MGMT 310 Test 2

Degree to which jobs are standardized and there are rules, regulations, policies, and procedures

Formalization

________ refers to how standardized an organization's jobs are and the extent to which employee behavior is guided by rules and procedures.

Formalization

Which of the following is true of the government legislations related to human resource management in different countries?

In Australia, gender opportunities for women lag behind those in the United States.

Which of the following is true of high-performance work practices?

It encourages extensive employee involvement and greater employee control on decision making.

Helping organizations improve their performance primarily through analysis of existing organizational problems and developent of plans for improvement

Management Consulting

________ are positive trends in the external environment.

Opportunities

Bella Vista Clothing targets teenage girls with a range of affordable ready-to-wear clothing. The company is opening two new outlets, as sales have been excellent. Which of the following represents a strength for the company?

The company's in-house designers have a knack for identifying and popularizing fashion trends.

________ is a type of technology that centers on small-batch production.

Unit production

A person should have only one boss and, ultimately, one person is in charge

Unity of command

Division of Work into specific jobs

Work Specialization

A firm that is "stuck in the middle" cannot develop ________.

a cost or differentiation advantage

Elizabeth was hired as a customer care executive, along with five others, by a telecommunication provider during a period when they were extremely short-staffed. However, her employers soon realized that she was impatient, easily irritated, and lacked motivation. They even began to receive complaints about her behavior from angry customers. In hiring Elizabeth, her employers were guilty of a(n) ________.

accept error

Work teams composed of individuals from various functional specialties are known as ________ teams.

cross-functional

What kind of departmentalization would be in place in a government organization where different public service responsibilities are divided into activities for employees, children, and the disabled?

customer departmentalization

As organizations become more flexible and responsive to environmental trends, there is a distinct shift toward ________ decision making.

decentralized

The process of grouping jobs together is known as ________.

departmentalization

In a ________ structure the parent corporation typically acts as an external overseer to coordinate and control the various divisions and provide financial, legal, or other such support services.

divisional

If a bank estimates the capabilities of its employees who provide customer service prior to implementing a new training program designed to change their method of providing customer service, it is ________.

doing an internal analysis

All other things being equal, the wider or larger the span, the more ________ an organization is.

efficient

People who prefer segmentation are more likely to be satisfied and committed to their jobs when offered options such as ________.

job sharing

Recruitment is the process of ________.

locating, identifying, and attracting capable applicants

Moderate vertical differentiation, high horizontal differentiation, and high formalization are characteristics of an organization that indulges in ________.

mass production

A(n) ________ organization is highly formalized and centralized.

mechanistic

A(n) ________ organization is highly specialized and rigidly departmentalized.

mechanistic

Large organizations are more ________.

mechanistic

In stable and simple environments, ________ .

mechanistic designs are most effective

If top managers make key decisions with little input from below, then the organization is ________.

more centralized

A study of the external environment allows a manager to understand the ________ and ________ for the organization.

opportunities; threats

Paul Abdul Oil Corporation (PAOC) began as a relatively small oil company. As PAOC has grown, the company has gained a highly trained group of managers and analysts at the corporate headquarters. This group is highly adaptive in its structure. Members of this group do not have standardized jobs, but are empowered to handle diverse job activities and problems. PAOC seems to have a(n) ________ structure.

organic

Tim is a candidate for an automotive mechanic's position. He is asked to deconstruct and reconstruct part of an engine motor to demonstrate his skill. This is an example of a(n) ________.

performance-simulation test

The first four steps of the strategic management process describe the strategic ________ that must take place in an organization.

planning

Joan Woodward divided firms into three distinct technologies that had increasing levels of complexity and sophistication: unit production, mass production, and ________.

process production

A ________ selection device indicates that the device measures the same thing consistently.

reliable

An organization's financial, physical, human, and intangible assets are known as its ________.

resources

What is a strategic disadvantage of being a first mover?

risk of competitors imitating innovations

Which of the following is an example of a high-performance work practice?

self-managed teams

Managers should "milk" cash cows for as much as they can, limit any new investment in them, and use the large amounts of cash generated to invest in ________ and ________.

stars; question marks

In an organization, the single independent businesses which formulate their own competitive strategies are known as ________.

strategic business units

Which of the following is a type of specific training provided by organizations?

team building skills

Which of the following is most likely to be included in family-friendly benefits provided by organizations?

time off for school functions

Which one of Fayol's 14 principles of management states that a person should report to only one manager?

unity of command

Which of the following is a technology-based training method?

videoconferencing/teleconferencing

The number of employees who can be managed by the one person

Span of Control

Computer peripherals provider Ascent plans to enter a new market in another country. Which of the following represents a threat for Ascent?

Ascent will have to plan its entry carefully as the laws in the country do not favor foreign businesses.

Decision making concentrated at upper levels of the organization

Centralization

The continous line of authority; clarifies who reports to whom

Chain of Command

persons who act as catalysts and assume the responsibility for managing the change process.

Change Agents

________ as a source of recruitment is limited to entry-level positions.

College recruiting

Grouping Jobs by Functions Performed

Departmentalization

standardized, systematic approach to assure employee behavior is consistent with organizational rules, regulations, policies, and procedures

Discipline

________ is an Internet-based learning where employees participate in multimedia simulations or other interactive modules.

E-learning

Which of the following Acts gives employees the legal right to examine personnel files and letters of reference?

Privacy Act

________ departmentalization is based on the product or customer flow through the organization.

Process

specialist from different departments are assigned to work on projects that are led by project managers

Project Management

The combined external and internal analyses are called ________.

SWOT analysis

Education and communication Participation Facilitation and support Negotiation Manipulation and co-optation Coercion

Techniques For Reducing Resistance to Change

Lewin's description of the change process as a break in the organization's equilibrium state. Unfreezing the status quo Changing to a new state Refreezing to make the change permanent

The Calm Waters Metaphor

A ________ describes the rationale of how a company is going to make money.

business model

Organizational design is a process that involves decisions about ________.

chain of command and span of control

Functional-level strategy directly supports the ________.

competitive strategy

An organization that grows using ________ focuses on its primary line of business and increases the number of products offered or markets served in this primary business.

concentration

The major value-creating capabilities of the organization are known as its ________.

core competencies

When an organization competes on the basis of having lower cost in its industry

cost leadership strategy

Which of the following methods of performance appraisal allows the evaluator to focus on vital behaviors that separate effective work performance from ineffective work performance?

critical incident

When an organization is analyzing its labor supply, it is studying its ________.

external environment

In highly ________ organizations, there are explicit job descriptions, numerous organizational rules, and clearly defined procedures covering work processes.

formalized

In ________, the organization gains control of its outputs by becoming its own distributor.

forward vertical integration

What are the three main types of corporate strategies?

growth, stability, and renewal

In ________, a company grows by combining with competitors.

horizontal integration

Which of the following steps in the human resource management process identifies and selects competent employees?

human resource planning and recruitment

The first three activities of the human resource management process involves ________.

identifying and selecting competent employees

Larry is an HR manager with Merlin Infosystems. He is in charge of recruitment for entry-level positions in the company. He is of the view that job interviews should provide a realistic job preview. Which of the following is Larry likely to do during job interviews?

intimating the employee about possible overtime

Managers begin human resource planning by ________.

inventorying current employees

The two most common forms of representative participation are ________.

work councils and board representatives