MANAGEMENT 101

Nancy is a manager involved in group decision making with other managers. She wants to make sure that the group avoids groupthink. Which action should she take to ensure that the group makes the best possible decision?

Challenge the way the group evaluates alternatives and point out some reasons why the alternative preferred by the group is not acceptable.

Which statement about an adaptive work culture is true?

Cross-functional team structures are often used.

The population of the United States is shifting from the Northeast to the Southwest. This is an example of which type of force in the general environment?

DEMOGRAPHIC

Which statement accurately defines brand loyalty?

It is the customers' preference for the products currently in the task environment.

Which statement best defines uncertainty avoidance?

It is the degree to which societies tolerate risk.

Which statement about synergy is accurate?

Obtaining synergy is one of the main advantages of using groups.

Corrine is a manager for a fragrance company that is starting a line of organic perfumes. Her employees have mixed feelings about this idea. Some criticize it as being impractical, but others are enthusiastic about it, despite the costs involved in producing perfumes with organic ingredients. Which action should Corrine take to efficiently and effectively ensure that the company's organic perfume line reaches the end consumer?

Recognize that one employee is the staunchest advocate for organic perfume and encourage her to take charge of the project.

Firestone Tire and Rubber Company purchases rubber plantations in Africa so that it will have a source of supply for its tire manufacturing plants in Akron, Ohio. This is an example of a ________strategy

backward vertical integration

Patima and Perez discussed the plan for the evening out and decided what restaurant to eat at. This sharing of information in order to reach a common understanding is

communication

Bennett is CEO of a company. He was concerned that the job market was tightening, so he convened the middle managers in the company to discuss how to find and hire the best people so the company could achieve its organizational goals. Which management function was Bennett mostly demonstrating?

controlling

The specific set of departmental skills, knowledge, and experience that allows one organization to outperform its rivals is known as the organization's

core competency

-level strategy details the industries and national markets an organization intends to compete in and the reasons why it is pursuing those markets.

corporate

Worldwide Gadgets sells goods and services that other companies offer but does not provide any organization with the input resources needed to produce goods and services. Based on this information, we can thus say that Worldwide Gadgets is a

distributor, not a supplier.

Dale is an expatriate, but he violated a folkway in a business meeting. Because of this violation, his international hosts probably thought of him as

eccentric or ill-mannered.

Adora, a marketing manager, is creating the advertising budget for a new product launch. She is trying to determine the amount of money that her company can afford to spend on advertising this new product. In the context of decision making, which criterion for evaluating alternative courses of action is Adora implementing?

economic feasibility

Emilio, a manager, performs a financial analysis of several investment alternatives in order to determine which alternative is most likely to impact the organization's profitability. Emilio is focusing on

economic feasibility.

The theory that describes how outcomes such as pay should be distributed in proportion to inputs is ________

equity theory

A society has a common practice that men should remove their hats whenever they ride in elevators that are also carrying women. This is an example of which type of norm?

folkway

Hideaki's company transfers him from Japan to the United States, where he finds that he is expected to be much more casual than he is used to in terms of what he wears and how he speaks to people. In the context of social norms, the customs and practices related to correct dress and social manners are known as

folkways

Howard Hotels sold a French citizen the right to use its brand name and operating know-how in France in return for a lump-sum payment and a share of the profits. This is an example of

franchising

The decision of a company to use European production facilities to get through the busy season is an example of a ________-level strategy

functional

A company based in Vietnam performs the routine data entry tasks for a New York-based insurer. This arrangement is an example of

global outsourcing

An advantage of the differentiation strategy is

greater barriers to entry.

People who are less inclined toward social interactions and to have a less positive outlook are said to be

introverts

A company allows a foreign organization to take charge of both manufacturing and distributing one or more of its products in India in return for a negotiated fee. This is an example of

licensing

Digital Productions has just produced an historical epic film that appeals to the U.S. male audience because of its realistic battle scenes. However, Digital Productions knows that audiences in other countries will be drawn to the film for different reasons, such as its romance or its struggle between classes. Considering this, Digital Productions should give the film an international release using a ______ strategy.

multi-domestic

Luggage 2001 sells different products using a different marketing approach in England than it uses when marketing these products in the United States. This is an example of a ________strategy

multidomestic

The tendency of a person to feel bad emotions and moods, to feel distressed, and to be critical of oneself and others is called

negative affectivity

An organization that has been focusing on a target market located in the eastern part of the United States is deciding whether to expand its sales to the West Coast of the United States. Which type of decision is being made by the organization?

non programmed

Deregulation and privatization are a part of which forces in the general environment?

political and legal

Mika is a manager for a struggling company. Her employees have started to lose motivation due to pressures from stockholders. Mika meets with them and points out that the company depends on them to survive, and the employees start working extra hours and innovating to improve the situation. As Mika is able to get her employees to behave differently in the interests of the company, she demonstrates

power

Bri, a manager, is attempting to determine whether her company has the capability and the resources to produce one of several possible new products. In the context of decision making, on which criterion for evaluating alternative courses of action is Bri focusing?

practicality

When managers decide that they have the capabilities and resources required to implement an alternative, and they are sure that the alternative will not threaten the attainment of other organizational goals, they are focusing on which criterion for evaluating alternative courses of action?

practicality

A chemical manufacturing company has a written guide that requires all employees to shower before leaving the building. This formal, written guide to action is known as a

rule

Instead of calling a hundred possible windshield suppliers, the purchasing manager for an auto parts store decides to call three suppliers of automobile windshields for a bid on an order for 100 windshields. What strategy does this represent?

satisficing

A manager considers a limited sample of the potential alternative solutions for a problem and selects one that is acceptable instead of attempting to select the optimum solution. This strategy is called

satisficing.

Missy is one of the top managers at an electronics company She wants her company to use a global strategy by

selling its TVs and DVD players in France using the same marketing approach that is used in the United States.

Which source of ethics emanates from a particular community's unwritten attitudes, values, and norms that influence how people interact with each other?

societal ethics

A formal system of reporting relationships that coordinates and motivates organizational members so that they work together to achieve organizational goals is called an organizational

structure

When Procter & Gamble uses the same distribution system to deliver its oral care products and its hair care products to drugstore chains, this is an example of

synergy

An organization's major customer puts pressure on the organization to reduce prices on its products. This is an example of influence exerted by the organization's ________

task environment

At Sam's Sandwich Shop, all employees are responsible for making the sandwiches, restocking ingredients, cleaning their stations, and serving customers. Because the job requires a worker to perform all of the tasks that are required to complete the job, this demonstrates

task identity.

Healthy Ways produces nutritional fruit bars, but is having trouble gaining market share and making a profit. Considering Michael Porter's five force model, what is most likely the greatest threat for this company?

the introduction of a new granola bar to the market by a competitor

Which of these is an example of a barrier to entry?

the lack of well-trained employees who have experience in a specialized area

When setup times for complex production equipment are reduced,

time spent in producing something will increase.

What is the plan of action for a business-level strategy based on SWOT analysis?

to take advantage of favorable opportunities

A software firm is considering introducing a new product on the market. However, managers cannot estimate the probability of success for the new product. Which term best describes the situation?

uncertainty

The form of international expansion that gives an organization high potential return because the organization does not have to share its profits with a foreign organization and reduces the level of risk because the organization's managers have full control over all aspects of their foreign company's operations, is a

wholly owned foreign subsidiary.