Intro to Business Exam 2

_____ is a formal feedback process that requires managers to give their subordinates feedback on a one-to-one basis, typically by comparing actual results to expected results.

A performance appraisal

The goal of mass production strategy is to:

Achieve reductions in average cost by taking advantage of specialization and the efficient use of capital.

Which of the following is a key factor that operations managers evaluate when deciding the location of a manufacturing facility?

Adequacy of utilities

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau:

An independent bureau within the Federal Reserve that helps consumers make financial decisions.

The term _____ refers to replacing human operation and control of machinery and equipment with some form of programmed control.

Automation

In the context of acquiring financial assets, which of the following is a robo advisor service that helps people set, track, stick to, and eventually achieve their financial goals?

Betterment

In the context of investments, a _____ is a formal IOU issued by a corporation.

Bond

In the context of equity theory, which of the following is the best way to combat equity issues?

By way of clear, open communication from management

The term _____ refers to an approach to employee benefits that gives all employees a set dollar amount that they must spend on company benefits, allocated however they wish within broad limitations.

Cafeteria-style benefits

Investors can earn a financial return on common stock called a(n) _____ if the market price of their stock rises relative to the price they paid for it.

Capital Gain

In the context of performance pay options, _____ involve payment as a percentage of sales.

Commissions

The term _____ refers to the combination of pay and benefits that employees receive in exchange for their work.

Compensation

_____ software provides powerful drawing and drafting tools that enable users to create and edit blueprints and make drawings quickly and easily.

Computer-aided design

Monitoring performance of firms—or individuals within those firms—and making improvements when necessary is known as _____.

Controlling

Which of the following is the primary contribution of middle managers?

Coordinating teams and special projects with their peers from other departments

Which of the following is the first step in the strategic planning process?

Defining the mission of an organization

In the context of leadership, _____ share power with their followers.

Democratic leaders

To operations managers, _____ means producing output or achieving a goal at the lowest cost.

Efficiency

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 created the _____ to enforce its provisions.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Identify the theory of motivation that primarily deals with the relationship among individual effort, individual performance, and individual reward.

Expectancy theory

The _____ is an independent agency created by Congress to maintain stability and public confidence in the nation's financial system, primarily by insuring bank deposits.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

The _____ of a firm includes managers who directly supervise nonmanagement employees.

First-line management

In a _____, the good or service stays in one place, and the employees, machinery, and equipment are brought to the site when needed during various stages of the production process.

Fixed Position Layout

_____ is a scheduling option that allows workers to choose when they start and finish their workdays, as long as they complete the required number of hours.

Flex-Time

In the context of leadership styles, _____ set objectives for their followers but give them freedom to choose how they accomplish those goals.

Free-rein leaders

Companies that use _____ divide employees into groups based on area of expertise.

Functional departmentalization

An advantage of using commercial personal finance programs such as Quicken or Moneydance is that they:

Give you the ability to export data into tax preparation software, making tax filing much simpler.

A _____ is the period of time that a credit card holder has to pay outstanding balances before interest or fees are assessed.

Grace Period

In the context of management skills, _____ refer to the ability to work effectively with and through other individuals in a range of different relationships.

Human Skills

_____ is focused on maximizing the effectiveness of the workforce by recruiting world-class talent, promoting career development, and determining workforce strategies to boost organizational effectiveness.

Human resource management

_____ is a family of generic standards for environmental management established by the International Organization for Standardization.

ISO 14000

_____ is a family of generic standards for quality management systems established by the International Organization for Standardization.

ISO 9000

In the context of the critical path method (CPM), _____ are activities in a project that must be completed before some other specified activity can begin.

Immediate predecessors

Which of the following statements is true of line organizations?

In line organizations, decision making is quick.

The process of seeking employees who are currently within the firm to fill open positions is known as _____.

Internal Recruitment

_____ involves reducing consumption today in order to acquire assets that build future wealth.

Investing

Which of the following is a disadvantage of on-the-job training?

It can compromise the customer experience.

Which of the following is a characteristic shared by all versions of total quality management (TQM)?

It focuses on prevention rather than correction of errors.

Which of the following is a characteristic of total quality management (TQM)?

It focuses on the empowerment of employees.

Which of the following statements is true of an organization chart?

It helps employees understand how they and their jobs fit within the broader organization.

Which of the following statements is true of a debit card purchase?

It immediately reduces the customer's bank account balance.

Which of the following statements is true of a servicescape?

It includes factors such as ambience; functionality; and signs, symbols, and artifacts.

Which of the following statements is true of foreign outsourcing?

It is likely to create coordination problems.

Which of the following statements is true of on-the-job training?

It is popular because it is very low-cost.

In the context of credit card agreements, which of the following statements best describes the annual percentage rate (APR)?

It is the percentage financing cost charged on unpaid credit card balances.

Which of the following statements is true of equity theory?

It proposes that perceptions of fairness directly affect worker motivation.

An advantage of having a diversified financial portfolio is that:

It reduces your risk by ensuring that losses in some investments are offset by gains in others.

In the context of organizational structure, which of the following statements is true of the span of control?

It refers to the number of people a manager supervises.

_____ is a system that emphasizes the manufacturing of goods to meet actual current demand, thus minimizing the need to hold inventories of finished goods and work in process at each stage of the supply chain.

Just-in-time production

_____ help current and potential executives develop the skills they need to move into leadership positions.

Management development programs

Eddys Inc., a denim jeans manufacturer, has employed a strategy that allows it to manufacture jeans that suit the needs of specific customers. This strategy enables Eddys Inc. to produce its goods in small quantities and offer a wide variety of options to its customers. The firm is able to do all this at costs almost as low as those associated with traditional production techniques. Given this information, it can be inferred that Eddys Inc. uses _____.

Mass customization

Which of the following is a motivation theory that suggests that management attitudes toward workers fall into two opposing categories based on management assumptions about worker capabilities and values?

McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y

Danish, a division head in Lieven & Lieven Corp., supervises section leaders and foremen and reports to the vice president of the organization. He is primarily responsible for coordinating various teams and special projects with his peers from other departments. In this context, Danish is a _____.

Middle Manager

The _____ of an organization defines the organization's purpose, values, and core goals, providing the framework for all other plans.

Mission

In the context of a budget, _____ are expenditures that a spender has little or no control over.

Nondiscretionary payments

_____ is concerned with supervising all of the activities involved in creating value by producing goods and services and distributing them to customers.

Operations management

A(n) _____ is a visual representation of the company's formal structure.

Organization chart

Managers who use a Theory Y approach assume that:

People can exercise self-direction and self-control to meet company goals.

The 401(k) plans are employee-contribution retirement plans that are offered to employees of _____.

Private-sector businesses

The term _____ refers to a specific time frame during which a new hire can prove his or her worth on the job before he or she becomes permanent.

Probationary Period

A _____ consists of all of the tangible and intangible features that create value for consumers by satisfying their needs and wants.

Product

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a federal legislation that:

Prohibits discrimination in hiring, firing, compensation, apprenticeships, training, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which of the following is a workplace example that is most likely to satisfy the esteem needs of an employee?

Promotion

In the context of setting strategic goals, the most effective goals are:

Realistic but challenging.

In the context of investing in your career, one way to increase your marketability and your starting salary is to:

Secure an internship during your college years.

In the context of facility location, many _____ place primary interest on locating close to their customers.

Service Firms

In the context of the strategic planning process, after evaluating its competitive position, an organization should:

Set goals for itself.

Managers with strong conceptual skills typically excel at:

Strategic Planning.(Top-Level Managers)

Which of the following is a difference between strategic planning and operational planning?

Strategic planning is done by top-level managers, whereas operational planning is done by first-line managers.

A(n) _____ is an interviewing approach that involves developing a list of questions beforehand and asking the same questions in the same order to each candidate.

Structured Interview

In the context of operations management, _____ means finding ways to meet an organization's current objectives while protecting and preserving the environment for future generations.

Sustainability

In the context of expectancy theory, which of the following is most likely to ensure that employees remain motivated?

Sustaining the link between effort, performance, and reward

Which of the following factors of job enrichment is highlighted when workers complete their assignments with clear beginnings and endings?

Task identity

In the context of management skills, _____ refer to expertise in a specific functional area or department.

Technical Skills

_____ are employee payroll-deduction retirement plans that offer tax benefits.

The 457 Plans

Which of the following is a Theory Y assumption about workers?

The capacity for imagination, creativity, and ingenuity is widely distributed in the population.

Which of the following is a potential crisis that employers face as the baby boomer generation begins turning 60?

The loss of key talent and experience to massive retirements

In the context of line-and-staff organizations, which of the following functions is a line manager most likely to supervise?

The production function

Which of the following statements is true of performance appraisals?

They affect decisions regarding compensation, promotions, training, transfers, and terminations.

Identify a true statement about matrix organizations.

They are built on the line-and-staff approach by adding a lot more flexibility.

Which of the following is an advantage of certificates of deposit?

They are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Which of the following statements is true of ISO standards?

They are mostly industry-specific.

Which of the following statements is true of full-service brokers?

They charge commissions based on the dollar value of the orders their clients place.

In the context of line-and-staff organizations, which of the following is true of staff managers?

They do not directly report to line managers.

In the context of management hierarchy, which of the following statements is true of first-line managers?

They manage the people who do the work.

Which of the following statements is true of services?

They must be consumed where they are provided.

Which of the following is a disadvantage of certificates of deposit?

They offer lower returns than most other types of investments.

Which of the following statements is true about enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems?

They provide a common information system that makes it easier for organizations throughout a value chain to communicate and coordinate their activities.

In the context of employee recruitment, which of the following statements is true of employee-referral programs?

They represent a real bargain for employers.

Which of the following statements is true of centralized companies?

They tend to have a strong corporate image.

Which of the following is a drawback of line organizations when implemented in medium-sized and large companies?

Too much paperwork

Which of the following is an external recruitment method?

Trade Associations

A downside to centralization is that centralized companies:

Typically respond more slowly to customer needs.

_____ involves training workers off-site on real equipment similar to what they would actually use on the job.

Vestibule training

The _____ is a specified period of time for which an employee must work for an employer in order to receive the full advantage of certain retirement benefits.

Vesting Period

_____ refer to the pay that employees receive in exchange for the number of hours or days that they work.

Wages

An assumption of Theory Y is that:

Work is as natural as play or rest.

Which of the following is a Theory X assumption about workers?

Workers dislike work and will do everything they can to avoid it.

In the context of job enrichment, in task significance, _____.

Workers understand the impact of their tasks on others

Which of the following is an advantage of hiring young workers?

Young workers have a proven ability to multitask.