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Chapter 7: Implementing Strategies: Management and Operations Issues

CHAPTER 7

IMPLEMENTING STRATEGIES: MANAGEMENT AND


OPERATIONS ISSUES

CHAPTER OUTLINE

 The Nature of Strategy Implementation


 Annual Objectives
 Policies
 Resource Allocation
 Managing Conflict
 Matching Structure with Strategy
 Restructuring, Reengineering, and E-Engineering
 Linking Performance and Pay to Strategies
 Managing Resistance to Change
 Creating a Strategy-Supportive Culture
 Production/Operations Concerns When Implementing Strategies
 Human Resource Concerns When Implementing Strategies

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

After studying this chapter, you should be able to do the following:

1. Explain why strategy implementation is more difficult than strategy formulation.


2. Discuss the importance of annual objectives and policies in achieving organizational
commitment for strategies to be implemented.
3. Explain why organizational structure is so important in strategy implementation.
4. Compare and contrast restructuring and reengineering.
5. Describe the relationships between production/operations and strategy implementation.
6. Explain how a firm can effectively link performance and pay to strategies.
7. Discuss employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) as a strategic-management concept.
8. Describe how to modify an organizational culture to support new strategies.
9. Discuss the culture in Mexico and Japan.
10. Describe the glass ceiling in the United States.

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Chapter 7: Implementing Strategies: Management and Operations Issues
CHAPTER OVERVIEW

The strategic-management process does not end when the firm decides which strategy or
strategies to pursue. There must be a translation of strategic thought into strategic action. This
translation is much easier if managers and employees of the firm understand the business, feel a
part of the company, and, through involvement in strategy-formulation activities, have become
committed to helping the organization succeed. Without understanding and commitment,
strategy-implementation efforts face major problems. This chapter focuses on management
issues most central to implementing strategies in 2010-2011.

Doing Great in a Weak Economy – Google


When most firms were struggling in 2008, Google increased its revenues and profits such that
Fortune magazine in 2009 rated Google as its fourth “Most Admired Company in the World” in
terms of its management and performance. In 2009, Google began selling books online. This
related diversification strategy led Google to digitize close to 10 million books by year’s end.
Google’s philosophy is that “low prices are good, but free is better.” In a direct assault on
Microsoft, Google is preparing to launch its own operating system for computers, Google
Chrome. The Google strategy is a huge bet that online programs can eventually overtake and
crush desktop software.

EXTENDED CHAPTER OUTLINE WITH TEACHING TIPS

I. THE NATURE OF STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION

A. The Strategy-Implementation Stage of Strategic Management

1. The strategy-implementation stage of strategic management is revealed in Figure 7-1.

2. Successful strategy formulation does not guarantee successful strategy


implementation. It is always more difficult to do something (strategy implementation)
than to say you are going to do it (strategy formulation).

B. Management Perspectives

1. In all but the smallest organizations, the transition from strategy formulation to
strategy implementation requires a shift in responsibility from strategists to divisional
and functional managers.

2. Management issues central to strategy implementation include establishing annual


objectives, devising policies, allocating resources, altering an existing organizational
structure, restructuring and reengineering, revising reward and incentive plans,
minimizing resistance to change, matching managers with strategy, developing a

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Chapter 7: Implementing Strategies: Management and Operations Issues
strategy-supportive culture, adapting production/operations processes, developing an
effective human resource function, and, if necessary, downsizing.

3. Managers and employees throughout an organization should participate early and


directly in strategy-implementation decisions.

Teaching Tip: The Center for Strategic Management (http://www.csmweb.com/) is an organization


that provides strategic-management training, seminars, and facilitation services. This site also
provides links to other strategy-implementation related sites.

VTN (Visit the Net): www.csuchico.edu/mgmt/strategy/module1/sld044.htm gives a good definition of


strategy implementation.

II. ANNUAL OBJECTIVES

A. Establishing Annual Objectives

1. Establishing annual objectives is a decentralized activity that directly involves all


managers in an organization.

2. Annual objectives are essential for strategy implementation because they:

a. Represent the basis for allocating resources.


b. Are a primary mechanism for evaluating managers.
c. Are the major instrument for monitoring progress towards achieving long-term
objectives.
d. Establish organizational, divisional, and departmental priorities.

3. Clearly stated and communicated objectives are critical to success in all types and
sizes of firms. Figure 7-2 illustrates how the Statmus Company could establish annual
objectives based on long-term objectives. Table 7-1 reveals associated revenue figures
that correspond to the objectives in Figure 7-2.

a. Objectives should be consistent across hierarchical levels and form a network of


supportive aims. Horizontal consistency of objectives is as important as vertical
consistency of objectives.

b. Annual objectives should be measurable, consistent, reasonable, challenging,


clear, communicated throughout the organization, characterized by an appropriate
time dimension, and accompanied by commensurate rewards and sanctions.

c. Too often, objectives are stated in generalities, with little operational usefulness.

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4. Annual objectives should be compatible with employees’ and managers’ values and
should be supported by clearly stated policies.

III. POLICIES

A. Changes in a firm’s strategic direction do not occur automatically. On a day-to-day basis,


policies are needed to make a strategy work.

B. Broadly defined, policy refers to specific guidelines, methods, procedures, rules, forms,
and administrative practices established to support and encourage work toward stated
goals.

C. Policies let both employees and managers know what is expected of them, thereby
increasing the likelihood that strategies will be implemented successfully.

D. Examples of policies that support a company strategy, a divisional objective, and a


departmental objective are given in Table 7-3.

E. Some example issues that may require a management policy are provided in Table 7-4.

IV. RESOURCE ALLOCATION

A. Resource allocation is a central management activity that allows for strategy execution.

1. In organizations that do not use a strategic-management approach to decision making,


resource allocation is often based on political or personal factors.

2. Strategic management enables resources to be allocated according to priorities


established by annual objectives.

B. All organizations have at least four types of resources that can be used to achieve desired
objectives:

1. Financial resources
2. Physical resources
3. Human resources
4. Technological resources

V. MANAGING CONFLICT

A. Resource-Specific Conflict

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1. Interdependency of objectives and competition for limited resources often leads to
conflict.

2. Conflict can be defined as a disagreement between two or more parties on one or more
issues.

3. Establishing objectives can lead to conflict because managers and strategists must
make trade-offs. Table 7-5 reveals some important management trade-off decisions
required in strategy implementation.

4. Conflict is unavoidable in organizations, and is not always bad. An absence of


conflict can signal indifference and apathy.

B. Approaches for Managing and Resolving Conflict

Various approaches for managing and resolving conflict can be classified into three
categories: avoidance, defusion, and confrontation.

1. Avoidance includes such actions as ignoring the problem in hopes that the conflict will
resolve itself or physically separating the conflicting individuals (or groups).

2. Defusion can include playing down differences between conflicting parties while
accentuating similarities and common interests, compromising so that there is neither
a clear winner nor loser, resorting to majority rule, appealing to a higher authority, or
redesigning present positions.

3. Confrontation is exemplified by exchanging members of conflicting parties so that


each can gain an appreciation of the other’s point of view, or holding a meeting at
which conflicting parties present their views and work through their differences.

Teaching Tip: In the United States, there are a number of nonprofit organizations that are dedicated to
helping businesses, communities, families, schools, and any other conflicting parties resolve their
disputes in a fair, sensible manner.

Teaching Tip: Unfortunately, workplace conflict spills over into workplace violence on occasion. As
a result, it is important that managers be familiar with how to deal with workplace violence if it
occurs. The U.S. Department of Labor provides several resources for managing situations involving
workplace violence, see http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/workplaceviolence/. The Division of Human
Resources at the University of California-Davis has an excellent online brochure on dealing with
workplace violence. It is available at http://www.hr.ucdavis.edu/Elr/Er/Violence/Brochure.

VI. MATCHING STRATEGY WITH STRUCTURE

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A. Changes in Strategy Often Require Changes in Structure

1. Changes in strategy often require changes in the way an organization is structured for
two major reasons.

a. First, structure largely dictates how objectives and policies will be established.
For example, objectives and policies established under a geographic
organizational structure are couched in geographic terms. Objectives and policies
are stated largely in terms of products in an organization whose structure is based
on product groups. The structural formula for developing objectives and policies
can significantly impact all other strategy-implementation issues.

b. The second major reason why changes in strategy often require changes in
structure is that structure dictates how resources will be allocated.

2. Changes in strategy lead to changes in organizational structure. Structure should be


designed to facilitate the strategic pursuit of a firm and, therefore, follow strategy.
Figure 7-3 illustrates a structure sequence repeated as organizations grow and change
over time.

3. There is not just one optimal organizational design or structure for a given strategy or
type of organization.

4. As illustrated in Table 7-6, symptoms of an ineffective organizational structure include


too many levels of management, too many meetings attended by too many people, too
much attention being directed toward solving interdepartmental conflicts, too large a
span of control, and too many unachieved objectives.

VTN (Visit the Net): www.smartdraw.com offers software for drawing organizational charts. It offers
a free thirty-day trial.

B. The Functional Structure

1. The most widely used structure is the functional or centralized type because this
structure is the simplest and least expensive of the seven alternatives.

2. A functional structure groups tasks and activities by business function such as


product/operations, marketing, finance/accounting, R&D, and computer information
systems.

a. Advantages: Besides being simple and inexpensive, a functional structure also


promotes specialization of labor, encourages efficiency, minimizes the need for an
elaborate control system, and allows rapid decision-making.

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b. Disadvantages: Some disadvantages of a functional structure are that it forces


accountability to the top, minimizes career development opportunities, and is
sometimes characterized by low employee morale. Line/staff conflicts, poor
delegation of authority, and inadequate planning for products and markets are
other potential disadvantages.

3. Most large companies have abandoned the functional structure in favor of


decentralization and improved accountability. Table 7-7 summarizes the advantages
and disadvantages of a functional organizational structure.

C. The Divisional Structure

1. The divisional or decentralized structure is the second most common type used by
U.S. businesses.

2. The divisional structure can be organized in one of four ways: by geographic area, by
product or service, by customer, or by process. With a divisional structure, functional
activities are performed both centrally and in each separate division.

a. Advantages: A divisional structure has some clear advantages. First, and perhaps
foremost, accountability is clear. Other advantages of the divisional structure are
that it creates career development opportunities for managers, allows local control
of local situations, leads to a competitive climate within an organization, and
allows new businesses and products to be added easily.

b. Disadvantages: Perhaps the most important limitation is that a divisional structure


is costly.

c. Table 7-8 summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of divisional


organizational structure.

3. A divisional structure by geographic area is appropriate for organizations whose


strategies need to be tailored to fit the particular needs and characteristics of customers
in different geographic areas.

4. A division structure by product is most effective for implementing strategies when


specific products or services need special emphasis.

5. A divisional structure by customer can be the most effective way to implement


strategies when a few major customers are of paramount importance and many
different services are provided to these customers.

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6. A division structure by process is similar to a functional structure, because activities
are organized according to the way work is actually performed. A key difference is
that functional departments are not accountable for profits or revenues, whereas
divisional process departments are evaluated on these criteria.

D. The Strategic Business Unit (SBU) Structure

1. The SBU structure groups similar divisions into strategic business units and delegates
authority and responsibility for each unit to a senior executive who reports directly to
the CEO.

2. Advantages: This change in structure can facilitate strategy implementation by


improving coordination between similar divisions and channeling accountability to
distinct business units. Another advantage of the SBU structure is that it makes the
tasks of planning and control by the corporate office more manageable.

3. Disadvantages: Two disadvantages of an SBU structure are that it requires an


additional layer of management, which increases salary expenses. Also, the role of the
group vice president is often ambiguous.

4. Figure 7-4 illustrates the SBU Structure used by Sonoco Products Corporation.

E. The Matrix Structure

1. It is the most complex of all designs because it depends upon both vertical and
horizontal flows of authority and communication.

2. It can result in higher overhead because it creates more managerial positions.

3. It also creates dual lines of budget authority, dual sources of reward and punishment,
shared authority, and dual reporting channels.

4. As indicated in Table 7-9, some advantages of a matrix structure are that project
objectives are clear, there are many channels of communication, workers can see
visible results of work, and projects can be shut down easily. This structure also
facilitates the use of specialized personnel, equipment, and facilities.

5. Figure 7-5 illustrates a typical matrix structure.

6. For a matrix structure to be effective, organizations need participative planning,


training, clear mutual understanding of roles and responsibilities, excellent internal
communication, and mutual trust and confidence.

F. Some Do’s and Don’ts in Developing Organizational Charts

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1. Reserve the title of CEO for the top person in the organization and use the term
President for division top managers, if there are divisions in the firm.

2. Functional business executives should have titles like Chief, Vice President, Manager,
or Officer.

3. It is best to have a COO reporting to the CEO and all divisional presidents will report
to the COO.

4. Figure 7-6 illustrates an organizational chart for top managers of a large firm.

VII. RESTRUCTURING, REENGINEERING, AND E-ENGINEERING

A. Reshaping Corporate Landscape

1. Restructuring, also called downsizing, rightsizing, or delayering, involves reducing the


size of the firm in terms of number of employees, divisions or units, and hierarchical
levels in the firm’s organizational structure.

a. Recessionary economic conditions have forced many European companies to


downsize, laying off managers and employees. Job security in European
companies is slowly moving toward a U.S. scenario, in which firms lay off almost
at will.

2. Reengineering is concerned more with employee and customer well-being than with
shareholder well-being.

a. Reengineering, also called process management, process innovation, or process


redesign, involves reconfiguring or redesigning work, jobs, and processes for the
purpose of improving cost, quality, service, and speed.

3. Reengineering is characterized by many tactical decisions, whereas restructuring is


characterized by strategic decisions.

B. Restructuring

1. Firms often employ restructuring when various ratios appear out of line with
competitors, as determined through benchmarking exercises.

2. The primary benefit sought from restructuring is cost reduction. The downside of
restructuring can be reduced employee commitment, creativity, and innovation that
accompanies the uncertainty and trauma associated with pending and actual employee
layoffs.

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Chapter 7: Implementing Strategies: Management and Operations Issues

3. Another downside of restructuring is that many people today do not aspire to become
managers, and many present-day managers are trying to get off the management track.

C. Reengineering

1. In reengineering, a firm uses information technology to break down functional barriers


and create a work system based on business processes, products, or outputs rather than
on functions or inputs.

2. A benefit of reengineering is that it offers employees the opportunity to see more


clearly how their particular jobs affect the final product or service being marketed by
the firm.

VIII. LINKING PERFORMANCE AND PAY TO STRATEGIES

A. Pay-for-Performance

1. How can an organization’s reward system be more closely linked to strategic


performance?

a. One aspect of the deepening global recession is that companies are instituting
policies to allow their shareholders to vote on executive compensation policies.
b. These new policies underscore how the financial crisis and shareholder outrage
about top executive pay has affected compensation practice.
2. Profit sharing is another widely used form of incentive compensation.

3. Gain sharing requires employees or departments to establish performance targets; if


actual results exceed objectives, all members get bonuses.

4. Criteria such as sales, profit, production efficiency, quality, and safety could also serve
as bases for an effective bonus system.

B. Five tests are often used to determine whether a performance-pay plan will benefit an
organization:

1. Does the plan capture attention?


2. Do employees understand the plan?
3. Is the plan improving communication?
4. Does the plan pay out when it should?
5. Is the company or unit performing better?

C. In addition to a dual bonus system, a combination of reward strategy incentives, such as


salary raises, stock options, fringe benefits, promotions, praise, recognition, criticism, fear,

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Chapter 7: Implementing Strategies: Management and Operations Issues
increased job autonomy, and awards, can be used to encourage managers and employees
to push hard for successful strategic implementation.

D. There is rising public resentment over executive pay, and there are government restrictions
on compensation. Executive pay declined slightly in 2008 and is expected to decrease
somewhat substantially in 2009 as pressure for shareholders and government subsidy
constraints lower payouts.

IX. MANAGING RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

A. Resistance to Change

1. Resistance to change can be considered the single greatest threat to successful strategy
implementation.

2. It may take on such forms as sabotaging production machines, absenteeism, filing


unfounded grievances, and an unwillingness to cooperate.

3. Resistance to change can emerge at any stage or level of the strategy-implementation


process.

4. There are three commonly used strategies for implementing change:

a. Force change strategy – involves giving orders and enforcing those orders.
b. Educative change strategy – presents information to people
c. Rational or Self-interest change strategy – attempts to convince individuals that
the change is to their personal advantage.

5. Organizational change should be viewed today as a continuous process rather than as a


project or event.

Teaching Tip: The Journal of Organizational Change Management is an excellent resource to obtain
material on change for classroom discussion. The journal explores all aspects of organizational change
and resistance to change in a comprehensive and interesting manner.

Teaching Tip: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_06.htm explains how to use a Force


Field Analysis to approach change.

X. CREATING A STRATEGY-SUPPORTIVE CULTURE

A. Strategists should strive to preserve, emphasize, and build on aspects of an existing culture
that support proposed new strategies.

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Chapter 7: Implementing Strategies: Management and Operations Issues
B. As indicated in Table 7-10, numerous techniques are available to alter an organization’s
culture, including recruitment, training, transfer, promotion, restructure of an
organization’s design, role modeling, positive reinforcement, and mentoring.

VTN (Visit the Net): http://www.managementhelp.org/org_thry/culture/culture.htm provides an


overview on culture and links to other culture sites.

XI. PRODUCTION/OPERATIONS CONCERNS WHEN IMPLEMENTING


STRATEGIES

A. Production/operations capabilities, limitations, and policies can significantly enhance or


inhibit attainment of objectives. Production processes typically constitute more than 70
percent of a firm’s total assets.

B. Examples of adjustments in production systems that could be required to implement


various strategies are provided in Table 7-11 for both for-profit and nonprofit
organizations.

C. Just-in-time (JIT) production approaches have withstood the test of time. With JIT, parts
and materials are delivered to a production site just as they are needed, rather than being
stockpiled as a hedge against later deliveries.

D. A common management practice, cross-training of employees, can facilitate strategy


implementation and can yield many benefits.

XII. HUMAN RESOURCE CONCERNS WHEN IMPLEMENTING STRATEGIES

A. Resource Concerns

1. More and more companies are instituting furloughs, or temporary layoffs, to cut costs
as an alternative to laying off employees. Table 7-12 lists ways that companies today
are reducing labor costs to stay financially sound.

2. Strategic responsibilities of the human resource manager include assessing the staffing
needs and costs for alternative strategies proposed during strategy formulation and
developing a staffing plan for effectively implementing strategies.

3. The human resource department must develop performance incentives that clearly link
performance and pay to strategies.

4. Human Resource problems that arise when businesses implement strategies can
usually be traced to one of three causes:

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Chapter 7: Implementing Strategies: Management and Operations Issues

a. Disruption of social and political structures.


b. Failure to match individuals’ aptitudes with implementation tasks.
c. Inadequate top management support for implementation activities.

5. Perhaps the best method for preventing and overcoming human resource problems in
strategic management is to actively involve as many managers and employees as
possible in the process.

B. Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs)

1. An ESOP is a tax-qualified, defined-contribution, employee benefit plan whereby


employees purchase stock of the company through borrowed money or cash
contributions.

2. ESOPs empower employees and reduce worker alienation, stimulate productivity, and
allow substantial tax savings for the firm.

3. Table 7-13 lists 15 example ESOP firms.

C. Balancing Work Life and Home Life

1. Work/family strategies have become so popular among companies that the strategies
now represent a competitive advantage for those firms that offer such benefits.

2. Table 7-14 lists a few excellent workplaces for women.

3. Table 7-15 gives the 13 Fortune 500 Women CEOs in 2009.

4. There is great room for improvement in removing the glass ceiling domestically,
especially considering that women make up 47 percent of the U.S. labor force.

D. Benefits of a Diverse Workforce

1. An organization can perhaps be most effective when its workforce mirrors the
diversity of its customers. For global companies, this goal can be optimistic, but it is a
worthwhile goal.

E. Corporate Wellness Programs

1. Wellness of employees has become a strategic issue for many firms. Many firms are
implementing wellness programs, requiring employees to get healthier or pay higher
insurance premiums.

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Chapter 7: Implementing Strategies: Management and Operations Issues
2. Slightly more than 60 percent of companies with 10,000 or more employees had a
wellness program in 2008, up from 47 percent in 2005. In the weak economy of late,
companies are cutting back on their wellness programs.

3. Wellness programs provide counseling to employees and seek lifestyle changes to


achieve healthier living.

4. Seven key lifestyle habits listed in Table 7-16 may significantly improve health and
longevity.

Teaching Tip: Visit the text’s website at www.prenhall.com/david for this chapter’s Web exercises.

ISSUES FOR REVIEW AND DISCUSSION

1. List the five labor cost-saving activities that you believe would be most effective for (1) Best
Buy, (2) your university, and (3) the U.S. Postal Service. Give a rationale for each company

Answer: Examples offered by students will vary, but will include many of the labor cost-saving
tactics presented in Table 7-12. These include salary freeze, hiring freeze, salary reductions,
reductions in employee benefits, increasing employee contribution to health care premiums,
reducing 40-K match, reducing employee workweek, mandatory furlough, voluntary furlough,
hiring temporary or contractual employees instead of fulltime employees, volunteer buyouts,
reduced production, layoffs, early retirement, and reducing or eliminating bonuses.

2. Define and give an example of furloughs as they could apply to your business school.

Answer: Furloughs are temporary layoffs that more and more companies are instituting to cut
costs as an alternative to laying off employees. Many colleges and universities have implemented
furloughs as a result of the economic recession. An example in a business school would be
mandatory furlough days that would require all faculty and staff within the business school to take
unpaid leave. Such a move would only be effective if it included all employees, not just those
within the business school.

3. The chapter says strategy formulation focuses on effectiveness, whereas strategy


implementation focuses on efficiency. Which is more important, effectiveness, or efficiency?
Give an example of each concept.

Answer: Student opinions on the importance of effectiveness and efficiency will vary and
certainly both are important for successful strategic planning. Effectiveness is associated more
with strategy formulation, i.e. doing the right things which means having an excellent game plan
or strategic plan. Efficiency is associated more with strategy implementation. Efficiency means
finding the best means to accomplish something. Because strategy implementation is usually
more difficult to accomplish than formulation, some students may feel that efficiency is more

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Chapter 7: Implementing Strategies: Management and Operations Issues
important. Recall that Vince Lombardi once said “the best game plan in the world never tackled
or blocked anybody.” However, the author actually feels that effectiveness may well be more
important than efficiency because it is essential to be on the right track, or digging in the right
spot. Otherwise even the hardest working employees likely would be unsuccessful. Formulation
(effectiveness) decisions such as to acquire a firm equal in size to your firm can make or break the
firm.

4. In stating objectives, why should terms such as increase, minimize, maximize, as soon as
possible, adequate, and decrease be avoided?

Answer: Terms such as increase, minimize, maximize, as soon as possible, adequate, and decrease
should be avoided when setting objectives because they too general, are unclear, lack specificity,
and are not measureable. Instead, objectives should state quantity, quality, cost, time, and should
be verifiable.

5. What are four types of resources that all organizations have? List them in order of
importance for your university or business school.

Answer: The four types of resources that all organizations have include financial, physical,
human, and technological resources. Rankings will vary by student and also depend on qualities
of the university or business school.

6. Considering avoidance, defusion, confrontation, which method of conflict resolution do you


prefer most? Why? Which do you prefer least? Why?

Answer: Preferences will vary based on the levels of conflict that students are comfortable with.
The lowest level of conflict involves avoidance, or ignoring the problem. Defusion can include
playing down differences between conflicting parties. The highest level of conflict is
confrontation, which involves presenting the viewpoints of all conflicting parties to resolve the
issue.

7. Explain why Chandler’s strategy-structure relationship commonly exists among firms.

Answer: In Chandler’s strategy-structure relationship, organizations tend to follow a cycle. Once


a new strategy is formulated, new administrative problems emerge and organizational
performance declines. A new organizational structure is established as a result, and organizational
performance improves. Eventually, the cycle repeats itself. This relationship commonly exists
among firms because by nature, structure is designed to facilitate the strategic pursuit of a firm,
and therefore, follow strategy.

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8. If you owned and opened three restaurants after you graduated, would you operate from a
functional or divisional structure? Why?

Answer: A functional structure groups tasks and activities by business function, whereas a
divisional structure is grouped by geographic area, product/service, customer, or process.
Responses will vary among students and characteristics of the restaurant such as size, scope, and
type may play a factor. Responses should take into consideration some of the advantages and
disadvantages of both structures presented in Table 7-7 and Table 7-8.

9. Explain how to choose between a divisional-by-product and a divisional-by-region


organizational structure.

Answer: A divisional structure by product is most effective for implementing strategies when
specific products need special emphasis. This type of structure is also widely used when an
organization offers only a few products or when there are major differences among products. A
divisional-by-region structure is appropriate for organizations whose strategies need to be tailored
to fit the particular needs and characteristics of customers in different geographic areas.

10. Think of a company that would operate best in your opinion in a division-by-services
organizational structure. Explain your reasoning.

Answer: The divisional by services structure is most effective for implementing strategies when
specific services need special emphasis. Also, this type of structure is widely used when an
organization offers only a few services or when an organization’s services differ substantially.

11. What are the two major disadvantages of an SBU-type organizational structure? What are
the two major advantages? At what point in a firm’s growth do you feel the advantages
offset the disadvantages? Explain.

Answer: The two major disadvantages of an SBU-type organizational structure are that it requires
an additional layer of management, which increases salary expenses. Also, the role of the group
vice president is often ambiguous. However, these limitations often do not outweigh the
advantages of improved coordination and accountability. Another advantage is that it makes the
tasks of planning and control by the corporate office more manageable. As the number, size,
diversity, and complexity of divisions in a firm increases, an SBU-type structure becomes more
advantageous.

12. In order of importance in your opinion, list six advantages of a matrix organizational
structure.

Answer: Six advantages of a matrix organizational structure include: (1) objectives are clear, (2)
employees can see results of their work, (3) shutting down a project is easily accomplished, (4)
facilitates the use of personnel, (5) facilitates the use of facilities, and (6) functional resources are
shared instead of duplicated. Rankings of importance will vary among students.

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Chapter 7: Implementing Strategies: Management and Operations Issues

13. Why should division head persons have the title president rather than vice president?

Answer: Because the title of CEO should be reserved for the top executive in the firm, division top
managers should have the “president” title, since they serve as division leaders.

14. Is Six Sigma more a restructuring or reengineering management technique? Why?

Answer: Six Sigma is a quality-boosting process improvement technique that entails training
several key persons in the firm in the techniques to monitor, measure, and improve processes and
eliminate defects. It is a reengineering technique as opposed to a restructuring technique, because
it involves reconfiguring or redesigning work, jobs, and processes for the purpose of improving
cost, quality, service, and speed.

15. Compare and contrast profit sharing with gain sharing as employee performance incentives.

Answer: Profit sharing provides an incentive for employees to help the company succeed
financially, because they get a return on profit. Critics of profit sharing emphasize that too many
factors affect profits for this to be a good criterion. Gain sharing requires employees or
departments to establish performance targets; if actual results exceed objectives, all members get
bonuses.

16. List three resistance to change strategies. Give an example when you would use each
method or approach.

Answer: Three resistance to change strategies include force change strategy, educative change
strategy, and rational or self-interest change strategy.
• Force change strategy involves giving orders and enforcing those orders, such as when a
manager tells a subordinate to perform a task differently.
• Educative change strategy presents information to present people of the need for change.
Examples include posters used to communicate reasoning for implementing a new
company policy.
• Rational or self-interest change strategy attempts to convince individuals that the change is
to their personal advantage. For example, strategies involving employee wellness have
tremendous benefits to all parties involved.

17. In order of importance in your opinion, list six techniques or activities widely used to alter
an organization’s culture.

Answer: Techniques used to alter an organization’s culture include recruitment, training, transfer,
promotion, restructuring, reengineering, role modeling, positive reinforcement, mentoring,
revising vision and/or mission, redesigning physical spaces/facades, altering reward system, and
altering organizational policies/procedures/practices. Ranking of these activities will vary among
students.
160

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Chapter 7: Implementing Strategies: Management and Operations Issues

18. What are the benefits of establishing an ESOP in a company?

Answer: An employee stock ownership plans (ESOP) is a tax-qualified, defined-contribution,


employee-benefit plan whereby employees purchase stock of the company through borrowed
money or cash contributions. ESOPs empower employees to work as owners. Besides reducing
worker alienation and stimulating productivity, ESOPs allow firms other benefits, such as
substantial tax savings.

19. List reasons why it is important for an organization not to have a “glass ceiling”.

Answer: It is important for an organization not to have a “glass ceiling”, because according to
recent studies, companies with more female executives and directors outperform other firms.
Companies with a mix of men and women will outperform competitors that rely on leadership of a
single sex. A mix of thinking styles is key to management effectiveness.

20. Allocating resources can be a political and an ad hoc activity in firms that do not use
strategic management. Why is this true? Does adopting strategic management ensure easy
resource allocation? Why?

Answer: Allocating resources can be ad hoc and political in the absence of strategic management
because no good substitute approach for making major decisions exists. Intuition, subjectivity,
and emotions are not adequate for making resource allocation decisions that have strategic
ramification for an entire organization. Strategic management does not assure easy resource
allocation, but it generally results in more effective resource allocation.

21. Compare strategy formulation with strategy implementation in terms of each being an art
or a science.

Answer: The strategy-formulation process is more of a science, whereas strategy implementation


is more of an art. Strategy implementation involves motivating employees. However, neither
strategy formulation nor strategy implementation is a pure science or art because, for example,
intuition and good subjective judgment are always essential in strategy formulation.

22. Describe the relationship between annual objectives and policies.

Answer: Interrelationships among organizational objectives, strategies, and policies are revealed
in the strategic-management model. Note that long-term objectives and strategies are part of the
strategy-formulation process, whereas annual objectives and policies are part of strategy
implementation. Clear policies facilitate attainment of annual objectives.

23. Identify a long-term objective and two supporting annual objectives for a familiar
organization.

161

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Chapter 7: Implementing Strategies: Management and Operations Issues
Answer: Answers to this question vary for each student. An example might be for a business
school: Schools without AACSB accreditation might seek it as a long-term objective with
increased scholarly output and increased outcome measures (job placement or field test scores) as
supporting annual objectives.

24. Identify and discuss three policies that apply to your present strategic-management class.

Answer: Answers to this question will vary for each class. Policies that may be discussed include
grading policies, attendance policies, and honor code policies.

25. Explain the following statement: Horizontal consistency of goals is as important as vertical
consistency.

Answer: This is a true statement. Horizontal consistency of objectives is as important as vertical


consistency. An example of horizontal consistency could be that “there is no need for the
marketing department to plan on doubling sales if the production department cannot produce the
additional units.”

26. Describe several reasons why conflict may occur during objective-setting activities.

Answer: The objective-setting process can lead to conflict due to competition over scarce
resources, different expectations among individuals, different perceptions among individuals,
miscommunication, time pressure, personality incompatibility, and line and staff
misunderstandings.

27. In your opinion, what approaches to conflict resolution would be best for resolving a
disagreement between a personnel manager and a sales manager over the firing of a
particular salesperson? Why?

Answer: Various approaches for minimizing and resolving conflict can be classified in three ways:
avoidance, defusion, and confrontation. Depending on the situation, any of these three alternative
approaches could justifiably be most effective in solving a dispute between a personnel manager
and sales manager.

28. Describe the organizational culture of your college or university.

Answer: Answers to this question will vary by college or university. Every institution has different
rituals, values, stories, legends, heroes, ceremonies, and the like.

29. Explain why organizational structure is so important in strategy implementation.

162

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Chapter 7: Implementing Strategies: Management and Operations Issues
Answer: Organizational structure is important in strategy implementation because a firm’s design
dictates how resources will be allocated and how objectives will be established. In a
geographically structured organization, for example, objectives are stated in geographic terms and
resources are allocated by region.

30. In your opinion, how many separate divisions could an organization reasonably have
without using an SBU-type organizational structure? Why?

Answer: The answer to this question depends on the size and type of divisions, but, generally
speaking, a firm that has six or more divisions could benefit from an SBU-type of organizational
structure.

31. Would you recommend a divisional structure by geographic area, product, customer, or
process for a medium-sized bank in your local area? Why?

Answer: A divisional structure by geographic area is appropriate for organizations whose


strategies need to fit the particular needs and characteristics of customers in different geographic
areas. A divisional structure by product type design is effective when special emphasis needs to be
placed on specific products or services, when an organization offers only a limited number of
products or services, when the nature of an organization’s product differs substantially, or when
different marketing approaches are required for the organization’s various products. When a few
major customers are of paramount importance and many different services are provided to these
customers, then a divisional structure by customer can be most effective. A divisional structure by
process can be particularly effective when distinct production processes represent the thrust of
competitiveness in an industry. A divisional structure by geographic area is most commonly used
by medium-sized banks.

32. What are the advantages and disadvantages of decentralizing the wage and salary function
of an organization? How could this be accomplished?

Answer: Decentralizing the wage and salary function of an organization could allow a firm’s
reward system to be more closely linked to strategic performance. It also could allow decisions on
salary increases, promotions, merit pay, and bonuses to be more closely aligned to support the
long-term strategic objectives of an organization.

33. Consider a college organization with which you are familiar. How did management issues
affect strategy implementation in that organization?

Answer: Answers to this question will vary for each student.

34. As production manager of a local newspaper, what problems would you anticipate in
implementing a strategy to increase the average number of pages in the paper by 40
percent?

163

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall


Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
ignition systems; Transmission; Tractor arrangement; Lubrication;
Tractor operation; Engine maintenance; Locating trouble; Causes of
trouble. The book is indexed and carefully illustrated.

[2]
WHITMAN, WALT. Gathering of the forces. il
2v *$15 Putnam 814

The books contain the editorials, essays, literary and dramatic


reviews and other material written by Walt Whitman as editor of the
Brooklyn Daily Eagle in 1846 and 1847. The editors of the collection
are Cleveland Rodgers and John Black, the latter contributing a
foreword, inspired by the spirit of Whitman, and the former a sketch
of Whitman’s life and work. The contents fall into seven parts with
classification of the articles as follows: Part 1—Democracy: American
democracy; Europe and America; Government; Patriotism. Part 2—
Humanity: Hanging, prison reform, unfortunates; Education,
children; Labor, female labor; Emigrants; England’s oppression of
Ireland. Part 3—Slavery and the Mexican war: The extension of
slavery; The union of states; War with Mexico; The Oregon boundary
dispute. Part 4—Politics; Political controversies; Two local political
campaigns; Civic interests; Free trade and the currency system. Part
5—Essays, personalities, short editorials; General essays;
Personalities of the time; “The art of health”; Short editorials;
Whitman as a paragrapher. Part 6—Literature, book reviews, drama,
etc. Part 7—Two short stories not included in Whitman’s published
works: The love of Eris; A legend of life and love. The books are
illustrated and indexed.

Reviewed by E. F. Edgett
Boston Transcript p4 D 24 ’20 1550w

“To those who knew him only by his great and minor poems or by
the stories of his vanities and eccentricities, these volumes will be a
revelation. They reveal his soul as it grew; and nothing will be more
surprising than their conventional form, their respect for the current
conventions of morality, and their unforced and clear style.” M. F.
Egan

+ N Y Times p2 Ja 2 ’21 3000w

“It is a human document, a great side-light on Whitman’s poems,


and incidentally, a mine of information on a host of matters of
temporary and local interest.” F: T. Cooper

+ Pub W 99:168 Ja 15 ’21 600w

WHO was who. *$6.50 Macmillan 920

(Eng ed 20–14622)

“This book fills the gap between the standard biographical


dictionaries and the current Who’s who. It contains the notices,
reprinted from former volumes of Who’s who, of those more or less
well-known persons who died between 1897 and 1916, with the dates
of their deaths. It runs to nearly eight hundred pages of small
type.”—Spec
“There is no reason why ‘Who was who’ should not be a democratic
work instead of what it is now. There is even no reason why it should
not be readable. Accidental exclusion must always occur; deliberate
ought never. We commend to the editors the ‘Modern English
biography’ of Frederic Boase, as a model of hard fact, of brevity, and
yet of amplitude. At the same time, we recognize the greatness of
their task and the great usefulness (in the right quarter) of their
volume.”

+ − Ath p79 Jl 16 ’20 280w

Reviewed by Ralph Bergengren

Boston Transcript p4 S 22 ’20 2250w


+ − Sat R 130:40 Jl 10 ’20 370w

“As a work of reference it will be found exceedingly useful, all the


more because many of the persons named will never figure in the
‘Dictionary of national biography’ if, as we hope, that great work
should be continued.”

+ Spec 124:88 Jl 17 ’20 90w

“Apart from its utility as an indispensable book of reference for the


man of affairs, ‘Who was who’ will remain as a permanent store
house of information about the personalities of one of the most
important and critical epochs of British history.”

+ The Times [London] Lit Sup p458 Jl 15


’20 220w
WIDDEMER, MARGARET (MRS ROBERT
HAVEN SCHAUFFLER). Boardwalk. *$1.60
(3½c) Harcourt

20–773

Omitting all the rose-garden atmosphere of her novels, Margaret


Widdemer has written a series of short stories about boys and girls of
high school age. The scene is one of the summer resort towns along
the Atlantic coast during the months of the year when the boardwalk
belongs to the young people who live there the year round. The titles
are: Changeling; Rosabel Paradise; Don Andrews’ girl; Black magic;
The congregation; The fairyland heart; Good times; Oh, Mr
Dreamman; Devil’s hall.

“Clear cut, interesting little sketches into which the same people
step again and again until one knows quite the whole village.”

+ Booklist 16:173 F ’20

“We must admit of them all that they piece together with their
small tragedies and happinesses into what seems a very truthful
representation of an American town. Whether or not these stories
meet with the immediate popularity of ‘The rose garden husband,’ it
must be conceded that Miss Widdemer has done a more difficult
thing and revealed a more mature and a surer art.” D. L. M.

+ Boston Transcript p6 Ja 21 ’20 850w

“It is a sordid, tawdry, unwholesome atmosphere, the sort of


atmosphere that one would shun if the ideas back of the stories and
their psychology, for they are primarily stories of character, were not
really interesting. Is the skill with which it is done a sufficient excuse
for painting dead fish and tinsel?”

− + Ind 102:374 Je 12 ’20 190w

“Her delving into the substrata of inarticulate being is sometimes


faltering, and her presentation of the less obvious springs of human
emotion is not always convincing, but her distinct penchant for
transferring to paper the elusive quality of personality is
undeniable.”

+ − N Y Times 25:145 Mr 28 ’20 650w

“On the whole, it is a strong and searching collection.”

+ Springf’d Republican p11a Mr 7 ’20


420w

WIDDEMER, MARGARET (MRS ROBERT


HAVEN SCHAUFFLER), comp. Haunted hour.
*$1.75 Harcourt 821.08

20–5609

The little volume presents an anthology of ghost-poems and


contains only such poems as treat of the return of spirits to earth.
Even so no attempt has been made at inclusiveness, but the
selections range from the earliest ballads to the present time. With
an opening poem by Nora Hopper Chesson: “The far away country,”
the poems are arranged under the headings: “The nicht atween the
sancts an’ souls”; “All the little sighing souls”; Shadowy heroes;
“Rank on rank of ghostly soldiers”; Sea ghosts; Cheerful spirits;
Haunted places; “You know the old, while I know the new”; “My love
that was so true”; Shapes of doom; Legends and ballads of the dead.
There is an index.

+ Booklist 16:272 My ’20


+ Nation 111:278 S 4 ’20 70w

“A most unusual anthology of real merit and charm.”

+ Springf’d Republican p10 Ap 29 ’20


120w

WIDDEMER, MARGARET (MRS ROBERT


HAVEN SCHAUFFLER). I’ve married Marjorie.
*$1.75 (3c) Harcourt

20–13699

Married in haste, Marjorie Ellison has had ample leisure to repent


while her soldier husband has been away in France. Now on the eve
of his return she is badly upset at the thought of the reunion. When
Francis comes, it is as bad as she had feared. With the best intentions
on both sides, he frightens her, and she hurts him. Hot tempers and
strained nerves almost complete a tragedy of separation. But Francis
is really in love with Marjorie and so he ventures on an experiment
before giving her up entirely. In a delightful spot in the Canadian
woods, his scheme is tried out, a scheme which leads through storm
and stress to final joy and happiness for both.

“This will be liked by young girls and many women, though some
readers will find it light and sentimental.”

+ − Booklist 17:75 N ’20

“Her theme in ‘I’ve married Marjorie’ is cut from the sheerest


gossamer material. Also it possesses all the old essential ingredients
of cuteness, wistful humor and the necessary serious touch that
brings the theme to a sweet conclusion. But there is a sparkling
sanity about it.”

+ N Y Times p27 Ag 22 ’20 550w

“A lively and amusing tale. Not a big book nor a provable story, but
agreeable ‘summer reading.’”

+ Outlook 126:67 S 8 ’20 80w


Wis Lib Bul 16:196 N ’20 70w

WIENER, LEO. Africa and the discovery of


America. 2v ea $5 Innes & sons 970

20–7013
The book is archaeological and etymological, showing how many of
the plants believed to have been indigenous to America, and how
much of the language and customs of the Indians, have an African
origin. Besides a long list of the sources quoted, illustrations, a word
and a subject index, the book contains: The journal of the first
voyage and the first letter of Columbus; The second voyage; Tobacco;
The bread roots.

“It is unfortunate that one so well trained in this field of study


should not have undertaken to present his material in a more logical
and readable manner. He is not always convincing, and is often
dogmatic.” E. L. Stevenson

+ − Am Hist R 26:102 O ’20 550w

“It is not to be expected that a work like this can pass


unchallenged, and the soundest of criticism and the most profound
of scholarship should be invoked before an exact estimate can be
made of its value. But the erudition displayed in this volume is
enough to make us wait with impatience Professor Wiener’s second
volume.” G. H. S.

+ Boston Transcript p8 N 13 ’20 1050w

“Worthless as a scholarly contribution, the book provides the


psychologist with a valuable example of distorted erudition and
methodological incompetence.”

− Dial 69:213 Ag ’20 90w

“His book indicates the widest scholarship.” W. E. B. Du Bois


+ Nation 111:350 S 25 ’20 390w

WIGMORE, JOHN HENRY. Problems of law;


its past, present, and future. *$1.50 Scribner 340

20–26999

“Professor Wigmore discusses the law’s evolution, its mechanism


in America, and its problems as they relate to world legislation and
America’s share therein. These lectures constituted one series of the
Barbour-Page foundation lectures at the University of Virginia.” (N Y
Evening Post) “It is assumed by Dean Wigmore that a new age is at
hand, for which a considerable amount of new legislation will be
required, and in view of this fact he urges that our legislators must be
made experts ‘(1) by reducing their numbers, (2) by giving them
longer terms, (3) by paying them enough to justify it [that is,
apparently, the work of legislation] as a career for men of talent, (4)
by making their sessions continuous.’” (Review)

“Three clarifying lectures for the thoughtful layman.”

+ Booklist 17:96 D ’20

“Dean Wigmore demonstrates anew the wide range of his


intellectual rummaging and the queer quirks of his marvelous mind.
The second lecture on ‘Methods of law making’ is intelligible and
sensible.”

+ − Nation 111:568 N 17 ’20 500w


+ N Y Evening Post p26 O 23 ’20 90w

Reviewed by E: S. Corwin

Review 3:449 N 10 ’20 250w

WILDE, OSCAR FINGALL O’FLAHERTIE


WILLS. Critic in Pall Mall. *$1.50 Putnam 824

(Eng ed A20–616)

A selection from the reviews and miscellaneous writings of Oscar


Wilde made by E. V. Lucas. The papers were contributed to the Irish
Monthly, Pall Mall Gazette, Woman’s World and other journals and
date from 1877 to 1890. At the end under the heading Sententiæ Mr
Lucas has grouped a number of briefer extracts from other reviews.

“The extent to which Wilde was a deliberate poseur is made very


clear by this book, for here there is very little pose. In these reviews,
chiefly from the Pall Mall Gazette, we see Wilde as a critic with
strong common sense, general good taste and with an outlook on life
and literature sufficiently ordinary to be indistinguishable from that
of half-a-hundred other critics of his time and of ours.”

+ − Ath p1258 N 28 ’19 600w

“It has all his delights and all his superficialities and all his faults.”

+ − Dial 69:212 Ag ’20 110w


“There is nothing especially characteristic about the collection
except, perhaps, a lightness of touch that distinguishes its contents
from the ordinary book-review, and while they reveal the delicacy of
Wilde’s taste and the sincerity of his delight in art and letters they
reveal his limitations, also, and the shallowness of his intellectual
draught.”

+ − Freeman 1:430 Jl 14 ’20 250w

“There is certainly no adequate reason why these forgotten


writings of Oscar Wilde should be sought out and set in order, and
sent forth in a seemly little tome of two hundred pages. Their
resurrection does not add anything to his reputation, nor does it
detract anything. It does not enlarge our knowledge of the writer or
cast any new light upon the character of the man.” Brander Matthews

− + N Y Times 25:69 F 8 ’20 3400w

“These modest criticisms impress one collectively as good-natured,


orthodox, and sensible. Its art vibrates between distinction and
mediocrity—which is another way of saying that it is
undistinguished.”

+ − Review 3:152 Ag 18 ’20 330w

“Collections of this kind usually do no honour to their author. But


in this case the result is a contribution to literature; in the first place,
because the selection has been made by Mr E. V. Lucas, and in the
second place, because it illustrates not only Wilde’s gift for perverse
banter, but also his genuine scholarship and his ability to perform
plain, downright work in an honest, craftsmanlike way.”
+ Spec 124:492 Ap 10 ’20 1450w

“These chapters are slight, but they are models of literary criticism
of the less formal and serious type. Apart from style their superiority
over the contemporary causerie lies chiefly, perhaps, in the cultivated
background that they denote in the writer and presuppose in the
reader.”

+ Springf’d Republican p8 Je 10 ’20 800w


The Times [London] Lit Sup p605 O 30
’19 1350w

WILDMAN, EDWIN. Famous leaders of


industry. il *$2 (3c) Page 926

20–3587

This is a book for boys about boys who have gained success,
wealth, honor, and prestige in the business world. It contains more
than twenty-six sketches of successful men, among them: Philip
Danforth Armour—California pioneer and Chicago packing king; P.
T. Barnum—the world’s greatest showman; Alexander Graham Bell—
immortal telephone inventor, and humanitarian; James Buchanan
Duke—American tobacco and cigarette king; Henry Ford—the
Aladdin of the automobile industry; Hudson Maxim—poet,
philosopher, and wizard of high explosives; John Davison
Rockefeller,—oil king and world’s greatest industrial leader; John
Wanamaker—America’s foremost retail merchant and originator of
the department store; Orville and Wilbur Wright—who achieved
immortal fame as airship inventors. A portrait accompanies each
sketch.

+ Booklist 16:317 Je ’20

“In these conventionally laudatory portraits of a group of


American inventors and business men there is no departure from the
old Sunday school type of ‘helpful’ stories for the young except in a
decided journalistic snappiness of style.” E. S.

+ Survey 44:323 My 29 ’20 140w

WILKINSON, MRS MARGUERITE OGDEN


(BIGELOW). Bluestone. *$1.50 Macmillan 811

20–11184

A volume of lyrics. In her preface the author touches on the


relation of lyric poetry to music as she employs it in the composition
of her poems. Contents: Bluestone; Songs from beside swift rivers;
Songs of poverty; Preferences; Love songs; Songs of an empty house;
Songs of laughter and tears; Whims for poets; California poems; The
pageant.

“Songs with a wide appeal because they are mostly ‘themes of the
folk.’ The appreciation of nature and outdoor feeling are keen.”

+ Booklist 17:63 N ’20


“There is an undoubted poetic element in these poems of Mrs
Wilkinson, but it is dew rather than flame. And being excellently
even in craftsmanship, there is no poem that fails to satisfy the
reader’s interest in being what it is.” W: S. Braithwaite

+ Boston Transcript p6 Jl 31 ’20 1050w

“Marguerite Wilkinson has decided moral and metrical spring


without conspicuous originality; though she is deeply touching here
in Songs of an empty house, on the childless state.” M. V. D.

+ − Nation 111:248 Ag 28 ’20 70w

“Mrs Wilkinson undoubtedly possesses a deal of talent; it is


evident throughout her work, cropping out in felicitous stanzas here
and rhythmical lines there, but she allows an occasional triteness to
retard the success of the book as a whole.”

+ − N Y Times p16 N 7 ’20 590w


Spec 125:280 Ag 28 ’20 560w

WILLARD, FLORENCE, and GILLETT,


[2]
LUCY HOLCOMB. Dietetics for high schools. il
*$1.32 Macmillan 613.2

20–12948

“Home economics teachers will be interested to learn that a much


needed textbook of dietetics has recently appeared. The content of
the book is especially significant in view of the experience of both
authors as teachers of the subject and of one of them as worker with
actual problems of malnutrition and of family feeding on low
incomes in the Association for improving the condition of the poor.
The book starts with a comparison of the weights and heights of the
girls in the class with the standards for their ages. Following this is a
study of food values as to fuel, protein, mineral, vitamines, and the
requirements of a good diet. Following the general study of the basis
for planning meals, the authors make an interesting and concrete
section of the book by selecting a family containing children of
various ages and discussing the marketing problems of this family.
The high-school girl thus makes application of her earlier nutrition
study to actual food purchase for the family’s need.”—School R

“This book is a distinct contribution to the very small group of


elementary textbooks in nutrition. The work is accurate and up-to-
date. The points are supported and illustrated by suitable tables and
charts in such number as to constitute a unique feature of a
beginner’s book in nutrition. One specially commendable feature is
the fact that it may be used quite as appropriately as a textbook for
boys as for girls.” M. S. Rose

+ J Home Econ 12:513 N ’20 300w

“A splendid and thoroughly scientific body of material makes the


book a well-rounded and teachable text.”

+ School R 28:798 D ’20 360w

WILLIAMS, ARIADNA TYRKOVA- (MRS


HAROLD WILLIAMS). From liberty to Brest-
Litovsk. *$6 Macmillan 947

19–18461

“This is a narrative of events from the first uprisings of the


revolution in March, 1917, to the ratification of the peace with
Germany a year later. Herself a member of the Petrograd municipal
council and the Moscow conference, Mrs Williams has described in
detail the cabinet crises and political vicissitudes of the provisional
government and the steady trend of the socialist center toward
bolshevism. Less complete is her account of the first months of the
bolshevist régime and its negotiations with Germany at Brest-
Litovsk.”—Survey

Ath p1275 N 28 ’19 220w

“Although the book is emotionally coloured with righteous anger


and hatred towards the Bolsheviks, we cannot but welcome it as an
honest attempt to narrate the history of the first year of the Russian
revolution.” S. K.

+ − Ath p1367 D 19 ’19 1100w

“The facts here recorded will be most impressive to all who keep
even an approximately open mind on the Russian question.”

+ − Ind 102:66 Ap 10 ’20 150w


“She might have made her book a skilful and telling arraignment of
her political opponents if she could have restrained her quite
intelligible hatred and indignation. She betrays her prejudice and
weakens her case most seriously in loading on the Bolsheviki the
blame for all that Russia has suffered since the beginning of the
revolution.” Jacob Zeitlin

− + Nation 110:399 Mr 27 ’20 360w

“When we had finished this long book of Mrs Harold Williams, we


asked ourselves why it left us with the taste of the dust of Dead Sea
apples. The answer is, we believe, that nothing is so barren as
perpetual denunciation. Only a political controversialist could be
quite so self-blind as Mrs Williams.”

− Nation [London] 26:402 D 13 ’19 700w

“This book may be recommended as a storehouse of facts, and it is


to be hoped that the author will in due course produce another
volume, bringing the story down from Brest-Litovsk to the present
day.”

+ Sat R 129:62 Ja 17 ’20 540w

“She shows an intimate knowledge of the political convulsions of


1917, and she describes them in a clear and forcible style. The
dominant note of the book is amazement that the Russian people,
with their many good qualities, could have allowed themselves to be
dominated by a gang of scoundrels.”

+ Spec 123:579 N 1 ’19 1450w


“Partisan and patriot Mrs Williams is, and the reader will not find
in her description of the storm-tossed waters of the revolution any
clear perception of its deeper currents. But the reader will find in her
book a useful chronicle of events and an interesting and vivid
representation of the political kaleidoscope and of the opinion of no
small part of the Russian intelligentsia during that momentous year.”
Reed Lewis

+ − Survey 44:48 Ap 3 ’20 200w

“A connected account of the first phase of the Russian revolution


has been badly needed. Mrs Williams has a clear picture in her own
mind of what led to Bolshevism, and her main theme is easy to trace
throughout the book. In these days, when many English liberals join
in the foolish denunciation of nearly all Russian liberals as counter-
revolutionaries without examining the positive side of their policy, it
is useful to see the aims and policy of the provisional government
clearly and sympathetically restated.”

+ The Times [London] Lit Sup p618 N 6


’19 1000w

WILLIAMS, BEN AMES. Great accident. *$2


(1½c) Macmillan

20–5226

This is a story of American provincial politics and of education


gone wrong. The way Winthrop Chase, junior, had been brought up
by a well meaning father and mother had brought out strongly the
negative side of his character. He always did the thing he was told
not to do and was fast becoming a drunkard. Shrewd old Ames
Caretall, congressman, returns from Washington just as a mayoral
election is coming on. He resolves to take a gambler’s chance with
young Wint and uses his influence to have him elected mayor over
the head of Wint’s own father. How the “joke” does the trick, knocks
manhood into Wint, and develops him into a sober, unusually
decent, honorable and lovable character is the burden of the story.

“This town and its inhabitants stand out with remarkable


clearness, and it is well worth while for English men and women to
read of it. They will see for themselves how different is their country
from that huge one which speaks the same language.” O. W.

+ Ath p16 Ja 7 ’21 1300w


+ Booklist 16:315 Je ’20

“This is a capital story. There are a number of well-drawn


subsidiary personages, making the life of the small town vivid and
often amusing. Its atmosphere is distinctive and typical.” N. H. D.

+ Boston Transcript p4 S 4 ’20 650w


Dial 69:211 Ag ’20 110w

“It is a perfectly good idea and the characters are interesting


enough, but the author seems to be a little bit tired; it all needs to be
keyed up to a higher pitch.”

+ − Ind 103:53 Jl 10 ’20 110w


“It will go far toward dispelling in the average reader’s mind the
illusion that a realistic presentation of American life must necessarily
be dull, morbid and unduly sophisticated.”

+ N Y Evening Post p3 My 1 ’20 600w

“The merit of the tale lies in its portrayal of small town life, of the
men who control or try to control the political destinies of the
friendly little town of Hardiston, and in an easy and agreeable style.”

+ N Y Times 25:163 Ap 11 ’20 400w

“Two romances and a broad vein of humor balance the political


narrative, making an entertaining if rather unlifelike American tale.”

+ − Springf’d Republican p8a S 19 ’20 420w

WILLIAMS, GAIL. Fear not the crossing. $1.25


(9c) Clode, E. J. 134

20–1895

A series of spirit communications given to the author through


automatic handwriting by the spirit of a man who had but recently
died, and who found it at first very difficult to adjust himself to
conditions on the other side. The messages are given from day to
day, and describe the life beyond death, its great beauty, satisfying
joy, its boundless service for others, and its superiority to our flesh-
bound existence. Advice is given too for our greater serenity of the
spirit while still in the flesh. Think of God, pray to Him, in order that

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