MGMT exam 1 prof q's

What is a closed system and what is an open system

Open systems interact with their environment, whereas closed systems do not interact with their environment.

What is a time motion study

determines the most time efficient way to accomplish the task at hand

What is infrastructure

the basic physical and organizational structures and facilities (e.g., buildings, roads, and power supplies) needed for the operation of a society or enterprise. -consists of its schools, hospitals, power plants, railroads, highways, shipping ports, communication systems, airfields, commercial distribution systems, and so forth. The United States has a highly developed infrastructure.

What is an entrepreneur

-A person who organizes, manages, and takes on the risks of a business. -the voluntary initiator of change. -an individual who starts a new business or introduces a new product -decisional roles

What is the general environment and the various dimensions of the general environment

General environment: the set of broad dimensions and forces in its surroundings that create its overall context.These dimensions and forces are not necessarily associated with other specific organizations. Most organizations has economic, technological, sociocultural, political-legal, and international dimensions. -Economic dimension: the overall health and vitality of the economic system in which the organization operates. general economic growth, inflation, interest rates, and unemployment. also important to nonbusiness organizations (ex: hospitals are affected by the availability of government grants and the number of low-income patients they must treat free of charge). -Technological dimension: the methods available for converting resources into products or services. Ex: Computer-assisted manufacturing and design techniques. Resources can also come from the technological dimension. -Sociocultural dimension: includes the customs, mores, values, and demographic characteristics of the society in which the organization functions. Sociocultural processes are important because they determine the products, services, and standards of conduct that the society is likely to value. Consumer tastes also change over time. Preferences for color, style, taste, and so forth change from season to season (ex: smoking cigarettes less popular in the US today than it was 10 years ago). sociocultural factors influence how workers in a society feel about their jobs and organizations. -Political-Legal dimension: government regulation of business and the relationship between business and government. Important because: 1) the legal system partially defines what an organization can and cannot do. 2) pro- or antibusiness sentiment in government influences business activity. 3) political stability has ramifications for planning (No business wants to set up shop in another country unless trade relationships with that country are relatively well defined and stable) -International dimension: the extent to which an organization is involved in or affected by businesses in other countries. Has implications for not-for-profit organizations. virtually every organization is affected by the international dimension of its general environment. -ex: (general environment) 1. The availability of new forms of energy with a less detrimental impact on the environment -General environment 2. For a public university, the pool of new PhD graduates seeking jobs as professors -Task environment 3. A company adopting an open-plan design for the workstations in its new office -Internal environment 4. The introduction of tablet computers -General environment 5. A manager's policy of letting employees have Friday afternoons off during the summer -Internal environment 6. Increased public concern over environmental impacts of the energy industry -Sociocultural 7. Declining tourism along the entire coastline of the Gulf of Mexico -Economic 8. Development of new methods to measure oil pressure in deep-sea wells after existing mechanisms had failed -Technological

What is international business

based primarily in a single country but acquires some meaningful share of its resources or revenues (or both) from other countries. many of the products it sells, such as tools and appliances, are made abroad.

What is direct regulation

Direct regulation: usually involves regulation (the establishment of laws and rules that dictate what organizations can and cannot do). usually evolves from societal beliefs about what businesses should or should not be allowed to do. Can also regulate business practices through legislation.

What does it mean to be an efficient manager?

-efficient: using resources wisely in a cost effective way

What are ethical standards

-criteria that help differentiate right from wrong -People start to form ethical standards as children, in response to their perceptions of their parents' and other adults' behaviors and in response to the behaviors they are allowed to choose.

What's the external environment

-external environment is everything outside an organization's boundaries that might affect it. 2 types: 1. General environment 2. task environment

What is a code of ethics

-formalized rules and standards that describe what a company expects of its employees -written statements of the values and ethical standards that guide the firms' actions.

What is a strategic Alliance

-strategic alliance, two or more firms jointly cooperate for mutual gain. -Advantages: allow quick entry into a market by taking advantage of the existing strengths of participants. effective way to gain access to technology or raw materials. And they allow the firms to share the risk and cost of the new venture. -Disadvantages: lies with the shared ownership of joint ventures. Although it reduces the risk for each participant, it also limits the control and return that each firm can enjoy. Another is political interference or intrusion in countries where the government plays an active role in international joint ventures.

What are the various functions of management

4 basic managerial functions: 1. Planning & decision making -Planning: setting an organization's goals and deciding how best to achieve them 2. Organizing -involves determining how activities and resources are to be grouped. 3. Leading -set of processes used to get members of the organization to work together to further the interests of the organization. 4. Controlling -the organization's progress toward its goals -Controlling similarly helps ensure the effectiveness and efficiency needed for successful management, but weak controls can end up costing an organization in many different ways.

What is decision making

-part of the planning process, involves selecting a course of action from a set of alternatives. -Planning and decision making help maintain managerial effectiveness by serving as guides for future activities.

What is a physical resource

-raw materials, office & production facilities, equipment

What is importing and what is exporting

-Importing or exporting is usually the first type of international business in which a firm gets involved. -Exporting, or making the product in the firm's domestic marketplace and selling it in another country, can involve both merchandise and services. -Importing is bringing a good, service, or capital into a firm's home country from abroad. -advantages: it's the easiest way of entering a market with a small outlay of capital. Because the products are usually sold "as is," there is no need to adapt the product to the local conditions, and little risk is involved., no need to adapt products to local preferences -disadvantages: imports and exports are subject to taxes, tariffs, and higher transportation expenses. Furthermore, because the products are not adapted to local conditions, they may miss the needs of a large segment of the market. Finally, some products may be restricted and thus can be neither imported nor exported.

Who was Frank Gilbreth and what did he contribute

-One of Frank Gilbreth's most interesting contributions was to the craft of bricklaying. -After studying bricklayers at work, he developed several procedures for doing the job more efficiently. For example, he specified standard materials and techniques, including the positioning of the bricklayer, the bricks, and the mortar at different levels. The results of these changes were a reduction from 18 separate physical movements to five and an increase in output of about 200 percent. -Lillian Gilbreth made equally important contributions to several different areas of work, helped shape the field of industrial psychology, and made substantive contributions to the field of personnel management. Working individually and together, the Gilbreths developed many techniques and strategies for eliminating inefficiency. They applied many of their ideas to their family and documented their experiences raising 12 children in the book and original 1950 movie Cheaper by the Dozen.

What is an administrative manager

-not associated with any particular management specialty. -tend to be generalists; they have some basic familiarity with all functional areas of management rather than specialized training in any one area

Who was Frederick Taylor and what did he contribute

He discovered a phenomenon called soldiering (employees deliberately working at a pace slower than their capabilities. ) Rather than paying all employees the same wage, he began increasing the pay of each worker who met and exceeded the target level of output set for his/her job. The results were higher quality and quantity of output and improved morale.

What is managerial ethics

standards of behavior that guide individual managers in their work 1. How an Organization Treats Its Employees: hiring and firing, wages and working conditions, and employee privacy and respect. both ethical and legal guidelines suggest that hiring and firing decisions should be based solely on one's ability to perform the job. 2. How Employees Treat the Organization: conflicts of interest, secrecy and confidentiality, and honesty. A conflict of interest occurs when a decision potentially benefits the individual to the possible detriment of the organization. most companies have policies that forbid their buyers from accepting gifts from suppliers. 3. How Employees and the Organization Treat other Economic Agents: customers, competitors, stockholders, suppliers, dealers, and unions. The interactions between the organization and these agents that may be subject to ethical ambiguity include advertising and promotions, financial disclosures, ordering and purchasing, shipping and solicitations, bargaining and negotiation, and other business relationships.

What is a corporate social audit

a formal and thorough analysis of the effectiveness of a firm's social performance. The audit is usually conducted by a task force of high-level managers from within the firm. It requires that the organization clearly define all of its social goals, analyze the resources it devotes to each goal, determine how well it is achieving the various goals, and make recommendations about which areas need additional attention.

What is Administrative management

-Administrative management focused on the total organization and on ways to make it more efficient and effective. -focuses on managing the total organization. Primary contributors were Henri Fayol, Lyndall Urwick, Max Weber, and Chester Barnard. -Fayol was also the first to identify the managerial functions of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. He believed that these functions accurately reflect the core of the management process. Weber's work on bureaucracy laid the foundation for contemporary organization theory -Chester Barnard theory about the acceptance of authority suggests that subordinates weigh the legitimacy of a supervisor's directives and then decide whether to accept them. An order is accepted if the subordinate understands it, is able to comply with it, and views it as appropriate.

What is a joint venture / strategic Alliance

-Strategic Partners/allies: two or more companies that work together in joint ventures or other partnerships. Ex: Mcdonalds inside Walmart. help spread risk and open new market opportunities. -joint venture is a special type of strategic alliance in which the partners actually share ownership of a new enterprise. The two partners share equally in ownership and profits.In most cases, each party provides a portion of the equity or the equivalent in physical plant, raw materials, cash, or other assets. The proportion of the investment then determines the percentage of ownership in the venture. -Access to materials and technology -advantages: Quick market entry, Access to materials and technology -disadvantages: Shared ownership (limits control and profits)

Who was Charles Babbage and what did he contribute

-an English mathematician, focused his attention on efficiencies of production. -His primary contribution was his book On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures. -Babbage placed great faith in the division of labor and advocated the application of mathematics to such problems as the efficient use of facilities and materials. -In a sense, his work was a forerunner of both the classical and the quantitative management perspectives. -He understood that a harmonious relationship between management and labor could serve to benefit both, and he favored such devices as profit-sharing plans. -Babbage was an originator of modern management theory and practice.

What is an operations manager

-middle managers that manage the systems that convert resources into goods and services -concerned with creating and managing the systems that create an organization's products and services. -production control, inventory control, quality control, plant layout, and site selection. -operations management: a form of applied management science. Operations management techniques are generally concerned with helping the organization produce its products or services more efficiently and can be applied to a wide range of problems.

What are technical skills

-the job-specific knowledge needed to perform well in a specialized field -The skills necessary to accomplish or understand the specific kind of work being done in an organization -ex:The manager of a software development company who understands how to write and test relevant code and application; the manager of a restaurant chain knowing the basics of food preparation

What is scientific management

-under the umbrella of classical management perspective -Scientific management focused on employees within organizations and on ways to improve their productivity. -Scientific Management: Concerned with improving the performance of individual workers. Main contributor= Frederick W. Taylor. He discovered a phenomenon called soldiering (employees deliberately working at a pace slower than their capabilities.) Rather than paying all employees the same wage, he began increasing the pay of each worker who met and exceeded the target level of output set for his/her job. The results were higher quality and quantity of output and improved morale. -Gantt was another contributor. Gantt chart: means of scheduling work and can be generated for each worker or for an entire complex project -studying workers to find the most efficient ways of doing things and then teaching people those techniques

What were the Hawthorne studies

-verified that workers were motivated by factors other than money -Elton Mayo went into a telephone assembling company and saw it was all women working due to their small hands and dexterity. He split the workers into groups and changed their incentives as well as surrounding to test the levels of productivity. -The first study at Hawthorne involved manipulating illumination for one group of workers and comparing their subsequent productivity with the productivity of another group whose illumination was not changed. Surprisingly, when illumination was increased for the experimental group, productivity went up in both groups. Productivity continued to increase in both groups, even when the lighting for the experimental group was decreased. Not until the lighting was reduced to the level of moonlight did productivity begin to decline -The results were attributed to the presence of special attention and supervision among both the control and experimental groups. - The incentive pay plans did not work because wage incentives were less important to the individual workers than was social acceptance in determining output. In short, individual and social processes played major roles in shaping worker attitudes and behavior. -The industrial branch of psychology is strongly associated with the behavioral management perspective of management -Which result would have been expected in the Hawthorne Studies had it been based on the principles of scientific management? Scientific management would have predicted that employees would seek to maximize their wages.

Management Challenges in a Global Economy

1. Planning and Decision Making in a Global Economy -managers must have a broad-based understanding of both environmental issues and competitive issues. -They need to understand local market conditions and technological factors that will affect their operations. -Critical issues include understanding environmental circumstances, the role of goals and planning in a global organization, and how decision making affects the global organization. -They should also have an understanding of how crises and other forms of environmental turbulence, such as the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, can impact their foreign operations. -Ex: How strong is the infrastructure in our prospective markets? Should we enter an emerging market? What are our foreign competitors doing in each market? 2. Organizing in a Global Economy -Managers in an international business must address the basic issues of organization structure and design, managing change, and dealing with human resources. -Strategically, too, organizing decisions can be used to help promote everything from organizational flexibility to the development of expatriate managers -Ex: What benefits should we offer expatriates? How much authority and span of control should we give our local managers in each country facility? 3.Leading in a Global Economy -Individual managers must be prepared to deal with these and other factors as they interact with people from different cultural backgrounds. -Managers must understand how cultural factors affect individuals, how motivational processes vary across cultures, how the role of leadership changes in different cultures, how communication varies across cultures, and how interpersonal and group processes depend on cultural background. -Ex: What will most motivate employees of different cultural backgrounds? 4. Controlling in a Global Economy -managers in international organizations must also be concerned with control. -Distances, time-zone differences, and cultural factors also play a role in control. -Basic control issues for the international manager revolve around operations management, productivity, quality, technology, and information systems. -Ex: Can we expect for deadlines to be respected? Will we need to enforce close supervision in foreign locations?

What are Porter's five forces

1. Threat of new entrants: extent to which new competitors can easily enter a market or market segment. Ex: It takes a relatively small amount of capital to open a dry-cleaning service or a pizza parlor, but it takes a tremendous investment in plant, equipment, and distribution systems to enter the automobile business. 2. Competitive rivalry: the nature of the competitive relationship between dominant firms in the industry. 3. threat of substitute products: the extent to which alternative products or services may supplant or diminish the need for existing products or services. Ex: The advent of personal computers, in turn, reduced the demand for calculators as well as for typewriters and large mainframe computers. 4. Power of buyers: extent to which buyers of the products or services in an industry can influence the suppliers. 5. Power of suppliers: extent to which suppliers can influence potential buyers. -Environmental Turbulence: The most common form of organizational turbulence is a crisis of some sort. Ex: 9/11. Such crises affect organizations in different ways, and some organizations have developed crisis plans and teams. -ex: There are thousands of brands of craft beer. = competitors The local electric company is the only source of electricity in the community= suppliers In 2015 and 2016, respectively, Amazon Handmade and Facebook Marketplace were launched as places where individuals could find buyers for one-of-a-kind items. = new entrants A Starbucks opened around the corner from the local coffee shop. =competitors Walmart makes large purchases from suppliers to stock inventory for its customers. = buyers Facebook acquired Instagram. = competitors AT&T, a cable provider, merged with DirecTV, a satellite provider.= substitutes Facebook is funding the development of infrastructure that will provide Internet access in developing countries = suppliers Media companies CBS and Viacom merged= suppliers PepsiCo monitors shopper data on sales of non-carbonated beverages.= substitutes Firms can sign long-term contracts to stabilize prices for orders over time. = competitors Recognizing the rapid growth in sales of milk substitutes like almond milk, dairy-milk processors developed a $50 million ad campaign to promote the protein benefits of cow milk. = substitutes Aardvark is the only commercial supplier of paper straws= suppliers Becoming a content creator on social media platforms like TikTok requires nothing but a phone and an idea.= new entrants Teledoc Health now offers 24/7 online medical appointments that are covered by insurance.= competitors Corporate jet purchases are made by a small number of affluent individuals with many transportation options. =buyers