Fundamentals of Management, 8th ed

Case Questions

1.

What about you? Do you think that you could

handle the kind of stress that air traffic controllers

face on the job? Why or why not?

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Part 4: Leading

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2.

In your opinion, which causes of work stress, or

organizational stressors, are likely to be among

the most common experienced by air traffic

controllers? Explain your reasoning.

3.

Controller Pete Rogers says that any gathering of

air traffic controllers is “almost like a mini-

convention of Type A personalities.” Does this

assessment surprise you or make sense to you? In

what ways is it perhaps a good thing? A not-

so-good thing?

4.

“This business of people saying they ‘thrive on

stress’? It’s nuts,” says one eminent psychiatrist

who goes so far as to say that such people are in

danger of slipping into a pathological state.

Nevertheless, some people say that they like get-

ting into chaotic situations and putting them

back in order. What about you? Are there

times when you seem to be motivated and satis-

fied by circumstances that most people would

call stressful? If your answer is yes, what kinds

of circumstances are they, and why do you think

you react the way you do? If your answer is no,

what do you normally do when faced with such

circumstances?

Case References

“‘Miracle on the Hudson’: All Safe in Jet Crash,”

MSNBC.com, January 15, 2009, www.msnbc.com,

accessed on December 6, 2013; Phil Derner, Jr.,

“One Year after the ‘Miracle on the Hudson,’ an

Exclusive Interview with Air Traffic Controller

Patrick Harten,” NYCAviation.com, January 18,

2010, http://nycaviation.com, accessed on December

6, 2013; Steve Myrick, “Air Traffic Control—‘Chess

at High Speed,’” Martha’s Vineyard Times, Decem-

ber 24, 2009, www.mvtimes.com, accessed on

December 6, 2013; Alex Altman and Tiffany Shar-

ples, “Air Traffic Controller Sounds Alarm,” Time,

time.com, accessed on December 6, 2013; Christo-

pher Tucker, “I Am an Air Traffic Controller,” Daily

Speculations, www.dailyspeculations.com, accessed

on December 6, 2013; and Mary Carmichael,

“Who Says Stress Is Bad for You?” Newsweek,

www.newsweek.com, accessed on December 6, 2013.