpful? - Answer -a. a
measure of the value of a firm's intangible assets. Difference between firm's market and
book value.
b. buying a set of talents, capabilities, skills, and ideas rather than just physical and
financial resources.
c. Attracting Human Capital: hire for attitude, train for skill.
Developing Human Capital: mentoring and sponsoring, 360-degree evaluation and
feedback
Retaining Human Capital: Offer financial and nonfinancial rewards, provide challenging
work
d. Creativity through diversity, better problem solving, better reputation and resource
acquisition
e. Social cap. helps tie knowledge through relationships and interactions
f. The strength, tie content, network structure. Centrality, criticality, flexibility, visibility,
coalitions determine power.
g. The capacity to anticipate, shape, and adapt to a shifting competitive landscape.
h. New knowledge comes from explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge
i. Low marginal costs, state must enforce it in order to create incentive, only helpful if
company can enforce them.
Zynga business case
a. Zynga's strategy.
Career Anchors
a. What is a career anchor?
b. What three aspects of a person do career anchors cover holistically?
c. How many career anchors are there? Explain in brief what each career anchor stands
for.
d. How much time does it take on average to identify your career anchor? Why so long?
Can you speed up the process?
e. How is the concept of Career Anchors relevant to Strategic Management? - Answer -
a. One element in a person's self-concept that he/she will not give up, even in the face
of difficult choices.
b. 1) What are my talents?
2) What are my main motives?
3) What are my values?
c. 8 Career Anchors:
Technical/Functional Competence (TF) = Expert, Specialization, intrinsically rewarding,
Promotion => Conflict
General Managerial Competence (GM) = Management per se, Specialization as
obstacle, Reach the top, Skills required: analytical, interpersonal, emotional
Autonomy (AU) = Own way, Independent careers, No close supervision,
Contract/project work
Security/ Stability (SE) = Safety, Secure, Tenure, Golden Handcuffs
Entrepreneurial Creativity (EC) = Create new, Pursuing dreams relentlessly
Service (SV) = Serving others, Improving the world, Serving humanity
Pure Challenge (CH) = Conquering anything, Overcoming obstacles, Challenge
Lifestyle (LS) = No career anchor?, Total lifestyle integration
d. Up to 10 years. Reality shocks, new challenges that reveal hidden talents. Cannot
speed up.
e. Can help find more befitting positions, increase employee satisfaction/productivity
Leadership Styles
a. Briefly describe 7 leadership types identified by Plato.
b. Which leadership type is the most praiseworthy according to Plato? Why so?
c. Mention 6 main contemporary leadership styles, and outline one advantage and one
disadvantage for each of them.
d. Key considerations on Leadership - Answer -a. Shepherd = notion of care, protect
flock from danger
Doctor = service to patients and wellbeing, specialized skills required
Navigator = steers crew through rough water, spec. skills required
Artist = visionary, inspirational
Teacher = educating people, more intellectual
Weaver = uniting several strands of wool into single garment (diverse people into one)
Sower = hands-off approach, giving ideas for others to develop
b.
, c. Authoritarian: Imposing expectations and defining outcomes. More efficient, but kills
creativity.
Participative: Involving team members in the decision-making process. Increases
employee motivation, but communication failures can happen
Delegative: Focuses on delegating initiative to team members. Positive work
environment, but responsibility not clearly defined.
Transactional: Rewards, punishments, and other exchanges. Creates more followers
than leaders.
Transformational: Inspires followers with a vision. Higher morale for employees, can
lead to deviation of protocols.
Servant: Main goal is to provide service to employees. Decisions based on the benefit
of all, role of the leader is lessened.
d. Leadership position vs. being a leader, leader vs. manager,
Visionary+Charismatic+Transformational
Intellectual Assets
a. What is Intellectual Capital?
b. What is "investing in a company" today?
c. Human Capital: 3 pillars & their key insights
d. Why is diversity important?
e. Social Capital, & key players in Org. Network
f. Key aspects of a network, and what determines its power?
g. What are dynamic capabilities?
h. How is new knowledge created?
i. Intellectual property rights: its costs, role of state, and when helpful? - Answer -a. a
measure of the value of a firm's intangible assets. Difference between firm's market and
book value.
b. buying a set of talents, capabilities, skills, and ideas rather than just physical and
financial resources.
c. Attracting Human Capital: hire for attitude, train for skill.
Developing Human Capital: mentoring and sponsoring, 360-degree evaluation and
feedback
Retaining Human Capital: Offer financial and nonfinancial rewards, provide challenging
work
d. Creativity through diversity, better problem solving, better reputation and resource
acquisition
e. Social cap. helps tie knowledge through relationships and interactions
f. The strength, tie content, network structure. Centrality, criticality, flexibility, visibility,
coalitions determine power.
g. The capacity to anticipate, shape, and adapt to a shifting competitive landscape.
h. New knowledge comes from explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge
i. Low marginal costs, state must enforce it in order to create incentive, only helpful if
company can enforce them.
Zynga business case
a. Zynga's strategy.
