Executive MBA Questions and Answers Assignment Solution

This assignment provides a comprehensive analysis of several key management concepts. It begins with an exploration of innovation, defining its role in organizational development and outlining methods for fostering an innovative culture. The second section examines integrated marketing communications, using McDonald's' campaign as a case study to illustrate the importance of strategic communication and the impact of word-of-mouth. The assignment then delves into the dynamics of dysfunctional teams, discussing the importance of team functionality and providing insights into identifying and addressing team dysfunction. Finally, the assignment analyzes various issues that can hinder organizational performance, highlighting the significance of addressing dysfunctional operations and providing strategies for improved teamwork and communication. The student draws on personal experiences and course learnings to illustrate these concepts.

Running head: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Questions and Answers
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author notes:

1QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Table of Contents
Answer 1....................................................................................................................................2
Answer 2....................................................................................................................................3
Answer 3....................................................................................................................................5
Answer 4....................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES...........................................................................................................................9

2QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Answer 1
It can be said that innovation is an aspect of that hints at the progress of an
organisation. Innovation refers to an activity that is characterised by re-inventing the
activities associated to a particular operations. Innovation is an aspect that can boost the
competency of any organisation part from being responsible of providing competitive
advantage to the organisation that is carrying out the same (Drucker 2014). Through the
experiences in the organisation that I have been associated to, I have been able to realise the
grave importance that is associated with innovation. It can be said that innovation is the key
to development of the competency of an organisation and it is the key to the achievement of
the competitive advantage that the organisation is subject to.
I can recall activities that were aimed particularly at the development of innovation
across the organisation. In the past in have been part of brainstorming session and focus
groups through which I developed a detailed understanding about the relevance and
significance of innovation in the processes associated with the development of the
organisation. The focus groups and brainstorming session that I was a part of in the past were
aimed at the development of ideas through which the work process and the culture can be
improved. While in a regular concept innovation refers to the improvement of the
technological base of a technological component in functionality of the organisation. It is a
concept that has a wider scope than just rep-inventing the nature of operations associated to
technology (Tidd and Bessant 2018). It can be said that innovation is the aspect of
organisational development that is concerned with re-inventing the processes associated with
nay said aspect of an organisation (Slowinski et al., 2015). The latter aspect must be
incorporated into the operational activities by incorporating the following;

3QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
 Identify trends: I have learnt that I order to innovate regarding operational activities,
one must look outside of their own organisation through which they would be able to
gain information regarding the operational standards that exist in the top
organisations.
 Assessment of current state of innovation: Careful self-evaluation can help in
identification of the innovation activities that are carried out by organisations (Aithal
and Kumar 2015). Thus, this can help in terms of identification of gaps which when
filled can lead to innovative practices.
 Meeting demands and problems: While an organisation is operating regardless of the
nature of the industry, they are most likely to come across challenges and face
problems (Senge, Hamilton and Kania 2015). This can be mitigated through
incorporation of new practices that had not been thought of before.
 Developing a culture for innovation: Just as it is important to incorporate innovation
to treat and cope with problems, a culture that is characterised by continuous
improvement is necessary to instate innovative practices (McCance et al., 2013). The
culture of an organisation is one of the most significant aspects that affect the
wellbeing of an organisation (Mishra, Boynton and Mishra 2014). Hence,
incorporating innovation into the same helps in terms of constant innovation and
instatement of an innovative culture were people are aiming to incorporate innovation
into their regular activities.
Answer 2
It should be noted that there are various activities carried out from part of companies
in order to attract customers and communicate its motive to the consumer community.
Integrated marketing communications is a tool that is used by companies in order to
communicate their motives to the consumers. Integrated Marketing Communications refers to

4QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
approaches taken by companies that are strategic, promotional and collaborative in nature
through which the company intends to communicate information that helps in persuading and
informing consumers about the information through which the company can achieve said
goals while they are operating in the market (Felix, Rauschnabel and Hinsch 2017).
A similar activity was carried out by McDonald’s who launched a campaign on
twitter through which the company intended to develop connections with the consumer
community. The campaign was initiated by the company in the year 2012 and it was
characterised by the company establishing a twitter hashtag (Forbes.com 2019). The hashtags
that the company used to communicate to the consumers were #McDStories and
#MeetTheFarmers. Back then, I realised that the campaign was launched in order to engage
the customers with the efforts that are made by the collaboration of the farmers and the
company in order to source and convert fresh produce into McDonald’s products. The
campaign backfired against the company as it was found that many consumer turned against
the company through twitter. I remember that there was a tweet that talked about the fact that
the meat that is by the company are sourced from gestation crates. Apart from this, there were
various other tweets that damaged the chances of the company regarding development of a
favourable and engaging relation with the consumers. Hence, the company had to take down
the #McDStories as it was harming the reputation of the company rather than the latter being
used as a medium through which people communicated favourable responses about the
company.
From the advent and backfire of the incident, I have realised the power of word of
mouth. Word of mouth refers to a mode of fast spread communication through which
information is communicate. It acts as promotion that companies do not need to invest in. My
realisation was that failure of the campaign was based solely due to the unfavourable word of
mouth that was generated. However, I am not disregarding the fact that I myself have been

5QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
faced with situation when I had questionable feeling on entering a McDonald’s and even after
consuming products from McDonalds. I have become aware of the fact that companies have
to choose the tool of integrated marketing communication carefully if they aim to
communicate the motives effectively. A company must also be aware of the consequences of
the use of the mode of communication that they have used. In future if I am in roles that
involve catering to needs of my organisation in terms of IMC, I would assess the various
aspects associated to the chosen motive including the implication that it would be subject to
before passing final decisions.
Answer 3
The role of the module that the students have been subject to will help to develop the
competency if the individuals that is the students who are associated to the course that has
been developed. The module had a diverse scope and the main nature of learnings that were
pertained by the teachers were regarding collaborative practices and innovation to be carried
out in order to work effectively in an organisational setting. The main topic that was
discussed in the current module was regarding the development of the understanding and
inferences of students regarding the scope of dysfunctional teams.
The module that we that is the students were subject to helped in terms of
development of the concepts associated with the operations of teams in an organisational
setting that is deemed to be challenging in nature. With the help of the module, I have been
able to gain understanding regarding the importance of teams in a functional manner that
helps in smooth flow of operations of the organisation. The module helped in answering
various questions. Some of the most relevant questions that were answered through the
module were the signs to differentiate dysfunctional teams from the teams that are functional
in nature. Furthermore, techniques that can be applied to find out the causes and implications

6QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
of the latter were discussed. Methods that can be applied to treat dysfunction in a team, ways
to address internal and external problems associated with the operations of a team that is
dysfunctional in nature to ensure that there are no issues that transpire as a result of the same,
methods that can be employed to work in a team that is dysfunctional, methods to motive
peers or colleagues were discussed in the module.
I feel that discussion regarding the latter was crucial for me as it will help in
developing a better understanding of situations that I might come across while faced with
similar situations in the organisation that I will be in a part of at a later date. The learning that
I gained through the module will help me in terms of development of a rationale that will
help me in sustaining myself in the organisation that I would be a part of. I also aim to help in
bolstering the performance of the organisation that I would be associated to by taking stands
for and helping out my peers when they are in needs.
The module also highlighted issues that arise as a result of intercultural differences.
Differences in culture are one of the most common reasons behind the demotivation of
employees who are deemed to be the minority in some organisations (Modleski 2014).
Furthermore, it is the results in compliance of the employees with the said organisation. The
latter leads to attrition of employees that in turn affects the sustainability of the employees
and also harms the reputation of the organisation. Hence, this module helped me in terms of
identification of these issues that I would be careful while part of an organisational setting.
Answer 4
There are various issues that might arise when an organisation is operating in markets
where the standards of performance is high. I am aware of the competitive scenario that exists
in the modern business environment were the organisations operate. I have been able to
realise that among various reasons that can hinder the performance of an organisation. From

7QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
the various issues that can hinder the performance of organisations, the dysfunctional nature
of operations of an organisation has been highlighted as one of the most crucial factors that
hinder the performance of an organisation to perform at full competency (Johnson et al.
2013). With the help of the module, I have been able to identify measures that can be adopted
by individuals, the management and the organisation as a whole to cope with such issues.
I can recall a situation in which I was part of the marketing team of an organisation
where the nature of operation were deemed to be dysfunctional in nature. I worked for the
creative wing of the marketing department and it was the role of members of the team to
come up with creative content through which creative advertisement content could be
effectively rolled out by the department. I was aware of a conflict that existed between
various members of the creative wing. I had an impression that members did not have a sense
of team belongingness. Furthermore, there was a newly appointed team captain who was
responsible for the performance of the team. I heard from some colleagues that there used to
a different team captain who was removed from position and transferred to another location
for unambiguous reasons. The situation led to lack of trust that the team members had for the
new team captain. The situation that transpired led to lack of effectiveness in performance of
the team as a whole and the general manager was constantly pointing at the team for lack of
productivity from the part of the team.
I perceived that there was lack of trust that existed within the team. Furthermore, the
lack of the new team captain’s ability to instate authority while in the post backed by lack of
accountability and commitment from the part of the members of the team lead to lack of
performance outcomes from the team as a whole. If I would have been at a position to
influence the operations of the team, I would have ensured that there existed proper
communication between the members of the organisation. Furthermore, I would have
organised meetings and sessions in which the members of the team could communicate

8QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
without thinking of the consequences. It can be said that a sense of belongingness,
communication, trust, commitment and awareness can be accounted for if the nature if the
core culture is favourable. The latter would help in ensuring that there is a positive
atmosphere in the team which would resulted in mitigation of issues that could hinder the
performance of the organisation.

9QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
REFERENCES
Aithal, P.S. and Kumar, P.M., 2015. How Innovations and Best Practices can Transform
Higher Education Institutions: A case study of SIMS. International Journal of Management
(IJM), 6(2), pp.83-98.
Drucker, P., 2014. Innovation and entrepreneurship. Routledge.
Felix, R., Rauschnabel, P.A. and Hinsch, C., 2017. Elements of strategic social media
marketing: A holistic framework. Journal of Business Research, 70, pp.118-126.
Forbes.com., 2019. #McDStories: When A Hashtag Becomes A Bashtag. [online] Available
at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/01/24/mcdstories-when-a-hashtag-
becomes-a-bashtag/#5f22836fed25 [Accessed 17 Sep. 2019].
Johnson, M.D., Hollenbeck, J.R., DeRue, D.S., Barnes, C.M. and Jundt, D., 2013. Functional
versus dysfunctional team change: Problem diagnosis and structural feedback for self-
managed teams. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 122(1), pp.1-11.
McCance, T., Gribben, B., McCormack, B. and Laird, E.A., 2013. Promoting person-centred
practice within acute care: the impact of culture and context on a facilitated practice
development programme. International Practice Development Journal, 3(1).
Mishra, K., Boynton, L. and Mishra, A., 2014. Driving employee engagement: The expanded
role of internal communications. International Journal of Business Communication, 51(2),
pp.183-202.
Modleski, T., 2014. Feminism without women: Culture and criticism in a" postfeminist" age.
Routledge.

10QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Senge, P., Hamilton, H. and Kania, J., 2015. The dawn of system leadership. Stanford Social
Innovation Review, 13(1), pp.27-33.
Slowinski, G., Sagal, M., Williams, K. and Stanton, T., 2015. Reinventing supplier
innovation relationships. Research-Technology Management, 58(6), pp.38-44.
Tidd, J. and Bessant, J.R., 2018. Managing innovation: integrating technological, market
and organizational change. John Wiley & Sons.