AP2 Section 1 Part H
To prevent management from getting out of touch from what is really happening in the company, many CEO's ask leaders to a. Arrange a leave of absence for department heads so they can clear their minds b. Adopt the management by walking around supervisory style c. Disguise themselves and play the role of an entry level associate d. Manage people very closely using short interval goals.
b. Adopt the management by walking around supervisory style
Total quality management is a philosophy that attempts to establish enthusiasm and personal commitment to a. Not only learning all the tools of quality but applying them skillfully every day b. Doing things right the first time over the entire organization. c. Learning each and every quality tool available in the world of quality d. Reducing product costs across the board
b. Doing things right the first time over the entire organization.
Often sub-optimal performance is a result of activities occurring across multiple departments. The best way to remedy this is to a. Implement or re-implement an ERP system b. Have an executive champion spearhead a business process reengineering effort c. Hire a certified project manager and assign the task to them to solve d. Create process flow diagrams of the entire process, document, and train.
b. Have an executive champion spearhead a business process reengineering effort
Traditional understanding of managing risk in general typically identifies which of the following strategic risk responses? a. Find, fix and repair b. Prevention, mitigation and recovery c. Simulation, discovery and mitigation d. Proactive, reactive and semi-reactive
b. Prevention, mitigation and recovery
Managers can take certain action steps to realize the full value from TQM or Six Sigma activities by promoting a culture of excellence which includes which of the following characteristics? a. Implementing a suggestion program, training everyone in TQM and Six Sigma, constantly displaying hourly value of company's stock b. Rewarding employee behavior demonstrating commitment, implement open book management revealing all financial data, empowering employees c. Demonstrating unyielding commitment to total quality and continuous improvement, empowering employees, emphasizing that performance can and must be improved d. Creating an employee stock ownership program, implementing open book management, reporting competitor superiority wherever it exists
c. Demonstrating unyielding commitment to total quality and continuous improvement, empowering employees, emphasizing that performance can and must be improved
To prevent failure in meeting customer new product requirements, one strategy is to a. Acquire competitive new products and copy them b. Reverse engineer similar products from other sources to accelerate the internal design process c. Rapidly deploy multiple designs into the customer's hands to push them along to a decision d. Delay the start of development while customer requirements become better defined
d. Delay the start of development while customer requirements become better defined
Once the final draft of the company's strategy has been formulated a. It must be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission b. All stakeholders get approximately 30 days to fine tune it c. It must next be published in the company's annual report if the company is publicly traded d. It is typically submitted to the company's Board of Directors for review and approval.
d. It is typically submitted to the company's Board of Directors for review and approval.
One of the purposes of generating and rewarding short-term performance improvements within an organizational change is because this a. May be the only success within the entire project b. Should strike fear into the hearts of the naysayers c. Proves the project champion was right d. Sidelines cynics and selfish resisters
d. Sidelines cynics and selfish resisters
When responding to risk, two generally recognized error types include one where action was taken but was incorrect, and a. Postponing a decision while operations deteriorate b. Halting all operations to gather more data c. Continuing to support the incorrect action when evidence suggests the company should not d. When action was not taken but should have been
d. When action was not taken but should have been
It is determined that the key to success in a particular market is in the company's ability to deliver a variety of high quality products in less lead time than industry standard. The operational emphasis should be on the operation's a. utilization b. quality c. cost d. agility
d. agility
Management is primarily a skill that keeps a complicated system of people and processes functioning well. Leadership on the other hand is a. A set of processes that creates organizations or adapts them to significantly changing circumstances b. Managing the managers c. More oriented towards working with marketing and corporate financiers d. Involved in looking to the future using market trends, demographic change, and world wide political events
a. A set of processes that creates organizations or adapts them to significantly changing circumstances
A successful outcome of a business process workflow redesign, intended to solve a cross functional activity problem, often leads to a. Creating a new single department to take charge of the whole process. b. Using the study as justification for the purchase of additional applications software c. Bringing in consultants to assist in interpreting the results d. Training in how to follow the newly documented process
a. Creating a new single department to take charge of the whole process.
When management fails to articulate a concise operational strategy that is aligned with overall corporate strategy, the result is that a. Departmental "specialists" will tend to optimize their own areas of control without consideration of the rest of the organization b. Company-wide solutions will become a viable substitute for the weak Operational strategy c. ERP system accuracy will continue to be reliable because employee training is part of the ERP system startup d. IT security will likely fall victim to corporate espionage
a. Departmental "specialists" will tend to optimize their own areas of control without consideration of the rest of the organization
The ultimate effect of a suggested change in strategy a. Is typically instantaneous b. Must be highly predictable c. Is rarely known for sure d. Is relatively straightforward
c. Is rarely known for sure
Due to senior executives having primary responsibility for strategy development, in most corporations a. The business strategy is formulated first by department heads then fine tuned by the CEO and staff b. The CEO is the primary strategy architect with little influence from others c. Other senior executives help fashion major elements of the strategy d. Much "borrowing" through competitive benchmarking occurs
c. Other senior executives help fashion major elements of the strategy
The strategic risk plan must have go/no-go guidelines for a. Customer contracts b. Make or buy decisions c. Switching from problem mitigation to recovery d. The legal community
c. Switching from problem mitigation to recovery
During the new VP's first month on the job she became the champion of showing up for meetings on time. Although seeming insignificant, this strategy actually a. Could help initiate an organization-wide improvement and a strong commitment to the principles of total quality management b. Saves money in the long run as evident by a more robust net income (bottom line). c. Could help demonstrate a significant difference between publicly traded and private businesses d. Becomes a performance management tool to weed out deadwood and slackers
a. Could help initiate an organization-wide improvement and a strong commitment to the principles of total quality management
Organizations that require transformation must have leaders who can, in addition to inspiring and motivating, a. Develop the vision, inspire change, and empower people to accomplish the vision b. Become a vocal supporter for specific causes as a means to show the company in good light c. Deliver public interviews, and political event participation for public relations building d. Use the output from consensus opinions of their direct reports in creating strategy
a. Develop the vision, inspire change, and empower people to accomplish the vision
Top management must coordinate with each other so that a. Diverse groups such as creative teams and rules based teams operate with a common purpose b. Creative groups are physically separated from the rules based groups so as not to disrupt c. Key performance indicators at the associate level are common d. Rules based groups are prevented from spending much time with creative groups
a. Diverse groups such as creative teams and rules based teams operate with a common purpose
By analyzing the value chain, cost performance may be improved by a. Identifying and eliminating non-value-added activities b. Imposing high utilization targets for value chain operations c. Finding lower cost raw materials. d. Charging more for products that utilize activities within the value chain
a. Identifying and eliminating non-value-added activities
The long term payoff from total quality management depends heavily on management's success in a. Instilling a culture within which the TQM philosophy and practices can survive b. Advertising their own personal successes in using the tools of quality c. Demonstrating that a commitment to TQM philosophies can improve the company's bottom line d. Actually leading training classes in the tools of quality
a. Instilling a culture within which the TQM philosophy and practices can survive
To be successful, both six sigma and total quality management must a. Obtain managerial commitment, establish a quality culture and fully involve all employees b. Involve years of training and indoctrination c. Recognize and severely deal with the naysayers and non-supporters early on d. Above all have a recognizable executive champion
a. Obtain managerial commitment, establish a quality culture and fully involve all employees
Managers must consider which of the following basic types of risks? a. Risk associated with negative results and risks that may have either negative or positive results b. Risks that cannot be avoided and risks that can be avoided c. Risks with losses very difficult to quantify and risks that are variable based on a number of unknowns d. Risk that have been fully defined and those that have been historically documented
a. Risk associated with negative results and risks that may have either negative or positive results
