MGT291 chapter 1 quiz

Firms pursuing a __________ strategy strive to be the lowest cost producer in an industry for a particular level of product quality. a. differentiation b. cost leadership c. specialization d. evaluation

b. cost leadership

Organizations pursuing a specialization strategy often try to develop a competitive advantage based on which of the following? a. customer integrity b. customer intimacy c. customer intimidation d. customer integration

b. customer intimacy

Listening to employees, recognizing their work, building trust, and behaving ethically has been shown to boost each of the following measures of performance EXCEPT: a. operating earnings. b. environmental preservation. c. return on investment. d. stock price.

b. environmental preservation.

One of your remote employees makes a mistake on an important project, so you must write her an email that explains the nature of the mistake and stresses how vital it is that the mistake is both fixed and never repeated. At the same time, because it was an honest mistake, you do not want your email to demoralize, demotivate, or otherwise unduly upset your employee. Your ability to write an email that corrects your employee's behavior without damaging her productivity or your relationship with her falls under which category of skills? a. technical skills b. interpersonal skills c. conceptual skills d. diagnostic skills

b. interpersonal skills

Which of the following is not a facet of human resource management? a. creating programs to develop employees' skills b. developing incentives to motivate employees c. developing incentives to use fewer employees d. developing incentives to retain employees

c. developing incentives to use fewer employees

Interactionalism

suggests that individuals and situations interact continuously to determine individuals' behavior

___________ are written predictions specifying expected relationships between certain variables. a. Hypotheses b. Prophesies c. Theories d. Correlations

a. Hypotheses

Which of the following scenarios most clearly exemplifies the successful use of a manager's diagnostic skills? a. Sally suspects that Gary is underperforming because he is not getting enough sleep, not because he is incapable. She lets him work from 10 to 6 instead of 9 to 5, and his performance improves. b. Sally must convince Gary and Rob to work overtime. She knows that Gary's top priority is his own self-interest, so when talking to him, she emphasizes how much money he'll make. She knows that Rob's top priority is her well-being, so when talking to him, she emphasizes how much it will mean to her. Gary and Rob both work overtime happily. c. A program on Sally's computer stops working. She could ask Gary, a member of the tech support team, to fix it, but Sally is good with computers and fixes the problem herself in less time than it would have taken Gary to come over and fix it. d. Sally has to lay off either Rob or Gary. Although she likes Rob more, she lays him off because Gary fits in better with the team overall and is better able to execute the company's strategic mission.

a. Sally suspects that Gary is underperforming because he is not getting enough sleep, not because he is incapable. She lets him work from 10 to 6 instead of 9 to 5, and his performance improves.

___________ management is based on the belief that productivity is maximized when organizations are rationalized with precise sets of instructions based on time-and-motion studies. a. Scientific b. Sociological c. Straightforward d. Strategic

a. Scientific management

Which of the following characteristics gives Costco a competitive advantage? a. committed employees b. lower operating expenses c. lower employee salaries d. lack of direct competitors

a. committed employees

If a company creates and maintains a culture that encourages employees to bring new ideas into the company, it is most likely to be using what strategy? a. differentiation b. cost leadership c. specialization d. evaluation

a. differentiation

Deming believed that removing _______ from the workplace gives employees pride in their workmanship, which increases production. a. fear b. diversity c. competition d. hierarchy

a. fear

The _________ method relies on systematic studies that identify and replicate a result using a variety of methods, samples, and settings. a. scientific b. procedural c. statistical d. intuitive

a. scientific

Deming believed that when things go wrong, it is almost certain that the ________ rather than the __________ is the cause. a. system, worker b. worker, system c. manager, employee d. employee, manager

a. system, worker

Organizational behavior is defined as the study of three interrelated areas, one of which is: a. the individual-organization interface. b. the maximization of human resources. c. profitability. d. the management of interpersonal conflict in the workplace.

a. the individual-organization interface.

The __________ effect occurs when people improve some aspect of their behavior or performance simply because they are being assessed. a. Hamilton b. Hawthorne c. Henry d. Hendricks

b. Hawthorne

Which of the following is NOT an example of organizational citizenship? a. never missing deadlines b. not asking for raises c. meeting all of the goals necessary to qualify for end of year bonuses d. agreeing to trade shifts with a coworker

b. not asking for raises

Which managerial function involves designing jobs, grouping jobs into units, and establishing patterns of authority between jobs and units? a. planning b. organizing c. leading d. controlling

b. organizing

Successful business strategies are grounded in creating and maintaining a competitive advantage that is ______________. a. volatile b. sustainable c. inflexible d. aggressive

b. sustainable

The steps of the scientific method go in which order? a. hypothesis, theory, data, verification b. theory, hypothesis, data, verification c. data, hypothesis, theory, verification d. data, theory, hypothesis, verification

b. theory, hypothesis, data, verification

Michael Porter says that, to have a competitive advantage, a company must ultimately be able to give customers: a. perfect customer service. b. the product with the highest possible quality. c. superior value for their money. d. whatever they want.

c. superior value for their money.

Check My Work Deepak is the founder of a small game development studio. He devised a method for meeting deadlines that has proven very effective for his organization. Deepak believes that his method will also work for any other organization. What type of perspective does this belief reflect? a. situational b. scientific c. universal d. interactional

c. universal

According to __________, an individual's behavior results from a continuous, multidirectional interaction between the characteristics of the person and of the situation. a. the universal perspective b. systems theory c. the situational perspective d. interactionalism

d. interactionalism

The study of organizational behavior is beneficial to managers because: a. managers who cannot cite important organizational behavior texts rarely get promoted. b. it enables them to be dispassionate when firing underperforming employees. c. it enables them to exploit human resources more efficiently. d. working with people is an improvable skill.

d. working with people is an improvable skill.