BUS101 - Module 6 - Week 1 - Management

Reducing customer complaints, employee frustration, and waste are outcomes attributed to which characteristic of the controlling function?

Proactive

Peter Drucker suggests that operational objectives should be:

SMART.

Describe the organizing function of management and common types of organizational structure

The structure of an organization can have a tremendous impact on the organization's ability to react to both internal and external forces. Organizational structure also determines the managers' span of control, communication channels, and operational responsibilities. The organization should be structured in such a way that it reflects the company's mission and supports its customer and product/services goals to the greatest advantage.

A framework for analyzing an organization's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats is called:

A SWOT analysis.

A business's choice of organization structure is based on business scale, priorities and characteristics such as culture and the nature of the business. Identify the statement that best describes the fit of structure to operating dynamics.

A business that values specialization and operational efficiency would benefit most from from a functional organizational structure

In a management context, technical skills are defined as:

A learned capacity in just about any given field of work

Tactical plans:

break down strategic plans into manageable, shorter-term components.

When developing SMART operational objectives, it is important to get employee input during the process, because it may be:

challenging for employees to understand or accept them after they're set.

An ability to reason abstractly and analyze complex situations is known as:

conceptual skills.

Top-level managers must scan the broad environment for opportunities and thus must possess:

conceptual skills.

Your local pool service company has been the only service in town for 20 years. You learn of a new competitor entering the area and immediately call a meeting of your marketing team to discuss the situation and changes to your strategy. This is an example of applied:

conceptual skills.

Unity of command is one of the management principles Fayol proposed to avoid is:

conflicting orders or directions.

James has a leadership style that is sometimes described as "hands off" or laissez-faire management because he:

delegates the tasks to the employees while providing little or no direction.

An approach of open communication and collaborative decision making suggests which type of leadership?

democratic leadership

In a functional structure, communication generally occurs within each functional department and is transmitted across departments through:

department heads.

Contingency planning:

develops alternative courses of action to address potential future scenarios or events.

A good organizational structure is ________ for the expansion of business activities.

essential

Frank and Lillian Gilbreth used ________ to identify areas for work improvement.

films

A leader who prefers to delegate the work tasks to their employees while providing little or no direction is considered which type of management style:

laissez-faire.

Management cannot being the planning process until the organization has determined what its ________ will be.

mission

Until a business has determined what its ________ is, planning cannot begin.

mission

Jane is a manager who is self-absorbed and has a constant need for power and admiration. This is an example of a ________ leader.

narcissistic

The arrangement of people within an organization is known as:

organizational structure.

The external factors include opportunities and threats that are ________ the organization.

outside

Today the key management functions are considered to be:

planning, organizing, leading, staffing, motivating, and controlling.

Setting standards, measuring performance against those standards, analyzing performance and taking corrective action are the four parts of the:

process of control.

Henri Fayol felt that successful organizations, and therefore successful management, were linked to:

satisfied and motivated employees.

An important human skill in management is:

self-reflection.

The process of control usually consists of the following four parts:

setting standards, measuring performance against those standards, analyzing performance; taking corrective action

The first three steps in the controlling process include:

setting standards; measuring performance; comparing performance to standards.

Peter Drucker suggests that operational objectives should be SMART, which means:

specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time constrained.

The process of establishing an overall course of action for the company and aligning it to the company's mission and values is known as:

strategic planning.

The SWOT analysis examines an organization's:

strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

A manager needing to explain the operation of equipment to an employee needs ________ skills and communication skills.

technical

Understanding the storage of electricity in batteries is an important ________ skill if you are a first-line manager at an electric automobile manufacturer.

technical

Skills you need to master in order to perform specific tasks are:

technical skills.

Managers with a transactional leadership style:

tend to tell employees what is expected of them and hold them accountable.

One disadvantage of a functional structure is that:

the different functional groups may not communicate with one another.

James has just started working for a company that does not tell their employees what to do, how to do it or when things are due. This type of freedom is an example of a company that does not utilize:

the process of control.

Conceptual skills are most essential for:

top-level managers.

Mentoring subordinates, working one-on-one to develop their team members professionally, and providing opportunities for challenge and growth are characteristics of which leadership style?

transformational

By involving employees during the process of developing SMART operational objectives, it helps them to:

understand and accept them after they're set.

The internal factors include strengths and weaknesses ________ the organization currently.

within

The work of Frank and Lillian Gilbreth focused on:

work motions to improve the process.

Which of the following best reflects an authoritarian management style?

A manager who retains decision making control and disregards the input of subordinates

Fayol introduced a management concept derived from the military. This concept is called:

Chain of command.

The current understanding of management functions is based in large part on Fayol's theories, although some duties have been reclassified over time. Current theory identifies ________ management functions, including: ________.

6: Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Leading, Controlling, and Motivating

The primary role of middle managers is to:

Allocate resources, oversee first-line managers, and develop and implement activities.

Summarize the development of management theory and the key functions of management today

Although the world of business has changed tremendously over time, the functions of management originally identified by Fayol in the early 1900s still hold. Fayol's original five functions have evolved into the six key functions of management today, including planning, organizing, staffing, leading, controlling and motivating. What has changed is where and how managers perform these four primary functions.

In summary, Frederick Taylor theorized that production and profits will be maximized by:

Analyzing how to do the job, selecting the right person for the job, and providing training, planning, and management oversight

The organizing function of management entails:

Assigning tasks, grouping tasks into departments, delegating authority, and allocating resources across the organization

Developing alternative courses of action to be taken if there is a disruption in normal business operations are referred to as:

Contingency planning

Philip is a new manager of a 15 person manufacturing operation. His predecessor has handed him a complete annual plan, including budget, objectives and organization chart. Philip has presented the company's strategic plan to his staff and met with each person individually to establish rapport. After a month on the job, the owner approaches him and asks for a briefing on performance relative to plan. Philip is unable to respond. He has failed to attend to which of the 4 management functions?

Controlling

The primary benefit of which management function occurs when a manager measures an employee's performance relative to an established target metric?

Controlling

Typical functions of first line managers include:

Coordinating activities, supervising employees, and participating in day-to-day operations.

The Gilbreths used a combination of time and motion studies to:

Create a standardized best practic

Which of the following examples illustrates the use of human skills in a management context?

Delivering the key note or opening speech at the organizations annual kick-off meeting

Cranks, Inc., a medium sized car parts manufacturer has been purchased and is merging with a larger car parts company. Cranks, Inc. is entering into the transition period and the "usual way" of doing things now requires adaptation and adjustment for all of the employees. What would be the most effective style of management for the Cranks managers to use in this transition period?

Democratic style of management.

Which of the following examples illustrates use of conceptual skills in a management context?

Development of a mission statement for a new business venture

Auto manufacturing workers typically perform tasks that are overseen by their managers. This arrangement is which one of Taylor's scientific management principles?

Divide work nearly equally between managers and workers, so that the managers apply scientific management principles to planning the work and the workers actually perform the tasks.

Adjusting the height of conveyors to match the height of manufacturing workers is an outcome that could be attributed to which one of Frank and Lillian Gilbreth's philosophies?

Efficiency by reducing motions involved.

A mining executive and engineer, Fayol's management theories were developed after observing an incident that he judged to be a management failure. His most significant contribution to the field of management theory is his identification of the duties of management, which include:

Foresight, organization, command, coordinate, and control

Using films of worker's activities to identify areas for improvement, is the essential description of whose work?

Frank and Lillian Gilbreth

Organizational charts, performance evaluations, quality measurements and metrics, and sales and/or production goals are modern evidence of:

Frederick Taylor's scientific management theories.

Describe common management and leadership styles, and identify the circumstances under which they are most effective

From autocratic to laissez-faire, leadership styles run the entire spectrum. Some of the most effective leaders are those who can adopt different styles to fit the situation at hand.

A manager who exhibits effective control:

Has a process in place to measure performance relative to an established target

Which of the classical management theories is focused on management structure?

Henri Fayol

A SWOT analysis model provides a framework for analyzing an organization's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, classified as either internal and external factors. Which of the following is an accurate description of an aspect of the model?

Internal factors include strengths and weaknesses

Commanding and coordinating are considered to be part of which management function?

Leading

Describe the three levels of management and the key skills needed by managers

Managers wear many hats and must bring with them an entire toolkit of skills—ranging from interpersonal to technical skills—in order to reach organizational goals and objectives effectively. Without the proper skill set, managers can find themselves unable to gain the trust and support of those around them, making their job more difficult and, in some cases, impossible.

Allocating resources, overseeing first-line managers, and developing and implementing activities are the functions of:

Middle Management

A manager who possesses the skills to account for every task and resource in his department excels at which of the six management functions?

NOT SURE: Planning Controlling Organizing Leading

Evidence of Frederick Taylor's Principles of Scientific Management can today be seen in:

Organizational charts, performance evaluations, quality measurements and metrics, and sales and/or production goals.

________ is the process of thinking about and organizing the activities needed to achieve a desired goal.

Planning

Identify the types of planning and decision making managers engage in, and explain how these help organizations reach their goals

Planning within a business ranges from the big picture to the very granular, from the organization's foundational plan (for example, its vision and mission) and set of strategic plans to its daily operations plans. Each one builds upon the other, and without a well-developed set of plans that management can implement, an organization will likely drift from one venture or problem to another without ever really achieving success.

Which of the following statements accurately describes how planning helps an organization reach its goals?

Plans allow for effective organization, leading, and controlling

SMART is an acronym that summarizes the objective-setting approach recommended by management consultant and author Peter Drucker. The acronym translates as:

Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time Constrained,

Different types of plans play different functions within an organization. Which of the following statements accurately reflects the function of the stated plan?

Strategic plans translate the company mission into a set of long-term goals and short term objectives

Different levels of management generally perform different functions with an organization. Which of the following accurately describes the primary functions of middle management?

Supervise front-line managers and relay updates on operational progress and any challenges

A manager outlining the steps he or she will take to implement a control process would list:

Take correction action if/as necessary

A tornado has touched down in a town not far from a manufacturing company and it is moving toward the plant. The president of the company needs to get everyone to leave the building and get into the tornado shelter for safety. What style of management should the company president use to be the most effective in this situation?

The autocratic management style.

A tsunami is moving toward the town of Hilo, Hawaii where a shipping company is headquartered. The company CEO needs to get everyone to leave and get to high ground to be safe. What style of management should the CEO use to be the most effective in this scenario?

The autocratic management style.

Explain why control is an essential part of effective management, and outline the steps of the control process

The control function of management has two aims: to make order out of chaos and to evaluate whether the company's efforts and resources are being maximized. Remember that the "control function" doesn't give management license to be manipulative or autocratic. Instead it refers to the importance of control through evaluation, since evaluation is the key to knowing whether a company is producing the desired results or not.

Heather is the president of a small company, BrainZ, consisting of 20 highly skilled software engineers. BrainZ takes on projects for other companies who do not have the expertise to create internal programs to help run their businesses. What style of management would be an effective management style for Heather to use in this situation?

The laissez-faire management style.

Leadership styles not only reflect a leader's personality, they also shape an organization's culture and define how business is done. Which of the following statements exemplify transactional leadership?

There's a focus on maintaining the status quo and associated performance standards

In business, the title "manager" refers most to:

Three distinct sets of roles, responsibilities, and activities.

A leader sends out a directive that employees will work by rules set forth solely by the leader suggests which type of leadership style?

autocratic leadership

An accomplished manager is one who can adapt his or her management style to the situation. A democratic management style would be best suited to which of the following situations?

When managing in an organization undergoing a transition like merger/acquisition or consolidation

In order to develop a plan, managers need to have a foundation for planning such as:

an idea, opportunity, or dream.

An organization structure involves:

arranging people within an organization.

The organizing function of managers involves:

assigning activities identified in the planning process to some person, team or department.

At the company where Cindy works, everyone works in units with people who perform similar jobs. All of Cindy's accounting colleagues work in one department. All the marketing and sales people work in one department, as do all the people involved in producing the company's apparel products. What type of organization is this?

functional organization

GEICO has decided that everyone will work in units with people who perform similar jobs. All of the procurement employees work in one department. All of the human resource employees work in one department and all of the printing employees work in the print shop. This type of structure is called:

functional organization.

The management control function is essential to:

helping organizations and individual employees achieve their goals.

Ability to lead is a ________ management skill.

human

You have just been promoted from a supervisory role to a mid-level management position overseeing several work teams. You are eager to strengthen your managerial skill set to meet the challenges of your new role. What skill set should be your particular focus in this role as you foster teamwork, manage conflict and encourage improvement?

human interpersonal skills

Skills that allow you to get along with and motivate other people are:

human skills.