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Ebook PDF Developing Management Skills A Comprehensive Guide For Leaders 5th Edition PDF
Ebook PDF Developing Management Skills A Comprehensive Guide For Leaders 5th Edition PDF
www.pearson.com.au/highered/carlopio
5th edition
‘An excellent mix of theory and practical
developing
reality. I congratulate the authors for their
valuable and ongoing contribution to
management education and development
in the Asia–Pacific region.’
management
Peter J. Dowling, PhD, LFAHRI, FANZAM
La Trobe University, Melbourne
9 781442 547629
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Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Glossary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 550
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Preface
This fifth edition of Developing Management Skills has involved a redesign of the chapters, updated
references and some completely new material.
Chapter 1 has been redesigned and includes a considerably expanded section on management
and business ethics.
Developing Management Skills focuses on developing skills identified by research as being critically
important. Not only are the skills presented in this book important skills, but researchers have identified
them as distinguishing skills—those that set outstanding managers apart from merely effective managers
(see Boyatzis 1982; Carnevale, Gainer & Meltzer 1989; Dowd & Liedtka 1994; Goleman 1998). Each
chapter discusses a cluster of related skills, and each skill area overlaps with other skill areas. No skill
stands alone.
Part 1 of the book contains four chapters on personal skills: ‘Management essentials’, ‘Developing
self-awareness’, ‘Managing stress’ and ‘Solving problems analytically and creatively’. Part 2 focuses on
interpersonal skills: ‘Communicating supportively’, ‘Motivating others’ and ‘Managing conflict’. These
skill areas also overlap—managers must rely on parts of many skills areas in order to perform any one
skill effectively. Part 3 has three chapters on group skills: ‘Empowering and delegating’, ‘Building
effective teams’ and ‘Managing change’. These chapters overlap substantially with one another as well
as with the skill areas in Parts 1 and 2. Thus, as we progress from personal to interpersonal to group
skills, the core competencies developed in the previous area help to support successful performance
of the new skill area.
Part 4 contains two chapters: ‘Making oral and written presentations’ and ‘Conducting interviews’.
These chapters are contained in the online supplement at www.pearson.com.au/highered/carlopio
and cover specialised communication skills that are particularly relevant for students who have had
little managerial experience or skill training in these areas. They also foster the skill development
needed to implement assignments typically included in a management skill-building course. Writing
reports, giving class presentations and interviewing are all prerequisites for building skills in the core
management skill areas, so material has been provided on these three topics that students will find
helpful.
Chapters are organised on the basis of the learning model summarised in the table in the
introduction. Each chapter begins with skill assessment instruments. Their purpose is to help you focus
attention on areas of personal competence, as well as areas needing improvement in both knowledge
and performance.
An explanation of the key behavioural guidelines, as well as a rationale for why these guidelines
work, is found in the skill learning sections. These sections explain the core behavioural principles
associated with each skill. A model of each skill is presented, along with evidence from research that
the principles identified are effective in practice. The objective is to provide a sound rationale for the
action guidelines summarised at the end of the section.
The skill analysis sections provide brief case histories that illustrate effective and/or ineffective
applications of the behavioural principles. The purpose of these sections is to bridge the gap between
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1998; Mant 1993). When we talk about intelligence, we do not mean the ability to get a good score on
a certain kind of test, or even the ability to do well in your studies; these are, at best, only indicators
of something larger, deeper and far more important. By ‘intelligence’ we mean a style of life, a way of
behaving in various situations. The true test of intelligence is not how much we know how to do, but
how we behave when we do not know what to do. Fostering the development of such intelligence is the
goal of Developing Management Skills.
Acknowledgments
The publisher would like to thank the following academics for their valuable feedback and advice for
this edition:
Joanne Pimlott, University of South Australia
David Pender, University of Adelaide
Michael John Segon, RMIT University
Kylie Redfern, University of Technology, Sydney
Graham Andrewartha is an Adjunct Research Fellow with the School of Management at the University
of South Australia (UniSA). He is also a clinical and organisational psychologist and Director of the
psychological and consultancy management organisation, McPhee Andrewartha.
For over 30 years, Graham has provided executive coaching, leadership and management
skills development training, performance and change management, strategic planning, workplace
investigation, and mediation for numerous national and international universities and organisations
within both the public and private sectors, including the Asian Development Bank and AusAID.
Graham is an author of a leading managerial textbook, along with several other books and articles
on communication and human resource management, and has developed an online leadership and
communication tool that is utilised in Australia and overseas.
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In a separate study in the US and Canada, half of the respondents reported being fatigued at the
end of the week, and 40 per cent of all age groups said their jobs made them depressed. A recent
online survey by Linkedin and Right Management Inc. found that just 47 per cent almost always take
a daily lunch break. Of the remainder, 20 per cent usually eat at their desk, 19 per cent take a break
only occasionally, and 13 per cent rarely break for lunch.
In their book Well-being, Rath and Harter (2010) claim that two-thirds of workers are just waiting
for the working day to end. The fundamental need of humans is to have a close friendship, and the
authors suggest that everyone needs social time each day to increase their sense of well-being and
minimise stress. They argue that the most successful managers show how much they care about what is
happening in the personal lives of their people at work. Research from the National Time Accounting:
The Currency of Life survey of 2008 found that, for a majority of respondents, spending time with
their boss was two to four times as unpleasant as spending time with friends.
Global scandals
McManus and White (2008) argue that the moral obligations of corporations have escalated following
the failure of financial services firm Lehman Brothers and scandals involving companies such as
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Adelphia Communications, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, Arthur Andersen, Enron and
WorldCom. They suggest that moral obligations and business ethics are an integral and important part
of the strategic management process and management skills.
These sorts of issues are challenging and demanding even more effective skills from managers.
Financial pressures and poor behaviours tempt firms to consider reactive downsizing and other
superficial cost-cutting measures. The rapid spread of smart phones, iPads and all forms of electronic
communication increase the blurring of lines between work and home, as well as the blurring of lines
between privacy and business. Laws to punish bullying and harassment are being formulated as a
direct result of perceived increases in these practices in our organisations. The trite mantra of ‘work
smarter not harder’ is only increasing the pressure and distress for employees, as well as reducing
the amount of time and thoughtfulness that goes into effective strategic planning and performance
management. Increasingly, chief executives are recruited, retained or fired on a very short-term goal
of return on investment. These CEOs and other executives also often bring with them a small team
from their previous firms, so a wedge of a new culture is driven into the firm that hires them. More
chief executives and senior managers are heavily pressured from both sides; from their boards and
bosses on the one hand, and from their subordinates and employees on the other. These issues require
foundation principles of managerial skills and behaviour from which to take effective decisions
and actions.
Observations by Sutton (2010) on his best leader beliefs are a good introduction to the leadership
character behind the management skills portrayed in the rest of this book:
• I have a flawed and incomplete understanding of what it feels like to work for me.
• My success—and that of my people—depends largely on being the master of obvious and mundane things,
not on magical, obscure, or breakthrough ideas or methods.
• Having ambitious and well-defined goals is important, but it is useless to think about them much. My job
is to focus on the small wins that enable my people to make a little progress every day.
• One of the most important, and most difficult, parts of my job is to strike the delicate balance between being
too assertive and not assertive enough.
• My job is to serve as a human shield, to protect my people from external intrusions, distractions, and idiocy
of every stripe—and to avoid imposing my own idiocy on them as well.
• I strive to be confident enough to convince people that I am in charge, but humble enough to realize that I am
often going to be wrong.
• I aim to fight as if I am right, and listen as if I am wrong—and to teach my people to do the same thing.
• One of the best tests of my leadership—and my organization—is ‘what happens after people make a
mistake?’
• Innovation is crucial to every team and organization. So my job is to encourage my people to generate and
test all kinds of new ideas. But it is also my job to help them kill off all the bad ideas we generate, and most
of the good ideas, too.
• Bad is stronger than good. It is more important to eliminate the negative than to accentuate the positive.
• How I do things is as important as what I do.
• Because I wield power over others, I am at great risk of acting like an insensitive jerk—and not
realizing it.
A recent definition of global leadership is ‘influence across national and cultural boundaries’
(Mobley & Dorfman 2003: 3). Influence skills are the building blocks of broad management and
leadership styles, which understandably vary across cultures. It is this aspect of influence and ‘best
fit’ in teams, inside organisations, within our culture and between our nations that is sorely needed.
Global leadership relies in part on creating a ‘teachable point of view’, and leadership development
must include communication learning (quoted in Boudreau, Ramstad & Dowling 2003: 68), which is
what Maturana and Varela (1987) call ‘structural coupling’.
Developing management skills is like the Chinese proverb: Unless you keep rowing the boat
forwards, the current will take you backwards. You cannot stand still, only go forwards or backwards
(Mobley & Dorfman 2003: xiii).
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There is an overwhelming need for ethical relationships, trust and effective people-management
skills as a fundamental part of business life. Fukuyama (1996: 21) says:
We know now, however, that in any information society neither governments nor corporations will rely exclusively
on formal bureaucratic rules to organize people. Instead they will decentralize and devolve power, and rely on the
people over whom they have nominal authority to be self-organizing. The precondition for such self-organization
is internalized rules and norms of behavior, a fact that suggests that the world of the 21st century will depend
heavily on such informal norms.… Social virtues such as honesty, reciprocity, and the keeping of commitments
are not worthwhile just as ethical values; they also have a dollar value and help the groups that practice them
to achieve shared ends.
Organisational culture and individual culture are again being considered. The fact that organisations
are centres of human social contact is being rediscovered. The organisation is itself a community. This
is sometimes overlooked by its executives and leaders, but never by the employees. The fundamental
issue, regardless of organisation, system, country, gender or race, is how to work productively and
professionally with our fellow human beings. For ‘with management comes the responsibility and
excitement of realising the human potential in one’s organisation’ (Van der Heijden 1997: 1).
The core competency for good mature management is the use of matching. The word ‘competence’
means ‘to be suitable or fit’. ‘Matching’ means finding ‘a person who equals or resembles another, or
who fits with another’. Being able to fit in and be effective, given the diversity and changing complexity
alluded to above, is the fundamental skill that is addressed in this book.
Contemporary management skills enable managers to achieve world-class organisational
performance. The emphasis is on ‘soft’ skills as much as ‘hard’ skills—personal abilities and interpersonal
skills are to the forefront. The development of a continuous, on-the-job, experiential learning program
is emphasised, rather than rote learning; a superficial four-step technique to being a successful manager
is not presented. The main focus is on developing adaptable, flexible distinctions about how to handle
continuously changing human interactions in the workplace.
There are several misconceptions about management. For example: ‘management is neat and
definable’, ‘management is soft and easy’, ‘managers are not important’, ‘management is only about
productivity and controlling resources’ and ‘people are just a means to an end’. For most of us, work
is the main place for interpersonal relationships. Consistent, close human contact is a significant
feature and requirement of our workplaces. The amount of time shared with family and friends has
dramatically diminished in relation to the time we spend interacting with our work colleagues. It
is inescapable that the practice of management primarily involves the handling of these personal
interactions. Management is strategic, thoughtful influence through goal setting and motivation to
ensure the achievement of the organisation’s objectives.
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outcomes in your organisation. The fundamental goal of managers is to recruit and promote excellent
people, enable excellent performance of individuals and teams, and collaborate effectively with other
stakeholders inside and outside the organisation.
Changes in structural and personal relationships in our workplaces have resulted in confusion
about goals and directions. Leadership is required not just at the top of the organisation but from
every employee, especially managers. Most importantly, management skill development must meet
continuously changing organisational needs and goals.
Developing highly competent management skills is much more complicated than developing
the skills associated with a trade (for example, welding) or a sport (for example, kicking goals).
Management skills are:
• linked to a more complex knowledge base than other types of skills
• inherently connected to interaction with other (frequently unpredictable) individuals.
A standardised approach to welding or kicking goals might be feasible, but no standardised
approach to managing human beings is possible.
Management is a professional practice that is the foundation of organisational success. Evidence
suggests that many managers are not as competent as they need to be in the area of people skills. This
criticism does not mean that organisations should throw managers out with the structural bath water.
Reactive downsizing and reorganisation are short-sighted at best (see Cascio 1993). The findings
about managers’ skills in recent research, however, do support the purpose of this book: to provide
comprehensive development in a range of people-management skills to increase the effectiveness of
managers.
Skills improve through practice. Any approach to developing management skills, therefore,
must involve a significant element of practical application. At the same time, practice without
the necessary conceptual knowledge is sterile, ignoring the need for flexibility and adaptation to
different situations. Developing skill competency is inherently tied to both conceptual learning and
behavioural practice.
The method that has been found most successful in helping individuals develop management skills
is based on social learning theory (Bandura 1977; Davis & Luthans 1980). This approach combines
rigorous conceptual knowledge with opportunities to practise and apply observable behaviours.
Variations on this general approach have been used widely in on-the-job supervisory training programs
(Goldstein & Sorcher 1974) as well as in allied professional education classrooms such as teacher
development and social work (Rose, Crayner & Edleson 1977; Singleton, Spurgeon & Stammers 1980).
This learning style is similar to adult learning principles or the action learning propounded by Reg
Revans (1982).
As originally formulated, this learning model consisted of four steps:
• the presentation of behavioural principles or action guidelines, generally using traditional
instruction methods
• demonstration of the principles by means of cases, films, scripts or incidents
• opportunities to practise the principles through role-plays or exercises
• feedback on performance from peers, instructors or experts.
‘Most of what managers learn derives from the context of the management job itself’ and ‘One
must learn by doing the thing; for though you think you know it, you have no certainty until you try’
(Karpin 1995: 78, 83).
The authors’ own experience in teaching complex management skills has convinced them that
three important modifications are necessary for this model to be most effective. First, the behavioural
principles must be grounded in social science theory and in reliable research results. Common-
sense generalisations and panacea-like prescriptions appear regularly in the popular management
literature. To ensure the validity of the behavioural guidelines being prescribed, the learning approach
must include scientifically based knowledge about the effects of the management principles being
presented.
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Second, individuals must be aware of their current level of skill competency and be motivated to
improve on that level in order to benefit from the model. Most people receive very little feedback about
their current level of skill competency. Most organisations provide some kind of annual or semi-annual
evaluation (for example, grades in university or performance appraisal interviews in firms), but these
evaluations are almost always infrequent and narrow in scope, and they fail to assess performance in
most critical skill areas. To help a person understand what skills to improve and why, an assessment
activity must be part of the model.
In addition, most people find change uncomfortable and therefore avoid taking the risk to
develop new behaviour patterns. Assessment activity in the learning model helps to encourage people
to change by illuminating their strengths and limitations. People then know where their limitations lie
and what things need to be improved. In this book, assessment activities take the form of self-evaluation
instruments, case studies, or problems that help to highlight personal strengths and limitations in a
particular skill area.
Third, an application component is needed in the learning model. Most management skill training
takes place in a classroom setting where feedback is immediate and it is relatively safe to try out new
behaviours and make mistakes. Transferring this learning to an actual job setting is often problematic.
Application exercises help to apply classroom learning to examples from the real world of management.
Application exercises often take the form of an outside-of-class intervention, a consulting assignment
or a problem-centred intervention, which the student then analyses to determine its degree of success
or failure.
In summary, evidence suggests that a five-step learning model is the most effective for helping
individuals to develop management skills (see Cameron & Whetten 1984). The following table outlines
such a model.
Step 1 involves the assessment of current levels of skill competency and knowledge of the
behavioural principles. Step 2 consists of the presentation of validated, scientifically based principles
and guidelines for effective skill performance. Step 3 is an analysis step in which models or cases
are made available in order to analyse behavioural principles in real organisational settings. This
step also helps to demonstrate how the behavioural guidelines can be adapted to different personal
styles and circumstances. Step 4 consists of practice exercises in which experimentation can occur
and immediate feedback can be received in a relatively safe environment. Step 5 is the application of
the skill to a real-life setting outside the classroom, with follow-up analysis of the relative success
of that application. One part of this is the application of the skill to real human resource issues in
the organisation.
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Research on the effectiveness of training programs using this general learning model has shown that
it produces results superior to those based on the traditional lecture–discussion approach (Burnaska
1976; Latham & Saari 1979; Moses & Ritchie 1976; Porras & Anderson 1981; Smith 1976). ‘Learning’
is often resisted by managers because it is not seen as directly related to performance and productivity.
But this view is changing. Dr Peter Honey sees learning itself as an area of competence that underlies all
others—it is the most fundamental skill. He believes that ‘learning from experience is the most important
of all the life skills’ (Karpin 1995: 1112).
One way of helping managers to understand their own learning is to understand the learning
cycle. The HONEY learning cycle is based on action (having an experience), reflection (reviewing
and pondering on that experience), knowledge (reaching conclusions) and planning (planning to
do something better). Implementation becomes the next experience (Karpin 1995: 1114). The model
of learning in this book reflects a similar approach. Abundant research shows that managers will
learn a lot more if they understand their own learning style and how to maximise learning from
opportunities provided by their work roles. This is combined with the skill development process of
each chapter, which emphasises practising management skills in order to achieve an integrated range
of management competencies in the work context. The book has been organised with this specific
approach in mind.
References
Preface and Introduction
Australian (from correspondents in London), ‘Bosses perceived as poor decision makers’, 6 August 2007, p. 16.
Australian Financial Review (AAP Report), ‘Workers give their bosses poor appraisals’, 3 August 2007.
Bandura, A. 1977, A Social Learning Theory (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall) (New York, Harper & Row, 1985).
Block, P. 1993, Stewardship: Choosing Service over Self-interest (San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers).
Boudreau, J. W., P. M. Ramstad and P. J. Dowling 2003, ‘Global talentship: Toward a decision science connecting talent
to global strategic success’, in W. H. Mobley and P. W. Dorfman, Advances in Global Leadership, vol. 3 (Oxford, UK:
Elsevier Science Ltd), pp. 63–100.
Boyatzis, R. E. 1982, The Competent Manager (New York: Wiley).
Burnaska, R. F. 1976, ‘The effects of behavioral modeling training upon managers’ behavior and employees’ perceptions’,
Personnel Psychology, 29, pp. 329–35.
Cameron, K. S. and D. A. Whetten 1984, ‘A model for teaching management skills’, Organizational Behavior Teaching
Journal, 8, pp. 21–27.
Carnevale, A. P., L. J. Gainer and A. S. Meltzer 1989, Workplace Basics: The Skills Employers Want (US Department of Labor
Employment and Training Administration).
Cascio, W. 1993, ‘Downsizing: What do we know? What have we learned?’, Academy of Management Executive, 7(1),
pp. 95–104.
Davis, T. W. and F. Luthans 1980, ‘A social learning approach to organizational behavior’, Academy of Management Review,
5, pp. 281–90.
Dowd, K. O. and J. Liedtka 1994, ‘What corporations seek in MBA hires: A survey’, Magazine of the Graduate Management
Admission Council, Winter.
Erker, S. and Thomas, B. 2011, ‘Finding the first rung: A study on the challenges facing today’s frontline leader’
(DDI).
Fukuyama, F. 1996, Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity (New York: The Free Press).
Goldstein, A. P. and M. Sorcher 1974, Changing Supervisor Behavior (New York: Pergamon).
Goleman, D. 1998, Working with Emotional Intelligence (New York: Bantam).
Holt, J. 1964, How Children Fail (New York: Pitman).
Karpin, D. S. 1995, Enterprising Nation: Report of the Industry Task Force on Leadership and Management Skills (Canberra:
Australian Government Publishing Service).
Latham, G. P. and L. P. Saari 1979, ‘Application of social learning theory to training supervisors through behavioral
modeling’, Journal of Applied Psychology, 64, pp. 239–46.
McManus, J. and D. White 2008, ‘A governance perspective’, Journal of Management Services, 52(3), pp. 14–20.
Macquarie Dictionary, The 1991 (ed. A. Delbridge et al.), 2nd ed. (Sydney: Macquarie Library).
Management Matters in Australia Study Fact Sheet 2011 (Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research).
Mant, A. 1993, Leaders We Deserve (Carlton, Vic: Australian Commission for the Future).
Maturana, H. and F. Varela 1987, The Tree of Knowledge: The Biological Roots of Human Understanding (Boston: Shambhala
Publications Inc.).
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Mobley, W. H. and P. W. Dorfman (eds) 2003, Advances in Global Leadership, vol. 3 (Oxford, UK: Elsevier Science Ltd).
Moses, J. L. and R. J. Ritchie 1976, ‘Supervisory relationships training: A behavioral evaluation of a behavioral modeling
program’, Personnel Psychology, 29, pp. 337–43.
Porras, J. I. and B. Anderson 1981, ‘Improving managerial effectiveness through modeling-based training’, Organizational
Dynamics, 9, pp. 60–77.
Rafter, M. 2010, ‘The yawning of a new era’, Workforce Management Archives, 8 December, pp. 1–30.
Rath, T. and J. Harter 2010, Well-being: The Five Essential Elements (New York: Gallup Press).
Revans, R. W. 1982, The Origins and Growth of Action Learning (Bromley, UK: Chartwell-Bratt).
Rose, S. D., J. J. Crayner and J. L. Edleson 1977, ‘Measuring interpersonal competence’, Social Work, 22, pp. 125–9.
Singleton, W. T., P. Spurgeon and R. B. Stammers 1980, The Analysis of Social Skill (New York: Plenum).
Smith, P. E. 1976, ‘Management modeling training to improve morale and customer satisfaction’, Personnel Psychology,
29, pp. 351–9.
Staw, B. M., L. Sandelands and J. Dutton 1981, ‘Threat-rigidity effects in organizational behavior: A multi-level analysis’,
Administrative Science Quarterly, 26, pp. 501–24.
Sutton, R. 2010, Good Boss, Bad Boss: How to Be the Best ... and Learn from the Worst (New York: Business Plus).
Tingwell, D. 2011, ‘Hidden hunters’, in CareerOne.com.au’s annual report (Adelaide: News Corporation).
Tusing, P. 2011, ‘The perception, opinion and behaviour of executives and high-income earners in Australia’, The
Executive Monitor.
Van der Heijden, K. 1997, Scenarios: The Art of Strategic Conversation (Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons).
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Skill assessment
Evaluative surveys for establishing management skills
Tip: These surveys at the beginning of each chapter in the book are designed to maximise your
learning and the development of your management skills. Some of the questions are probing and
personal. Thoughtful, accurate and honest answers will increase your learning and development.
Rating scale
1 Almost never
2 Rarely
3 Sometimes
4 Mostly
5 Almost always
Scoring keys for each of these surveys are found at the end of the chapter, beginning on page 43.
In relation to the ethics survey, you may also wish to access the Implicit Association Test (IAT)
developed by Tony Greenwald, Professor of Psychology, University of Washington, at <www.buster.
cs.yale.edu/implicit> or <www. tolerance.org/hidden_bias/index.html>.
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ASSESSMENT
Step 2: Use copies of the associates’ version of this instrument. An alternative version has been
provided on page 44 that uses ‘he or she’ instead of ‘I’ in the questions. Give copies to at least three
people who know you well or who have observed you in a managerial situation. They should complete
the instrument by rating your behaviour. Bring the completed surveys back to class and compare your
own ratings to your associates’ ratings, your associates’ ratings to the ratings received by others in the
class, and the ratings you received to those of a national norm group.
Subsections of this instrument appear in each chapter throughout the book.
Rating scale
1 Strongly disagree
2 Disagree
3 Slightly disagree
4 Slightly agree
5 Agree
6 Strongly agree
When faced with a complex or difficult problem that does not have a straightforward solution:
______ 15. I try to be flexible in the way I approach the problem; I do not just rely on conventional
wisdom or past practice.
______ 16. I try to unfreeze my thinking by asking lots of questions about the nature of the
problem.
______ 17. I frequently use metaphors or analogies to help me analyse the problem and discover
what else it is like.
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______ 18. I strive to look at problems from different perspectives so as to generate multiple
definitions.
______ 19. I do not evaluate the merits of each alternative solution to the problem until I have
generated many alternatives.
When trying to foster more creativity and innovation among those with whom I work:
______ 20. I make sure there are divergent points of view represented in every problem-solving
group.
______ 21. I try to acquire information from customers regarding their preferences and
expectations.
______ 22. I provide recognition not only to those who are idea champions but also to those who
support others’ ideas and who provide resources to implement them.
______ 23. I encourage informed rule breaking in pursuit of creative solutions.
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Mon père avait peut-être tort, et il faut des règles nouvelles pour
des êtres nouveaux. Peut-être y avait-il en moi une profonde et
native perversité qui causa la série des malheurs que je vais dire.
Peut-être ce qui arriva était-il écrit à l’avance et n’ai-je été que
l’acteur d’une pièce déjà jouée dans l’esprit d’un Dieu ?
Le point de départ de tout fut le costume de la princesse
Sekartaji. Quelle est cette princesse, quand a-t-elle vécu ? Il
n’importe. Je crois même que ce ne fut qu’une favorite et que si le
roi Ami Louhour la fit assassiner, il avait de bonnes raisons pour
cela. Mais cette Sekartaji avait porté, sans doute dans quelque fête
ou quelque cérémonie des temps anciens, un costume dont des
peintures, célèbres à Java, avaient immortalisé le souvenir.
— Je veux que vous me voyiez aujourd’hui dans le costume de la
princesse Sekartaji ! me dit Eva après le déjeuner.
C’était le lendemain du jour où j’avais essayé de parler à M.
Varoga de mon amour pour sa fille et de mon intention de la lui
demander en mariage.
Pressé de regagner sa chambre, il m’avait répondu évasivement
et en riant. Il m’avait tapé sur l’épaule et il m’avait dit :
— Je parie que c’est ce dont vous vouliez me parler l’autre nuit.
Demain, il sera grand temps pour traiter ce sujet. Je termine en ce
moment mon projet du grand canal.
Et il se frotta les mains avec la satisfaction d’un homme qui va se
livrer à un travail écrasant mais agréable.
Il avait gravi l’escalier avec légèreté, me laissant confondu
d’étonnement du peu de sérieux que certaines familles accordent
aux choses de l’amour, pourtant si graves.
Donc, je m’étais assis sous la vérandah, essayant de mâcher par
distraction l’affreux siri de Java, quand une servante vint me prévenir
qu’Eva avait revêtu le costume de la princesse Sekartaji et
m’attendait dans sa chambre pour me le montrer.
Je gravis l’escalier, je longeai la galerie et je frappai à la porte
d’Eva.
— Entrez, entrez donc, puisque je vous attends, me cria une voix
joyeuse.
Les mousselines de gaze dorée de la fenêtre étaient tirées et un
crépuscule secret baignait la chambre. Je ne distinguai rien d’abord,
puis un petit rire m’avertit qu’Eva était allongée dans l’angle de droite
sur des tapis de l’Inde, au milieu de coussins épais.
Je la considérai, béant de surprise, d’émotion et d’admiration.
La princesse Sekartaji devait vivre dans des temps où le
sentiment de la pudeur n’était pas encore développé. Peut-être le roi
Ami Louhour ne la fit-il mettre à mort que parce qu’elle donnait un
mauvais exemple à son peuple par l’étonnante légèreté de son
costume.
Eva était devant moi, à peu près nue jusqu’à la ceinture. Une
résille de fine soie pourpre recouvrait seulement ses seins. Ses
cheveux étaient entièrement rejetés en arrière et retenus par un
peigne d’or massif dont le poids semblait l’obliger à tenir sa tête très
haute, ce qui donnait à son profil une autorité inaccoutumée.
Un chelama-chindi azuré de Java s’enroulait autour de ses
hanches, mais il était si souple et si transparent qu’il ne faisait que
rendre plus vivante la ligne du corps. Les jambes étaient nues
comme le torse avec des anneaux en forme de serpent qui firent
quand elle marcha une imperceptible musique métallique.
Eva avait peint ses dents avec des lamelles d’or, selon un
procédé usité encore par certaines bayadères de l’île Madura. Des
sumpings étaient accrochés à ses oreilles. Elle avait frotté ses
épaules, ses seins et ses bras avec une odorante poudre bleuâtre
qui donnait à sa chair une couleur extra-terrestre. Elle était
enveloppée par les spirales que dégageait un brûle-parfum où il y
avait une huile aromatique chauffée. Quelque chose de surnaturel,
plus voluptueux que les odeurs, plus secret que la lumière d’or
tamisée, s’échappait de ce corps précieux.
— Le costume est rigoureusement exact, dit Eva sans ironie.
C’est Djath qui l’a dessiné et reconstitué.
Alors, une ivresse s’empara de moi. J’aurais voulu presser cette
forme délicate entre mes bras, respirer l’haleine de ses dents
peintes, arracher le lourd peigne de la chevelure tressée sur le cou
étroit et bleu.
Je tendis les bras, mais elle m’échappa.
— Vous voyez, j’ai même les noix d’arèque, dit-elle, faisant
allusion à un événement inconnu de la vie lointaine de la princesse
Sekartaji.
Elle tenait des noix dans la main. Sans doute aurais-je dû les
prendre pour obéir à un rite que j’ignorais. Et comme je ne le faisais
pas, elle se mit à rire et me les lança à la figure.
Je la poursuivis dans la chambre. Il me sembla que j’étais un
chasseur qui voulait saisir un papillon. Elle tournait autour de moi
avec un rire qui était devenu bizarre et son parfum, un parfum de
chair mêlé à des essences végétales subtiles, me grisait.
Et c’est alors qu’au fond de moi la terrible pensée naquit, obscure
d’abord, mais montant, se précisant parmi les vases ténébreuses de
l’instinct.
Non, je n’étais pas le chasseur éternel que j’avais toujours été.
J’étais une bête fauve en quête d’une proie. J’étais le tigre de la forêt
de Mérapi, le tigre lui-même et je sentais ma mâchoire s’allonger
démesurément et des longueurs de griffe au bord de mes doigts.
J’étais devenu, dans la chambre parfumée d’huile aromatique, le
tigre qui ne songe qu’à assouvir sa fureur de broyer de la chair.
Peut-être s’échappait-il de moi comme de la bête que j’avais
rencontrée, une insupportable odeur de charnier, car Eva s’élança
soudain vers la porte et l’ouvrit. Il me sembla qu’elle ne riait plus et
elle dit :