The late Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, and Microsoft's Steve Ballmer present two different pictures of leaders
Jobs was a visionary and a "techie," a micromanager and a big-picture person. Ballmer is a good manager, although not a techie, and observers contend that he has been distracted lately from the company vision by litigation. How do these two men NOT fit the classic definition of top managers?
What will be an ideal response?
Answer: Apple's Jobs was more technical than most top managers and was a micromanager, which is unusual and often not a good quality in top managers. Ballmer is less technical, but he is having difficulty focusing on the vision and mission of the company because of the litigation and product problems of recent years. He finds himself one step behind other companies over and over again.
Explanation: Top managers usually have more conceptual skills than technical skills, yet Jobs appears to have had both. Although top management doesn't need a lot of technical skills, in a tech industry and in a company with 90 percent of the market, it would seem that Microsoft lost the technical expertise with the departure of Bill Gates.
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In which of the following cases is a service provider trying to increase non-peak demand?
A) A fine dining restaurant is promoting a breakfast service in addition to its popular lunch and dinner options. B) An upscale restaurant has a cocktail lounge where customers can wait until a table is ready. C) AXA Bank set up automated teller machines so that its customers could avoid standing in line. D) Chesterton College hired part-time teachers as enrollment increased significantly. E) Big department stores usually hire extra staff to handle the rush during the holiday season.
If both parties approve, managers can belong to the same union as the employees that they
manage. Indicate whether the statement is true or false