What strategic plans could the college or university at which you are taking this management course adopt to compete for students in the marketplace? Would these plans depend on the school’s goals? 2. The MBO technique has been criticized for putting too much emphasis on achieving goals (ends) and not enough on the methods that people use to achieve them (means). Do you think this is a flaw in the technique or in the way managers apply it? How would you place a balanced emphasis on ends and means? 3. Some people say an organization could never be “prepared” for a disaster such as the shooting at Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California, the Japan nuclear disaster, or the huge BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Explain the potential value of crisis planning in situations like these, even if the situations are difficult to plan for. 4. Goals that are overly ambitious can discourage employees and decrease motivation, yet the idea of stretch goals is proposed as a way to get people fired up and motivated. As a manager, how might you decide where to draw the line between a “good” stretch goal and a “bad” one that is unrealistic?
