Question

Last week, President Donald Trump announced proposed tariffs (import taxes) on imported steel from Canada, Mexico and the European Union (27 countries in greater Europe). In the United States, workers in our steel industry applauded this action, but internationally, this move was met with great criticism.

Question 1- Why do you think American steel workers are in favor of the tariffs? (10 points)

Question 2 – Why would the involved countries be upset with these tariffs? (10 points)

Question 3 – What might Canada, Mexico, and the European Union do in response to the President’s actions? (10 points)

Section Two- Chapter 7 Material - Planning

Question 4 – What is the difference between a plan and a goal? (10 points)

Question 5 - You just came out of a staff meeting at Mobtech, the tech company where you work. The following three goals were outlined in this meeting:

The workers in the software engineering department were given the goal of finishing the coding on the new sales software by the end of the week.

The Cell Phone Division announced their sales target of $10 million for the quarter.

The President of the company announced a decision to pursue a new line of business, laptops, over the next four years.

Which goal is strategic, which is tactical, and which is operational? (15 points)

Question 6

What is a “mission” and should it have a connection to the stated goals of a company? (10 points)

Section Three – Chapter 9 - Decision Making

This chapter of your textbook explains many different methods of decision making. Imagine that you participated in an all-day meeting of the senior managers in your company where the goal was to make a decision regarding a new promotional strategy for the marketing department. Everyone received detailed sales data and background information about past promotions, but at the end of the four-hour session, the group had not made a decision on the best way forward. As the meeting was breaking up, someone suggested that perhaps the group should conduct a brainstorming session. Someone else joked that this would be a great idea, but maybe with a different group of managers.

Question 7 - What is brainstorming and how does it work? (10 points)

Question 8 - Why do you think someone made a joke regarding using a different group of managers for the brainstorming session? (10 points)

Question 9- Your textbook describes the different styles of decision making: directive, analytical, conceptual, and behavioral. If you were forming a management team, would you want to hire managers who shared the exact same style in decision making? Answer yes or no and explain the reasons for your answer. (15 points)

Answer 1

Answer 1: The imposition of tariffs is an important step in curbing cheap imports, which have the potential of hurting the profitability and sustainability of the domestic industry. In the recent years, American markets have been flooded with cheap steel imported largely from China but also from the EU and Canada to a certain extent. The demand and supply equilibrium is lost due to supply glut which lowers the prices in domestic market. The lower prices caused domestic firms to have lower margins which impacted their profitability and sustainability. The imposition of tariffs will help in restoring the demand and supply balance which will further help in maintaining proper price level.