Management - Exam 2

mission statement

A broad declaration of an organization's purpose that identifies the organization's products and customers and distinguishes the organization from its competitors.

Agave Pharma has opted for a top-down approach to changing how the company functions so that efficiency is increased. What is the change likely to entail? 8

A fast or revolutionary approach involving only the top managers

When Electrix, Ltd., sells its TVs and DVD players using the same basic marketing approach in various countries, it is pursuing ________. 6

A global strategy

Stag Plugs, Ltd., opts to take a bottom-up approach in order to draft a new attendance policy. What will the approach entail? 8

A gradual or evolutionary approach involving managers at all levels

functional-level strategy

A plan of action to improve the ability of each of an organization's functions to perform its task-specific activities in ways that add value to an organization's goods and services.

corporate level strategy

A plan that indicates in which industries and national markets an organization intends to compete.

SWOT analysis

A planning exercise in which managers identify organizational strengths (S) and weaknesses (W) and environmental opportunities (O) and threats (T).

strategic alliance

An agreement in which managers pool or share their organization's resources and know-how with a foreign company, and the two organizations share the rewards and risks of starting a new venture.

Management by objectives is a mechanism of control with ________ organizational control systems. 8

Behavior

To determine an organization's mission, managers must first define its ________. 6

Business

A real-estate agent, who is paid on the basis of the percentage of the sale price of a house sold, is said to be paid on a(n) ________ basis. 9

Commission

According to ________ theory, managers should choose a structure that fits the circumstances affecting their organization the most. 7

Contingency

The formal target-setting, monitoring, evaluation, and feedback systems that provide managers with information about whether the organization's strategy and structure are working efficiently and effectively are known as ________ systems. 8

Control

The industries and national markets an organization intends to compete in and the reasons why are specified in a company's _______-level strategy 6

Corporate

Allocating authority in an organization, which gives lower-level managers and nonmanagerial employees the right to make important decisions about how to use organizational resources, is an example of ________. 7

Decentralization of authority

The most immediate and potent form of behavior control is ________. 9

Direct Supervision

differentiation strategy

Distinguishing an organization's products from the products of competitors on dimensions such as product design, quality, or after-sales service.

Jane, an employee at Paulson, has been promoted recently due to the huge success of two projects she had delivered that generated more revenue and further projects for PP Tech. She is highly motivated by the promotion and perceives ________ justice of the firm to be high. 9

Distributive

The units of Zach, Ltd. are grouped together such that the functions that work together to produce a product are grouped together. This is an example of a(n) ________ structure. 7

Divisional

Which of the following structures is an organizational structure composed of separate business units within which are the functions that work together to produce a specific product for a specific customer? 7

Divisional

business-level plan

Divisional managers' decisions pertaining to divisions' long-term goals, overall strategy, and structure.

The managers of a division are given a fixed budget and are then evaluated on the basis of their ability to produce goods or services. This is an example of a(n) ________ budget approach. 8

Expense

Maria, a middle manager, enjoys talking over work situations with Daniel, her subordinate, who is a first-line supervisor. However, she notices that Daniel frequently brings problems to her that he expects her to solve, rather than solving them himself. Since Daniel has been a supervisor for a significant length of time, he should be more independent in his actions. She stops acting interested in the problems Daniel brings to her and makes her responses brief. Maria is practicing ________. 9

Extinction

"Attitude" refers to how hard an employee works for an organization. 9

False

According to Michael Porter's theory, it is possible for managers to pursue both a low-cost strategy and a differentiation strategy at the same time. 6

False

Acor Explosives bases sales representatives' pay on the percentage of sales dollars they generate. They are using a commission pay program. 9

False

An inert culture is one that controls employee behavior and attitudes through its strong and cohesive organizational culture. 8

False

Behavior that is performed in order to acquire either a material or a social reward is called intrinsically motivated behavior. 9

False

During the input stage, the most common type of control procedure is concurrent control, which gives managers immediate feedback. 8

False

Punishment involves removing a negative consequence when dysfunctional behaviors occur. 9

False

Synergy is obtained by apportioning financial resources among divisions to increase financial returns or spread risks among different businesses. 6

False

When managers organize divisions according to the types of customer to whom they market their products, they are focusing on a product structure. 7

False

Beswick Widget Ltd. sets up a system to monitor unit sales of its products to measure changes taking place in customer tastes and the possible resulting impact on future sales. With this system, Beswick is using ________ control. 8

Feedback

The extent to which a job gives the worker direct and clear information about how well the worker is performing the job is known as ________. 7

Feedback

A company that is serving only a few market segments has most likely adopted a ________ strategy. 6

Focused differentation

Madison Hotels sold a foreign organization the right to use its brand name and operating know-how in return for a lump-sum payment and a share of the profits. This is an example of ________. 6

Franchising

The planning and strategy making necessary to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of a particular function are the responsibility of a ________. 6

Functional manager

functional-level plan

Functional managers' decisions pertaining to the goals that they propose to pursue to help the division attain its business-level goals

The decision of a company to invest in state-of-the-art European production facilities is an example of a ________-level strategy. 6

Funtional

In general, motivation of employees in an organization is high with ________ interpersonal justice and ________ informational justice. 9

High; high

A Place for Pizza established a basic division of labor among "chefs" and "food servers" in which chefs perform all tasks involved in actual cooking and food servers carry out all tasks involved in giving food to the customers. A Place for Pizza implemented ________. 7

Job design

BIC, makers of ballpoint pens and razors, concentrates on making its products less expensive than its rivals. BIC is pursuing a _______ strategy. 6

Low-cost

Managers are able to be responsive to the needs of their customers and maintain flexibility in making decisions regarding customers' changing needs with a ________ structure. 7

Market

Which of the following allows an organization to manage its global value chain and to find new ways to reduce costs while increasing the quality of products? 7

Network structures

The standard of performance that measures efficiency at the corporate level of the organization is known as ________. 8

Operating costs

Alkyl, Ltd., one of the leading shoe manufacturers, enters into a contract with Blinx - a foreign manufacturer - to only manufacture its shoes. In this scenario, Alkyl, Ltd. is following the ________ strategy. 7

Outsourcing

A worker who is paid on the basis of the number of computer components produced per day is said to be paid on a(n) ________ basis. 9

Piece-rate

A general guide to action for the managers of an organization is known as a ________. 6

Policy

At Xen, Ltd., each product line is managed within a division. In each of these divisions, the division manager is responsible for creating the business-level strategy for the product line. Xen, Ltd., is utilizing a ________ structure. 7

Product

A subordinate performs a dysfunctional behavior, and her manager administers an undesired consequence to the subordinate. This is known as ________. 9

Punishment

The CEO of a company would like to know whether his managers can pay off claims of short-term creditors without selling inventory. What ratio will help him understand the company's liquidity? 8

Quick ratio

An organization's net income before taxes divided by the total assets of the organization is known as ________. 8

Return on investment

Frame Corporation updates its five-year plan annually to take into account changing conditions within the organization and in the organization's external environment. Which of the following best explains this plan implemented by Frame Corporation? 6

Rolling plan

According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory, which of the following is the highest level of needs of workers? 9

Self-actualization

focused low-cost strategy

Serving only one segment of the overall market and trying to be the lowest-cost organization serving that segment.

The extent to which a job requires the worker to use a wide range of knowledge and abilities is known as ________. 7

Skill variety

According to goal-setting theory, to stimulate high motivation and performance, goals must be ________. 9

Specific and difficult

Managers at Dimensions, Inc., analyze the current situation of their organization and then develop plans to help their organization accomplish its mission and achieve its goals. This is known as ________. 6

Strategy formulation

The reason managers pursue vertical integration is that it ________. 6

Strengthens competitive advantage

Mr. Pierson reads an article in the newspaper about one of his students who has been appointed to CEO of a multinational corporation. At this moment, Mr. Pierson is experiencing ________. 7

Task significance

strategy formulation

The development of a set of corporate, business, and functional strategies that allow an organization to accomplish its mission and achieve its goals

corporate-level plan

Top management's decisions pertaining to the organization's mission, overall strategy, and structure.

A compensation plan of an organization that bases pay on performance levels is called a merit pay plan. 9

True

Adaptive cultures are those whose values and norms help an organization to build momentum and to grow and change as needed to achieve its goals and be effective. 8

True

The idea that top management should design an organization with as few levels of authority as is needed to conduct the business of the organization in an efficient and effective manner is known as the minimum chain of command. 7

True

The nature of an organization's human resources is an important determinant of the organization's structure. 7

True

Too much decentralization has disadvantages for an organization. 7

True

William, a manager at Space Solutions, Ltd., makes sure the outcomes that are offered to subordinates for their good performance are rewards that they will value. William is working on ________. 9

Valence

joint venture

a strategic alliance among two or more companies that agree to jointly establish and share the ownership of a new business

licensing

allowing a foreign organization to take charge of manufacturing and distributing a product in its country or world region in return for a negotiated fee

The step of the control process utilized by managers to evaluate whether the actual performance of the organization differs significantly from the standards of performance that assess the organization is ________. 8

comparing actual performance to the standards

multidomestic strategy

customizing products and marketing strategies to specific national conditions

related diversification

entering a new business or industry to create a competitive advantage in one or more of an organization's existing divisions or businesses

diversification

expanding a company's business operations into a new industry in order to produce new kinds of valuable goods or services

vertical integration

expanding a company's operations either backward into an industry that produces inputs for its products or forward into an industry that uses, distributes, or sells its products

Danny, the manager of Wader Shoes, installed new machinery to speed up the production process after the assigned targets were not achieved for the third week of the month. With regard to the control process, Danny is ________. 8

initiating corrective actions

A computer programmer who does his or her job well because he or she enjoys solving complicated computer problems is said to be ________. 9

intrinsically motivated

Barbara is the dean of the College of Business. She enjoys the pace of her work and the feeling of accomplishment she gets when she is able to initiate a new program to help students. The salary she receives is attractive and allows her to travel abroad on her vacations. Barbara ________. 9

is both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated

The managers of Foodex, a fast food restaurant, record outputs on a daily basis by counting how many customers their employees serve, the time each transaction takes, and how much money each customer spends every day. With reference to the control process, the managers of Foodex are ________. 8

measuring the actual level of performance of employees

The greater the level of uncertainty in the organization's environment, the ________. 7

more likely managers are to design a structure and a culture that are flexible

synergy

performance gains that result when individuals and departments coordinate their actions

wholly owned foreign subsidary

production operations established in a foreign country independent of any local direct involvement

concentration on a single industry

reinvesting a company's profits to strengthen its competitive position in its current industry

franchising

selling to a foreign organization the rights to use a brand name and operating know-how in return for a lump-sum payment and a share of the profits

focused differentiation strategy

serving only one segment of the overall market and trying to be the most differentiated organization serving that segment

strategic leadership

the ability of the CEO and top managers to convey a compelling vision of what they want the organization to achieve to their subordinates

time horizon

the intended duration of a plan

Top managers in a company decide between themselves to implement an employee stock ownership plan for all their employees. This is an example of a company taking a ________. 8

top-down approach to promote adaptive culture

Specific, difficult goals may be detrimental for ________. 9

work that is very creative and uncertain