Deck 14: Fundamentals of Controlling

Question 1

The cost of a control system may be more than it is worth, even when the control system is effective.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The control process involves four sequential steps: setting standards, measuring performance, corrective action, and providing instruction.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Control mechanisms should indicate who or what is responsible for a deviation and where the deviation occurred.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

If controls are confusing, the supervisor should devise new controls that meet the departmental needs and are understandable to everyone who uses them.

Question 5

Controls and on-the-job freedom compliment each other.

Question 6

The word control often elicits negative reactions.

Question 7

Standards may be defined as specific criteria against which to evaluate results.

Question 8

Feedback controls are the most widely used category of controls at the supervisory level.

Question 9

Some firms have loosened certain controls only to find they need to tighten them up or return to the original controls that had been abandoned.

Question 10

Examples of feedback control include measurement of the quality and quantity of units produced.

Question 11

Alarm clocks, thermostats, gauges, and police officers are all examples of controls.

Question 12

At Thomaston Sporting Goods Emporium, the controls applied over firearms should be more stringent than the controls it applies over fishing equipment.

Question 13

Most supervisors utilize feedforward controls so they don't have to bother with concurrent controls.

Question 14

Everyone uses feedforward controls at one time or another.

Question 15

When allowing an employee to work on an assignment without close supervision, the supervisor should leave the employee completely alone until it is time to view the final results.

Question 16

Feedback controls are essentially useless because they're providing feedback too late, when the acts have already taken place.

Question 17

Since controls are inflexible, supervisors and employees need to be able to adapt as needed.

Question 18

For control mechanisms to work effectively, they need to be understandable, timely, suitable, economical, indicational, and flexible.

Question 19

If effective feedforward controls have been implemented, there is no need for concurrent controls.

Question 20

Employees always view controls positively because they know it will enhance the planning process.

Question 21

Once the budget is approved by higher-level management, supervisors have no more contact with it or interest in it until the next budget cycle.

Question 22

Tangible standards are standards of performance that are difficult to measure.

Question 23

Some worker productivity standards are expressed relative to factors over which a supervisor has no control.

Question 24

Without spot checking, supervisors have no control mechanisms to monitor performance.

Question 25

In a motion study, engineers analyze how a job is performed to identify ways to improve, eliminate, change, or combine steps to make the job easier and faster.

Question 26

When an employee's job routine does not lend itself to reports, the supervisor may have to rely on periodic spot checks.

Question 27

Historical data does not provide much value when budgeting for the future.

Question 28

The extent of involvement that a supervisor has with a budget is to simply ensure performance expectations are met within the contraints of a budget.

Question 29

Large organizations employ consultants trained in work efficiency and cost control so that supervisors don't have be cost conscious.

Question 30

Cost and revenue data are usually reported to the supervisor by his or her subordinate employees in the department.

Question 31

Most annual budgets are projections for the following year based on the previous year's budget.

Question 32

Workers are more apt to accept standards as reasonable and fair when they help to formulate those standards.

Question 33

If performance is satisfactory, the number of standards will typcially remain the same.

Question 34

The exception principle is the concept that supervisors should concentrate their investigations on activities that deviate substantially from standards.

Question 35

One method by which performance can be measured is by direct observation and personal contact.

Question 36

Time standards are absolute and beyond dispute since they are bound by an objective, fixed measurement: the hands of the clock.

Question 37

Customer satisfaction, profitability, and employee suggestions are all strategic control points.

Question 38

Intangible standards are targets for results that have physical form.

Question 39

Oral and written reports are probably the best way for supervisors to monitor employee performance.

Question 40

When a supervisor discovers a deviation from the standard, he/she should next find out who is at fault.

Question 41

_____ uses feedforward controls at one time or another.

A) Some people.
B) Most people.
C) All people.
D) None of the above.

Question 42

The controlling function is most closely related to which other primary managerial function?

A) Leading.
B) Planning.
C) Staffing.
D) Coordinating.

Question 43

The first step in the control process is:

A) Take corrective action.
B) Measure performance.
C) Re-evaluate the existing plan.
D) None of the above.

Question 44

When top management issues an order to cut costs across the board, supervisors should stop buying supplies and eliminate preventive maintenance programs.

Question 45

Companies often give cost-cutting orders as a result of competition from other businesses.

Question 46

The managerial function of controlling consists of which of the following?

A) Taking actions to ensure that things happen the way they were planned.
B) Checking to determine if employees are adhering to established plans.
C) Taking appropriate actions where necessary to correct any deviations from standards.
D) All of the above.

Question 47

Production control involves routing operations, scheduling, and expediting work flow.

Question 48

When controls are confusing or too sophisticated for employees, the supervisor should:

A) Create charts, graphs, and reports to make the control easier to understand.
B) Stop using controls altogether.
C) Consult with upper management about the problem.
D) Devise new controls that meet departmental needs and are understandable to everyone who uses them.

Question 49

Inventory control means maintaining quality standards for products and services.

Question 50

Which of the following is an example of a concurrent control system?

A) Instituting a preventive maintenance plan.
B) Sampling complete products to ensure quality.
C) Measuring how many units a certain employee completed on his or her shift.
D) Observing employees during the work shift to ensure that they are complying with standards.

Question 51

When no damage or mistakes occur, feedback is:

A) Unnecessary.
B) Solicited to fulfill job responsibilities.
C) Used to improve the process or product.
D) None of the above.

Question 52

The closeness of supervisory follow-up is based on all of the following factors EXCEPT:

A) The employee's experience.
B) The supervisor's convenience.
C) The dependability of the worker.
D) The employee's initiative.

Question 53

Which of the following is NOT a requirement for an effective control system?

A) It should be flexible enough to cope with unanticipated changing patterns and problems.
B) It should not be changed in any way after it is adopted until it is abandoned.
C) It should expose deviations as they occur and indicate who is responsible for the deviation.
D) It should be suitable for the activity to be observed.

Question 54

A firm should never be willing to share financial information with employees.

Question 55

Since it is impossible for supervisors to check every item in production, they must:

A) Trust employee performance.
B) Implement controls to identify every mistake.
C) Use good judgement.
D) All of the above.

Question 56

Supervisors who play a key role in cost reduction usually do so with the help of their employees.

Question 57

The managerial function of controlling is typically performend separately from the other managerial functions.

Question 58

In order for an organization to thrive, all of the following is necessary EXCEPT:

A) Goals.
B) Training.
C) Autocratic leadership.
D) Accountability.

Question 59

Feedback control provides valuable information for:

A) Making adjustments while a problem is happening.
B) Providing information for preventing the same problem from happening again.
C) Recording the number of customer complaints.
D) None of the above.

Question 60

Which of the following type of control mechanism is useful for controlling a problem prior to its happening?

A) Concurrent.
B) Feedback.
C) Indicative.
D) Feedforward.

Question 61

Describe the three types of specialized controls, and for what they are used.

Question 62

Top management has assured Elizabeth, the supervisor of the accounting department, that the budget for her department is "flexible." Elizabeth thinks that this means she can change the figures herself as need be. Is she correct? Why or why not?

Question 63

Oral and written reports are necessary when:

A) Departments are small.
B) Team members operate in one location.
C) Quick decisions need to be made.
D) Employees work around the clock.

Question 64

Which of the following is NOT an accurate statement regarding the supervisor's role in controlling through budgets?

A) The budget that most concerns supervisors is usually the departmental expense budget.
B) Supervisors must refer to their budgets to monitor their expenditures during the operation period.
C) If a supervisor notes that actual expenditures for a specific item greatly exceed the budget, the supervisor should wait until the next budget cycle before taking any action.
D) Supervisors should demonstrate the actual need for each amount they request and document their requests with historical data whenever possible.

Question 65

Cost consciousness should primarily:

A) Consist of crash programs and economy drives.
B) Be considered as an ongoing part of the supervisors' and employees' jobs.
C) Involve no flexibility in establishing budgets.
D) Be a retraining program for all supervisors.

Question 66

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic that a supervisor looks for when choosing one standard over another as a strategic control point?

A) It should be timely.
B) It should permit economical observation.
C) It should not require written reports and data collection.
D) It should provide for comprehensive control.

Question 67

Which of the following would NOT be a recommended way for establishing standards of performance for a department's operation?

A) Using the supervisor's experience and observations to some extent.
B) Analyzing previous budgets and operating results.
C) Forming a supervisor and employee committee to discuss standards and work operations.
D) Having all standards determined by the industrial engineers and top management.

Question 68

Supervisors should be careful to choose strategic control points that do NOT significantly:

A) Improve performance.
B) Impede performance.
C) Impede other standards.
D) All of the above.

Question 69

In order for a supervisor to get employees to acknowledge deficiencies, he/she should:

A) Attempt to convince employees another way is easier.
B) Cite recent examples of deficiencies that have occurred.
C) Request his/her boss to raise standards.
D) All of the above.

Question 70

Time studies are supposed to be:

A) Subjective.
B) Scientific.
C) Objective.
D) The best method of assessment.

Question 71

A written plan expressed in numerical terms that projects anticipated resources and expenditures for a certain period of time is known as a/n:

A) Budget
B) Projection.
C) Time and motion study.
D) Utility.

Question 72

_____ is a performance critieria chosen for assessment because they are key indicators of overall performance.

A) Strategic control points.
B) Motion studies.
C) Time studies.
D) Budget studies.

Question 73

What is an advantage and disadvantage of zero-base budgeting?

Question 74

Which type of control involves keeping watch over raw materials, supplies, work-in-process, and finished goods?

A) Inventory control.
B) Quality control.
C) Production control.
D) Budgetary control.

Question 75

Identify and distinguish between the three types of time factor control mechanisms identified in the text.

Question 76

If a cost-cutting order comes down from top management, the supervisor's best response is to:

A) Look for places to reduce expenses with the help of the employees.
B) Hold "pep rallies" with employees.
C) Stop buying any supplies.
D) Follow the directive halfheartedly.

Question 77

What is managerial control?

Question 78

What costs does the operating budget project? Provide examples.

Question 79

What are some characteristics of effective controls?

Question 80

Tangible standards can measure all of the following EXCEPT:

A) Quantity of output.
B) Quality of output.
C) Time spent on providing a service.
D) An organization's reputation.