Management Midterm 2
________ organizations tend to be slower at making decisions and responding to changes in the business environment. As a result, these organizations tend to be best suited to stable external environments.
"Tall" organizational structures, or "formal" organizations
Which of the following leader attributes is viewed as positive in some cultures and as negative in some others?
"cautious" and "ambitious"
Which of the following can be categorized as task behavior?
(Initiating structure) specifying tasks, roles, assignments, scheduling, procedures
25) Which of the following is NOT a feature of tactical plans?
A) A tactical plan translates strategic plans into specific goals for specific parts of the organization - shorter time frame, independent, and narrower in scope. Affect a single business within the org.
A manager at a local bookstore is about to allocate extra floor space to an espresso counter when a new coffee shop opens next door. He stops implementation of his plan and instead looks into opening a juice bar. This an example of which of the following?
Contingency plan, making real-time adjustments
Firms with ________ and ________ usually employ a geographic structure to manage international sales.
High foreign sales/low international product diversity
Which of the following is NOT a key element in developing an action plan?
Key elements: sequence/timing, accountability. Implementation key elements: monitoring, making real-time adjustments
Which of the following is true for behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS)?
Managers rate employee characteristics using a quantitative scale, the characteristic are specified in greater detail and described in terms of behaviors rather than abstract qualities. The greater specificity and link to behaviors reduces but does not eliminate, the potential for different raters to evaluate employees differently.
What is "budget momentum"?
Money may be allocated to a unit in the future merely because the unit had been allocated money in the past. It is the principal negative consequence of incremental negative budgeting
An individual has a strong desire to influence others and to be in charge. These behaviors are most closely associated with the individual's ________.
Motivation to lead
________ is a decision-making process that focuses on the future of an organization and how it will achieve its goals.
Planning
Which of the following selection techniques is likely to offer the highest validity?
Structured interviews offer higher validity than unstructured interviews
21) Which of the following statements is true of budgeting?
Used to quantify and allocate resources to specific activities, usually on an annual basis. Types: Expense budget, capital expenditure budget. Incremental budgeting approach: managers used approved budgets from prior year as a starting point for the current year's budget. Zero-based budgeting approach: all funding allocations must be justified at zero each year.
Which of the following is the best definition of a valid selection technique?
a screening process that differentiates those who would be successful in a job from those would not
Which of the following is more likely to occur in an unstructured interview than in a structured interview?
an unstructured interview is where interviewers have a general idea of the types of questions they might ask but not a standard set. They may ask different candidates different questions. Like comparing apples and oranges, low levels of validity.
Prior to entering the Eastern European markets, Procter & Gamble assessed the strengths and weaknesses of possible competitors and noncompetitors in those markets. Procter & Gamble's actions can be classified as ________.
benchmarking
Arminor, Inc. distributes medical and surgical supplies, apart from providing supply chain management services in the United States. The company is known for employee friendliness and quality of work life. The company requires its managers to be aware of the employees' feelings and their own feelings. The company recruits managers who have the ability to self-regulate their activities. Which of the following leadership skill is likely to be considered the most important by this company?
emotional intelligence,
A(n) ________ typically includes all primary activities on which the unit or organization plans to spend money and the amount allocated for each item during the year.
expense budget
A community college has to decide if more budget is to be allocated for hiring new instructors or for developing new laboratory facilities. This is an example of ________.
expense budget, capital expenditure budget
Identify the organizational level where managers would focus on how to facilitate the achievement of the competitive plan of a business.
functional
Ned heads the finance department of a business. At which organizational level is Ned functioning?
functional level
A firm with ________ would most likely use global product divisions to manage foreign sales.
global approach
A person can be called a charismatic leader if he or she ________.
has a strong need for power, high levels of self-confidence, and a strong belief in their own ideas
Orangetree tries to help employees maintain a work-life balance by providing flexible job arrangements. For instance, Alison works only on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, while Joan fills the same role on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Both find the arrangement convenient, while the company gets the advantage of two workers for little more than the price of one. This arrangement is known as ________.
job-sharing
Sespi is a manufacturer of aerated drinks such as colas and other beverages. The finance department is planning to table a capital expenditure budget for the upcoming year. Which of the following items might be accounted for under this budget?
land, property, plant, & equipment
________ involve(s) the termination of groups of employees because of economic or business reasons.
layoffs
What is the central concept of Fiedler's leadership contingency theory?
leadership effectiveness would be contingent on a combination of the type of leader (relative task or person oriented) and the relative degree of favorability of the situation for the leader.
________ are individuals who are designated to act as a bridge between different areas, such as quality or manufacturing processes.
liasions
A major disadvantage of a matrix structure is that ________.
makes evals more complex since employees have two bosses, inhibits ability to respond to change quickly, diffuses accountability, problems integrating different perspectives
Companies that advocate unity of command would be least likely to adopt which organizational structure?
matrix structure
When a firm decides to outsource its manufacturing operations, a ________ allows it to maintain close contact with the firms to which it is outsourcing the work.
network structure
Managers usually have the authority to distribute rewards to employees. This reward power they enjoy is one of the strongest sources of ________ power.
position
Which of the following is a core category of environmental complexity?
products, customers, technology, competitors, suppliers, geography
In a product structure, each product is treated as a ________; that is, the expenses related to a product are subtracted from the revenues generated by selling it.
profit center
The degree to which an organization's new product-development team relies on the market research team for product ideas to investigate is termed as ________.
reciprocal interdependence
What sort of interdependence exists when two or more groups within a company depend upon one another for inputs?
reciprocal interdependence
When people are attracted to, or identified with, someone, that person acquires ________ power.
referent
A subordinate begins using gestures similar to those of his superior and imitating certain aspects of the superior's speech patterns. This is indicative of ________ power that exists in organizations.
referent power
In the assembly line of an automobile manufacturer, the car engine is installed first. After this, the product is passed on to the next stage where it is fitted with the hood. The product then goes on to the third step in the process where the wheels are fitted. The above situation, where the finished product of one step becomes the raw material for the next, is an example of ________ interdependence.
sequential
________ occurs when the outputs of one group become the inputs of another group.
sequential interdependence
The ________ specifies the number of employees reporting to a given supervisor.
span of control
Which of the following is NOT one of the five characteristics of effective goals?
specific, measurable, commitment, realistic, time-bound
"White water" environments are ________.
the calm waters and white-water rapids metaphors of change. The white-water rapids metaphor describes change that takes place in uncertain and dynamic environments.
Which of the following statements is true about the interrelationship between plan types and levels?
strategic plans = corporate level and business level tactical plans = business level and functional level operational plans = functional level
A ________ is one that has multiple layers with significant vertical differentiation.
tall organizational structure
The sales forecasts for the summer season for LocoPoco, a beverage company, indicated increased demand for its colas. However, the actual sales were 30 percent lower than expected. Which of the following could explain the apparent discrepancy above?
Emergence of substitutes, economic downturn, new competitors in market
Which of the following statements regarding objectives is true?
End states/targets. help set direction, focus effort, guide behaviors and evaluate progress.
A manager tells his sales staff that he wants sales to increase by 18 percent during this year. Even though they are skeptical about whether this goal can be reached, most of them agree to it. However, they were unable to meet the target at the end of the year. Which of the following would best explain the failure to meet this goal?
Environmental uncertainty- didn't correctly forecast. Needed to keep up with changes to develop appropriate objectives and action plans to compete effectively within projected environment.
A ________ is a specific instance in which the employee's behavior and performance were above or below expectations.
critical incident
Which of the following would be the most helpful to employees who want to chart potential career paths within their company?
cross-functional job rotation
Because many organizational environments have become more dynamic, managers often respond by trying to "flatten" their organizational structures, often removing whole levels of hierarchy and people in the process. This process is often referred to as ________.
downsizing
Which of the following is a characteristic of a product structure?
Advantages of product structure: people in different areas of the product group can focus more on the specific products and its customers, performance (profit/loss) is easier to evaluate, greater product responsiveness to market changes, reduces operating decision-making burden of the top executive. Disadvantages of product structure: duplication and lack of economies of scale for functional areas, can create problems for customers who purchase across multiple product groups, conflicts between corporate objectives and product group objectives, conflict between different product groups and more difficult to coordinate across product groups.
Which of the following is a method of generating job candidates from outside an organization?
Advertisements, employment agencies, employee referrals, school placement centers, internet
A(n) ________ specifies the amount of money the manager is authorized to spend and what items can be purchased or what expenses are allowed.
Approved budget
________ compensation is pay that varies depending on specified conditions such as the general profitability of the company, revenue, or individual performance targets.
At-risk compensation
________ involves investigating the best practices used by competitors and noncompetitors and imitating those that can be done in the firm.
Benchmarking
A manager of a local bookstore is trying to increase his store's productivity without hiring additional employees. He has noticed that a competitor is flourishing with relatively few employees and decides to investigate. This is an example of ________.
Benchmarking- revenue to employee ratio
Which one of the following is a benefit of zero-based budgeting?
Benefit of zero-based budgeting: assumes that all funding allocations must be justified from zero each year. Benefit that is that items that cannot be justified on their current merits will not be allocated money. Lead to a more effective allocation of organizations financial resources.
In which of the following ways are product and customer structures similar?
Both have strength in ability to react to change in customer preferences, and both create duplication of functional resources, and difficult to coordinate between customer/product units and corporate objectives
________ is a term that refers to the tool used to quantify and allocate resources to specific activities.
Budget
What are the primary organizational levels of a corporation?
Corporate level, business (strategic) level, functional level
hen a firm decides to outsource its manufacturing operations, a ________ allows it to maintain close contact with the firms to which it is outsourcing the work.
Definition of cognitive differentiation: the extent to which people in different units with a company think about similar and different things in different ways. Example: accountants think about assets and liabilities, while marketing managers think about brand image and market share. Similarly, accountants think of the company's performance in financial results while the marketing manager might think about it in terms of customer satisfaction and number of products sold.
________ is the extent to which tasks are divided into subtasks and performed by specialists
Differentiation
Which of the following is an issue managers address when assessing the firm's internal resources?
Human capital company has currently, developing or acquiring human capital who are needed to work on new projects, financial resources available, obtaining additional funding, types of technology that can be afforded.
________ is the extent to which various parts of organizations cooperate and interact.
Integration
Which of the following issues is unlikely to be addressed by a corporate-level executive?
Issues addressed by the corporate level executives: finance, human resources, legal and so on. Unlikely to be addressed: tend not to be involved in developing tactical or operational plans.
SLPL Limited adheres to a strategy that allows managers to focus on core competencies or the activities that are most likely to yield competitive advantage. In doing so, SLPL outsources most of the activities in its value chain to other companies, retaining just a few elements. From the above example, it can be concluded that SLPL has a ________ structure.
Network organizational structure
The final element in the planning process involves ________.
Outcomes (planning process has six key elements: environmental analysis, resource analysis, setting objectives, develop action plans, and monitor outcomes)
A(n) ________ budget outlines how much money an organization needs, and it is submitted to a superior or a budget review committee.
Proposed budget
JEG recently evaluated its manufacturing processes and discovered that the monotonous nature of jobs was contributing to employee dissatisfaction. As manufacturing worked on an assembly-line system, each employee had to repetitively add just a single part to the product. JEG decided to form the employees into teams and have each team assemble a complete product together. This effort by JEG to make the work more interesting for its employees is known as ________.
Reengineering
A catering company manager is proposing the purchase of a new van to enable the company to handle more deliveries. She is working on ________.
Setting objectives
Which of the following strategies should managers avoid when designing orientation programs?
Should: -keep paperwork to a minimum avoid information overload. do include paperwork that must be completed immediately -include an informal meeting with the individual's immediate supervisor -alternate heavy information, such as that related to benefits and insurance, with lighter live or video presentations from corporate officers -provide a glossary of terms unique to the organizations -match each new employee with a "buddy" (experienced worker) based more on personality compatibility than similarity of jobs
Altdoor International Corp. manufactures and markets commercial trucks, buses, diesel engines, and military vehicles. The company manufactures the engines and assembles the vehicles from a large factory located in southern California. Lynn is the supervisor of one of the teams that function in the production line and most of the tasks that the members perform are structured and routine. Lynn believes that the supportive leadership style is most suited to manage his team. Which of the following information, if true, would most support Lynn's belief?
Supportive leadership = person oriented, best if employee tasks are frustrating, boring, or stressful. Will increase enjoyment.
The executive of a certain company states that the firm should adopt the benchmark practices only of other firms in the same industry, as business conditions in other industries are significantly different. Which of the following is the underlying assumption in his argument?
That the other industries are competitors who have high revenue-to-employee ratios
Based on the available forecasts, a business' sales are expected to drop 20 percent in the current year as compared to the previous year. Which of the following will be a cascading effect of this forecast?
The business will also plan to spend less in expenses to offset the loss in revenue. For example, a construction company will plan to build 1,000 homes instead of 1,500.
"White water" environments are ________.
The calm waters and white-water rapids metaphors of change. The white-water rapids metaphor describes change that takes place in uncertain and dynamic environments.
A narrow span of control is advisable when ________.
The fewer people a manager has to supervise, the more closely a manager can oversee and control them. Better for more formal organizations.
Which of the following statements is true regarding tactical plans?
Translate strategic plans into specific goals for specific parts of the organization. They typically affect a single business within an organization and its products line
Identify the question that managers at the strategic business unit (SBU) level would attempt to address.
Who are our direct competitors? What are their strengths and weaknesses? What are our strengths and weaknesses? What do customers value in the products or services we offer? What advantages do we have over competitors?
Which of the following statements is consistent with the leader-member exchange theory?
a belief proposing that leaders develop different levels of relationships with different subordinates, and that the quality of these individuals relationships affects the subordinate's behavior. Leader's central task is to build strong, mutually respectful, and satisfying relationships.
At JEG, a certain percentage of each employee's salary remains fixed, while the rest varies according to employee performance. This is an example of ________.
a broadband system pay structure
A manager of a local flower franchise is investigating her own company's strengths and weaknesses and comparing them with those of her competitors. She is operating at the ________ level.
business (strategic business unit)
Auto parts manufacturer JEG Inc. has a number of vacancies at lower management levels and wants to fill the positions from within the company itself rather than recruit externally. The company plans to e-mail the job specifications to all employees and post the jobs on the company Website. Which of the following, if true, will weaken the company's decision?
can generate responses from unqualified applicants who need to receive explanations about why they were unqualified and did not get the job. Without adequate explanation they are likely to wonder whether the job was really "open" when it was posted. If employees begin to doubt the process of posting jobs, it can generate skepticism, limit the pool o candidates or even generate lawsuits.
A(n) ________ specifies the amount of money a company plans to spend on specific items that have long-term use and require significant financial investments.
capital expenditure budget
Gordon, the CEO of a closed-end business development company, believes strongly in the ideas that he proposes and stands by them. He displays high level of self-confidence and is an inspiration to his followers. Many consider him as a role model. Gordon can be called a ________ leader.
charismatic leader
________ typically identify key factors that could affect the desired results and specify what different actions will be taken if changes in key events occur.
contingency plan
The ________ requires a manager to start with the previous year's budget and then present arguments for why the upcoming year's budget should be increased or decreased.
incremental budgeting approach
A ________ is a list of duties and capabilities required for a particular job.
job description
Auto parts manufacturer JEG Inc. has a number of vacancies at lower management levels and wants to fill the positions from within the company itself rather than recruit externally. The company plans to e-mail the job specifications to all employees and post the jobs on the company Web site. Which of the following, if true, will strengthen the company's decision?
job posting can help ensure that all qualified employees have an opportunity to apply for a particular job. Can also help current employees get a better idea of the types of jobs available to them and the qualifications needed to be successful in those jobs.
A(n) ________ is a statement that describes the skills, experience, and education that a candidate should have to perform the job.
job specification
Which of the following is true for a bona fide occupational qualification?
organization is not prevented from using certain criteria that might be regarded as discriminatory as long as the firm can demonstrate that the criterion in question is a bona fide occupational qualification, or a qualification that has a direct and material impact
________ is the practice of taking a significant activity within the organization and contracting that activity out to an independent party.
outsourcing
Computer software companies compete against a wide array of competitors and must continually struggle to lead, or even stay abreast of, industry changes. Thus, we may say that software companies exist in ________ and ________ external environments.
turbulent and uncertain
Which of the following statements is true about using physical testing as a selection method?
typically used when job has high physical demands. physical exams protects the firm by: reducing insurance claims, protecting from lawsuits by identifying high-risk applicants.
________ orientation sessions are generally designed to help the new employee get up to speed on the new job, co-workers, policies, procedures, and expectations.
work-unit
