business exam 2
Which of the following is NOT a factor that influences whether a firm is decentralized?
A code of ethics
What are the three phases of human resources management?
Acquiring, maintaining, and developing
When does routing take place for operations managers?
After materials have been purchased and their use determined
A process in operations management in which raw materials are broken into different component parts is known as _______; while, a process in which raw materials or components are combined to create a finished product is known as _______.
Analytical process; synthetic process
How are basic research and applied research different?
Basic research just wants to uncover new knowledge; while, applied research wants to discover new knowledge with some potential use.
_____, one tool that is used for total quality management (TQM), is the process of evaluating the products, processes, or management practices of another organization for the purpose of improving quality.
Benchmarking
How is the production of services similar to the production of manufactured goods?
Both types of businesses must plan, design, execute, evaluate, improve, and redesign their products to satisfy customers.
Which of the following is NOT a type of compensation?
Comparable worth
What type of leader is one who consults workers before making decisions, helps workers understand their goals, and imposes and fosters a sense of ownership and commitment, and makes the final decisions him- or herself after gathering employee input?
Consensual
What type of leader seeks input from almost all workers and makes the final decisions based on their support?
Consultative leaders
When managers are engaged in problem solving, there are several steps they should go through in order to prevent themselves from providing a resolution to a problem that is unrelated to the actual issue under examination. Which of the following most correctly delineates the steps in problem-solving?
Defining the problem, generating alternatives, selecting an alternative, implementing and evaluating the solution.
What is the advantage of departmentalization by customer?
Departmentalization by customer allows the firm to deal efficiently with unique customers or customer groups.
All of the following are steps in the operational planning process, except:
Developing a plan to convert the idea into a new good or service.
Which leadership style is considered the best?
Each of the leadership styles can be highly effective in the right situation.
Why are many companies hiring employees representing a diverse background?
Employees with diverse backgrounds better serve their diverse customers.
_____ is a significant question because, once the decision has been made and implemented, the firm must live with it due to the high costs involved
Facility location
Which characteristic does NOT support a narrow span of management?
Few new problems are expected to arise
The coordinated effort of the three levels of managers is required to implement the goals of any company. Which of the following best represents the three basic levels of management?
First-line managers, top managers, and middle managers
When a local pizza parlor takes raw ingredients such as tomatoes, cheese, and flour to make a pizza for a customer, the raw ingredients are known as the _______ of the conversion process and the degree to which the resources are physically changed is known as the _______ of the conversion process.
Focus; magnitude
What utility is created by people converting raw materials, finances, and information into finished products?
Form utility
Leaders within an organization can be formed in a variety of ways. Which of the following best describes the difference between formal and informal leaders?
Formal leaders have authority within an organization to influence others to work towards the organization's objectives, but informal leaders usually have no such authority.
_____ is the second step in the decision-making process and it depends on creativity for new and useful ideas, regardless of where the ideas come from.
Generating alternatives
As a firm grows in size how do the responsibilities of HRM change?
HRM activities become more specialized.
Which managers are responsible for recruiting and hiring employees, developing and administering employee benefits, training and performance appraisal programs, and dealing with government regulations concerning employment practices?
Human resources managers
Nadine manages the quality control department for her company. Recently, Nadine became aware of a quality problem with one of the company's products. After studying the issue Nadine determined the quality of raw materials used in the product was deficient and began looking at changing suppliers. Which step in the decision-making process did Nadine exemplify when she determined the quality of raw materials was substandard?
Identifying the problem
Total quality management (TQM) has been shown to benefit a company beyond improving a product. Which of the following is not a benefit of TQM?
Improved ability to engage in competitive pricing
What is a group created by the members themselves to accomplish goals that may or may not be relevant to an organization?
Informal group
Managers must coordinate an organization's resources to achieve the organization's goals. Which of the following is not typically considered as an organization's resource?
Intellectuals
Which of the following is true concerning total quality management (TQM)?
It is the coordination of efforts directed at improving customer satisfaction, increasing employee participation, strengthening supplier partnerships, and facilitating an organizational atmosphere of continuous quality improvement.
Which of the following is a negative aspect of hiring from within for a company?
It leaves another job vacancy to fill.
For recruiters, what does it mean to have a goal of attracting the "right number" of applicants?
It means to attract enough to allow a good match between applicants and open positions but not so many that matching requires a lot of time and effort.
What is the concept's name that is built on an idea of eliminating waste from all of the activities required to produce a product or service?
Lean manufacturing
Which of the following is not one of the four types of utilities?
Magnitude
Which phase of human resources management is responsible for encouraging employees to remain with the firm?
Maintaining
Which of the following is least likely to be a role of operations management?
Marketing of products
Question WorkspaceCheck My Work_____ structures provide flexibility, enhanced cooperation, and creativity, and they enable the company to respond quickly to changes in the environment by giving special attention to specific projects or problems.
Matrix
Which of the following is NOT a component to be addressed by management in order for total quality management (TQM) programs to be effective?
Maximizing shareholder profits
In this type of culture (popular in large banks and investment firms), you have employees who are passionate, energetic, goal-oriented, and have a sense of purpose and excitement for their work.
Mercenary culture
Which of the following is NOT a disadvantage of a network structure?
No centralized leader
_____ leadership can motivate employees to work effectively because they are consulted before making decisions. This helps them understand which goals are important and fosters a sense of ownership and commitment in decision making
Participative
The major decisions involved in design planning deal with:
Product line, required capacity, and use of technology.
Which term describes the act of buying of all materials needed by the organization?
Purchasing
_____ refers to the processes an organization uses to maintain its own established quality standards within the organization.
Quality control
_____ is the process of collecting information about applicants and using that information to make hiring decisions
Selection
Which technique do businesses use to improve quality of products and services, as well as overall performance?
Six Sigma
What is the purpose of an organization's mission statement?
To provide a framework for customer expectations
Total quality management can be a boon to a business in many aspects of its operation, however it will not work if management fails in two crucial areas. Which of the following statements most closely articulates the issues that, if left unaddressed, could cause TQM to fail?
Top management must be strongly committed to TQM and must coordinate the specific elements of a TQM program so they work in harmony with each other.
What is the order in which the three separate management decisions should be completed for HRM managers that design effective compensation systems?
Wage level, wage structure, and individual wages
The production of services is different from the production of manufactured goods in all of the following ways, except:
When compared to services, customers are much more involved in obtaining the manufactured good they want or need.
Knowing how to sort large amounts of information in order to find relevant facts to resolve a problem or issue is an example of:
analytical skills.
The gradual reduction of the size of a workforce by not replacing personnel lost due to resignation is known as:
attrition.
Doug is a line manager at XYZ Corporation. He is very task-oriented and makes all of the decisions with little concern for employee opinion. Under his--- leadership style, employees are told exactly what is expected from them and given specific guidelines, rules, and regulations on how to achieve their tasks.
autocratic
The amount of products or services that an organization can produce in a given time is known as:
capacity.
When the decisions to be made by a business are risky and when low-level managers are not highly skilled in decision making then the company tends to be more _____.
centralized
All of the following are potential disadvantages of committees, except:
committees make more accurate decisions than individuals.
The CEO of a large beverage company led the company in the takeover of its two largest bottlers. The CEO pushed for the merger because buying the bottlers gave the company control of 80 percent of its North American distribution, making it easier for the company to test new products. The CEO's ability to think in abstract terms and see how parts of the company fit together to achieve long-term goals is an example of _____.
conceptual skills
When a manager plans for the future of his business and is able to see how all of the parts of the organization work together, it is said that he or she is engaging to see the "big picture."
conceptual skills
The three steps of the _____ process include setting standards against which performance can be compared, measuring actual performance and comparing it with the standard, and taking corrective action as necessary.
controlling
The inner rites, rituals, heroes, and values of a firm are known as:
corporate culture.
Giving employees not only tasks but also the power to make commitments, use resources, and take whatever actions are necessary to carry out those tasks is the definition of:
delegation of authority.
The form of departmentalization that groups jobs that perform similar functional activities, like finance and marketing, is called:
departmentalization by function.
When a company looks to departmentalize by areas of business like Japan, America, and Australia it is exemplifying ______.
departmentalization by location
"Houston, we have a problem," is one of the most famous sentences in history resulting from a problem that arose during the Apollo 13 mission to the moon. When business managers identify a problem, they are identifying
discrepancy between an actual condition and desired condition
A contingency plan outlines alternate courses of action that may be taken if an organization's other plans are __________ or become ___________ .
disrupted; ineffective
The _____ personality tends to take initiative, be visionary, and be forward-looking. Their enthusiasm energizes and inspires employees.
entrepreneurial
The final step in managerial decision making entails _____.
evaluating the solution
If the span of management is wide, _______ levels are needed, and the organization is _______. If the span of management is narrow, ________ levels are needed, and the resulting organization is _______.
fewer; flat; more; tall
Sandra is a no-nonsense manager with excellent budgeting skills. On projects that Sandra manages, the team always comes in under budget. When forecasting costs for a plan, Sandra is extremely accurate. Sandra is skilled at managing which resource for her company?
financial
A(n) ______________ combines electronic machines and computer-integrated manufacturing in a single production system.
flexible manufacturing system
Management must coordinate four types of resources to produce goods and services, but another way to look at management is in terms of the different _____________ managers perform.
functions
An informal channel of communication separate from management's formal official communications related to a job or organization that can sometimes be gossip is called a:
grapevine.
Of the four resources managed within an organization, one is considered far more important than any of the others—so much so that management of this resource is considered to have a greater impact on the organization than even the vital components of the organization. Which of the following is the resource described in this paragraph?
human
Three business students are having a discussion regarding leadership styles. One argues that autocratic leadership is best, another argues that participative leadership is best, and the last argues that entrepreneurial leadership is best. Studies have shown however that the most effective style depends on the right balance between
interaction among employees, the work situation, and manager's personality
Which skills are defined as the ability to deal with people, both inside and outside the organizations?
interpersonal skills
The process of managing inventories in such a way as to minimize inventory costs, including both holding costs and potential stock-out costs is referred to as:
inventory control.
A study of what employees do in a particular job is called a(n):
job analysis.
The duties to be performed, the working conditions, the responsibilities, and the tools and equipment that must be used on the job are reflected in the list known as the:
job description.
To combat the potential negative consequences of specialization, managers often turn to _______, the systematic shifting of employees from one job to another.
job rotation
One reason for _____ is efficiency. People can perform more efficiently if they master just one distinct task rather than all tasks.
job specialization
It is now being recommended that companies list personality characteristics needed within this list of qualifications required to perform a particular job. These personality characteristics are contained within the list known as the:
job specification.
Which of the following is NOT a potentially negative consequence of job specialization?
less injuries
The process of coordinating people and other resources to achieve the goals of an organization is known as:
management
The level of management that is responsible for developing tactical and operational plans and makes up the largest group of managers in most organizations is _____.
middle management
Employees have different _____; some are interested primarily in earning as much money as they can, while others may be spurred on by opportunities to get promoted.
motivations
Jake works in production for his company. Each week his work group is assigned a production quota to ensure enough product is available to meet the goals of the company. In this case, the production quota is an example of a(n) _____ plan.
operational
Mark's job involves purchasing raw materials, managing inventory, and scheduling the workers who build the company's product, Mark is a(n) _____ manager.
operations
A specialized area of management involving all the activities needed to convert or transform resources into goods and services is:
operations management.
As a company grows, it may become necessary for it to create a(n) ______, which is a visual display of the organizational structure, lines of authority (chain of command), staff relationships, permanent committee arrangements, and lines of communication.
organization chart
This deals with establishing organizational goals and deciding how to accomplish them; it is sometimes referred to as the "first" management function because all other management functions depend upon it.
planning
Top managers spend most of their time performing which of the following management functions?
planning
Management is not a step-by-step procedure that can be carefully mapped out and calendared, it is a __________ with a feedback loop that represents flow.
process
Which of the following is NOT a major consideration when organizing a business?
production of a good
A list of key personnel and their possible replacements within a firm is known as a(n):
replacement chart.
Most companies use _____ to determine which goods and services to provide and the features they need to possess.
research and development (R&D)
Planning is an essential part of managing an enterprise. A(n)____________ plan is developed as a guide during the planning process for major policy setting and decision making.
strategic
During the planning stage, managers develop a plan which is smaller in scale and developed to implement strategy and will most likely cover a one- to three-year period.
tactical
A committee that is established to investigate a major problem or pending decision of the firm (for example assessing the pros and cons of a potential merger) is known as a(n):
task force.
was forged by Toyota Motor Company in Japan as a way to coordinate efforts at improving customer satisfaction, employee participation, strengthening supplier partnerships, and improving the quality of their product.
total quality management
A _____ span of management exists when a manager directly supervises a very large number of subordinate employees. A _____ span of management exists when a manager directly supervises only a few subordinates.
wide; narrow