MGT 3301 Exam Chap 1-2
104) Define competitive advantage. What are its four building blocks?
Competitive advantage is the ability of one organization to outperform other organizations because it produces desired goods or services more efficiently and effectively than its competitors. The four building blocks of competitive advantage are superior efficiency, quality, innovation, and responsiveness to customers.
92) Define efficiency. When is an organization said to be efficient? Give two examples.
Efficiency is a measure of how productively resources are used to achieve a goal.
103) Explain the significance of information technology with regard to empowering employees and facilitating self-managed teams.
Empowerment is a management technique that involves giving employees more authority and responsibility over how they perform their work activities.
31) What must one do to perform the essential managerial task of controlling in achieving organizational goals?
Establish accurate measuring and monitoring systems to evaluate how well goals have been achieved.
1) Organizations are efficient when managers maximize the amount of input resources.
F
10) Organizations appoint turnaround CEOs when the organizations become more efficient and effective.
F
3) The outcome of organizing is the creation of a strategy.
F
5) In contrast to middle managers, top managers are responsible for the performance of specific departments.
F
6) Today, the term "chief operating officer" refers to the chief executive officer.
F
7) Conceptual skills include the general ability to understand, alter, lead, and control the behavior of other individuals and groups.
F
9) Innovation takes place when management centralizes control of work activities and creates an organizational culture that precludes risk taking.
F
13) Which of the following is an appropriate definition of organizational performance?
It is a measure of how efficiently and effectively managers use available resources to satisfy customers and achieve organizational goals
71) Vasil is the head of the human resources department of a company. Which of the following pairs would he most likely place in the same department?
Janet, who knows how to design marketing surveys, and Georgi, who knows how to administer marketing surveys
90) If a CEO orders his managers to significantly increase production with a minimal increase in cost, which of the following outcomes is most likely?
Managers will use sweatshops to achieve the CEO's goal.
43) Who among the following is involved in the task of controlling?
Nivon Flights monitors its services for quality and efficiency.
17) Which of the following is true of effectiveness?
Organizational performance increases in direct proportion to an increase in effectiveness
91) What is organizational performance, and what is its relationship with efficiency and effectiveness?
Organizational performance is a measure of how efficiently and effectively managers use available resources to satisfy customers and achieve organizational goals.
95) Define planning. What are the three steps in the planning process?
Planning is the process of identifying and selecting appropriate goals. The three steps involved in planning are: deciding which goals the organization will pursue, deciding what strategies to adopt to attain those goals, and deciding how to allocate organizational resources to pursue the strategies that attain those goals.
102) What is restructuring? Give two examples. What are the disadvantages of restructuring?
Restructuring involves simplifying, shrinking, or downsizing an organization's operations to lower operating costs.
27) Sosuke's company has low efficiency and low effectiveness. Considering this, which of the following applies?
Sosuke produces copy machines that are complicated to use, thus lowering demand for them, and uses cheap resources that often makes them break down.
2) Managers at all levels and in all departments are responsible for planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.
T
4) An organization's vision is a short, succinct, and inspiring statement of what the organization intends to become and the goals it is seeking to achieve.
T
8) Restructuring results in the loss of jobs.
T
100) Identify the three levels of management, explain the basic responsibilities of each, and give an example for each.
The three levels are first-line managers, middle managers, and top managers.
101) Identify and briefly define the three major types of managerial skills. Give an example for each.
The three levels are first-line managers, middle managers, and top managers.
57) Which of the following describes first-line managers?
They are also known as supervisors
58) Which of the following is true of middle managers?
They develop skills and know-how so that the organization is efficient and effective.
59) Which of the following is true of top managers?
They have cross-departmental responsibility.
96) Explain the term "strategy," and give an example.
To perform the planning task, managers identify and select appropriate organizational goals and courses of action; they develop strategies for how to achieve high performance.
105) Discuss the concept of turnaround management.
Turnaround management is the creation of a new vision for a struggling company using a new approach to planning and organizing to make better use of a company's resources and allow it to survive and eventually prosper.
30) Which of the following managers has achieved the objectives of the essential managerial task of organizing?
Val, who has set task and authority relationships that allow people to work together
81) Which of the following is an accurate definition of a self-managed team?
a group of employees who assume collective responsibility for organizing, controlling, and supervising their own work activities
72) Kat is the CEO of a media company called Fast Forward, Inc. She wants the company to have a core competency that enables it to become an innovator in its field. Considering this, which of the following would Kat most likely authorize?
a plan to research the development of miniature video cameras that are affordable and have top-end picture resolution
89) Julio's primary competitor has come out with a product line of espresso machines that make espresso faster without a drop in quality. Based on what you know about maintaining competitiveness through agility, what should Julio do?
adapt his production process to create espresso machines similar to his competitor's without delaying production
84) Organizations that operate and compete in more than one country are known as ________ organizations.
allied
70) Constanza does work that requires conceptual skills. Considering this, which of the following jobs would she do?
analyze demographics that show the biases of voters
28) You own a company that produces jewelry with attractive, popular designs but uses resources that makes the product too expensive for most potential buyers. Which of the following would you do to increase efficiency?
arrange a deal with the supplier to lower the cost of the resources
60) Who among the following is most likely to be a part of the top management team?
chief executive officer
33) The essential managerial task of planning involves
choosing appropriate goals and courses of action.
85) The ability of one organization to outperform other organizations because it produces desired goods or services more efficiently and effectively than its competitors is known as its ________ advantage.
competitive
65) The ability to analyze and diagnose a situation and to distinguish between cause and effect demonstrates a manager's ________ skills.
conceptual
82) Svetlana wants to facilitate the turnaround of her company, TechLighting, by using outsourcing. Considering this, which of the following would she most likely support?
contracting with a company in India to have it do TechLighting's marketing
36) Which of the four principal managerial tasks can help Sargis understand his performance in the other three tasks?
controlling
52) Yuri has been given the task of evaluating how well his company, Comfy Shoes, Inc., has implemented its new line of slippers and how this implementation could be improved. Which of the following tasks has Yuri been assigned?
controlling
53) Which of the following processes gives managers the ability to measure performance accurately and regulate organizational efficiency and effectiveness?
controlling
54) Mark, a manager at Matt's Shack, monitors the performance of workers in his department to determine if the quality of their work is meeting the standards of the company. Mark is engaging in which of the following managerial functions?
controlling
55) Sienna, the CEO of Far Plain, Ltd., reviews the past month's profit and loss statement to determine if the company is on pace to meet the planned sales and profitability goals. Sienna is engaged in which of the following managerial functions?
controlling
63) Edrice was hired as a business consultant for a company that is floundering. Which of the following actions would Edrice need to take in order to change the company's fortunes?
convince the CEO to change course and adopt a new approach
68) The specific set of departmental skills, knowledge, and experience that allows one organization to outperform its rivals is known as the organization's ________ competency.
core
88) NVK Maritime Electronics wants to gain a competitive advantage through innovation. Which of the following would it most likely attempt?
creating a navigation device never used before
16) A measure of the appropriateness of the goals that managers have selected for the organization to pursue and the degree to which the organization achieves those goals is
effectiveness
14) A measure of how productively resources are used to achieve a goal is known as
efficiency
78) Which of the following management techniques involves giving employees more authority and responsibility over how they perform their work activities?
empowerment
79) A bank allows its tellers to not only handle deposits and disbursement, but also distribute traveler's checks and sell certificates of deposit. This is an example of
empowerment
80) Kagmogelo works as the human resource manager at Luscious Confectionaries. It was mandatory for his subordinates to obtain his signature on every document related to the hiring of a new employee. When he realized that this was increasing the duration of the hiring process, he told his subordinates that they no longer needed his signature unless the hire involved extraordinary circumstances. This is an example of
empowerment
51) Which of the following is a responsibility of leadership?
encouraging employees to perform at a high level to help the organization achieve its goals
38) Organizational structure is the formal system of
financial analysis and management
83) Aric wants to give his company a competitive advantage by using a combination of restructuring and empowerment. Considering this, which of the following would Aric most likely support?
firing 15 percent of his employees and giving the research department more authority over their projects
23) Time After Time, Inc., produces reliable, attractive watches that are reasonably priced. Which of the following applies to this example?
high efficiency and high effectiveness
25) Which of the following describes organizational performance that results in a high-quality product that customers do not want?
high efficiency and low effectiveness
26) The goals chosen by the management of Ameer's Cafe seemed inappropriate for the store, but the management did make good use of the various resources in pursuing these goals. Ameer's Cafe is said to have
high efficiency and low effectiveness.
56) Although Darren's company has many skilled, bright employees, they seem to lack enthusiasm for their work. Which of the following should Darren implement to solve this problem?
hire a charismatic manager who strongly believes in the company and knows how to convey this belief to others
66) The general abilities to understand, alter, lead, and control the behavior of individuals and groups are ________ skills.
human
49) During which managerial task does a manager articulate a clear organizational vision for the organization's members to accomplish?
leading
50) Which of the managerial functions involves managers using their power, personality, influence, persuasion, and communication skills to coordinate people and groups so that their activities and efforts are in harmony?
leading
22) Kiddy Toys produced beautifully made stuffed animals that many customers wanted. However, the product was so expensive that most potential customers could not afford it. Which of the following applies to this scenario?
low efficiency and high effectiveness
24) Which of the following describes organizational performance that results in a low-quality product that customers do not want?
low efficiency and low effectiveness
21) Low efficiency/low effectiveness situations results in a
low-quality product that customers do not want.
11) An organization's resources include assets such as
loyal customers and employees
42) If Hedda wants to devise an effective business strategy, which of the following courses of action would she take?
make decisions about how to achieve her company's goals
15) Which of the following defines managerial efficiency?
minimizing the amount of input resources
32) Which of the following describes the essential managerial task of leading in achieving organizational goals?
motivate, coordinate, and energize individuals and groups
41) FullPress, Inc., has ten middle managers. They report to two vice presidents who report to the CEO. What does this example show?
organizational structure
62) Misaki is a middle manager. Considering this, which of the following would she most likely do?
organize a training program that improves the service of employees
64) If Addi works as a first-line manager for a film production company, which of the following would she most likely do?
organize the extras on a film set
45) The process of structuring working relationships so that organizational members interact and cooperate to achieve organizational goals is known as
organizing
46) When a manager lays out the lines of authority and responsibility among different individuals and groups, the manager is
organizing
77) Contracting with another company, usually in a low-cost country abroad, to have it perform a work activity the organization previously performed itself is known as
outsourcing
34) Isabella decided that Golden Key Enterprises should expand its markets in Europe and laid out a seven-step procedure to accomplish this. Which of the following tasks is Isabella doing?
planning
35) How to allocate organizational resources to pursue the strategies that attain set goals is a question addressed during
planning
44) The strategy of delivering new, exciting, and unique products to the customers is a ________ task.
planning
61) Being a part of top management at a large fast food chain, Antonio is most likely to spend most of his time
planning and organizing resources
12) Management includes
planning, organizing, and leading resources as well as controlling them
29) In what order do managers typically perform the managerial functions?
planning, organizing, leading, controlling
20) High efficiency/high effectiveness situations result in the production of a
product that customers want at a quality and price they can afford.
74) Simplifying, shrinking, or downsizing an organization's operations to lower operating costs is known as
restructuring
75) Egg Head, Inc., is facing financial problems. In order to tackle the situation, the management has decided to reduce the number of middle managers by 20 percent to help them cut costs. This is an example of
restructuring
76) The company for which Maria works has announced that due to declining global sales, it will lay off 12 percent of its labor force. This is an example of
restructuring
19) Low efficiency/high effectiveness situations arise when managers choose the
right goals to pursue but do a poor job of using resources to achieve these goals
18) A manufacturing company is said to be effective if it
sets appropriate goals and achieves them
39) Which of the following refers to a cluster of decisions concerning what organizational goals to pursue, what actions to take, and how to use resources to achieve these goals?
strategy
37) The formal system of task and reporting relationships that coordinates and motivates organizational members so they work together to achieve organizational goals is called organizational
structure
47) A formal system of reporting relationships that coordinates and motivates organizational members so that they work together to achieve organizational goals is called an organizational
structure
67) Olivia has the skills needed to rewire the electrical systems of skyscrapers. This type of skill is referred to as
technical
69) Mi Jin is writing a newspaper article about the day-to-day running of a baseball team. For this report, she interviews people who do a wide variety of jobs. Which of the following jobs would Mi Jin describe in her article as showing technical skill?
the batting instructor giving tips to a struggling player
73) Novak is a CEO who wants to significantly improve the skills of his work force in many areas. Which of the following would he most likely endorse?
the funding of a college specifically for his employees
87) Antonella owns a company that produces organic chips called Earth Chips, Inc. She wants to create a competitive advantage for Earth Chips by using quality. With this goal in mind, which of the following would she be most likely to support?
the production of tasty quinoa chips that use pure olive oil and are reasonably priced
86) The creation of a new vision for a struggling company based on a new approach to planning and organizing to make better use of a company's resources and allow it to survive and prosper is ________ management.
turnaround
40) In order to ensure that it has a competitive advantage over its competitors, Best Star, Ltd., decides to acquire the much smaller KAG, Inc. The move is an example of a
vision
48) A short, succinct, and inspiring statement of what the organization intends to become is an organization's
vision
