CLEP principles of management test questions

Which of the following options best describes the issues that can impact performance?

Ability, motivation, and work conditions

Which of the following is the best definition of effectiveness?

Accomplishing appropriate goals and objectives

Which of the following group roles is self-oriented?

An avoider fails to engage other members and avoids disagreements. These actions are self-oriented and harm the group.

Which of the following statements best describes business ethics?

Beliefs about appropriate behaviors in the workplace

Which approach to leadership popularized early studies and offered training for managers to become team leaders?

Blake and Mouton's managerial grid. The team style was taught as most effective.

Which of the following represents the best definition of the organizing term "centralization"?

Centralization means that decisions are made at higher levels and the authority needed to implement them also resides at the top.

Which of the following statements is true about charismatic, or transformational, leaders?

Charismatic leaders create a vision that meets followers' needs, articulate it well, and sustain it with other communication.

Which of the following options best describes the activities in project management?

Clarifying the scope and objectives of the project

Which of the following statements is most true about the training component of human resources?

Company intranets are a rapidly growing means of training workers around the world, quickly and at their own pace

Which of the following categories of forces represents the set of beliefs held by organizational members about what is important and how work should be done?

Corporate culture

Goals in organizations vary by level. Which of the following categories is the highest level of goals in organizations?

Corporate goals

Which of the following actions is the first step in the control process?

Establish Standards

Which theory of leadership used the favorability of the situation to match leaders with the situation?

Fiedler's contingency theory. Fiedler proposed three dimensions comprising favorability: leader-member relations, task structure, and position power. In moderate favorability, the relationship-motivated leader is best. In high and low favorability situations, the task-motivated leader is best. None of the other options or models involved favorability of the situation.

Which of the following historical approaches to management emphasized work layout movements and differential piece rates for higher performance?

Frederic Taylor's scientific management. The scientific study of work entailed studying the motions and timing of work tasks. Taylor also urged training on these tasks and paying workers more for exceeding the standard—that is, a differential piece rate

Which of the following is a correct statement about the principle of groupthink?

Groupthink only occurs in cohesive groups where members value membership and are reluctant to criticize. Invulnerability and an inherent sense of morality are two symptoms of groupthink.

Which of the following statements is true of the administrative approach to decision-making?

Herb Simon stated that people use bounded rationality when making decisions; they do not use full information as the classical approach presumed.

Which of the following contingency approaches to leadership taught that managers should look at the readiness of subordinates in terms of ability, experience, and willingness?

Hersey-Blanchard's life cycle theory. This approach viewed the situation in terms of the readiness of subordinates to assume responsibility and perform delegated tasks.

Which of the following need-based approaches to motivation fostered the redesign of jobs to build in greater responsibility for work?

Herzberg's two-factor theory. Herzberg explained that only satisfiers could improve motivation. The fulfillment of dissatisfiers did not lead to motivation. Jobs had to be changed to meet the satisfier needs by assigning more responsibility and challenge.

Which of the following contingency approaches characterizes leadership behavior in terms of the four dimensions of directive, supportive, participative, and achievement?

House's path-goal theory. Of all the contingency approaches only the path-goal used four types of leader behavior.

Which of the following statements best describes the difference between brainstorming and nominal group technique (NGT) in reaching decisions?

Individuals write down their ideas alone and then evaluate them later in a group. NGT uses a more structured approach to idea generation.

Which quality expert defined quality as fitness for use and advocated that transformation of the organization needed to occur at a revolutionary pace?

Joseph Juran. Fitness for use and transforming the organization at a revolutionary pace exemplified his approach to quality.

Which of the following historical approaches to management emphasized that worker participation, shared goals, and empowerment are important for success?

Mary Parker Follett of the administrative school. Writing late in that period, Follett was concerned with worker acceptance of authority. Empowerment was one means of accomplishing this end.

Which of the following approaches to motivation asserted that self-actualization was the highest need that individuals seek to fulfill?

Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Only Maslow talked about self-actualization. While distinctive, self-actualization is difficult to measure and has not worked well in tests of his theory.

Which of the following historical approaches to management emphasized keeping written records of decisions and hiring workers based on qualifications rather than personal ties?

Max Weber advocated written documentation of decisions and any actions taken. He was also trying to overcome the patronage practice of giving positions to family members and friends. The Hawthorne studies and the humanistic perspective

The management theorist who expanded our understanding of worker motivation, noting that employees respond according to the attitudes held by their managers was

McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y asserted that managers held two different sets of attitudes about worker motivation. They communicated the attitude to the worker who, in turn, acted accordingly.

Which of the following is an output of group functioning?

Member satisfaction

Which of the following is an input that impacts the functioning of groups?

Member skills

Which of the following statements best defines the "rule of law"?

Minimal standards for not doing harm in society

Which of the following statements is true about corporate culture?

Much of the culture is hidden and not obvious, like an iceberg. Values and beliefs are not readily evident. It is only the artifacts that are visible.

What is the term used to describe the many categories of people who have an interest in the performance of a firm or manager?

Multiple stakeholders

Which of the following statements best defines the planning term, objectives?

Objectives must be specific. The acronym SMART can help you remember the qualities of good objectives. They are targets or outcomes that employees work to achieve.

Which of the following statements best defines social responsibility?

Obligations that society expects of corporations

Which early approach viewed leadership in terms of the two independent dimensions of initiation of structure and consideration?

Ohio State University's dimensional studies

Human resource management is most closely associated with which of the following traditional functions of management?

Organizing is about formal relationships entered into for accomplishing specific goals.

The current view of conflict in organizations is best described as which of the following?

Perception that someone has frustrated a goal. Both the perceptual aspect and the frustration part are important.

Which quality expert advocated zero defects, explaining that poor quality costs money?

Philip Crosby. Notions of zero defects and the cost-saving benefits of higher quality were his hallmarks.

Which term describes a decision situation where the options and the probabilities associated with them are known?

Risk

The term "hostile work environment" applies most closely to which legal area in HRM?

Sexual harassment

Which of the following is the last step in the control process?

Take corrective action

Which of the following legislative acts prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, and national origin?

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and subsequent amendments

Which of the following is the best definition of human capital?

The economic value of the competencies and skills of employees

Which of the following is NOT a disadvantage of group decision-making?

There is no evidence that group decision-making results in more insults. All of the other options, however, are disadvantages

Which early approach to leadership asserted that natural leaders emerge, fitting the times in which they lead?

Zeitgeist. This word means spirit of the times and was derived from the "Great Man" approach, which stated that leaders were born, not made.

Ohio State University's studies

a behavioral study of leadership, which identified the behaviors of successful leaders. Behavioral research believes that leadership can be taught, not that leaders are born.

Flexible manufacturing

a system of producing that allows greater ease of customization. It may use a kanban approach but inventory management is more directly related.

Which of the following conflict management styles is most appropriate when the issue is not important and you wish to gain social credits with the other party?

accommodating. Allowing the other party to satisfy his or her concerns makes them feel good and can build trust and social credit. Especially when the issue is of minor importance to you, accommodating can be useful

Mary Parker Follett

advocated empowering workers and eliciting cooperation, not creating paper trails

A company operates in a rapidly changing environment. What structural features should go with this organizing contingency?

an organic structure that can adapt. In dynamic environments a flexible, or organic, structure allows for adaptation to environmental forces. In stable environments a vertical and efficient but less flexible structure is best

Which of the following is the first step in the strategic planning process?

assess or define the current mission statement. The strategic planning process begins with the assessment of current performance and mission. You have to know where you are currently before plotting other goals and means.

Which of the following is the first step in the decision-making process?

awareness of the problem. Before doing anything the manager has to know that there is a decision to make or a problem to solve.

What is the planning activity called when a company sends a team to study specific processes in another company?

benchmarking. Companies search for best practices at other companies and send teams to study and copy them.

Individuals from different parts of the organization who are assigned to a permanent team that regularly meets face-to-face to coordinate and make decisions are termed a

committee. Both committees and task forces are cross-functional groups but only the committee is permanent.

Job evaluations are done as part of which of the following human resources functions or programs?

compensation. Job evaluation uses job information to rank jobs, forming an internally equitable system of pay or compensation

Which managerial skill provides managers with mental maps to see the organization as a whole and to understand the factors that impact it?

conceptual skills. Concepts provide guidelines or maps for understanding what cannot be seen firsthand.

Weber's bureaucracy

concerned with rules, documentation, and higher pay for higher positions in the hierarchy, but he did not advocate piece rates.

Which of the following statements is true of the classical approach to decision-making?

decision makers are rational and make full use of information. The classical approach relies on this assumption, based on traditional economic thinking.

Which category of social responsibility is a restaurant following when it donates 5 percent of its dessert profits from one month in support of breast cancer treatment and research?

discretionary. Donating profits to breast cancer projects represents going beyond ethical activities and is purely discretionary.

A manager can use a number of strategies to bring about change and reduce resistance. Which of the following strategies is best in the initial phases of the change?

education and communication. These steps help prepare employees for the change and build trust for the long haul. Of the choices presented, this is the most logical place to start.

"doing the job right" is Drucker's definition of

efficiency

The best use of available resources in the process of accomplishing goals

efficiency

Which of the following is the most important conclusion for a manager to know about the equity theory of motivation?

employees seek other jobs in inequitable situations. If they feel that the tension of inequity cannot be restored in that environment, then they will seek another, more equitable job situation.

Which of the following is an integrated systems that contains data related to all of the functions of the business, including suppliers, internal operations, and customers?

enterprise resource planning (ERP). ERP integrates previously diverse and separate information systems. All business activities of the enterprise are contained in ERP.

Which of the following statements about ethics is NOT true?

ethical violations can lead to fines, legal costs, turnover, and morale problems.

Which category of social responsibility is a company following when it installs electronic kiosks to process job applicants at the first stage of hiring so as to avoid bias?

ethical. Installing electronic kiosks is designed to be fair and unbiased with all applicants. This approach is characteristic of the ethical response.

In expectancy theory, which component is closest to what is termed confidence to perform a task?

expectancy or E → P. The belief that exerting effort will enable you to perform at a reasonable level is confidence.

The goal setting theory of motivation is closest to which of the following approaches to motivation?

expectancy theory, another process theory of motivation. Goal-setting addresses specific, challenging goals. With high self-efficacy, individuals try harder and perform better. Rewards also reinforce goals. These aspects are similar to expectancy and the valence of outcomes in expectancy theory.

Which of the following types of departmentalization is most common among businesses that have just begun?

functional. Most organizations begin with a simple functional structure.

trait approach

identified qualities of leaders, not just assuming that those people were born to lead

Which of the following categories of external forces has the most direct impact on a company?

immediate environmental forces. The word "immediate" provides a semantic clue. Immediate forces, such as customers and competitors, have direct and immediate impact on a company.

The general environmental forces

indirect and general, such as the economy and technology

When a company hires a lobbyist to encourage legislation protecting its products from foreign competition with tariffs, it is doing which of the following in terms of its environment?

influencing factors in the environment. Lobbying is an active influence strategy, which in this case is intended to impact legal-political forces.

Which of the following group roles is task-oriented?

initiator. Of all the group roles presented, only initiator is task-oriented.

member skills, is an

input to group activity

Which functional activity within operations would most likely use a kanban system to maintain eff icient levels of work-in-progress?

inventory management. The kanban system strives to maintain lean amounts of inventory on the shop floor and in the warehouse

Organizations are often grouped into responsibility centers for control purposes. Which type of responsibility center incorporates capital expenditure as well as profit?

investment center. This type of responsibility center encompasses the most factors: expenses, revenue, and capital budgets.

task force

is ad hoc or temporary, making that option incorrect

Adaptation forces

is not correct as this was not a specifically named set of forces, but instead is a means of responding to external forces

influencing forces

is not correct either as this is another means for coping with external forces

Which of the following areas of HR would process grievances from unionized employees?

labor relations. Grievance procedures are part of the union contract which is administered by the labor relations unit of HR.

In Kaplan & Norton's Balanced Scorecard, which goal category is the starting point in the chain?

learning and growth. This is the first component in the Balanced Scorecard.

Which of the following is NOT an integrating mechanism used in many types of organizations?

liaison department. This is an advanced form of integration that is not commonly used in many organizations.

Which of the following is NOT a desired quality of effective control systems?

measure frequently. Although some control systems measure often, it is better to measure selectively and strategically. If people are overwhelmed with data, then they have a hard time making good decisions. Measuring frequently is not a major focus of effective control systems, making it the correct response.

Which of the following options is a process that impacts the functioning of groups?

member roles. Task and socio-emotional roles are key aspects for group process.

Which of the items listed below represents the most visible manifestation of organizing?

organizational chart. Most elements of organizing are intangible and abstract. The chart is visible and shows aspects of the chain of command.

member satisfaction, is an

output of group activity, as is enhanced member capacity

Which of the following types of departmentalization has the advantage of full cross-functional authority at the first level of management?

product. The product manager has responsibility for the product, with all functional areas for that product reporting directly to him or her.

All of the following are desired characteristics of information EXCEPT

quantity

Which of the following statements represents the current view regarding quality in organizations? Quality

requires cultural transformation at all levels of the organization. Quality cannot be isolated or relegated to a checking function; it must encompass all activities including the culture of the organization

Conflicts that emerge when job boundaries and responsibilities are unclear relates to which of the following types or sources of conflict?

role ambiguities. When the boundaries for jobs are poorly defined it is easy for someone to wander into someone else's duties, causing a turf violation or conflict.

Which of the following historical influences advocated compensation related practices in the workplace?

scientific management, Fayol, and Weber. All of these perspectives addressed compensation in some way.

Which of the following Myers-Briggs types is most likely to demonstrate a decision-making style of attention to information detail and use of analytical reasoning?

sensing-thinking (ST). A focus on details is characteristic of a sensing approach to perception and the analytical reasoning is found among thinking types. Option (B) is not correct because an NF would look at longer term, big picture issues that focus on people and values.

The awareness that organizations interact with and are dependent upon their external environment was contributed by which historical school of thought?

systems theory. Open systems are dependent on the environment to survive.

Which of the following managerial skills is used most often by lower-level managers?

technical skills. Technical skills account for the largest proportion at the lower level where managers frequently solve problems in the immediate work environment.

Which of the following statements represents the best definition of the organizing term "work specialization"?

the degree to which jobs are comprised of a few small tasks. Work simplification involves assigning relatively few, simple tasks to each employee so it is easier to train them and to improve efficiencies.

The tendency of managers to attribute the poor performance of subordinates to internal factors—primarily motivation—ignoring factors in the work environment has been termed

the fundamental attribution error

Assemble-to-order

the service strategy that employs some customization from a limited range of options; so cable customers can order a basic package or premium channels and Internet service.

Operations managers are concerned with measures such as productivity. Which of the following is the best measure of productivity?

total outputs/total inputs

When managers communicate with subordinates through formal written communication, what is the most likely direction of the communication flow?

vertical, top-down. Managers communicating to subordinates is vertical, and the specific direction is from top down to bottom

University of Michigan's studies of job- versus employee-centered leadership

was another example of behavioral research

Kurt Lewin's group studies of leadership

was early behavioral research on democratic, autocratic, and laissez-faire styles