Fundamentals of Management

Pick the question that is answered by vision statements.

"Where is this organization going?"

What is an audit that provides information about where an organization is with respect to what was planned for known as?

A budget audit

What is the strategy that focuses on how a given organization needs to compete to be effective known as?

A business strategy

Pick the correct example of related diversification.

A cell phone manufacturer starts making earphones.

Which of the following is an example of unrelated diversification?

A chocolate manufacturer starts making apparels.

What is the correct definition of a group?

A collection of individuals who interact with each other such that one person's actions have an impact on the other people

Of the nine principles of management given by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman, what does the principle "a bias for action" imply?

A culture of impatience with lethargy and inertia that otherwise leaves organizations unresponsive

What does the principle of "a bias for action" imply, in the context of the nine principles of management given by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman?

A culture of impatience with lethargy and inertia that otherwise leaves organizations unresponsive

Choose the point that best describes controlling.

A function which involves ensuring that performance does not deviate from standards

Of the two traditional control techniques, name the audit that tries to determine whether the figures reported are a reflection of actual enforcement.

A performance audit

Of the two traditional control techniques, what is an audit that tries to determine whether the figures reported are a reflection of actual enforcement known as?

A performance audit

What is the definition of a team?

A small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose

What is a mission statement?

A statement of purpose, describing who the company is and what it does

What is an organizational culture?

A system of shared assumptions, values, and beliefs showing people what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior

What are organizational citizenship behaviors?

Activities that add value to a job, but are not part of a formal job description

What is the definition of a virtual organization?

An organization in which employees work remotely-sometimes within the same city, but more often across a country and across national borders

What best describes a learning organization?

An organization that is skilled at creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge, and at modifying its behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights

Who is most likely to engage in tactical planning?

An organization's middle-level managers

How is entrepreneurship best understood?

As a process because it often involves more than simply coming up with a good idea, someone also has to convert that idea into action

To understand the different learning styles, Mark uses the gauge-discover-reflect process and chooses his topic as environmental hazards. In this case, what will Mark do during the gauge step?

Assess his information and proficiencies related to the topic

Choose the point that describes the principle known as simultaneous loose-tight properties according to the nine principles of management introduced by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman.

Autonomy in shop-floor activities along with centralized values

What refers to the principle of simultaneous loose-tight properties according to Tom Peters and Robert Waterman?

Autonomy in shop-floor activities along with centralized values

How do vision statements foster a spirit of continuous innovation and improvement?

By creating a tension and restlessness with regard to the status quo

How can the leadership in an organization make frontline responsibility effective?

By learning to trust workers and giving them sufficient opportunities to develop quality decision-making skills

In the six-step approach to problem solving, what step should be taken up immediately after gathering relevant data?

Clarify the problem.

What step should be taken up immediately after gathering relevant data in the six-step approach to problem solving?

Clarify the problem.

While making formal presentations, Tim, a human resource executive, expresses himself clearly and concisely. He often tends to influence others easily through his speech. Based on the description of Tim, what skills does he possess?

Communication skills

What is true of social networking?

Companies use social networking systems internally to help identify experts.

What are the skills needed to reason abstractly and analyze complex situations known as?

Conceptual skills

What is true of controlling?

Controlling requires a clear understanding of where responsibility for deviations from standards lies.

Which activity is involved in organizing?

Developing an organizational structure

According to the broader definition of visionary leadership, what happens when the mission and vision serve as a form of cruise control?

Efficiency will be achieved with limited hands-on supervision.

Pick the statement that implies as to why new management theories were developed.

Employees have to be able to improvise, and they have to be motivated and happy if they are to serve the customer in a friendly way.

What is involved in the management function of controlling?

Ensuring that performance does not deviate from standards

What characterizes the management role of controlling?

Ensuring that the work-related activities of subordinates are consistent with the accomplishment of organizational objectives

Pick the right example showing an individual with technical skills.

Farah, an engineer, is good at coding computing problems.

What is a fact related to strategic planning?

Formulation of objectives is generally included under strategic planning.

Tina has been meeting her productivity and quality targets poorly. She is using the six-step approach to problem solving. She currently understands that she does not meet her targets efficiently because she takes long breaks, uses her cell phone constantly, takes a long time to understand some of her tasks, and rarely asks queries. According to the approach, which step is she currently implementing?

Gathering relevant data

What should a manager do immediately after clarifying the problem in the six-step approach to problem solving?

Generate possible solutions.

What step should be taken up immediately after clarifying the problem in the six-step approach to problem solving?

Generate possible solutions.

Giselle, an employee at Lumia Corp., believes in learning from her mistakes. She does not shy away from taking up a new task if she is not familiar with it. She takes it up and learns how to execute it. In this case, what is true of Giselle?

Giselle is a kinesthetic learner.

Pick the statement that accurately differentiates groups from teams.

Groups differ from teams in that members are not necessarily focused on a joint goal or product.

Oliver, a manager, has not been managing his time effectively. He has identified his problem and now he wants to enhance his time management skills. According to the six-step approach to problem solving, select the step that should now be immediately taken up by him.

He should accumulate relevant information associated with his inability to manage time effectively.

Ben received negative feedback on his performance. Since he wants to be seen as a highly valued contributor, he uses the six-step approach to problem solving to achieve his goal. He has come up with following possible solutions: work on his communication skills, meet productivity and quality standards consistently, take initiative, avoid taking leaves regularly, and stop taking long breaks. According to the approach, which step should Ben take immediately after generating possible solutions?

He should select the best option.

Dan is looking for a job and has been rejected often due to his poor performance during the interview. He desperately needs a job and uses the six-step approach to problem solving. He comes up with few solutions to the problem such as improving his communication skills, developing his résumé by adding more details, and improving his body language. According to the approach, which step should Dan take immediately after generating solutions?

He should select the best option.

What means integrating decisions about people with decisions about the results an organization is trying to obtain?

Human resources management alignment

While planning, what should planners do immediately after establishing objectives?

Identify alternative courses of action for achieving objectives.

Pick the first step in the six-step approach to problem solving.

Identify the problem one wants to work on.

In an organization, when should corrective action be prompted by mission and vision?

In cases where performance falls short of performance objectives

What is true of entrepreneurship?

In entrepreneurship, bigger problems often means there will be a bigger market for the product or service that the entrepreneur creates.

What is a fact related to entrepreneurship?

In entrepreneurship, bigger problems will often mean there will be a bigger market for the product or service that the entrepreneur creates

What is the difference between in-role performance and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB)?

In-role performance is associated with certain standards that must be met to do a job, whereas OCB is beneficial to the organization but not directly recognized by the formal reward system.

Select the correct statement regarding compatibility of individual and group performance.

Incentives need to be aligned between individuals and groups.

In the corporate world, what is a social network made up of?

Individuals who share an employer and, potentially, other interests as well

What role is important for a top-level manager for the company's long-term success?

Informational role

What are the skills needed to get along with and motivate other people known as?

Interpersonal skills

Who among the following has good communication skills?

Irene, who has the ability to prepare clear documents on the operations of her team

Pick the right statement regarding journal entries.

It allows one to examine his or her own emotional responses.

What happens when an organization's mission challenges the status quo?

It creates a need for "change leaders."

What is the significance of top-level managers obtaining informational roles?

It enables them to be seen as industry experts both by employees and customers.

What is a fact related to synergy?

It exists when the interaction of two or more activities, such as those in a business, create a combined effect greater than the sum of their individual effects.

What is true of operational planning?

It generally assumes the existence of organization-wide or sub-unit goals and objectives and specifies ways to achieve them.

Which of the following characterizes operational planning?

It generally assumes the existence of organization-wide or sub-unit goals and objectives and specifies ways to achieve them.

What is true of strategic planning?

It generally includes the entire organization and includes formulation of objectives.

Select the point that best describes leading.

It involves influencing others toward the attainment of organizational objectives.

In the gauge-discover-reflect process, what does gauging involve?

It involves taking stock of one's knowledge and capabilities about a topic.

Pick the statement that best defines a group.

It is a collection of individuals who interact with each other such that one person's actions have an impact on the other people.

What is an organizational design?

It is a formal, guided process for integrating the people, information, and technology of an organization.

What is a vision statement?

It is a future-oriented declaration of an organization's purpose and aspirations.

What is related diversification?

It is a type of diversification that occurs when a firm operates multiple businesses within the same industry.

How can a social movement be best described?

It is a type of group action that is very spontaneous and fluid.

What is a budget audit?

It is an audit that provides information about where the organization is with respect to what was planned for.

What is a performance audit?

It is an audit that tries to determine whether the figures reported are a reflection of actual enforcement.

Why do virtual companies present special leadership challenges?

It is essential for leaders to keep people informed of what they are supposed to be doing and what other arms of the organization are doing.

Which of the following characterizes organizational culture?

It is formulated from the interaction of the employees in the workplace.

What is true of journaling?

It is inexpensive.

In the context of corporate strategy, what is diversification?

It is the number of different businesses that an organization is engaged i

Choose from the following, the statement that best describes empowerment.

It is the process of enabling or authorizing an individual to think, behave, take action, and control work and decision making in autonomous ways.

What is the definition of leadership?

It is the social and informal sources of influence that one uses to inspire action taken by others.

Choose the main purpose of applying an organizational design.

It is used to match the form of the organization as closely as possible to the purposes the organization seeks to achieve.

According to the nine principles of management introduced by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman, what does the principle of productivity through people mean?

It means treating rank-and-file employees as a source of quality.

When does related diversification occur?

It occurs when a firm operates multiple businesses within the same industry.

What makes strategy significant in understanding the principles of management?

It provides leaders and employees with a clear set of guidelines for their daily actions, when correctly formulated and communicated.

Explain the principle known as managing ambiguity and paradox, in the context of Tom Peters and Robert Waterman's nine principles of management.

It refers to the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still be able to function effectively.

What is true of strategic human resources management?

It reflects the aim of tying the organization's human capital, its people, into the mission and vision

What is true of a services-based economy?

It requires interactions between employees and customers.

Pick the right statement for an organizational design.

It should reflect and support the organizational strategy.

What is true of social movements?

Leaders of social movements depend on charisma rather than authority to motivate participants to action.

What is defined as the social and informal sources of influence that one uses to inspire action taken by others?

Leadership

According to the gauge-discover-reflect process, what describes the component of discovering?

Learning enough about a topic so that one can set specific development goals that he or she can apply and practice

What is true of the management function of controlling?

Managers at all levels engage in the managerial function of controlling to some degree.

Choose the correct description of line managers.

Managers who lead teams that contribute directly to the products or services the organization creates

Which statement is true of tactical planning?

Middle-level managers often engage in tactical planning.

Pick the correct statement regarding mission and vision.

Mission and vision both relate to an organization's purpose and aspirations.

Why are mission and vision most effective when they pervade the leadership of the entire organization, rather than being just the focus of senior management?

Mission and vision guide choices about organizing through an organizational structure and an organizational culture.

(What type of planning?) A group of management goes to Mexico to hire a team to be based in Mexico City.

Operational

What is a system of shared assumptions, values, and beliefs showing people what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior known as?

Organizational culture

Pick the right statement regarding mission, vision, and leading.

People will help diffuse a revolutionary philosophy even while the leader (i.e., the founder or CEO) is not present.

Select the first step that should be implemented in the planning process.

Planners must be aware of the critical contingencies and trends facing their organizations.

Choose the reason why effective controlling requires the existence of plans.

Planning provides the necessary performance standards or objectives.

How does the existence of plans make controlling effective?

Planning provides the necessary performance standards or objectives.

Why does effective controlling require the existence of plans?

Planning provides the necessary performance standards or objectives.

Of the five building blocks of learning organizations, what does learning from others imply?

Recognizing that good ideas come from anywhere, not just inside the company

What is a suggestion for effective time-management?

Set aside a certain time each day to return phone calls and answer e-mail.

Mona, a sales manager, realizes that her team members are not meeting their monthly sales targets frequently. She implements the six-step approach to problem solving and comes up with a few possible solutions to the problem. She then gets input from her team members and chooses the best solution to the problem. What should be Mona's next step?

She should implement her decision.

Which of the following provide important information about the ways in which workers can be energized to put forth productive effort?

Studies of motivation and motivation theory

Which of the following best describes administrative systems in an organizational structure?

Systems that govern the organization through guidelines, procedures, and policies

What is the difference between groups and teams?

Teams differ from other types of groups in that members are focused on a joint goal or product.

What are the skills needed to perform specific tasks known as?

Technical skills

How is a strategy best defined?

The creation of an organization's long-term purpose, articulated by clear goals and objectives that can be incorporated into a coherent plan of action

Pick a limitation of the early views of management.

The early views presumed that managers were overseeing manual labor tasks.

Which of the following describes synergy in corporate strategy?

The interaction of two or more activities, creating a combined effect greater than the sum of their individual efforts

What is true of corporate strategy?

The logic behind corporate strategy involves the concepts of synergy and diversification.

Explain the liaison role of a manager.

The manager interacts with peers and people outside the organization.

What is the assumption of the principles of division of labor and specialization?

The more narrow the job content, the more proficient the individual performing the job could become.

Which of the following best defines entrepreneurship?

The recognition of opportunities, needs, wants, problems, challenges, and the use or creation of resources to implement innovative ideas for newly planned ventures

What is true of managerial skills?

The relative importance of different skills varies from job to job.

Select the correct statement regarding managerial skills.

The skills needed by managers vary according to level.

What are conceptual skills?

The skills needed to reason abstractly and analyze complex situations

Which of the following occurs if managers are effective leaders?

Their subordinates will be enthusiastic about exerting effort to attain organizational objectives.

Why do mission and vision rarely spell out specific actions firms should take when performance is below expectations?

They are high-level statements.

Who are line managers?

They are managers who lead teams that contribute directly to the products or services the organization creates.

In the context of planning, what are objectives?

They are statements of tangible actions that need to be achieved and a timeline for their completion.

What is true of organizational citizenship behaviors?

They are things that add value to a job, but are not part of a formal job description.

What did the principles of division of labor and specialization assume?

They assumed that the more narrow the job content, the more proficient the individual performing the job could become.

Pick the correct description of mission statements.

They describe who the company is and what it does.

Why should an organization's mission and vision statements be widely circulated?

They enable employees to better understand the strategy and its implementation.

In the planning process, what should planners do immediately after establishing objectives?

They must identify alternative courses of action for achieving objectives.

In the planning process, once a planner completes environmental scanning, identify the step that should be applied by planners.

They must then attempt to forecast future conditions.

What is a fact related to mission statements?

They play a critical role in informing strategy development.

How do goals and objectives that flow from an organization's mission and vision provide a basis for assessing actual versus desired performance?

They provide feedback that helps managers assess the degree to which the organization is succeeding.

What is a fact related to general managers?

They take direction from their top executives and must first understand the executives' overall plan for the company.

What is true of general managers?

They take direction from their top executives and must first understand the executives' overall plan for the company.

What is a likely result when vision statements create a tension and restlessness with regard to the status quo?

They tend to foster a spirit of continuous innovation and improvement.

Choose the point that best describes early views of management.

They were heavily oriented toward efficiency at the expense of attention to the manager-as-leader.

Which critical role is played by mission and vision statements?

To communicate the purpose of the organization to stakeholders

Why do companies use social networking systems internally?

To help identify experts

Choose a critical role of mission and vision statements.

To inform strategy development

How is an organizational design used?

To match the form of the organization as closely as possible to the purpose's) the organization seeks to achieve

What is the task of a manager in a monitor role?

To receive and collect information

How is the principle of productivity through people explained by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman?

Treating rank-and-file employees as a source of quality

What is the factor that differentiates in-role performance from organizational citizenship behavior (OCB)?

Unlike OCB, in-role performance is associated with certain standards that must be met to do a job.

When will there be a greater need for "change leaders" in an organization?

When a vision statement creates some dissonance with the status quo

When will employees be able to understand an organization's strategy and its implementation better?

When they understand the organization's purpose through its mission and vision

Which function of management involves allocating human resources to ensure the accomplishment of objectives?

Which function of management involves allocating human resources to ensure the accomplishment of objectives?

How should an effective journal entry be written?

With clear images and feelings

(What type of planning?) Done by the lower managers. These plans last from the present to as long as two years into the future. These affect small parts of the organization, like departments.

operational

(What type of planning?) Done by the top managers and affects the entire organization. This plan takes the longest period of time to achieve. The scope includes the entire organization.

strategic

(What type of planning?) Your organization is going to open a market in Latin America and you're going to be established in the next four years.

strategic

(What type of planning?) Done by mid-level managers. These plans will run 2-3 years in the future. They affect large parts of the organization.

tactical

(What type of planning?) Your organization looks at a map and decides to start first in Columbia

tactical

What is a cohesive coalition of people working together to achieve mutual goals known as?

team