3 topic question
Points total to 25. Partial credit is available. Grading is based on mastery of course concepts and effective communication of your ideas.

1. (10 points) In the reading, Social Influence, Persuasion, and Group Decision-Making, Kitayama and Burnstein describe how groups (e.g., teams) can influence their individual members and how individual members can influence their groups. Imagine you belong to a team and find yourself in the minority about how the team should resolve an important choice or decision it faces. You think it should go in one direction, everyone else thinks it should go in another. According to the reading, what are specific things you might do to change the opinion of your fellow team members? According to the reading, what explains why such tactics can help change others minds? Discuss the potential impact of minority and majority influences.

2. (10 points) Using Kolb’s model of problem solving as a dialectic process, apply the stages to the case of Cardiotronics (found in the Chapter 11: Problem Solving). Identify the differences between the converging (red mode) and diverging (green mode) processes in each of the stages. List several examples of possible problems and solutions and indicate why you chose the one(s) you did based on the chapter or on one of the methods used in class (e.g., pre-mortem analysis, decisional balance sheet).
3. (5 points) The De Janasz chapter on negotiations describes two distinct approaches to bargaining: a “distributive bargaining strategy” and an “integrative bargaining strategy.” Describe at least one key difference between these two strategies. Then, describe an actual or hypothetical situation where adapting a distributive bargaining strategy would make the most sense (and why), as well as one where adopting an integrative bargaining strategy would make the most sense (and why).

3 topic question
Points total to 25. Partial credit is available. Grading is based on mastery of course concepts and effective communication of your ideas.

1. (10 points) In the reading, Social Influence, Persuasion, and Group Decision-Making, Kitayama and Burnstein describe how groups (e.g., teams) can influence their individual members and how individual members can influence their groups. Imagine you belong to a team and find yourself in the minority about how the team should resolve an important choice or decision it faces. You think it should go in one direction, everyone else thinks it should go in another. According to the reading, what are specific things you might do to change the opinion of your fellow team members? According to the reading, what explains why such tactics can help change others minds? Discuss the potential impact of minority and majority influences.

2. (10 points) Using Kolb’s model of problem solving as a dialectic process, apply the stages to the case of Cardiotronics (found in the Chapter 11: Problem Solving). Identify the differences between the converging (red mode) and diverging (green mode) processes in each of the stages. List several examples of possible problems and solutions and indicate why you chose the one(s) you did based on the chapter or on one of the methods used in class (e.g., pre-mortem analysis, decisional balance sheet).
3. (5 points) The De Janasz chapter on negotiations describes two distinct approaches to bargaining: a “distributive bargaining strategy” and an “integrative bargaining strategy.” Describe at least one key difference between these two strategies. Then, describe an actual or hypothetical situation where adapting a distributive bargaining strategy would make the most sense (and why), as well as one where adopting an integrative bargaining strategy would make the most sense (and why).