Management Exam 1

**The research and development department is considered part of which organizational subsystem?

*Adaptive*

What is the difference between an administrator & a manager?

*Administrator*: *Non-profit companies/Public* -many doing away with Administrator (*negative connotation*) *Manager*: for profit companies/Private Only difference between the two is *what type of company* they work for.

**Which of the following is true concerning environmental scanning?

*All of the above*

What skill is most difficult to develop? Why?

*Conceptual* skills -B/C you need to be smart, have experience, & it takes time to develop this skill.

At what level of management are conceptual skills most important? Technical skills? Human skills?

*Conceptual*: top managers b/c they have to plan -ability to problem solve *Technical*: 1st line most important *Human*: equally important at all levels -ability to work well and cooperate with other people* *Basic skills*: Self awareness and empathy

How do customers influence organizations & how do organizations influence customers?

*Customers*: can cut into your profitability; can demand lower prices/better quality *Organizations*:influence customers by advertising & creating "the need"

*What* is corporate downsizing? *What happens* in corporate downsizing? *What level of management* is most adversely affected?

*Cutting costs* ("Cut the fat, by reducing costs by ppl.") Efficiency oriented Often done by *eliminating middle management levels*; staff management is farmed off to consulting firms & everyone else that remains does more work; technology & computers help for faster communications, but often those people left have "survivors syndrome" where they become stressed, overworked, & think they are the next to leave since their friend's were just fired & as a result, their productivity decrease

On what activity do effective managers spend the majority of their time? Successful managers?

*Effective*: manage down; communication *Successful*: networking - not what you know, but who you know; they manage up

**Which of the following is true concerning effectiveness and efficiency?

*Efficient organizations* tend to be *effective* ones as well

What is the difference between a *functional manager & a general manager*?

*Functional*: specializes/manages *1 area*; 1st-line managers usually (ex: Accounting Manager, HR Manager, etc) *General*: manages many areas; "a jack of all trades & a master of none"; increase as you go up the pyramid (HARDER OF THE TWO) -*Most General* Manager is the CEO

What is the difference between a *line manager & a staff manager*?

*Line*: power over production; have al the power & exists at all levels of the production pyramid *Staff*: gives support & guidance/advice; most often *middle managers*! -Staff: Middle Managers (easy to remove when downsized)

How do suppliers influence organizations & how do organizations influence suppliers (i.e., 3 ways to establish & maintain a positive relationship with suppliers)?

*Vertical integration*: buy your supplier (McDonald's buys chicken farm) *Long term contracts*: lock in the supplier @ a lower price ` *Reducing the number of suppliers*: the larger volume makes a cost reduction -The watchword is *quality*: know what the customers wants and when they want it (differs from customer to customer)

What is effectiveness concerned with? efficiency?

-*Effectiveness*: is concerned with doing the right thing in the right time, in the right way; *goal attainment* - Efficiency is concerned with reducing waste or minimizing resource costs since many resources are scarce. "Getting more bang for the buck."

How did management become important & why is it still significant today?

-*Industrial Revolution* changed how work was performed; dividing up labor causes a need for managers -*Owners* used to do all of the managing -Craftsman didn't need managers b/c *could manage themselves*, but machine need coordination

What does a top manager do? What are the names associated with top management?

-*Plan & legitimize* for the organization. -CEO, CFO, CIO, chairman of the board, executive vice president

What determines if a supplier is powerful? Customer?

-*Suppliers* are powerful if there are few places to buy or if he/she has many customers -*Customers* are powerful if they make large purchases or if they can easily find alternative places to buy

Is management art or science? When is it considered a science? an art?

-Both -It is a *science* b/c we *develop theories* of managing & then *test them* using the scientific method w/ empirical evidence ` -It is an art b/c it's an *extension* of people's personalities; it can not all be taught & there are many different management styles that can be successful

What are the two major dependencies in the external environment? What is the threat to these 2 major dependencies?

-Customers & Suppliers -Their biggest threat is competition

**Relative Importance of 5 Management functions at different management levels.

-Every level of management *encounters all 5 functions* -TOP Mangers: Spend most time on *Planning* -MIDDLE Managers: Spend most time on *Organization* -FIRST LINE: Spend most time on *Staffing and Leading* (Supervise greatest number of employees)

GE, CEO: Forced Distribution Ranking System (Brady Monk Curve):

-Excellent, Above Average, Average, Below Average, Poor -Cut below average and poor new ideas.

How do substitutes affect an industry?

-Increase competition, increase power of the customer & can make products obsolete -Technological innovations (often substitutes are at a higher price when they come out).

How does one compete?

-Law of the market place. -organizational darwinism: organizations must be able to compete or else they will die out

How are effectiveness & efficiency related?

-More concerned with efficiency, the harder it is to be effective (i.e. when you try too hard to cut costs, you can loose sight of your goals) -Effective companies tend to be efficient

What does "planning has primacy" mean?

-Planning is the first thing you must do -Gives directions to all of the other functions

What happened to productivity (supply), prices, & demand as a result of the industrial revolution?

-Production increased -prices decreased -demand increased

What does a middle level manager do? What are the names associated with middle level manager?

-Taking the plans from top level management & put them into action for 1st line management...*integrate & interpret* these plans! -Plant manager, department head, division head

How do powerful suppliers & customers influence organizations?

-They can either drive prices up or down & can cut into the organizations profitability -You don't want to depend on powerful customers & suppliers

Lencioni's 3 Signs of a Miserable Job

-irrelevance -anonymity -immeasurable

Buckingham and Coffman's 4 Levels of Customer Service:

1.) *Accuracy*: customers expect their order to be correct and the price charged was the one agreed to. 2.) *Availability*: customers expect the business to be open when they can use it/and or have problems 3.) *Partnership*: customers want the business to reach out to them, be responsive to their needs, and understand their perspective 4.) *Advice*: customes feel the closest bond to organizations that help them learn. This is the highest level of customer service. -The first 2 merely prevent customer dissatisfaction and the last 2 create customer satisfaction.

6 additional characteristics of an open market system:

1.) *Cyclical nature of the transformation process*: customers & suppliers are most important 2.) *Negative entropy*: trying to prevent the company from dying 3.) *Buffering the technical core*: stability in production 4.) *Role differentiation & specialization*: as open systems grow & develop, organizations needs more specialized departments 5.) *Synergy*: teamwork; whole better than sum of its parts: 2+2=5 -work together to get more done with less: coordination 6.) *Equifinality*: many roads to success

What are the three managerial roles *Mintzberg identified*? Be able to identify each role.

1.) *Interpersonal*: to develop & maintain positive relationships w/ others. -When you have status, people interact with you -Authority -> Status -> Interpersonal Roles -> Informational Roles -> Decisional Roles 2.) *Informational*: receive information & then analyze it. 3.) *Decisional*: using information to solve problems or to take advantage of opportunities. *POINTS TO THE FACT THAT HUMANS ARE YOUR MOST IMPORANT RESOURCES*

What are the 5 functions of management? Be able to identify & describe the five functions of management? {POSLC}

1.) *Planning:* Setting goals & steps necessary to get there 2.) *Organizing*: dividing up work & making sure they work together 3.) *Staffing*: recruiting &selecting employees, termination. 4.) *Leading*: motivate, communicate, resolve conflicts: getting other people on board with you. -type of motivation depends on different people you're rewarding 5.) *Controlling* - give feedback (how well plans are going) -*monitor* organization performance -*compare* actual performance with "hoped for" performance (from goals you've created) -If actual is less than "hoped for", diagnose problem and take corrective action. -if actual is > or equal to, P A R T Y! Celebrate accomplishments. Can't have *planning without controlling* and controlling without planning. When you first start up a company, the *order of these are sequential*, but once you're going they *happen simotaniously.*

What are the five subsystems of an organization? What functions do each subsystem perform?

1.) *Production*: transform raw materials to goods & services (input/output) 2.) *Boundary spanning*: buying from suppliers / selling to consumers 100. 3.) *Adaptive*: research & development SECONDARY SUBSYSTEM 4.) *Maintenance*: smooth operation & upkeep of organization {Facility Services @ LSU} 5.) *Managerial*: top & middle management; plans & legitimizes is top; middle organizes. -*Purple is effective* -*Orange is efficient*

*ON TEST* What are the five forces of competition & how does each influence the level of competition within an industry?

1.) *Rivalry among organizations*:greatest @ mature, low growth -as rivalry among organizations increase, so does competition -organizations can rival one another on such things as price, quality, service, and advertising -rivalry increases as the number of organizations in the market/industry increase and the market matures 2) *Threat of new entrants*: new entrants steal market share & drive prices down; higher the market threat, higher the competition 3.) *Threat of substitutes*: can affect what prices you can charge & due to -Technological innovation, can make older products obsolete -Substitute products are typically the result of technological innovations -substitute products generally increase competition and promote product obsolescence -most of the time one can battle a subsititute inititally with lower prices and aggressive advertising d) *Power of customers*: powerful customers can cut into profitability; customers who make large purchases can drive down prices -they make large purchases from you and have many places to buy what you're selling. 5.) *Power of suppliers*: can raise prices or reduce quality of good -how do you know if a supplier is powerful or not? -they're one of the few sources of the supply and they have many customers. -What effect can a powerful supplier have on an organization?

What are the three managerial skills *identified by Katz*? Be able to identify each skill.

1.) *Technical*: knowledge (expertise method) 2.) *Human*: ability to work well w/ others (communication, leadership, empathy, self-awareness) 3.) *Conceptual*: ability to problem solve; see the big picture; forecast

3 Ways to Provide Superior Customer Service:

1.) Make it easy to complain 2.) Make a timely personal repsonse to the complaint 3.) Make sure your response to the complaint is effective

**5 barriers to entry into an industry/market:

1.) gov't policy 2.) capital requirements 3.) brand identifications/loyalty 4.) cost advantages 5.) distribution channels

**Which of the following would lead to increased rivalry in an organizations environment?

1.Few organizations in the market 2.Many organizations in the market 3.New, high growth market 4.Mature, low growth market *5. 2 and 4*

**Which of the following is a barrier to entry into a market/industry?

1.Government patents 2.Large capital requirements 3.Brand loyalty 4.Cost advantages of existing companies 5.Distribution channels are tied up *6.All of the above*

What percent of effective managers are successful?

10%

**How much *more does it cost* to find a new customer than to keep an old one, according to TQM experts?

5X

What gives rise to the three managerial roles, according to Mintzberg?

A *manager's authority* gives rise to status within the company.

**The CEO Of Syngenta Inc. is a?

All of the above

**Acquiring (buying) your supplier is known as vertical integration______.

Backward

**Karen is a Human Resource Manager at blue cross and blue shield. She is primarily provides advice to managers dealing with disciplinary and termination issues. Karen is a _________ manager.

Both *Functional and Staff*

**Ford Motor Company in 2010 saw a 15% increase in their North American market share. For four straight quarters, they reported a profit. This is in part due to their aggressive restructuring plan which dramatically cuts costs. Ford was?

Both *effective* and *efficient*

**Which subsystem is responsible for dealing directly with the organizations 2 major environmental dependencies?

Boundary-spanning

Successful managers in luthans study spend the majority of their time on what activity?

Communication

**Which of the following is *not true* according to the article, "Avoid pricing yourself short?"

Companies who offer best prices, best services, and best quality are the ones who'll dominate the market.

**The feed back loop associated with cylclical nature of the transformation process relates most closely to which function of management?

Controlling

**A manager is conducting an annual performance appraisal with one of her employees. This is an example of the____________.

Controlling function

The *less* competition, the *more* profit share and gain you will have.

Customers *want* rivalry.

**Which of the following pairs of environmental components represent the organizations two major dependencies?

Customers and suppliers

**According to the cyclical nature of the transformation process, which is more important to the success of the business?

Customers and suppliers are both *equally important*.

What is the primary difference between derailed executives & executives who made it to top management, according to the Center for Creative Leadership?

Derailed executives are insensitive to other people.

What are the 2 key concerns of management?

Effectiveness & Efficiency

What does a *first-line manager* do? What are the names associated with 1st-line management?

Ensures that the plans developed by top managers & middle managers are *implemented* by laborers w/ minimum costs Foreman, supervisor

Some suppliers may not want you as a customer.

Example: Snapper business does not work with Walmart (business models are not consistent with one another)

**At what level of management are line managers located?

First, Middle, and Top -All of the above

**Which of the following mangers is responsible for *implementing* plans thru operative employees?

First-line management

**Role differentiation and specialization in an organization:

Help an organzation deal with troublesome aspects of the external environment.

**Which of the following would lead to a "good" competitive environment from the organizations perspective?

High barriers to entry into the organizations marketplace.

What is your important resource as manager?

Human resources (people)

First line:

In between labor and management

Injellitance:

Incompetence + Jealousy

**Which of the following is *not* true concerning corporate downsizing?

It's primarily *effectiveness*-oriented.

**Bill is an assistand manager at Raising Cane's. He spends most of his time as a manager communicating with, motivating, and resolving conflicts among his subordinates. On which of the following *functions of management* does Bill spend the majority of his time?

Leading

**Which of the following organizational subsystems are primarily *efficiency oriented*?

Maintenance and Production

Which of the following is not a way to provide superior customer service?

Make it difficult to complain

**Which level of management has at its primary functions, *interpreting and integrating*?

Middle management

According to Luthans (1988), are effective managers successful managers in general?

NO... effective managers were not usually promoted rapidly through the organization; -the ones that *networked* were the ones who moved up

**When an organzation engages in a turnaround strategy to combat declining performance, this is an example of?

Negative Entropy

**Wolfgang Bernhard, head of VW, stated in early 2006 that VW is a company in crisis he tried to prevent the company from dieing. This is an example of:

Negative entropy

Does planning gurantee efficiency?

No

What is the law of the marketplace?

Organizations that can't compete will be forced to change their product line or will die out.

**Which function of management is concerned with concepts such as division of labor and specialization?

Organizing

Which function of management is most important to a middle manager?

Organizing

**Which function of management is said to have "primacy"?

Planning

What are the Siamese twins of management?

Planning & Controlling

**Which of the following pairs of management functions represents the conjoined twins of management?

Planning and Controlling

Why do most businesses fail?

Poor management

**What is *not* true concerning the Industrial Revolution?

Prices for goods increased as a result.

**According to *Luthan's' real* manager study:

Promotions were *not* based on performance

What was the basic change in the industrial revolution?

Skilled craftsman decreased use of machinery & division of labor increased (skilled labor decreased)

**Injellitance most adversely affects which function of management?

Staffing

**Which function of management deals with the termination of employees?

Staffing

**Injellitance most adversely affects which function of MGMT?

Staffing and leading

**DaimlerChrysler CEO, Dieter Zetsche (aka Dr. Z), announced in 2007 that there would be more cooperation (e.g., ) Actions best exemplified what principle of an open system?

Synergy

**Which of the following is *not true* concerning managerial skills?

Technical skills are *not important* at top management

What is *management*?

The process of achieving *desired results* through the efficient use of *human & material resources* & through the utilization of *effectiveness & efficiency*

What was the pivotal event of our time, according to *Drucker*?

The switch from *owner/manager* to *professional manager*

Which of the following is not true concerning new entrants and competition?

They decrease the power of the customer

What levels of mangaemnet include "managemnet of a company?

Top and Middle

**In January of 2011, General Motors last week named Mary Barra, Vice President of Product Development. This is the first time that a woman has been named to this post at GM. At *what level* of management is this postion located?

Top management

Inside Out Concept:

When employees are happy, customer service goes up.

What are the three aspects of *controlling*?

a) Monitor performance b) Compare actual results w/ "hoped for" results for feedback on performance c) Taking corrective action if actual < "hoped for"

Which of the following functions of management are performed by *top managers*?

a.) planning - (spend most time) b.) Organizing c.) Staffing d.) Leading e.) Controlling *g.) All of the above*

Eponymous:

name principle after yourself

GAP PLANNING:

what you can do to make the company better.