MGMT chapters 6,7,8 MIND TAP

operations manager

manages the systems that convert resources into goods and services.

Managers must coordinate an organization's resources to achieve the organization's goals. Which are typically considered an organization's resource?

-people -finances -materials -information

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.

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.

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

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.

The major resources used in production are financial, material, information, and people. What does the magnitude of change have to do with the conversion process of these resources?

The magnitude of change of a conversion process is the degree to which the resources are physically changed.

Southwest Airlines is known for closely following its mission statement: Southwest Airlines is dedicated to the highest quality of Customer Service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and Company Spirit. We are committed to provide our Employees a stable work environment with equal opportunity for learning and personal growth. In keeping with this statement, the company has developed inner rites, rituals, heroes, and values including holding a Christmas party in a hanger in Dallas every year and flying in employees from throughout the United States to attend. Awards are given at the party, entertainment is provided by employees, and dinner is provided for everyone. What do these activities describe?

a communal corporate culture

"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:

a discrepancy between an actual condition and a desired condition

If a city is considering building a new city office complex, it may appoint a(n) _________ to research possible locations for the offices within the city, then to present their findings to the city manager for review and presentation to the city council. The committee would be disbanded after its assignment has been completed.

ad hoc committee

When a research and development department is engaged in activities geared toward discovering new knowledge with some potential use it is engaged in ________

applied research

Delegation assigns work and power to other workers as required by the centralization or decentralization of authority within the organization. What is the last step in the delegation process?

assign accountability

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

Companies, the military, the government, and nonprofit organizations can operate because they have determined the levels of authority and reporting structure for their organizations. What is the name given to this line of authority?

chain of command

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

What type of leader seeks input from almost all workers and makes the final decisions based on their support?

consensus leaders

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?

consultative

the traditions, heroes, informal methods of interacting, giving of recognition and other values of a firm and can be strong and used to bind members of the organization like a family, or weak so that connections remain on a professional-only level.

corporate culture

Departmentalization is the grouping together of work units or departments to create manageable units. What is the name given to departmentalization of a group of employees based on them all doing the same organizational activity?

departmentalization by function

A store with different sections such as household appliances, bed and bath, clothing, tools, furniture, jewelry, perfume, and cosmetics will often assign employees to work exclusively within one of those sections. In doing so the management is engaging in:

departmentalization by product

A company that groups its activities according to the defined geographic area in which they are performed—whether that is a city block, nation, or continent—has:

departmentalized by location

What is the name given to determining what a product will look like, what options it will have, where it will be made, and other variables that arise when a company has an idea for a product and moves it into research and development?

design planning

What is the first step for a service business to begin planning and provide the services its customers want?

determine who the customer is and what needs the customer has

A contingency plan outlines alternate courses of action that may be taken if an organization's other plans are ________ or become _________

disrupted; ineffective

What do business people mean when they talk about lean manufacturing?

eliminating waste from all the activities required to produce a good or service

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

Utility is the ability of a good or service to satisfy a human need. Which type of utility is the concern of operations management?

form utility

Line, line-and-staff, matrix, and network all refer to:

forms of organizational structure

An organization is a formal structure consisting of interrelated positions. What is the name given to a group created within that organization to accomplish goals that may or may not be relevant to the organization?

informal group

When a manager gives an employee the power to accomplish an assigned job or task that might include ordering supplies, spend money on behalf of the organization, or hiring and firing employees, the manager has _________ to that employee

granted authority

the _________ is a designation given to an informal method of communication within an organization. By launching news of pending changes, it can be used by the organization for its own benefit.

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

Manufacturing in the United States has dropped significantly, however the cost of manufacturing has decreased. Which of the following can be attributed to the increase in manufacturing productivity in the United States?

innovation and skilled workers

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 managers personality

the process of managing inventories in such a way as to minimize costs, including both holding costs and potential stock-out costs.

inventory control

services

is/are characterized by being consumed immediately, being provided when and where the customer desires them, is/are labor-intensive, and has/have a high degree of customer involvement.

Factors that bear upon a company's organization include the external environment in which the firm operates, the nature of the decision to be made, the abilities of lower-level managers, and the firm's established practices. If a firm operates in a complex unpredictable environment with dependable lower-level managers, which of the following would be most likely true about the company?

it will be a decentralized organization

When employers are concerned that their employees may become bored with performing the same tasks repetitively, they use _________ to systematically shift employees to other jobs to give them opportunities to perform new tasks

job rotation

What is the name given to the assignment of distinct tasks within an organization to different people so each person become extremely proficient at performing that single task?

job specialization

What is the name given to a management structure in which the line managers are provided with specialists? Please select the most specific answer.

line and staff structure

When the management of a business want to show the relationships and positions within the business they create a(n):

organization chart

involves three phases to convert an idea that meets customer needs to an actual good or service.

planning for production

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

When a company tests products to ensure that the goods and services are produced in accordance with design specifications, it is engaged in__________

quality control

magnitude of change

refers to the degree to which resources are physically changed during the conversion process.

part of the development of a product involves _______ and ______ as the product is improved, which generally results in an essential new product

refinement; extension

where does research and development begin?

research and development begins with an idea

What part of operations control involves the process of ensuring that materials and other resources are at the right place at the right time?

scheduling

In 1900 only 28 percent of American workers were employed in service firms but by the beginning of 2017 this figure had risen to 88 percent. This increase in service-related business has led to America being said to have a ________

service economy

What is the name given to an economy in which less effort is devoted to the production of goods than other things?

service economy

The number of persons reporting to one manager is referred to as the __________ and after years of research, it has been determined that there is no perfect ratio of subordinates to managers.

span of management

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

If a company has a major problem, what type of committee might it create to investigate the problem?

task force

Management

the process of coordinating people and other resources to achieve the goals of an organization.

routing of materials

the sequence of workstations that the materials will follow in the production process.

Once the production process begins, a company must engage in operations control, which includes purchasing, inventory control, scheduling, and quality control. What is the objective of purchasing?

to ensure that required materials are available when they are needed, in the proper amounts at minimum costs

What is the purpose of an organization's mission statement?

to make a statement of what makes the organization different from others

____________ 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

If a company has very competent workers, a well-established set of standard operating procedures, and few expected problems, what type of management should it adopt?

wide span of management