MPAW Test 4 rev
Why is return on investment (ROI) the most commonly used financial performance measure?
It allows managers of one organization to compare performance with that of other organizations in its industry
The balanced scorecard provides a balanced view of a company's performance based on financial measures, customer service, internal control processes, and
an organization's potential for growth.
By emphasizing superordinate goals, parties facing conflic
are reminded that they are working together for a larger purpose despite their disagreements
To continuously improve efficiency and effectiveness, an organization must first
assess the need for change
The employees of a transformational manager would expect to be
aware of their personal needs for growth, development, and accomplishment.
Two managers who are competing for the same pool of resources for their project try to convince top management that their project should be a priority for any remaining resources. This represents
distributive negotiation
Accommodation is likely to resolve a conflict when
one party has more power than the other party.
Both the marketing group and corporate communications group of a company claim responsibility for developing corporate marketing strategies. What may be a potential source of conflict between these groups?
overlapping authority
At top management team meetings, the CEO consistently praises the sales department but seldom acknowledges the efforts of product development. This creates conflict due to
status inconsistency
By expressing concern for employees and representing their best interests in day-to-day activities, a manager demonstrates a(n) _______ behavior in the context of path-goal theory
supportive
A manager has increased his effectiveness by clearly defining employee goals and ensuring each employee understands how to achieve them. The manager has high
task structure
In a collectivist culture, such as in Japan, managers tend to be
task-oriented
Jalen manages his team with a strong focus on goals and how to achieve them with maximum efficiency and effectiveness. According to Fiedler, Jalen is a(n) _______ leader
task-oriented
Negotiation is a conflict-resolution technique most useful when
the parties involved have similar levels of power
Competition is ineffective as a conflict-resolution strategy because
the two sides to a conflict are more concerned about winning the battle, which can escalate tensions
Accommodation is ineffective as a conflict-resolution strategy because
the weaker party who gives in might look for ways to get back at the stronger party in the future.
A(n) _______ is an impartial individual with expertise in handling conflicts and who helps parties in conflict reach an acceptable solution
third-party negotiator
Lemor motivates her team members primarily by rewarding and reprimanding them. Lemor is using _______ leadership
transactional
Managers who effectively influence their employees to achieve goals without making dramatic changes are engaging in _______ leadership
transactional
Amira motivates her employees to focus their efforts on the needs of coworkers and customers, rather than just their own personal goals. She is demonstrating _______ leadership
transformational
A key characteristic of revolutionary change is that it is
unexpected
Joey's subordinates don't realize that he is using his power to influence them. They support him because they believe the decisions he makes are appropriate. Joey is politically skilled and exercises his power
unobtrusively
As a manager who has significant referent power, Magda is likely
used as a role model by many of her employees.
Creating new options for joint gain occurs by focusing on a(n) _______ scenario
win-win
anticipating problems BEFORE
Feedforward control
As the leader of a company, you want to see your company reach a higher level of sales performance. According to the Lewin's force-field theory, what must you do?
Increase the forces for change and reduce resistance to change.
_______ conflict takes place between different departments of the same organization
Intergroup
Why is it advantageous to have employees participate in goal setting?
It strengthens employees' commitment to achieving goals and meeting budgets.
_______ is a company's operating profit divided by its sales revenues.
Operating margin
_______ is the movement of an organization away from its present state toward some preferred future state to increase its efficiency and effectiveness
Organizational change
_______ is discord arising from the incompatibility of goals of different individuals and their attempts to thwart each other's pursuit of objectives
Organizational conflict
_______ power comes from the respect, admiration, and loyalty that employees have for a leader
Referent
_______ is a political strategy for managers to exercise power unobtrusively
Relying on objective information
Managers can create mutually beneficial relationships by
building alliances.
A _______ control technique accomplishes standardized behavior and work outputs
bureaucratic
Frank wants to delay production on a product in order to cash in on an impending decrease in raw materials cost. Samuel believes production should start immediately to beat competitors to the market. They resolve their conflict through _______ by agreeing to produce a small number of units immediately and scale up production as costs decrease.
compromise
immediate feedback DURING production
concurrent control
When Jillian shows that she cares for her employees and takes action to help them enjoy their work, she is engaging in _______ behavior
consideration
What helps explain the reality that two managers who each possess similar traits and behaviors may not be equally effective leaders in all situations?
contingency models of leadership
The values, norms, and expectations of behavior that control how workers interact with one another within an organization represent the organization's
culture
You are a CEO who wants to determine whether the company has sufficient resources available to address loan and interest payments that are due to some short-term creditors. Which measure would you find most useful?
current ratio
When arriving at work Monday, Melissa learns that her entire organization is now reporting to a newly formed business unit focused on breaking into international markets. Her company is going through a(n) _______ change
revolutionary
The CEO of a large corporation mandates that new goals be implemented immediately. This is an example of
revolutionary change.
When Marta sold a property that had been on the market for a considerable length of time, Sezar gave her a commission bonus. What type of power was Sezar using?
reward
When faced with problems, _______ can help regulate employee behavior
rules and SOPs
Women are often stereotyped as being
supportive.
A(n) _______ can help increase mutual understanding of job demands and difficulties to help minimize conflicts.
temporary assignment
Which of these performance standards would managers find the most difficult to measure?
the creativity of a research engineer
A state of inertia occurs when
the forces for change and the resistance to change are evenly balanced.
What is the purpose of benchmarking?
to evaluate the success of a change
The _______ model of leadership is based on the premise that effective leaders possess personal qualities or skills that set them apart from ineffective leaders.
trait
At the output stage of a production process, _______ is used to detect problems and trigger management action.
feedback control
customer reaction (AFTER)
feedback control
A manufacturing company that produces furniture decides to use a new wood supplier. The manufacturing company wants to ensure that the materials from the supplier are delivered on time and within the specifications needed to meet the manufacturing company's product goals. What form of control system could the manufacturing company implement to ensure its needs are met?
feedforward
In order to anticipate problems before they arise, managers should develop a system for _______ control.
feedforward
A servant leader is most likely to
focus on listening to and motivating employees.
Recognizing, admitting, and learning from mistakes are characteristics of a leader with
high emotional intelligence
When evaluating performance based on a revenue budget approach, on what would you advise managers to focus?
how well the organization generates earnings from goods and services sold
The level of conflict in an organization
impacts organizational performance and should be managed at an optimum level.
If a group faces communication problems when interacting with organizations in other countries, managers should
increase diversity awareness and skills
Leadership substitutes can
increase organizational efficiency.
Empowering employees often leads to
increased employee motivation and commitment
Executives at Electronics Warehouse feel that one of their major competitors is using false advertising that is unfairly eroding their company's reputation. This is an example of _______ conflict.
interorganizational
Two technology companies participating in an industrywide collaboration project disagree on what key standards to set. This signifies _______ conflict
interorganizational
In team meetings, Robin and Adam frequently debate whether employees should volunteer their time at local charities. These colleagues are experiencing _______ conflict
interpersonal
Legitimate power
is heavily influenced by personal leadership style.
Avoidance is ineffective as a conflict-resolution strategy because
it does not address the real source of disagreement
According to Fiedler, _______ is the extent to which employees trust and are loyal to their superior.
leader-member relations
Aileen helps the organization succeed by motivating and inspiring her peers to work together toward team goals. Aileen is known as a(n)
leader.
Fiedler's contingency model suggests that
leadership styles are enduring characteristics; they cannot be changed or adjusted
To best leverage expert power, a leader should
leverage his or her expertise to guide or coach others
Each year, employees of a home improvement company meet with their direct manager to set individual sales targets based on the agency's overall goals. Each employee reviews his or her progress with his or her manager quarterly and is awarded a relative bonus. This is an example of
management by objectives
If parties in a conflict work on creating new options for joint gain, they
may come up with alternatives that could expand the resource pie
School attendance records in the context of a control process are an example of
measuring actual performance.
According to the path-goal theory, achievement-oriented behaviors
motivate employees to perform at the highest level possible
A key characteristic of evolutionary change is that it is
narrowly focused.
When deciding what change to make to address a problem, an organization must also consider
obstacles associated with the change
Jada and Julianna are business partners, but they have frequent arguments at work due to the differences in their values and interests. This is an example of
organizational conflict.
The owner of a food truck monitors employee efficiency by counting the number of customers served and the cost of goods sold. This is an example of _______ control
output
An executive report lists divisional goals with related operating budget status and measures of financial performance. This report demonstrates
output control.
Ari is very clear in defining for his employees the incentives available to them for different levels of performance. He makes sure they understand the path toward receiving incentives and follows through on rewarding them when they meet those goals. Ari exhibits the _______ theory of leadership
path-goal
Two conflicting parties who highlight each other's shortcomings rather than solving the source of the conflict are focusing on
people instead of the problem.
Legitimate, referent, and coercive are specific types of leadership
power
A _______ calculation helps managers assess a firm's ability to meet payments to short-term creditors without impacting inventory levels.
quick ratio
Sabeena is an office manager and makes time to connect personally with each of her employees and show care and concern for their well-being. Sabeena is enhancing her _______ power
referent
_______ are third-party negotiators who can impose what they believe is a fair solution to a dispute that both parties are obligated to abide by.
Arbitrators
control of behavior by means of a comprehensive system of rules and standard operating procedures
Bureaucratic Control
_______ is a personal characteristic often possessed by transformational leaders.
Charisma
The control exerted on individuals and groups in an organization by shared values, norms, standards of behavior, and expectations
Clan Control
_______ would be considered a functional way of resolving conflict.
Compromise
_______ control allows managers to get immediate feedback on how efficiently inputs are being transformed into outputs
Concurrent
_______ are the two basic leader behaviors identified by the behavior model of leadership
Consideration and initiating structure
_______ models propose that whether a leader who possesses certain traits or performs certain behaviors is effective depends on the situation or context
Contingency
_______ is a technique used to control behavior
Direct supervision
_______ is most likely to cause organizational costs to increase
Direct supervision
Why might female managers be more likely to involve employees in decision making and seek their input than their male counterparts?
They face more resistance from their employees than men.
What is a potential downside of using a bureaucratic approach to control behavior?
Too many rules can stop employees from thinking for themselves.
A fast, revolutionary approach to change in which top managers identify what needs to be changed and then move quickly to implement changes throughout the organization
Top- down change
_______ leadership makes employees aware of the importance of their performance to the organization and aware of their own needs for personal growth, motivating employees to work for the good of the organization
Transformational
After a lengthy debate where two colleagues shared the pros and cons of their respective solutions, one colleague decided the resolution was taking too long and so conceded. This conflict was resolved through
accommodation
Management by objectives (MOB) is a mechanism of
behavior control
A high level of _______ may help leaders develop a vision for their organizations, motivate their employees to commit to this vision, and energize them to enthusiastically work to achieve this vision.
emotional intelligence
A leader who is high in _______ is more likely to be able to develop and support the creative activities of his or her team members
emotional intelligence
Yusef is a manager at a publishing company. He wants to improve his ability to foster creativity within his team. To accomplish this, he should work on developing his
emotional intelligence.
Servers at a popular restaurant are able to offer dissatisfied customers a free dessert without prior approval by the shift supervisor. This is an example of
employee empowerment
In her role as a third-party negotiator, Bonnie acts as a(n) _______ to facilitate an effective negotiation without forcing either party to make concessions
mediator
_______ occurs when the parties in conflict attempt to resolve the conflict without making concessions but, instead, attempt to resolve their differences in ways that leave all parties better off
Collaboration
_______ systems are the formal monitoring, evaluation, and feedback systems that allow managers to determine if the organization's strategy and structure are working according to plan
Control
_______ is the process by which managers monitor and regulate the efficiency and effectiveness of workers in performing activities necessary to achieve organizational goals
Controlling
_______ is the process by which a person exerts influence over others and inspires, motivates, and directs their activities.
Leadership
A goal-setting process in which a manager and his employees negotiate specific goals for the subordinate to achieve and then periodically evaluate the extent to which the employees are achieving those goals.
Management by Objectives (MBO)
_______ is a behavior control technique that provides a framework to monitor progress toward the achievement of goals
Management by objectives
_______ are those organization members who establish and implement procedures and processes to ensure smooth functioning and are accountable for goal accomplishment
Managers
_______ is a valuable leadership trait that allows managers to avoid acting selfishly, control their feelings, and admit when they have made a mistake
Maturity
_______ control tends to be the first type of control that managers at all levels use to evaluate performance.
Output
What is true regarding measuring actual performance?
Outputs are generally easier to measure than behaviors because they are more tangible and objective
_______ is when some individuals or groups in an organization are more highly regarded than others in the organization.
Status inconsistency
The sales team needs production to deliver on schedule to satisfy customer contracts, while the production team needs sales to win enough contracts to keep production levels at an optimum level. _______ is a likely source of conflict between these two teams.
Task interdependence
After measuring and evaluating the manufacturing performance of a new product, a manager raises the performance standard for the next production cycle. For what reason might a manager decide to raise the standard?
The manager wants to challenge employees.
What happens when a manager uses the political strategy of being in a central position?
The overall success of the organization is seen as relying on the manager.
Two managers are asked to describe the characteristics of an employee who has been struggling to perform well in the organization. According to Fiedler's contingency model, why might one manager view the employee in a more positive light than the other manager?
The positive manager is more relationship-oriented
As principal of a high school, Peter knows that his teachers are motivated by their pay, autonomy in the classroom, and having a choice of which grade levels to teach. While Peter can control the level of autonomy and choice of grade levels the teachers have, he is not involved in the distribution of pay raises. In the context of path-goal theory, what should Peter do to best lead his teachers?
Work to gain reward power related to the pay raise distribution process.
What is an operating budget?
a blueprint that states how managers intend to use organizational resources to achieve organizational goals efficiently
According to the behavior model of leadership, an example of consideration behavior would be
acting on employee concerns
To monitor financial performance, a(n) _______ ratio is used to assess cost of goods sold relative to inventory levels
activity
In integrative bargaining, conflicts are handled through collaboration and
compromise
To leverage reward power effectively, a manager should
base rewards on performance and use them to motivate employees to do the best they can.
In general, female managers tend to
be more participative than male managers
The lack of a consistent relationship between leader traits and leader effectiveness led to the development of the
behavior model.
As a manager at a manufacturing company, Mary is responsible for activities that are directly connected to the organizational goals and its sources of competitive advantage. Mary should focus on the political strategy of _______ to grow her influence.
being in a central position
The managers at a theme park are comparing the number of annual passes they sold last year with the number of annual passes sold by other high-performing parks. This is an example of
benchmarking
A _______ change is gradual, and managers at all levels work together to develop a detailed plan for change.
bottom-up
As a marketing manager, Julian has developed a mutually beneficial relationship with the production manager to ensure the product and marketing strategies are aligned and successful. Which political strategy is Julian using to increase his influence and gain support?
building alliances
Organizational performance can be hindered when managers
focus on only one performance standard instead of many different standards.
Managers who engage in organizational politics
can use their power to achieve support for and implement needed changes.
By relying on objective information to build support for an initiative, a manager
causes others to believe that what the manager is proposing is the appropriate or rational thing to do
As a _______ leader, the company CEO always left employees with a sense of purpose, enthusiasm, and clear intent after the quarterly town hall meetings
charismatic
An online footwear company advertises that for every pair of shoes sold, a pair will be donated to someone in need. Employees at the company can multiply those donations by meeting specific sales and customer-service goals. The company is using _______ to influence employee behavior
clan control
If the source of a conflict is overlapping authority, a manager should
clarify the chain of command.
Excessive use of _______ power tends to be ineffective and can cause dangerous working conditions
coercive
Sienna was dissatisfied with Alain's contribution to the team project, so Sienna exercised her _______ power by withholding part of Alain's bonus.
coercive
Once managers have measured actual performance, they should
compare actual performance to the standards
One business partner wants to grow the company through acquisition of a large competitor while the other partner prefers expanding operations to other states. They agree to buy out two smaller firms in different states, satisfying both individuals' preferences. The partners used _______ to address this conflict.
compromise
During the conversion stage, managers use _______ control to recognize when problems are arising.
concurrent
One of Sanjay's work responsibilities is to check inspection stations periodically to monitor the quality of the products throughout the production process. This is an example of _______ control.
concurrent
The company's top executives meet quarterly to review its performance. They focus on the results of several measures regarding efficiency, quality, customer responsiveness, and innovation compared to previously established goals. Based on these results, the leadership team decides on the next steps for addressing performance gaps. This activity reflects a
control system
Before engaging his management team in the selection process for a new head of human resources, the CEO reduced the list of candidates to include only those applicants the CEO found acceptable. The CEO is implementing the political strategy of
controlling the agenda.
Kerry conducts meetings in a way that strongly influences the alternatives considered when making important decisions. Kerry's behavior reflects the political strategy of
controlling the agenda.
Due to potential changes in laws that affect the industry's competitive landscape, Rhea's company may need to drastically streamline and reorganize. To ensure continued focus on results during this time of potential change, Rhea's manager should employ the political strategy of
controlling uncertainty
The political strategy of _______ helps managers increase and maintain their power
controlling uncertainty
As a production manager, George is accountable for resource budgets that are highly sensitive to overtime pay rates. As a sales manager, Lucas needs to meet customer delivery schedules at all costs to avoid losing contracts that drive his commissions. The conflict that arises between these managers is the result of
different evaluation and reward systems
As the production manager, Carlos prefers long production runs of thousands of units in order to drive down unit costs. Anita, the marketing manager, prefers shorter runs of a few hundred units in order to deliver the product more quickly. This conflict is the result of
different goals
The marketing team at an electronics company felt strongly that their new product needed to be available by the first quarter in order to capture market share. The production team felt quality may suffer unless deployment occurred in the second quarter. These teams are experiencing conflict due to
different time horizons.
Setting goals and assigning tasks are considered _______ behaviors in the context of path-goal theory
directive
Focusing on the meaningful contributions that people make to the organization and what is fair is consistent with the principle of
distributive justice
In _______, the parties in conflict believe that they have a "fixed pie" of resources that they need to divide
distributive negotiation
In _______, the parties in conflict believe that they have a "fixed pie" of resources that they need to divide.
distributive negotiation
Griffin, a professor at a local university, is an award-winning author, and his reputation attracts new students and alumni donors to the institution. Griffin gains power with the university by
generating resources
An important characteristic of empowerment is that it
gives managers more time to concentrate on other important concerns
Building alliances is a political strategy that
helps managers garner support due to benefits gained through relationships
Workers at an automobile assembly factory can discard parts that do not meet quality standards without needing the permission of a manager first. This is an example of
employee empowerment
Matthias is expected to work 40 hours each week, be in the office for critical meetings, and to meet all agreed-upon deadlines. His manager, however, allows him to work flexible hours that best fit his personal commitments. This is an example of
employee empowerment.
To streamline the sales process, the CEO is implementing several changes that are triggering resistance from some sales teams within the company. To increase his power in order to overcome the resistance and to achieve the desired changes, the CEO should
engage in organizational politics.
MBO starts when top managers
establish overall organizational objectives
A customer service team identifies a goal of three business days for addressing all customer concerns. In the context of a control process, this goal is
establishing a standard of performance.
A control process begins with
establishing performance standards
To achieve compliance with a new industry standard, a company develops a five-year plan in which goals are set for each year with incremental organizational changes focusing on one area of the new standard. This is an example of
evolutionary change
Each fiscal year, Dwayne is allocated an operating budget and then evaluated based on the amount of goods produced by his organization. Dwayne's performance is evaluated on a(n) _______ budget approach.
expense
As a behavior control technique, direct supervision is
expensive and requires more managers.
Betsy has considerable influence within her team due to her many years of experience and past track record of leading projects to success. Betsy can be said to have _______ power
expert
Kaelin is a skilled strategist and negotiator, and his team readily trusts his judgment regarding how to pursue and acquire company resources. Kaelin demonstrates _______ power
expert
Othelia has extensive experience in ergonomic product design. Though she is not a manager, she is often called on by product managers to offer advice on ergonomic features for new products. It can be said that Othelia has _______ power
expert
A restaurant uses an online system to engage customers. After each transaction, customers receive a text asking them to rate their experience with either a smiley, neutral, or sad face emoji. This practice is an example of _______ control
feedback
An online clothing retailer discovered that the majority of the returns it received were the result of incorrect sizing. The retailer then worked with the clothing manufacturing company to improve the accuracy of its sizing patterns. This demonstrates the use of _______ control.
feedback
To ensure the right teacher's assistant is selected for an opening, the principal reviews all résumés electronically and assesses candidates through in-person interviews. This is an example of _______ control.
feedforward
Members within a team are consistently butting heads due to communication problems and interpersonal misunderstandings. To address this conflict, the team's manager should
increase overall awareness among the team of the specific communication and interpersonal misunderstandings at the heart of the conflict
Sandra discovered that much of the conflict between the design and production departments was due to a lack of shared goals and misunderstandings regarding dependencies. By implementing a cross-functional team approach, Sandra addressed the conflict by
increasing integration across the departments
The managers at a research company interview members of an underperforming team. They determine the team's office is too distracting, so they decide to build a dedicated lab environment to enable the team to meet its deadlines. This is an example of
initiating corrective action
Leaders engage in _______ when they take steps to make sure that work gets done and employees perform their jobs sufficiently
initiating structure
In _______, the parties perceive that they might be able to increase the resource pie by trying to come up with a creative solution to the conflict.
integrative bargaining
Marta, the human resources vice president, and Juan, the vice president of operations, disagree on their company's diversity policy. This is an example of _______ conflict.
interpersonal
The dean of student services and the dean of academic affairs disagree about how to handle the misconduct of a student. Their disagreement signifies _______ conflict.
interpersonal
Julius and Jaden work together in the marketing department of their company. They are having a disagreement over which graphic designer to contract for upcoming projects. This is an example of _______ conflict
intragroup
Two managers in the research and development department of a company disagree on whether their organization should outsource development of a new product or staff it internally. This is an example of _______ conflict
intragroup
Christie hires new employees, assigns them work, and monitors their performance. What type of power does Christie use?
legitimate
The times-covered ratio, which measures the degree to which managers use debt or equity to finance ongoing operations, is a type of _______ ratio
leverage
When negotiating the allocation of resources across departments, the business manager made sure that each department head had at least one of his or her highest priority needs addressed. This approach to exercising power is an example of
making everyone a winner.
Raul has intentionally worked hard to become an expert in industry standards and, as a result, was given approval to work a flexible schedule that would ensure his loyalty to the company. Raul's intent to become irreplaceable in order to influence his schedule reflects a(n)
political strategy
In Fiedler's model, _______ power is the amount of legitimate, reward, and coercive power a leader has by virtue of his or her position in an organization
position
The trait model of leadership determined that
possessing the identified traits did not guarantee leadership effectiveness
When conflict arises due to a lack of understanding regarding the work demands of others, _______ is an effective resolution strategy
practicing job rotation
As a regional manager, Maria's performance is evaluated on the difference between her region's sales revenues and the cost of making the goods and services sold. Maria is being evaluated using a(n) _______ budget approach.
profit
A restaurant manager routinely measures the number of customer complaints and how often customers leave negative reviews on its social media page. These controls help the restaurant improve its
quality.
Riju's employees think very highly of his leadership and work ethic, resulting in low attrition and high performance within the group. Riju has cultivated a high level of _______ power
referent
According to Fiedler's contingency model, _______ leaders worry more about whether employees like them
relationship-oriented
The factory foreman at an automobile assembly plant is behind on meeting the quarterly production target due to an ongoing machinist strike lasting longer than anticipated. Conflict in this situation is attributed to
scarce resources
What type of leaders share power with followers and strive to ensure that the well-being of others is enhanced?
servant leader
To establish stretch goals for an organization, managers should
set specific and challenging goals that are within reach
To be effective as a manager, one should use coercive power
sparingly because it can cause employees stress.
It appears that some norms and values in Kristen's organization are causing abnormally high levels of conflict that are difficult to resolve. If Kristen wants to resolve these issues by using a conflict management strategy that focuses on the organization, she should
work to change the organization's structure or culture.