Ideology and the Missionary Organization: by Mintzberg

1. What is your assessment of the four reasons given by the author for the existence of a "sense of mission" in new organizations?
2. How applicable is the notion of "Missionary Organization" to business organizations?

Building Structure in Manager's Minds: by Bartlett and Ghoshal (Skip)

1. What is your reaction to the authors' assertion that the scarcest resource of all are "capable managers"? What makes a capable manager?
2. What is the "matrix in the manager's mind"? Will it lead to better managers or organizations?

Politics and the Political Organization: by Mintzberg (Skip)

1. The author says that politics is inherently illegitimate, particularly in the means it uses. What is your opinion?
2. What is your assessment of the four functional influences of politics listed by the author at the end of the reading?

1. Do you agree with the author that business behavior is not logical, but instead is laced with emotional bias?
2. The author repeatedly makes the point that the non-logical competitor has an advantage over the logical one. How is this possible?

1. What should we do to ensure we can "trust our managers to act responsibly"? Regulation? Self-regulating?
2. Does it pay to be "good" (socially, community responsible)? Why?