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Eighteen months after launching Nickelodeon Latin America, general manager Taran Swan must leave the company's Miami headquarters for her New York home because of complications with her pregnancy. Unable to travel for at least the next six months, Swan must decide how she will continue to run the channel from New York. Should she put an interim acting head in place, and if so, who among her team should it be? What adjustments will she need to make in her leadership style and working relationships with her team? The case describes the channel's launch and first 18 months on the air, focusing on how Swan puts together her team and crafts the company's culture.

Supplements the (A) case.

Supplements the (A) case.

Supplements the (A) case.

Describes the realities versus the myths of what it means to be a manager. In particular, it focuses on the limitations of formal authority as a source of power and identifies other sources of power that effective managers rely upon. Also outlines a framework of exercising influence (law of reciprocity) and building networks of mutually beneficial alliances with direct reports, bosses, and peers.

Millenium Media's CEO reviews the company diversity report and considers the challenges of maintaining a diverse workforce in light of the news that three individuals, two of whom are people of color, are leaving for opportunities with a competitor.

A company supervisor listens to an employee, an African American woman, announce she is leaving the company and tries to understand the situation.

Provides a concise overview of the key considerations and components of an organization's design. Examines how an organization's design must fit with both owners' goals and the organization's key success factors. Identifies several key aspects of an organization's design.

Supplements the (A) case.

Supplements the (A) case.

Supplements the (A) case.

GenCorp, a Connecticut-based paper-goods manufacturer, has long supported employee-organized network groups. Its social support group for African-Americans, in fact, has been a particular success, having provided black employees with opportunities to further enhance their careers and helped the company retain top talent, meet its EEO goals, and gain favorable publicity. So when Alice Lawrence, a top accountant at GenCorp, called general manager Bill Thompson about the Christian network group being organized in one of the company's southern plants, Bill hardly flinched. After all, the Christian group was being organized by Russell Kramer, one of the company's most effective plant managers. What could be the problem there? But a couple of years ago, Alice noted, Russell had sent around a companywide letter that talked about the sinful nature of homosexuality. And that letter has made her and other gay and lesbian employees terribly uneasy. To complicate matters, the issue of "Christian rights" in the workplace was being widely discussed on radio talk shows, and several books on the topic had recently been published. An employee had even called the new region's head of human resources to get clarification on the topic. Up until now, GenCorp hadn't placed a lot of restrictions on network groups. But the emergence of a religious group was raising new questions for GenCorp's managers: Should the company accept religious groups or try to stop them? What policy, if any, should GenCorp adopt toward these network groups? In 99405 and 99405Z, Laura Nash, Maureen A. Scully, Gregory Poole, Jr., Jacquelyn Gates, and Kim I. Millis comment on this fictional case study.

GenCorp, a Connecticut-based paper-goods manufacturer, has long supported employee-organized network groups. Its social support group for African-Americans, in fact, has been a particular success, having provided black employees with opportunities to further enhance their careers and helped the company retain top talent, meet its EEO goals, and gain favorable publicity. So when Alice Lawrence, a top accountant at GenCorp, called general manager Bill Thompson about the Christian network group being organized in one of the company's southern plants, Bill hardly flinched. After all, the Christian group was being organized by Russell Kramer, one of the company's most effective plant managers. What could be the problem there? But a couple of years ago, Alice noted, Russell had sent around a companywide letter that talked about the sinful nature of homosexuality. And that letter has made her and other gay and lesbian employees terribly uneasy. To complicate matters, the issue of "Christian rights" in the workplace was being widely discussed on radio talk shows, and several books on the topic had recently been published. An employee had even called the new region's head of human resources to get clarification on the topic. Up until now, GenCorp hadn't placed a lot of restrictions on network groups. But the emergence of a religious group was raising new questions for GenCorp's managers: Should the company accept religious groups or try to stop them? What policy, if any, should GenCorp adopt toward these network groups? In 99405 and 99405Z, Laura Nash, Maureen A. Scully, Gregory Poole, Jr., Jacquelyn Gates, and Kim I. Millis comment on this fictional case study.

GenCorp, a Connecticut-based paper-goods manufacturer, has long supported employee-organized network groups. Its social support group for African-Americans, in fact, has been a particular success, having provided black employees with opportunities to further enhance their careers and helped the company retain top talent, meet its EEO goals, and gain favorable publicity. So when Alice Lawrence, a top accountant at GenCorp, called general manager Bill Thompson about the Christian network group being organized in one of the company's southern plants, Bill hardly flinched. After all, the Christian group was being organized by Russell Kramer, one of the company's most effective plant managers. What could be the problem there? But a couple of years ago, Alice noted, Russell had sent around a companywide letter that talked about the sinful nature of homosexuality. And that letter has made her and other gay and lesbian employees terribly uneasy. To complicate matters, the issue of "Christian rights" in the workplace was being widely discussed on radio talk shows, and several books on the topic had recently been published. An employee had even called the new region's head of human resources to get clarification on the topic. Up until now, GenCorp hadn't placed a lot of restrictions on network groups. But the emergence of a religious group was raising new questions for GenCorp's managers: Should the company accept religious groups or try to stop them? What policy, if any, should GenCorp adopt toward these network groups? In 99405 and 99405Z, commentators Laura Nash, Maureen A. Scully, Gregory Poole, Jr., Jacquelyn Gates, and Kim I. Mills offer advice on this fictional case.

You've watched them comfort colleagues, defuse tense situations, and take the heat from tough bosses. You've seen them step in to ease the pain during layoffs and change programs. Who are they? The authors call them toxic handlers--managers who voluntarily shoulder the sadness, frustration, bitterness, and anger of others so that high-quality work continues to get done. Toxic handlers are not new. They are probably as old as organizations themselves. But there has never been a systematic study of the role they play in business. In this article, the authors introduce the role of toxic handlers, explaining what they do and why. Managing the pain of others is hard work. Toxic handlers save organizations from self-destructing, but they often pay a high price--emotionally, professionally, and sometimes physically. Some toxic handlers experience burnout; others suffer far worse consequences, such as ulcers and heart attacks. The authors contend that these unsung corporate heroes have strategic importance in today's business environment. Effective pain management can--and does--contribute to the bottom line. No company can afford to let talented employees burn out. Nor can it afford to have a reputation as an unhappy place to work. The authors offer practical advice for managers and organizations about how to support toxic handlers--before a crisis strikes. The role of toxic handler needs to be given the attention it deserves for everyone's benefit, because the health of employees is a key element in the long-term competitiveness of companies and of society.

Buzz Hargrove, national president of the Canadian Auto Workers, needs to find a way to secure an agreement from a negotiated contract with de Havilland, Inc. Local union leaders feel the deal is not good enough, but Hargrove is convinced management will close the plant down otherwise.

Supplements the (A) case.

Supplements the (A), (B), (C), and (D) cases.

Course overview for the first-year required MBA course Leadership and Organizational Behavior (LEAD).

Given the changes wrought by the new economy, it makes sense for companies to pursue ever-greater levels of flexibility. But does it make sense for human beings? Do we really want to be free agents, hopping from job to job and from city to city, virtual employees of virtual companies? Richard Sennett doesn't think so. In The Corrosion of Character: The Personal Consequences of Work in the New Capitalism, Sennett, a sociologist and well-known social critic, lays out a dark vision of what the new economy means for working people at all levels of society. He draws on poignant stories to show how the flexibility demanded by the new economy causes us to lose the attachments--to people, places, or companies--that form our character. Without such attachments, we lose the ability to focus on the long term: if everything's going to change overnight, why worry about tomorrow? In the aggregate, the demands of flexibility erode society's foundations. But as Nicholas Carr points out, this isn't a complete picture of what flexibility means for people today. For example, the spread of cheap computers is expanding opportunities to launch, market, and manage microbusinesses. And the networked economy--by making workdays more flexible and location less important--will give many of us more control over where we live and how we parcel out our time. Despite Sennett's blindness to the benefits offered by the new economy, his book provides a thoughtful counterbalance to the empty-headed boosterism that characterizes much of the current writing on the subject.