Mgmt ch11

Which of the following accurately states the primary difference between business process engineering, TQM, and Six Sigma? Multiple Choice 1. Business process engineering aims at quantum gains on the order of 30 to 50 percent or more, whereas programs like TQM and Six Sigma stress incremental progress. 2. Business process reengineering aims at improved productivity and reduced costs, whereas TQM and Six Sigma focus on better product quality and greater customer satisfaction. 3. Business process reengineering has to be used exclusively, whereas continuous improvement tools like TQM and Six Sigma can be used in tandem.

1. Business process engineering aims at quantum gains on the order of 30 to 50 percent or more, whereas programs like TQM and Six Sigma stress incremental progress.

Which of the following statements about total quality management (TQM) is NOT correct? Multiple Choice 1. TQM aims at a one-time quantum improvement, while continuous improvement programs like Six Sigma aim at ongoing incremental improvements. 2. The TQM doctrine preaches that there is no such thing as "good enough." 3. While TQM concentrates on producing quality goods and fully satisfying customer expectations, it achieves its biggest success when it is extended to employee efforts in all departments.

1. TQM aims at a one-time quantum improvement, while continuous improvement programs like Six Sigma aim at ongoing incremental improvements.

Electronic scorecards used by senior managers at some companies Multiple Choice 1. gather daily or weekly statistics from different databases by inventory, sales costs, and sales trends. 2, enable senior management to monitor employees' work performance in real time in order to make necessary HR decisions. 3. measure managers' performance and effectiveness in executing the company's strategy.

1. gather daily or weekly statistics from different databases by inventory, sales costs, and sales trends.

Which of the following statements accurately describes the term "best practice"? Multiple Choice .1 It is a technique that establishes when strategic-fit exists among the value chains of different businesses. 2. It is a method of performing an activity that has been shown to consistently deliver superior results compared to other methods.

2. It is a method of performing an activity that has been shown to consistently deliver superior results compared to other methods.

Company strategies and value creating processes can't be effectively executed without internal information systems that include Multiple Choice 1. TQM, reengineering, and Six Sigma programs. 2. customer data, employee data, supplier/partner data, operations data, and financial performance data. 3. continuous access to social networks.

2. customer data, employee data, supplier/partner data, operations data, and financial performance data.

Which of the following is NOT a type of data commonly tracked by a company's information systems? 1. financial performance data 2. ethical conduct data 3. customer data

2. ethical conduct data

An important consideration in designing a strategy-supportive motivation and reward system is to Multiple Choice 1. employ incentives that will help motivate employees to work hard at performing their assigned duties and activities. 2. make both monetary and nonmonetary rewards integral parts of the reward system. 3. make across-the-board wage and salary increases the cornerstone of monetary rewards.

2. make both monetary and nonmonetary rewards integral parts of the reward system.

Which of the following is NOT characteristic of a compensation and reward system designed to help drive successful strategy execution? Multiple Choice 1. tying incentives to performance outcomes directly linked to good strategy execution and financial performance 2. offering rewards that amount to 3 percent of an employee's total compensation 3. providing generous rewards for people who turn in outstanding performances

2. offering rewards that amount to 3 percent of an employee's total compensation

Management's most powerful tool for mobilizing organizational commitment to competent strategy execution and operating excellence is the 1. diligent and persistent use of benchmarking and best practices. 2. proper use of a reward structure with motivational incentives. 3. implementation of TQM and/or Six Sigma programs.

2. proper use of a reward structure with motivational incentives.

How can policies and procedures facilitate good strategy execution? 1. helping ensure consistency in how strategy-critical activities are performed, fostering the use of best practices, TQM, Six Sigma, and continuous improvement efforts, and engaging in benchmarking to identify the best practice activity 2. providing top-down guidance about how certain things need to be done, helping ensure consistency in strategy-critical activities, and promoting a work climate that facilitates strategy execution 3. deciding which value chain activities to perform internally and which to outsource, helping build employee commitment to strengthening the company's core competencies and competitive capabilities, and providing top-down guidance about how certain things need to be done

2. providing top-down guidance about how certain things need to be done, helping ensure consistency in strategy-critical activities, and promoting a work climate that facilitates strategy execution

One of the big policy-making issues concerns 1. the creation of a work climate that facilitates good strategy execution. 2. what activities need to be rigidly prescribed and what activities ought to allow room for independent action on the part of the empowered personnel. 3. how to drive continuous improvement to become a "best-in-industry" performer.

2. what activities need to be rigidly prescribed and what activities ought to allow room for independent action on the part of the empowered personnel.

Which of the following statements concerning benchmarking is NOT correct? Multiple Choice 1. Benchmarking is the backbone of the process of identifying, studying, and implementing best practices. 2. The pay-off from benchmarking comes from adapting the top-notch approaches pioneered by other companies to the company's own operations, thereby boosting the proficiency with which strategy-critical value chain tasks are performed. 3. Benchmarking utilizes advanced statistical methods to improve quality by reducing defects and variability in the performance of business processes.

3. Benchmarking utilizes advanced statistical methods to improve quality by reducing defects and variability in the performance of business processes.

Which of the following is NOT one of the most important nonmonetary approaches companies can use to enhance motivation? 1. Share information with employees about financial performance, strategy, operational measures, market conditions, and competitors' actions. 2. Provide attractive perks and fringe benefits. 3. Provide employees with up-to-date information technology that they can use to perform their daily task to the employer's satisfaction.

3. Provide employees with up-to-date information technology that they can use to perform their daily task to the employer's satisfaction.

Which of the following is an advantage of having well-conceived, state-of-the-art information and operating systems? Multiple Choice 1. They lead to a reduced workforce, significantly reducing the company's expenditures on wages and benefits. 2. They form the backbone of a differentiation strategy keyed to product variety and selection. 3. They enable better strategy execution and strengthen organizational capabilities.

3. They enable better strategy execution and strengthen organizational capabilities.

Which of the following statements about incentives and rewards is NOT correct? 1. They serve as an indirect type of control mechanism that conserves on the more costly control mechanism of supervisory oversight. 2. They help to coordinate the activities of individuals throughout the organization by aligning employees' personal motives with the goals of the organization. 3. They serve primarily to improve the company's image in the eyes of the public.

3. They serve primarily to improve the company's image in the eyes of the public.

Management's most powerful tool for winning employee commitment to good strategy execution and operating excellence is 1. empowering employees and encouraging them to engage in continuous improvement. 2. setting stretch objectives at the individual level that continually ratchet up performance expectations. 3. a system of rewards and incentives tied tightly to the achievement of the targeted strategic and financial performance.

3. a system of rewards and incentives tied tightly to the achievement of the targeted strategic and financial performance.

Total quality management (TQM) emphasizes all of the following EXCEPT which? 1. 100 percent accuracy in performing tasks 2. continuous improvement in all phases of operations 3. adoption of industry standard operating practice

3. adoption of industry standard operating practice

To win employees' sustained, energetic commitment to the strategy execution process, management must 1. provide job variety and promotion opportunities. 2. provide attractive perks and fringe benefits. 3. be resourceful in designing and using motivational incentives.

3. be resourceful in designing and using motivational incentives.

One of the most widely used and effective tools for gauging how well a company is executing pieces of its strategy entails: Multiple Choice 1. checking the competitive advantage potential of cross-business strategic fit. 2. using process management tools to drive continuous improvement in how internal operations are conducted. 3. benchmarking the company's performance of particular activities and business processes against "best-in-industry" performers.

3. benchmarking the company's performance of particular activities and business processes against "best-in-industry" performers.

A company's ability to marshal adequate resources in support of new strategic initiatives and steer them to the appropriate organizational units is important to the strategy execution process because 1. lean, strictly enforced budgets are management's best and most used means of getting organizational units to exercise the fiscal discipline needed to execute the chosen strategy in a cost-efficient manner. 2. accurate budgets are the key to exercising tight financial controls over what organization units can and cannot do in carrying out management's directives to execute the chosen strategy proficiently. 3. changes in strategy often require resource reallocation, and organizational units need the proper funding to carry out their part of the strategic plan effectively and efficiently.

3. changes in strategy often require resource reallocation, and organizational units need the proper funding to carry out their part of the strategic plan effectively and efficiently.

Well-conceived policies and operating procedures facilitate good strategy execution by 1. removing roadblocks to creativity and innovation. 2. fostering a work climate that preserves the status quo whenever possible. 3. enforcing consistency in how strategy-critical activities are performed.

3. enforcing consistency in how strategy-critical activities are performed.

Total quality management (TQM) programs 1. deal exclusively with procedures to achieve defect-free manufacturing and assembly. 2. nearly always contribute more to the achievement of operating excellence than either business process reengineering or Six Sigma quality control techniques. 3. entail creating a corporate culture bent on continuously improving the performance of every task and every value chain activity.

3. entail creating a corporate culture bent on continuously improving the performance of every task and every value chain activity.

A change in strategy nearly always entails budget reallocations because 1. adopting best practices and pushing for continuous improvement tends to reduce costs and reduce overall resource requirements. 2. revamping the performance of value chain activities can be costly. 3. organizational units important in the prior strategy but having a lesser role in the new strategy may need downsizing, while units and activities that now have a bigger and more critical strategic role may need more people, new equipment, additional facilities, and above-average increases in their operating budgets.

3. organizational units important in the prior strategy but having a lesser role in the new strategy may need downsizing, while units and activities that now have a bigger and more critical strategic role may need more people, new equipment, additional facilities, and above-average increases in their operating budgets.

Business process reengineering involves 1. instituting adequate information systems, performance tracking, and controls. 2. creating a total quality culture bent on continuously improving the performance of every task and value chain activity. 3. radical redesigning and streamlining how an activity is performed.

3. radical redesigning and streamlining how an activity is performed.

Major changes in strategy 1. often cannot be realized in the short-run and endurance both from the managers and the shareholders is required. 2. tend to impede the task of empowering employees and shifting to a new, more strategy-supportive culture. 3. usually require above-average budget increases to organizational units launching new initiatives and below-average increases to remaining units.

3. usually require above-average budget increases to organizational units launching new initiatives and below-average increases to remaining units.

In trying to gain employees' wholehearted commitment to good strategy execution and operating excellence, managers are well advised to use all of the following incentives EXCEPT 1. creating a work atmosphere in which there is genuine caring and mutual respect among workers and between management and employees. 2. relying on opportunities for promoting from within wherever possible. 3. withholding information from employees about financial performance, strategy, and competitors' actions.

3. withholding information from employees about financial performance, strategy, and competitors' actions.

Which of the following is NOT a step in the Six Sigma DMAIC process? Multiple Choice 4. Adapt: adapt the different approaches in order to avoid goal conflicts. 2. Define: define what constitutes a defect. 3. Control: teach new and existing employees the best-practice technique to improve significantly customer satisfaction and business.

4. Adapt: adapt the different approaches in order to avoid goal conflicts.

Which of the following is NOT a reason the strategy execution process for new strategic initiatives is dependent on a company's ability to marshal adequate resources? Multiple Choice 1. Too little funding slows progress and impedes the efforts of organizational units to execute their pieces of the strategic plan proficiently. 2. Should internal cash flows prove insufficient to fund the planned strategic initiatives, then management must raise additional funds through borrowing or selling additional shares. 3. Too much funding wastes organizational resources and reduces financial performance. 4. Tight budget control is management's most powerful tool for first-rate strategy execution.

4. Tight budget control is management's most powerful tool for first-rate strategy execution.

While many enterprises have used Six Sigma methods to improve the quality with which activities are performed, there is evidence that Six Sigma Multiple Choice 1. improves ethical and moral behavior within the company. 2. leads to a reduction of quality when not supported with incentive pay plans. 3. can improve employee satisfaction and organizational commitment. 4. can stifle innovation and creativity.

4. can stifle innovation and creativity.

The guidelines for designing an incentive compensation system that will help drive successful strategy execution include Multiple Choice 1. having an outside wage and salary expert administer the system so there is no doubt among employees that the program will be executed in a fair and impartial manner. 2. making minimal use of nonmonetary incentives and rewarding people for diligently performing their assigned duties. 3. ensuring that nonmonetary rewards are more important than monetary rewards. 4. making the financial incentives a major, not minor, piece of the total compensation package.

4. making the financial incentives a major, not minor, piece of the total compensation package.