Module 1 Homework
A pool of twelve contingent call center workers who work at home will be hired and trained before April 15. These employees can be activated anytime hold times threaten to exceed 90 seconds.
Developing an Action Plan
Hannah is acting as a____when she establishes her department's work schedule for the next month.
Manager
Sometimes budget amounts are arrived at by copying the previous year's amounts and maybe adjusting them by some percentage, under the assumption that if the money was spent last year, it will be needed again this year. If the leadership of an organization instead wants to see a justification of every budget expenditure, then which approach would be best?
Zero-based budgeting
When Clara began measuring the depth and quality of relationships salespeople developed with customers, she was practicing_____, putting more emphasis on the processes used to make sales than on the sales goals themselves
Management By Means
If Barcelona has a core staff of restaurant managers and head chefs and contracts with staffing agencies to fill all other positions, from accountants to dishwashers, then the company has a____structure
Network
Benefit/Drawback Each worker will become more productive, because he will develop a high level of expertise in his task
Benefit
On April 1, the manager sees that nine contingent call center workers have been hired and completed training. On June 30, call center data show 5 percent of calls are on hold for more than 90 seconds.
Setting a Goal
Considering all of the factors listed in the preceding SWOT analysis question, which of the following strategies would make the most sense for the Cubs in the upcoming season?
Sign a free-agent outfielder to bolster the current roster and sign the current pitchers to long-term contracts.
When Ron started with the company, he was enthusiastic about his work and the organization, but when no one listened to his ideas and he didn't get promotions, he became____. He's still a critical thinker, but he isn't motivated to suggest solutions to problems.
An alienated follower
For the back of the house, where many employees from dishwasher and prep cook to sous-chef and head chef work to prepare dishes to order, which structure is the best fit?
An organic, decentralized structure
A tropical fish hobbyist store allows customers to trade in plants that overgrow their aquariums for store credit. Since customers know they will eventually get at least part of their purchase price back as their plants grow, they are happy to buy plants from the store rather than online, and when they are in the store, they usually see some fish and supplies they want as well.
Deliver Value
At a set time during the workweek, 6 to 12 members meet, identify problems, and try to find solutions. These members are free to collect data and take surveys. Many companies train people in team building and problem solving.
Quality Circle
In a____effort, Hallmark reimagined and redesigned the way in which it brought new cards to market, cutting the time from three years to less than one year.
Re-engineering
John, a manager, came into your office last week to talk about increasing his budget. He regularly gives bonuses and small prizes when his employees meet their production goals.
Reward
T/F A company that actively tries to become more efficient is likely to be pursuing a cost leadership strategy.
True
Sue wants her Bow Wow facility to be "the best in the Camp Bow Wow system." If she visited an award-winning boarding kennel in New York City and decided to implement its efficient check-in system, which takes dogs from parking lot to kennel in under three minutes, she would be
benchmarking
When referring to a SWOT analysis, the letter W stands for____and it refers to factors that are____to the organization.
Weakness, Internal
Which of the following characteristics would you expect Alfredo's Sausage to have?
-Decision making in this company is decentralized, with responsibility pushed to lower levels. -The emphasis in this company is on horizontal communication, which facilitates rapid decision making -This organizational structure is particularly effective when operating in an environment that demands flexibility.
T/F Differentiation strategies increase competition because they reduce customer loyalty
False
When a manager clearly communicates important goals to her employees and indicates that she will hold them accountable for meeting those goals, she is engaged in_____
Initiating Structure
Female leaders favor a consensual and collaborative process, and influence comes from the relationships they build rather than position power or formal authority. This is called_______
Interactive Leadership
Creating a culture that encourages innovation
Leadership
When a work situation factor prevents a leader from displaying a task-oriented or people-oriented behavior, or both, that factor is a____
Leadership Neutralizer
Making sure suppliers are paid on time
Management
When your manager assigns you a task, you have the____to carry out that task as assigned.
Responsibility
What problem might the CEO expect if the company switches to a functional structure?
The new structure will be slower to respond to changes in the environment.
When discussing how she pitches Mi Ola to investors, Helena says her goals and plans are based on a number of assumptions that might or might not be realistic. You might advise her to_____to deal with this unpredictable business environment.
decentralize planning
Employee satisfaction is a common_____performance measures
learning and growth
A potential problem with using the balanced scorecard is that managers may____
underestimate the time needed
Noting that the business environment has changed, Sue says in the video that customers expect more and the "level of our offerings has to match their expectations." She tells you that Bow Wow has been offering more grooming, training, and massage packages as well as smaller play groups for shy dogs and separate rooms for small dogs. "But how can I be sure these services are contributing to the bottom line?" she asks.
Calculating profitability ratios will indicate how much profit is generated from sales of different services.
You are the owner of Sevena's Stationery, a small business specializing in fine papers and pens. Last week, you found out that the owner of Written Wisdom is looking for a buyer for her business. Which of the following items would be included in Written Wisdom's assets?
Cash in company accounts Stock in Weyerhaeuser Paper that the owner purchased in Written Wisdom's name
To envision the full range of emergencies or setbacks their organization could experience, managers engage in______envisioning possible future events that might be disruptive.
Scenario Building
If you needed to choose a motto for an interactive leader like Mary Barra to use at GM, which of the following would be most appropriate?
We are all in this together
Clarissa strives to keep the department running smoothly, delivering services to customers on time and under budget. A_____she provides employees with appropriate rewards for a job well done.
Transactional Leader
By building employees' commitment to the organization, providing intrinsic as well as extrinsic rewards, and allowing all employees to monitor product quality, managers are using______
Decentralized Control
When you examine the organizational chart of a____, you find that managers have wide spans of control and fewer layers of reporting relationships between frontline supervisors and senior executives.
Flat Structure
According to the____model, a leader can adopt one of four leadership styles based on a combination of relationship (concern for people) and task (concern for production) behaviors. The appropriate style depends on the readiness level of the followers. A follower's readiness is based on his or her_____and ____to do the work.
Situational Ability and Willingness
Manufacturing businesses can be classified according to their____, or how much they use machinery instead of people to produce goods.
Technical Complexity
The ____leadership style is a highly directive style that involves giving employees explicit instructions about how to accomplish certain tasks. This style tends to work best with subordinates who______
Telling have low ability and low willingness
A job candidate closes an interview by saying, "I'd really like this job, and I hope you will give it to me."
Be assertive -ask for what you want
Carleton University in Canada reviewed the websites of 24 universities and visited four leading universities to learn how to improve its housing allocation services. Reductions in vacancy rates led to a $400,000 gross revenue increase.
Benchmarking
Layla is applying for a____position, in which she will coordinate the activities of the engineering and manufacturing departments to achieve a 5% reduction in defect rate.
Project Manager
When managers want to measure how well its salespeople and website are persuading people to buy products, they would calculate an_____, in this case purchases divided by customer contacts.
Activity ratio
Cisco Systems uses a differentiation strategy. It offers its customers the latest in routers and switches. Cisco products may cost a bit more, but customers believe they are worth every penny. Cisco Systems will be more effective if it has____structure. Which of the following reasons explain this?
An organic, -Shorter chains of command and horizontal communication allow for increased innovation. -Decentralized decision making allows for greater flexibility in meeting customer needs.
Based on data on how long people wait before hanging up, the manager decides the maximum time on hold should be 90 seconds.
Appraising Performance
In an organization, the CEO has the____that the position of CEO gives her, and she has the right to make decisions to be carried out by subordinates.
Authority
Benefit/Drawback If it used to take each man 4 hours to monitor one fifth of the sheep, it now takes Brian less than 20 hours to monitor all the sheep.
Benefit
A meditation instructor partners with a technology developer to market relaxation apps featuring soothing natural sounds and guided meditation exercises. The tech expert writes the code, and the meditation instructor develops the apps' content.
Build Synergy
When conducting a SWOT analysis, information about turnover, profit margins, and staff quality can be used to identify:
Company strengths and weaknesses
Jacob is an accounting clerk whose favorite phrase is "Whatever the boss wants." Jacob will do whatever his boss requests, without thinking about problems that may arise. Around the office, Jacob is known as the ultimate yes-man.
Conformist
Ken Blanchard talks about putting people first. which of the following characteristics of an authentic leader is most similar to that concept?
Connects with others
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is part of the World Bank Group. When the IFC studied how leading Latin American companies, such as Atlas Eléctrica based in Costa Rica and Buenaventura in Peru, met "goals of transparency and disclosure, accountability, respect for the rights of shareholders and equitable treatment of all stakeholders," the researchers' findings concerned which of the following?
Corporate governance
Decentralized or Hierarchical Job descriptions focus on the results to be achieved rather than on specific tasks employees should do.
Decentralized
Decentralized or Hierarchical Monique can count on her employees to show up for work, and very few workers leave the company
Decentralized
Employees make greater use of their skills and enjoy more opportunities for professional development in a____organization.
Decentralized
In discussing inventory, Helena mentions that bikinis for sale on the website are not always in stock. Say customer feedback indicates that when a customer's bikini won't arrive within two weeks, that customer usually cancels their order. Furthermore, retail stores ordering restocks of items usually find another supplier if Mi Ola cannot ship within two weeks. What would be the best action for Helena to take first?
Decide that the top three selling bikinis will always be in stock.
Last winter, a guest at a nearby motel fell through the ice and was not rescued in time. The motel's name was included in news coverage of the death, resulting in negative publicity. Also, since the incident, the motel has not been able to rent out the room where the dead guest stayed. What should Dave and Betsy do with this information?
Develop a crisis plan that includes a notification system, so anyone using the lake can notify Kozy Korner of an emergency, and a supply of rescue equipment like ropes.
Employees doing different kinds of work, such as research and development, manufacturing, and sales, tend to communicate with one another more and coordinate their activities.
Divisional Structure
Human resources is done separately in each of the seven units serving different geographic areas, and having seven smaller HR departments is less efficient than having one.
Divisional Structure
Benefit/Drawback The workers may focus on their own needs and not understand or be concerned with the needs of the four workers doing different jobs.
Drawback
As the CEO of a start-up recycling company, you are interested in benchmarking industry leaders. Recology CleanScapes uses open-book management. Which of the following would you expect to find in an analysis of Recology CleanScapes?
Employees believe that being more efficient benefits both the company and themselves. Employees understand how their job performance impacts company results.
Which of the following factors is likely to have a positive impact on the success of a TQM program?
Employees work at tasks that require high skills. Continuous improvement becomes a way of life. Employees use participation and teamwork to tackle significant problems.
Applewood Seed Co. of Colorado has fifty years of experience growing and supplying native wildflowers, grasses, and herbs to seed distributors, landscapers, golf courses, state highway departments, parks departments, government agencies, garden centers, mining companies, hydroseeders, and reclamation companies. Applewood has both an in-depth horticultural knowledge of native plants and the ability to supply in bulk.
Exploit core competencies
Employees in each unit tend to be focused on their work specialty rather than on the customer, so the organization can be slow to respond to changes in the business environment.
Functional Structure
The organization achieves economies of scale because units like customer service, shipping, and legal that serve the entire organization are relatively large.
Functional Structure
Decentralized or Hierarchical Employees mostly feel indifferent toward their work and do only what they are told.
Hierarchical
The company's______answers the question "Why does this organization exist?"
Mission
As an organization becomes more mechanistic, its communication flow becomes _____
More vertical
You would study a business's_____to see a visual representation of its vertical structure, including the chain of command.
Organization Chart
An organization may make a cross-functional team a____that operates over the long term as if it were a formal department.
Permanent Team
A _______ specifies the way in which an outcome will be achieved and can include the actions to be taken, the resources to be used, and the time frame for accomplishment.
Plan
Emma is an industrial designer; she creates detailed drawings of machine parts prior to production. Her company has seen a lot of ups and downs in the last few years, and now Emma has resigned herself to do whatever it takes to get by. Sometimes she takes an active role on her team; on other occasions, she sits back and just does what her boss tells her to do.
Pragmatic Survivor
Andy says he wants his managers to "self-start" and tells new employees, "When people walk in the door, I don't want them looking for me. I want them looking for you." You can infer from this statement that Andy:
Prefers to delegate to subordinates
The U.S. Department of Labor has a Business Operations Center and within it are different departments, such as the Office of Worker Safety and Health and the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, each with its own manager. These organizational units are
Responsibility Centers
On September 30, the manager reports that call center hold times for the summer construction season averaged 42 seconds, with 30 percent of all calls not being put on hold at all but 2 percent of calls exceeding 90 seconds of hold time. The plan is rated mostly successful.
Reviewing Process
The homeroom teacher has_____because she can choose to give the best-behaving students passes to the school library, which students find a more pleasant place to study than the classroom.
Reward Power
Wausau Window and Wall Systems started this process with a commitment from the CEO that he and all other managers in the company would be trained in program fundamentals. Using this problem-solving methodology, Wausau relentlessly pursued higher quality and lower costs at its window trim plant. Intensive analysis led to a redesigned workflow that improved productivity by 100%.
Six Sigma
A firm's ____is the plan of action that describes resource allocation and activities for dealing with the environment, achieving a competitive advantage, and attaining the organization's goals.
Strategy
Kaila, the owner of a costume shop, has a three-year strategic goal to serve 15 percent more customers and increase margins by 5 percent. To achieve this goal, she will lease the retail space next door. When she signs the lease and pays to remodel the space, this is an example of
Strategy Execution
In order to turn the six characteristics in this table into_____, a manager has to spend time in learning and practice.
Strengths
To energize employees and inspire excellence, an organization may set____which are reasonable yet highly ambitious.
Stretch Goals
Snapchat markets itself to women below the age of 25 (18-24), most of which are still in high school and college. This helps Snapchat create a competitive advantage by
Targeting Customers
Which of the following factors should be classified as a weakness for the team?
The Cubs' current right-fielder, while defensively sound, has struggled at the plate for the last two seasons.
When discussing influence tactics with your managers, you should tell them that:
The best managers use a variety of influence tactics
As the Board of Governors of the American Red Cross considers planning, one option is to make strategic plans and then direct managers to align tactical and operational plans accordingly. Another option is to have planning specialists help managers across the organization make their own plans. Why might this organization's executives opt for the latter approach?
The environment is a dynamic one, and department and frontline managers can come up with more responsive plans than can central leadership.
The CEO of Alfredo's Sausage is considering moving to a functional structure. What would be the best reason to make such a move?
To gain more control over how the organization operates and centralize decision making
When Sascha hires a new employee, she explains that there is a probationary period of six weeks and after that, if the employee's performance is satisfactory, a $1 an hour raise will be given.
Transactional Leadership
Hunter is the founder and CEO of a website development firm. Clients are typically small to midsized companies that are seeking an offbeat, innovative approach to their online design, as well as functionality that offers customers surprising ways to interact with the site. What is the more appropriate style of leadership, given the type of work Hunter wants his website designers to do?
Transformational
Jackson takes time to get to know each one of his subordinates, especially their needs for achievement, growth, and support, and he seeks to create work experiences that will meet those needs.
Transformational Leadership
T/F A company that creates a distinctive product is likely to use a differentiation strategy.
True
Stacie was disappointed in Maggie's habit of_____, because while Maggie followed orders readily, she never thought about how her actions would impact the organization's performance or whether there might be a better course of action.
Uncritical Thinking
A manager presents a report to a CEO outlining projected sales for a new store location.
Use rational persuasion
You are an experienced manager, and you fortunately have the ability to use all four managerial styles: directing, coaching, supporting, and delegating. You are currently working at the research and development department of the Applerose Seed Company. Your team consists of very experienced botanists who love their work and their jobs. Your boss has given you 2 months to create a research plan for the development of a new grape that is resistant to grape leafroll disease. Based on Situational Leadership II, what should you do?
You should turn the work over to the botanists and have them create their own plan. They are sure to come up with something good.
In order for the deal to go through, you need to compare the owner's current____and liabilities by looking at her____. But because you also want to see the company's____, or net income, for a one-year period, you also ask to see her_____
assets balance sheet bottom line income statement
Which of the following statements concerning the relationship between leader characteristics and leader performance are true?
-Early research found that there is only a weak relationship between leader performance and leader characteristics. -Few leaders have all of the traits commonly associated with leadership -Traits can be more or less strongly linked to performance, depending on the leader's situation.
In your new job, which of the following can you expect?
-If the environment is rapidly changing, the company will be able to respond quickly. -Two-boss employees will have to resolve conflicts between the competing priorities of their managers.
"Where would it make sense for managers to have wide spans of control?"
-In manufacturing, where most employees perform similar tasks that don't change much over time -In shipping, where most employees are very experienced and highly trained
A CEO is considering whether to invest in developing leadership capabilities in his managers. Too often now, employees see the managers as bosses, not leaders. Which of the following methods will help people to be seen as leaders, not bosses?
-Lead by example. -Look for results, not salutes. -Take calculated risks.
Mi Ola's managers meet to develop the company's strategy. One of the first things they do is a SWOT analysis. Which of the following would be an opportunity for Mi Ola?
-Mi Ola partners with an environmental organization to protect the coral reefs and other ocean life off Australia's Gold Coast, a popular surfing destination. -Mi Ola's new line is featured in the magazines Seventeen, Elle, and Monthly Fashion
In reviewing research on power, you discover that there are three other common sources of power in organizations. Which of the following are included in that list?
-Network of relationships -Personal effort
As a manager, you have been asked to work with your employees to develop goals. What can you expect from this process?
-When deciding whether goals and plans will be beneficial, managers should consider whether the environment is more stable or more dynamic. -A benefit of goals is that they help motivate employees.
"Recently, our managers have suggested making a variety of changes. Which of the following changes should not be implemented if we want to achieve a high level of relational coordination?"
-Write job descriptions so they outline very specific tasks and reward each employee based on how well they achieve their designated tasks. -Provide employees with training on the technical aspects of their jobs and in negotiating skills so they can win in conflict situations -Redesign office floorplans to include more private offices so employees have quiet time for strategic thinking.
An executive who prioritizes the organization's mission and the needs and goals of subordinates, rather than ego gratification and personal success, can be described as _____
A Servant Leader
If a wholesaler has a better just-in-time inventory management system than other firms in its industry, this company enjoys
A core Competence
Managers analyze____to determine whether the organization is earning income as expected or exceeding or falling short of expectations. This budget does not show cash outlays.
A revenue budget
Bank of America's____provides information such as its interest expense, or the interest the bank paid depositors, and its interest income, or the interest it earned by investing deposits over a period of time. This document also states the bank's other revenues and expenses for the time period.
income statement
When a manager uses relationships and formal authority to cause other people in the organization to change their behavior, the manager____
is exercising influence
