Question 5
Your boss has just defined an urgent strategic objective for you: "Enhance quality to improve company performance." As a strategic thinker, how might you best respond to your boss's mandate initially?
Click the button next to the correct answer choice. After you have read the feedback, explore the other choices. Note: Your first selection will be used to tally your score.
Gain insights from managers who are working in other functions about how the company has been performing and what may be contributing to performance problems
Not the best choice. Asking other managers about company performance would not be the most effective first response. Instead, you would want to ask your boss clarifying questions about the mandate. When your boss defines strategic objectives for you, it's important to ensure that you understand those objectives in the most specific terms possible. Asking clarifying questions can help you avoid misunderstandings about goals, specify areas where you should invest your effort and time, and anticipate possible impacts of any changes on other parts of the organization. In addition to asking their boss clarifying questions, strategic thinkers also offer ideas for additional objectives that may help their group support company-level strategies.
Move immediately to reduce errors, improve accuracy, and incorporate cutting-edge innovation into every process for which your group is responsible
Not the best choice. Acting immediately on your assumptions about what your boss's mandate means would not be the most effective first response. Instead, you would want to ask your boss clarifying questions about the mandate. When your boss defines strategic objectives for you, it's important to ensure that you understand those objectives in the most specific terms possible. Asking clarifying questions can help you avoid misunderstandings about goals, specify areas where you should invest your effort and time, and anticipate possible impacts of any changes on other parts of the organization. In addition to asking their boss clarifying questions, strategic thinkers also offer ideas for additional objectives that may help their group support company-level strategies.
Ask your boss clarifying questions, such as "What do you mean by 'enhance quality'?" and "Where should we focus our quality-enhancement efforts?"
Correct choice. When your boss defines strategic objectives for you, it's important to ensure that you understand those objectives in the most specific terms possible. Asking clarifying questions can help you avoid misunderstandings about goals, specify areas where you should invest your effort and time, and anticipate possible impacts of any changes on other parts of the organization. In addition to asking their boss clarifying questions, strategic thinkers also offer ideas for additional objectives that may help their group support company-level strategies.