management exam 1 practice questions
A manager at a company headquarters adheres to the five functions of management: planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling. Who pioneered this framework?
Henri Fayol Fayol identified five functions and 14 principles of management. The five functions are planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling.
__________ are agreements between an organization and another group to exchange goods, services, information, and patents.
Contracts Contracts are agreements between the organization and another group to exchange goods, services, information, patents, and so on. Suppliers and customers, or managers and labor unions, may sign formal agreements about the terms and conditions of their future relationships.
__________ are used by two or more organizations working together to influence the external environment.
Cooperative strategies 2 or more organizations work together using cooperative strategies to influence the environment.
__________ is (are) a fundamental source of environmental risk.
Ecologically unsustainable consumption of natural resources The fundamental sources of risk in modern society are the excessive production of hazards and ecologically unsustainable consumption of natural resources.
Why is competitive aggression, such as Tesla's drive to become the safest car factory in the world, considered to be an independent strategy to influence the organization's environment?
It is an independent response to exploit a distinctive competence for competitive advantage Competitive aggression is an independent strategy to exploit a distinctive competence or improve internal efficiency for competitive advantage (e.g., aggressive pricing and comparative advertising).
What is the role of courage in carrying out moral judgments that may lead to conflict?
It is necessary to take actions consistent with your ethical decisions. Courage plays a role in the moral awareness involved in identifying an act as unethical, the moral judgment to fully consider the repercussions, and the moral character to take the ethical action.
Tasha is an entry-level professional with outstanding credentials and attitude. However, her manager constantly chastises her and micromanages her work. In the context of McGregor's Theory X, what might happen if her manager persists in this behavior?
Tasha will begin acting in a lazy, unmotivated way, in need of tight supervision (self-fulfilling prophecy). An important implication for managers who subscribe to Theory X is known as a self-fulfilling prophecy. This occurs when a manager treats employees as lazy, unmotivated, and in need of tight supervision; then the employees eventually fulfill the manager's expectations by acting that way.
Why are organizations referred to as open systems?
They are affected by and in turn affect their external environments. Organizations are open systems—that is, they are affected by and in turn affect their external environments.
The CEO of a fashion footwear company told her executive management team, "We must move out of our comfort zone. That means operating globally." What would be the primary reason for her statement?
increased opportunities for growth Far more than in the past, today's enterprises are global, with offices and production facilities in countries all over the world. Companies that want to grow often need to tap international markets where incomes are rising and demand is increasing.
In the context of systems theory, __________ are the products and services that organizations create.
outputs Outputs are the products and services organizations create.
In the context of the contemporary approaches to management, the __________ suggests that organizations are effective when their employees have the right tools, training, and knowledge to make products and services that are valued by customers.
sociotechnical systems theory Drawing on several classical approaches, sociotechnical systems theory suggests that organizations are effective when their employees (the social system) have the right tools, training, and knowledge (the technical system) to make products and services that are valued by customers.
Lower-level managers who possess __________ skills are effectively able to complete specialized daily activities and earn more credibility from their subordinates than comparable managers without them.
technical A technical skill is the ability to perform a specialized task that involves a particular method or process. Lower-level managers who possess technical skills earn more credibility from their subordinates than comparable managers without technical know-how.
During the first stage of the Hawthorne Studies, known as the __________, various working conditions, particularly the lighting in the factory, were altered to determine the effects of those changes on productivity.
Illumination Experiments The Hawthorne Studies were a series of experiments conducted from 1924 to 1932. During the first stage of the project, known as the Illumination Experiments, various working conditions, particularly the lighting in the factory, were altered to determine the effects of those changes on productivity.
What is the difference between integrity-based ethics programs and compliance-based ethics programs?
Integrity-based programs instill in people a personal responsibility for ethical behavior, whereas, compliance-based programs help prevent, detect, and punish legal violations. Compliance-based ethics programs are designed by corporate counsel to prevent, detect, and punish legal violations. Integrity-based ethics programs go beyond the mere avoidance of illegality; they are concerned with the law but also with instilling in people a personal responsibility for ethical behavior.
Which organizational culture emphasizes growth, change, and innovation?
adhocracy An adhocracy is externally oriented and flexible. This culture type emphasizes growth, change, and innovation.
__________ is a planning activity.
anticipating the future Planning activities include analyzing current situations, anticipating the future, determining objectives, deciding on what types of activities a company will engage, choosing corporate and business strategies, and determining the resources needed to achieve an organization's goals.
When making ethical decisions, it is important to start with moral __________, which means one realizes that the issue has ethical implications.
awareness Making ethical decisions takes three things. They are moral awareness—realizing the issue has ethical implications; moral judgment—knowing what actions are morally defensible; moral character—the strength and persistence to act in accordance with your ethics despite the challenges.
Margerie was worried they would not have enough inventory to get through the busy season. Her manager suggested she use __________ to make sure she has enough product to meet unpredictable needs.
buffering Buffering creates supplies of excess resources to meet unpredictable needs.
A key element that makes the current business landscape different from those of the past is
collaboration across organizational boundaries The five key elements that make the current business landscape different from those of the past include: globalization, technological change, the importance of knowledge and ideas, collaboration across organizational boundaries, and increasingly diverse labor force.
A new director of marketing was hired to manage a food service company. He had previously been in the auto parts industry, so he had a lot of questions, like: Who are our current competitors? How dependent are we on our suppliers? Who are our biggest customers and are we too dependent on them? These questions helped the director develop
competitive intelligence Competitive intelligence is the information necessary to decide how to best manage in the competitive environment that has been identified.
Marion was finding that the sales of a previously popular product had fallen off. She initially blamed her sales staff for the decrease, but then decided that it was caused by circumstances in the competitive environment when a new competitor came into the market. Using systems theory ideas, Marion realized that situational characteristics, or __________, were the cause of the problem.
contingencies Building on systems theory ideas, the contingency perspective refutes universal principles of management by stating that a variety of factors, both internal and external to the firm, may affect the organization?s performance. Situational characteristics are called contingencies. Understanding contingencies helps a manager know which sets of circumstances dictate which management actions.
Managers who oversee employee behavior and performance based strictly on the expectations stipulated by the companies they work for display which stage of cognitive moral development, according to Kohlberg's model?
conventional Kohlberg's model of cognitive moral development classifies people into categories based on their level of moral judgment. People in the conventional stage conform to the expectations of ethical behavior held by groups or institutions such as society, family, or peers.
A characteristic of frontline managers is that they are
directly involved with nonmanagement employees, implementing the specific plans developed with middle managers. Frontline managers are directly involved with nonmanagement employees, implementing the specific plans developed with middle managers. This role is critical in an organization because these operational managers are the link between management and nonmanagement personnel.
Marla, the marketing manager of Macro Corp., sent an e-mail to her supervisor about her team's difficulties in meeting their monthly targets. In this instance, Marla is serving in the __________ managerial role.
disseminator A disseminator shares information between different people such as employees and managers; sometimes interpreting and integrating diverse perspectives. In this case, Marla, the marketing manager of Macro Corp., sent an e-mail to her supervisor about her team's difficulties in meeting their monthly targets.
Technology companies must stay on top of consumer demands for the latest features in their products. This introduces environmental uncertainty due to
dynamism Dynamism is the degree of discontinuous change that occurs within the industry. High-growth industries (e.g., smartphones) with products and technologies that change rapidly are more uncertain than stable industries where change is less dramatic and more predictable (e.g., utilities).
When a business produces a good that society wants, such as automotive tires, at a price that still allows the business to maintain a profit, it displays its
economic responsibility A company must adhere to several levels of social responsibility. Its economic responsibility is to produce goods and services that society wants at a price that perpetuates the business and satisfies its obligations to investors.
Even though the department she manages is sometimes over budget and takes longer to reach its goals than other departments, when Eileen does grow her branch as the president wants, she is described as
effective To be effective is to achieve organizational goals. To be efficient is to achieve goals with minimal waste of resources, that is, to make the best possible use of money, time, materials, and people. Good managers are able to be both, but here, Eileen is only effective.
Sebu's mentor advised him, "You not only must meet your goals, you must also manage your costs and keep them down by being more __________. That means using your resources wisely."
efficient Managing your costs and keeping them down require being efficient: accomplishing goals by using resources wisely and minimizing waste.
A company which expects its managers to first consider standards of right and wrong for all stakeholders when making business decisions is most concerned with its
ethical climate The ethical climate of an organization refers to the processes by which decisions are evaluated and made on the basis of right and wrong.
Which factor makes an environment attractive for new entrants?
favorable government policy
The Chief Ethics Officer said to her ethics committee members, "When we revise our ethics code, we must follow several principles to make the code effective. One of these principles is to
focus on real-life situations to which employees can relate." To make an ethics code effective, it is important to involve those who have to live with the code in writing it; focus on real-life situations that employees can relate to; keep it short and simple, so it is easy to understand and remember; write about values and shared beliefs that are important and that people can really believe in; set the tone at the top, having executives talk about and live up to the statement.
Natalie's company is in a high growth industry, so her CEO asked her to research trends in the industry to predict what will happen in the next 5 years. She warned him that this information may not be accurate due to rapid changes in the market. This is called
forecasting Forecasting attempts to predict more precisely the changes in and the future values of important variables. Ultimately, forecasts may or may not be accurate, or they may not be accurate enough to help managers make good decisions.
A regional manager adheres to Peter Drucker's management theory. He assigns his employees to read about Drucker's method of management prior to a competitive strategy workshop. What does he expect his managers to learn?
how to set specific goals that link to organizational success Peter Drucker made many lasting contributions to the practice of management. One was the need for organizations to set clear objectives and establish the means of evaluating progress toward those objectives. He was the first person to discuss ?management by objective? (MBO), a strategy whereby a manager sets specific goals that link to organizational success.
In addition to creation of sustainable economic development, the goal of ecocentric management includes
improvement of quality of life worldwide for all stakeholders. Ecocentric management has as its goal the creation of sustainable economic development and improvement of quality of life worldwide for all organizational stakeholders.
Gerard's company buys appliances from manufacturers and sells them to retailers. What type of consumer is Gerard's company?
intermediate A final consumer is a customer who purchases products in their finished form. An intermediate consumer is a customer who purchases raw materials or wholesale products before selling them to final customers.
An ethics code is likely to be ineffective when it
is long and complex, addressing all levels of behavior. In order to be effective, an ethics code should be short and simple, so it is easy to understand and remember.
A criticism of Taylor's theory of scientific management is that
job-related social and psychological factors were ignored by emphasizing only money as a worker incentive. Not everyone was convinced that scientific management was the best solution to all business problems. For instance, critics claimed that Taylor ignored many job-related social and psychological factors by emphasizing only money as a worker incentive.
An HR manager told her boss, "Dale, a number of our senior staff will be retiring within five years. We can't afford to have the combined expertise, skills, wisdom, and relationships of these retirees walk out the door without first discovering and sharing these intellectual resources. I recommend that we implement a(n) __________ system to harness this intellect."
knowledge management Knowledge management is the set of practices aimed at discovering and harnessing an organization's intellectual resources, fully utilizing the intellects of the organization's people. Knowledge management is about finding, unlocking, sharing, and capitalizing on the most precious resources of an organization: people's expertise, skills, wisdom, and relationships.
Stimulating people to be high performers by motivating them and communicating with them is the role of which function of management?
leading Leading is stimulating people to be high performers. It includes motivating and communicating with employees, individually and in groups.
"After we got fantastic media coverage for designing the downtown stadium, developers from around the country have been calling for our services," said Melissa Murphy, VP of Marketing for Sports Architects. "Well, then we can afford to be choosy," said Rashid Patel, CEO. "Let's only consider projects that reflect our creative urges and our mission statement, and that are well-funded." Sports Architects is in an attractive environment due to
low customer bargaining power An attractive environment for firms is formed by many customers with low bargaining power, in this case because of the popularity of this company's designs.
"As a Fortune 500 firm and a well-established top-tier manufacturer, we operate in a challenging global environment. As a result, our culture is very externally oriented and focused on control. Our primary objectives are productivity, planning, and efficiency," said Lana Hopper, Chief Operating Officer. This is an example of a(n)
market culture Market culture is evident in companies that are externally oriented and focused on control. This type of culture's primary objectives are productivity, planning, and efficiency.
Which leadership style is associated with a clan culture?
mentors and facilitators In a clan culture, leaders tend to act as mentors and facilitators.
Ethics are the __________ that guide the behavior of an individual or group.
moral principles
What perspective heavily influenced the development of Theory X and Theory Y?
organizational behavior Organizational behavior studies and identifies management activities that promote employee effectiveness through an understanding of the complex nature of individual, group, and organizational processes. It draws from a variety of disciplines, including psychology and sociology, to explain people?s behavior as they do their jobs. During the 1960s, organizational behaviorists heavily influenced the field of management. Douglas McGregor?s Theory X and Theory Y marked the transition from human relations.
The company's chief financial officer advised the business unit managers, "Ensure that your quarterly revenue reports are accurate because, to be compliant with the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act, each of you, as a senior manager, will be required to
personally sign off on financial results." Responding to a series of corporate scandals—particularly the high-profile cases of Enron and WorldCom—Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002 to improve and maintain investor confidence. The law requires companies to have more independent board directors, not just company insiders; adhere strictly to accounting rules; and have senior managers personally sign off on financial results.
One component of total quality is
preventing defects before they occur This includes preventing defects before they occur, achieving zero defects in manufacturing, and designing products for quality. The goal is to plan carefully, prevent from the beginning all quality-related problems, and live a philosophy of continuous improvement in the way a company operates.
Which term is an independent strategy of an organization to establish and maintain favorable images in the minds of people in the environment?
public relations Public relations is establishing and maintaining favorable images in the minds of people in the environment (e.g., sponsoring sporting events).
Despite its promise, the contemporary approach to management called __________ is used only to a limited extent, in part because many aspects of a management decision cannot be expressed mathematically.
quantitative management Despite the promise quantitative management holds, managers do not rely on these methods as the primary approach to decision making. Typically, they use these techniques as a supplement or tool in the decision process. Several explanations account for the limited use of quantitative management. Many managers have not been trained in using these techniques. Also, many aspects of a management decision cannot be expressed through mathematical symbols and formulas. Finally, many of the decisions managers face are nonroutine and unpredictable.
Economies of scale refers to
reductions in the average cost of a unit of production as the total volume produced increases
__________ are interpersonal and communication skills.
soft skills Interpersonal and communication skills influence a manager's ability to work well with people. These skills are often called people skills or soft skills. Managers spend the great majority of their time interacting with people, and they must develop their abilities to build trust, relate to, and communicate effectively with those around them.
"In our business, __________ is the name of the game," said the eastern division manager for a national fast food chain. "That means that we have to execute, respond, and deliver results more rapidly than our competitors."
speed In the modern business environment, speed (rapid execution, response, and delivery of results) often separates the winners from the losers. How fast can you develop and get a new product to market? How quickly can you respond to customer requests? You are far better off if you are faster than the competition?and if you respond quickly to your competitors' actions.
Henry L. Gantt's contribution to management is that he
suggested that frontline supervisors would be motivated if they received a bonus for each of their workers who completed their assigned daily tasks. Henry Gantt expanded on the piece rate system by suggesting that frontline supervisors should receive a bonus for each of their workers who completed their assigned daily tasks.
In the context of the classical approaches to management, __________ emphasized internal operations because managers were concerned primarily with meeting the explosive growth in demand brought about by the Industrial Revolution.
systematic management Systematic management emphasized internal operations because managers were concerned primarily with meeting the explosive growth in demand brought about by the Industrial Revolution.
Sheryl Sandberg's book had a different emphasis than others discussed in the text in that it focused on
the inequities women face in the workplace. Sheryl Sandberg's book, Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead, discusses the challenges women (including mothers) face in a workplace in which sexism and pay inequities remain.
As a(n) __________ manager, Rudy focuses on the survival, growth, and overall effectiveness of the organization, and he interacts extensively with outside individuals and organizations.
top-level Top-level managers are the organization's senior executives and are responsible for its overall management. Top-level managers, often referred to as strategic managers, focus on the survival, growth, and overall effectiveness of the organization. Top managers are concerned not only with the organization as a whole but also with the interaction between the organization and its external environment. This interaction often requires managers to work extensively with outside individuals and organizations.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the obligation
toward society assumed by business.
Rohan believes that for society to function smoothly, everyone must live a life reflecting truthfulness, fairness, respect, and compassion. Rohan is a proponent of
universalism According to universalism, all people should uphold certain values that society needs to function. Universal values are principles so fundamental to human existence that they are important in all societies. Five core ethical values that are found in all human cultures include truthfulness, responsibility, fairness, respectfulness, and compassion.
Around 4000 BC, the Egyptians
used planning, organizing, leading, and controlling to build their great pyramids.
Caring, being honest, showing loyalty, being fair, and acting with integrity are all examples of
values Values are principles of conduct such as caring, being honest, keeping promises, pursuing excellence, showing loyalty, being fair, acting with integrity, respecting others, and being a responsible citizen. Integrity is an example of a value.
One of the skill sets of emotional intelligence is
working effectively with others Emotional intelligence, or "EQ," includes the skill sets of understanding oneself (including strengths and limitations), managing oneself (dealing with emotions, making good decisions, seeking feedback, and exercising self-control), and working effectively with others (listening, showing empathy, motivating, and leading).