Principles of Supervision Exam 1

In this stage of team development, the team decides to disband after having achieved its goals. Identify this stage.

Adjourning

Hiring of only those people who appear to fit into the company's corporate culture:

Can lead to a staff with similar backgrounds

Leading is the management function of:

Influencing people to act or not act in a certain way

Statistical quality control primarily involves:

looking for defects in parts, finished goods, or other outcomes selected through a sampling technique

Process control is best defined as the quality control method that emphasizes:

How to do things in a way that leads to better quality

Procedures are best defined as

The steps that must be completed to achieve a specific purpose

Mary processes 96 permit applications in an eight-hour day at the secretary of state's office. If Mary earns $6 per hour, what would be her productivity measure?

2

Foodie, a fast food joint, offers home delivery service. It realizes that the purchase of a few motorcycles would make the service more efficient. The estimated cost of purchase is set at $100,000 and it is expected to save $20,000 per year. In this case, the payback period would be:

5 Years

In the United States, the act of giving gifts to one's supervisor is most likely to be interpreted as:

A form of bribery, an attempt to buy influence

Assigning work to employees refers to which of the following characteristics of a successful supervisor?

Ability to Delegate

A list of the topics to be covered at a meeting is defined as a(n):

Agenda

Mary, the human resource coordinator, has to give her first seminar to company supervisors. She writes down the purpose of the seminar, the location, the date, the starting and ending times, and the major topics to be covered. Mary has prepared a(n) ____.

Agenda

Which of the following is true about the MBO system?

All individuals in the organization work with their managers to set objectives

If the purpose of a meeting is to convey a new company fringe benefit package, then ideally:

All the employees should be invited to attend the meeting

Budgeting is best defined as the process of:

Allocating money resources

Which of the following is most likely to be included in the capital budget?

Amount to be spent on heavy machinery

Which of the following is a recent diversity trend in the U.S.?

An aging workforce, as older workers postpone retirement to continue working.

Sustainability is best defined as:

An organization's ability to meet its present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs

In which of the following steps of the delegation process is a supervisor most likely to ask questions like, "Who can best do the job?" and "Who can save the most time?"

Assigning the work

Which of the following depicts ageism?

Assuming that a senior employee would not be able to handle an assignment that involved a great deal of traveling

A structured task—that is, one with a set procedure to follow—is best managed by a(n):

Authoritarian leader

The practice of identifying the top performer of a process, then learning and carrying out the top performer's practices is called:

Benchmarking

The superstore supervised by Joanne had such high retail sales for the year that the company president decided to identify her store as the "premier store" for comparisons, not only in terms of gross sales, but also for efficiency in all areas of operations. This practice of determining the quality standards by measuring against the top performer of a particular process is popularly known as:

Benchmarking

Probability theory is defined as a(n):

Body of techniques for comparing the consequences of possible decisions in a risk situation

An idea-generating process in which group members state their ideas, have their ideas recorded, and no one comments on the ideas until the process is complete is referred to as:

Brainstorming

Policies are best defined as:

Broad guidelines for how to act

Before a supervisor can make decisions about how to trim costs, he/she has to know where the money is going. The most accurate source of such information is a(n):

Budget report

Many employees are afraid to be ethical because doing so would:

Cause their performance to suffer and cost them their jobs

Diversity is defined as the:

Characteristics of individuals that shape their identities and the experiences they have in society.

A decision is a(n):

Choice from among available alternatives

In the process of bounded rationality, which of the following comes after one identifies the problem?

Choosing an alternative solutions

The _____ places the burden of proof on the employer and allows for compensatory and punitive damages in discrimination cases.

Civil Rights Act of 1991

An effective objective must be ____.

Clear

Mark has been promoted to a supervisor. He explains to the workers what their job is but fails to provide them with feedback about their performance. Due to this, the workers keep making the same mistakes over and over again. Which of the following characteristics of a successful supervisor should Mark inculcate to become a better supervisor?

Communication Skills

The characteristic of successful supervisors that involves not only making contact with employees every day but also listening to what they have to say is known as:

Communication Skills

Organizing draws heavily on the supervisor's:

Conceptual Skills

Christie, the supervisor of a library, suspects Ernie, one of the librarians, of selling library books to second-hand book shops. She watches him for the next few days and gathers the required evidence to confirm her suspicion. Then Christie decides to meet with Ernie and discuss the situation. In the context of the course of action to be followed when an employee is suspected of unethical behavior, which step is Christie involved in at present?

Confronting the employee with evidence

Which of the following is most likely to be one of the primary objectives of a sustainable organization?

Conserving national resources

The Davis Model of Corporate Social Responsibility states that the social costs related to each activity, product, or service shall be passed on to the consumer. This implies that:

Consumers must be ready to buy services from businesses to help them maintain operational functions.

Evan was a supervisor in the accounting department. He noticed that in the month of July, his supplies expenditure was much greater than his budget allowed. He researched the overrun and remembered that he had approved a large purchase of supplies to take advantage of a volume discount. Which of the following management functions did Evan perform?

Controlling

Monitoring performance and making needed corrections is the management function of:

Controlling

One of the most valid reasons to hold a meeting is to:

Convey news to a group when their feedback is important

Beliefs and norms that govern organizational behavior in a firm are known as:

Corporate culture

Which of the following is an accurate example of an overhead?

Cost of company cafeteria

To which of the following steps in the delegating process does the action of selecting simple tasks that employees clearly can handle belong?

Deciding what work to delegate

A graph that helps decision makers use probability theory by showing the expected values of decisions in varying circumstances is known as a(n):

Decision tree

Which of the following is the most important skill for top-managers?

Decision-making skills

Access and ORACLE are examples of:

Decision-making software

Which of the following is a people-related activity?

Developing employees' skills

Operational planning is best defined as the process of:

Developing objectives that specify how each department will support organizational goals

Unfair or inequitable treatment based on prejudice is known as

Discrimination

The act of deciding what behavior is ethical:

Does not always end an ethical dilemma

If the supervisor can successfully get the employee to accept responsibility for carrying out a task, then the:

Employee and the supervisor become responsible for the work

Downtime is best defined as the time during which:

Employees or machines are not producing goods or services

Delegation of broad decision-making authority and responsibility is known as:

Empowerment

In the context of coaching employees, which of the following tips is most likely to help a supervisor in stimulating high-quality performance?

Encourage team members by expressing understanding and appreciation of their ideas and feelings

When supervisors and managers challenge people to question their assumptions about the work and consider better ways of doing it, they rely on which set of managerial skills?

Encouraging innovative thinking

A manager should use a relatively democratic leadership style only when:

Enough time is available

The _____ requires equal pay for men and women performing similar work.

Equal Pay Act of 1963

Andy, a supervisor at KMT Inc., encourages his team members to come up with innovative suggestions. He reviews the suggestions with the employees, and if it results in monetary savings/profits, the employee who made the suggestion is awarded a $50 bonus. Andy has:

Established and maintained a creative work climate

Which of the following is the first step in the process of controlling?

Establishing performance standards

Stella supervises 12 cashiers at ABC Grocers. Lately, the cashiers have had several instances of substantial cash shortages, because Stella has not been verifying their initial cash amounts. When approached by her manager about this situation, Stella replied, "The cashiers are lazy and just do not care." Which of the following traits is Stella exhibiting?

External locus of control

Kim, the supervisor of the IT team at BHJ Inc., has a prejudice against Africans and often passes the blame for mistakes on to them. Which of the following dimensions of ethical behavior related to the supervisor is being violated in this case?

Fairness

If an idea does fail, the supervisor should acknowledge the problem and:

Find a solution for it

An action plan is best defined as the plan:

For how to achieve an objective

Which of the following is the first step a supervisor should take when he/she suspects that an employee is behaving unethically?

Gather and record evidence

Sexism is a discrimination based on:

Gender stereotyping

Mark knows that a co-worker has done something that is not in the company's best interest. Mark should:

Go directly to that co-worker and point out the problem

Two or more people who interact with one another, are aware of one another, and think of themselves as a unit are most appropriately referred to as a(n):

Group

Norms refer to the:

Group standards for appropriate or acceptable behavior

Which of the following best defines functional groups?

Groups that fulfill ongoing needs in an organization by carrying out a particular function

Holland manages a group of employees consisting of twelve females and eight males. Ten members of his group are Hispanic, five are African, and five are Asian. This group managed by Holland is a:

Heterogeneous group

In the initial stages, when the followers have not acquired the required maturity which of the following combinations of task and relationship behavior should a leader opt for?

High task and low relationship behavior

Best Inc. offers its supervisors a paid day off to attend a diversity training program. Which of the following will most likely result from this offer?

Higher morale and motivation throughout the company

In the context of cultural diversity, the old "melting pot" model refers to:

How immigrants were expected to assimilate their culture and language into the mainstream.

Sam works 50 to 60 hours a week supervising a group of engineers. He realizes that he is spending too much time training new engineers and starts thinking about new options. He could delegate the training to the senior engineers, ask the human resources department to offer training seminars, or require better work experience from all future employees. Which step in the rational model of decision making is Sam performing here?

Identifying alternative solutions

Which style of leadership is being followed when exertion of minimum effort to get the required work done is appropriate to sustain organization membership?

Impoverished management

In the context of controlling, symptoms are best defined as

Indications of an underlying problem

Joseph M. Juran, one of the experts who played an important role in spreading the idea of TQM, taught quality concepts to the Japanese. He emphasized the view that management should seek to maintain and improve quality through efforts on two levels: the organization as a whole and the:

Individual departments in the organization

If someone complains about a genuine case of ethical violation, a supervisor should:

Investigate the complaint and report what will be done

The difference between line authority and staff authority is that staff authority:

Is the right to advise or assist those with line authority.

Which of the following statements is true about prejudice?

It can be a subtle force

Which of the following is an advantage closely associated with delegating?

It frees supervisors to do tasks they do best.

Which of the following is true about bona fide occupational qualification?

It is an objective characteristic required for an individual to perform a job properly

Which of the following best describes an organic structure?

It is an organizational structure where boundaries between jobs continually shift and people pitch in wherever their contributions are needed.

Which of the following best describes a functional structure

It is an organizational structure where the personnel and other resources are grouped according to the types of work they carry out.

Which of the following is a subordinate characteristic in choosing a leadership style?

Knowledge and expertise

Which of the following is most likely to be the primary cause underlying the problem of time lost due to tardiness and absenteeism?

Lack of motivation

Employees who are eager to assume responsibility will most likely appreciate _____ leadership.

Laissez-faire

A vision will not become a reality unless employees know and want to do their part. This aspect is included in which of the following functions of management?

Leading

Influencing employees to act (or not to act) in certain ways is part of the management function called:

Leading

According to which theory should leaders adjust the degree of task and relationship behavior in response to the growing maturity of their followers?

Life cycle theory of leadership

The right given to employees to carry out tasks and give orders related to the organization's primary purpose is called:

Line authority

Poor quality work is most likely to lead to:

Loss of Revenue

Which of the following is an annual award administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce and given to the company that shows the highest quality performance in seven categories—leadership; strategic planning; customer and market focus; measurement, analysis, and knowledge management; human resource focus; process management; and results?

Malcom Balridge National Quality Award

Corporate social responsibility is best defined as the:

Managerial obligation to take action that protects and improves both the welfare of society as a whole and the interests of the organization.

Which of the following is a defining characteristic of centralized organizations

Managers at the top retain a great deal of authority.

In the context of the process of controlling, standards are best defined as:

Measure of what is expected

Operational planning is ideally done by the:

Middle management and the supervisors.

If the CEO of a company hires a cousin who lacks the required qualification to head a division of the company, then it would be most appropriate to say that he/she is guilty of:

Nepotism

Which of the following statements is true about older workers?

Older workers are more afraid of discrimination than of change

Which of the following is a defining characteristic of operational planning?

Operational planning involves short-term goals of one year or less.

Rhonda is the supervisor of the spare parts department at a car dealership. Among her responsibilities are: scheduling work for employees; setting deadlines; and delegating work as to who should do the ordering; and who should help her with counting the inventory. These responsibilities are examples of which of the following types of management functions?

Organizing

Expenses not related directly to producing goods and services are popularly referred to as:

Overhead

The _____ theory of leadership suggests that the primary activities of a leader are to make desirable and achievable rewards available to organization members who attain organizational objectives and to clarify the kinds of behavior that must be performed to earn those rewards.

Path-goal

Roles are best defined as:

Patterns of behavior related to employees' position in a group

Solving organizational problems and meeting assigned challenges are ideally part of the _____ stage of team development.

Performing

The parity principle states that:

Personnel must have equal amounts of authority and responsibility.

Anne, a supervisor, prepared a budget for her department, showing all future expenditures. Which of the following management functions did she perform?

Planning

Deciding on the department's goals and how to meet them is known as the management function of:

Planning

Higher-level managers usually spend most of their time on which of the following management functions?

Planning and Organizing

A preconceived judgment about an individual or group of people is known as

Prejudice

Formal groups are best defined as groups that are:

Set up by management to meet organizational objectives

Ethics is best defined as the:

Principles by which people distinguish what is morally right

When a city's park district considers ways to upgrade its playground equipment or improve the programs it offers senior citizens, it is focusing on:

Product Quality Control

At Booze Speaker Company, operations are departmentalized under the following sections—home speakers, automobile speakers, and commercial speakers. These departments are well-demarcated and employees are responsible only for their own department. In the context of departmentalization, this company is most likely using the:

Product structure

Which of the following is typical of a decisive supervisor?

Promptly refers matters to the proper people

Which of the following is a change-related activity?

Proposing new tactics and strategies

In the context of coaching a team, enabling is best defined as the process of:

Providing employees with the resources they need to do their job and removing obstacles that interfere with their work

Authority is best defined as the:

Right to perform a task or give orders to someone else.

Participative behavior involves:

Seeking input from followers about methods for improving business operations

Which style of leadership involves putting other people's needs, aspirations, and interests above one's own?

Servant leadership

In choosing a leadership style, one needs to consider the type of organization and the effectiveness of the group. These attributes describe:

Situation characteristics

Functional authority is best defined as the right given by higher management to:

Specific staff personnel to give orders concerning an area in which the staff personnel have expertise.

The activities involved in identifying, hiring, and developing the necessary number and quality of employees are known as the management function of:

Staffing

Which of the following refers to a rigid opinion about categories of people

Stereotype

Which of the following is a symptom of groupthink?

Stereotyped views of opponents

Mickey, a former rock musician, who holds a Master's degree in economics, works as a financial advisor at "Plateau Finances". Mickey's boss thinks that all rock musicians are incompetent at finance related jobs. Mickey's boss is subjecting him to ____.

Stereotyping

Shire Inc., a clothing manufacturer, has recently become very successful. The top management is now planning to venture into the confectionary business and earn similar profits in this new business. This is an example of _____ planning.

Strategic

Which of the following is a defining characteristic of strategic planning?

Strategic planning covers a comparatively large time span that is usually over a year.

To make sure meetings are as fruitful as possible, the supervisor can facilitate the discussion by:

Summarizing the key points

Which of the following is a disadvantage of group decision?

Takes more time to reach decisions

In the U.S. division of Nine Inc., employees from different functional departments are brought together to work on the development of a new operating system. After the successful completion of the project, this group is disbanded. This group is an example of a(n) ____.

Task Group

Organizations that use self-managing work teams generally encourage a variety of employee characteristics that are associated with the successful use of democratic leadership and a low degree of:

Task-oriented behavior

Which of the following is an appropriate example of an honest behavior?

The employees make a brilliant suggestion, and the supervisor makes sure that the employees get the credit.

Which of the following is true about span of control?

The less time a manager needs to spend on planning, the greater the span of control can be.

Which of the following is one of the challenges of managing diversity in a business organization?

The requirement of unique arrangements such as job sharing and telecommuting.

Which of the following is one of the propositions of the Davis Model of Corporate Social Responsibility?

The social costs related to each activity, product, or service shall be passed on to the consumer.

Which of the following is most likely to help U.S. representatives effectively deal with Chinese trading partners?

They should know that a relationship of trust is likely to count for more than any particular official law and hence should work on building trust.

Which of the following statements about the country club management style of leadership is true?

Thoughtful attention to needs of people for satisfying relationships leads to a comfortable, friendly organization atmosphere and work tempo.

When the supervisor involves employees in making decisions, he or she cannot always be sure of the outcomes. Supervisors differ in their level of comfort with this uncertainty, which refers to their:

Tolerance for ambiguity

Shelley is an accountant for an aerospace company that is going through a financial crisis. To show profits for the company, she uses a "fund" to transfer money from one account to another. This transfer does not meet the right accounting standards. Shelley is guilty of:

Unethical behavior

Which of the following principles states that each employee should have only one supervisor?

Unity of command

Yun is a freelance writer who has undertaken a writing project where two different editors tell her what to do. Sometimes these two editors tell her to make conflicting changes. This situation is in direct violation of the _____ principle of organizing.

Unity of command

When a supervisor needs to build support for a solution, such as cutting costs or improving productivity, it is best for the supervisor to:

Use group decision making

When the consequences of a decision are major, which of the following should the supervisor follow

Use the rational model of decision making

In which of the following situations should a supervisor make a decision alone?

When a decision must be made quickly, as in an emergency

The difference between a policy and a rule is that:

a policy does not specify details of how to handle a specific situation but rules are very specific.

Employee involvement teams are most successful when:

all the group members are eager to participate

Six Sigma is best defined as a:

process-oriented quality control method designed to improve operations output 99.9997 percent perfect