Deck 8: Financial Control and Information Management

Question 1

According to the article, other titles associated with the chief financial officer of lodging operations includes:

A) Controller
B) Chief accounting officer
C) Vice president of accounting
D) All of the above
E) Only a and c

Answer 1

D

Question 2

What year was the HFTP Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals) founded?

A) 1948
B) 1953
C) 1961
D) 1975
E) 1981

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Which of the following was not one of the top four mentioned leadership secrets that leaders in organizations should possess?

A) Physical stamina
B) Dependability
C) Credibility
D) Responsibility
E) Accountability

Answer 3

A

Question 4

CHAE is an acronym for which of the following?

A) Certified Hospitality Accountant Executive
B) Certified Hotel Account Executive
C) Certified Hospitality Account Employee
D) Certified Hotel Advertising Executive
E) Certified Hospitality Advertising Executive

Question 5

According to previous research, the lodging controller has evolved into a full-fledged member of the management team of a lodging property.

Question 6

The studies reported in the article commonly found the average age of lodging financial executives to be between 35-40 years old.

Question 7

The majority of the lodging financial executives reported in previous research tended to be female.

Question 8

There are more female controllers in the hotel industry than the club industry.

Question 9

The most common title of the chief financial executive is vice president of accounting.

Question 10

The lodging financial executives strongly agreed that the most important key to leadership was "trusting your subordinates".

Question 11

Controllers are typically part of the hotels executive committee.

Question 12

Many controllers have ended up being general managers of hotels.

Question 13

In all of the five studies included in this article, what was the most common degree found among the lodging financial executives?

A) High school diploma
B) 2-year college degree
C) 4-year college degree
D) Graduate school
E) None of the above

Question 14

According to the lodging financial executive included in this study, "being an expert" was ranked highly as an important key to successful leadership.

Question 15

It was found that the club industry pays better than the hotel industry.

Question 16

CHTP is an acronym for which of the following?

A) Certified Hotel and Travel Professionals
B) Certified Hotel and Technology Professionals
C) Certified Hospitality Technology Professional
D) Culinary Hotel and Travel Professional
E) None of the above

Question 17

In this study, it was found that controller's salary was declining over the years.

Question 18

According to the article, at the beginning of the 21^st century, it appears that lodging executives' median salaries are most likely to be greater than __________.

A) $30,000
B) $35,000
C) $40,000
D) $45,000
E) $50,000

Question 19

Controllers with certifications
e.g., CPA, CHAE, etc) tend to get paid a little higher salary than those without the certifications.

Question 20

Club controllers work slightly fewer hours per week than hotel controllers.

Question 21

It was found in this study that most controllers are older than ____ years old.

A) 35
B) 40
C) 45
D) 50
E) 55

Question 22

In a study done in 2004 by Palmer and colleagues, they found that in addition to accounting and financial knowledge being some skills that are important for accountants to have, they also found which of the following to be as important to have?

A) Communication skills
B) Interpersonal skills
C) Problem-solving skills
D) All of the above
E) Only a and c

Question 23

The controller of the hotel is responsible for ensuring that actual payroll tax deposits equal the amount reported on the IRS form?

Question 24

Often times a controller is responsible for purchasing the hotel's product from a supplier?

Question 25

The difference between a budget and a forecast is that a forecast alerts owners and operators of significant expenditures, whereas, budgets provide an owner with a projected sales level.

Question 26

About ½ of the respondents of the study indicated that they try to maintain actual food, beverage, and labor costs within the range of 1 to 2 percent of the budgeted amounts.

Question 27

Used together, forecasts and budgets can provide a benchmark for ___________.

A) Sales-incentive programs
B) Executive-compensation bonuses
C) Incentive-based management fees
D) Capital expenditures
E) All of the above

Question 28

According to the article, financial forecasts and budgets can strengthen management's control of hotel operating expenses.

Question 29

The two most common financial goals prior to developing an operations budget are_____________.

A) Sales and net income
B) Sales and EBITDA
C) Debt-service coverage and RevPAR
D) RevPAR and net income
E) Gross operating profit and occupancy percentage

Question 30

On average, controllers work about ____ hours a week.

A) 40
B) 48
C) 55
D) 60
E) More than 60 hours

Question 31

As the industry moves forward, the controller is often asked to stock storeroom levels at appropriate par levels?

Question 32

More than ______ percent of the restaurant and beverage departments appear to favor the use of "number of guests by expected spending per guest" as a method for forecasting department revenues.

A) 40
B) 50
C) 60
D) 70
E) 80

Question 33

About 1/3 of the respondents in the study try to hold food, beverage, and labor costs within the range of ____ to _____ percent of the budgeted amount.

A) 0 to 1
B) 1 to 2
C) 2 to 3
D) 3 to 4
E) None of the above

Question 34

A major difference between budgeting and forecasting is that forecasting is commonly viewed as a process that covers a longer period of time than budgeting.

Question 35

In this study, it was found that in most cases) the male controller on average makes _____________ more than a female controller.

A) $5,000
B) $8,000
C) $10,000
D) $15,000
E) $20,000

Question 36

The hotel controller rarely interacts with the general manager of the hotel?

Question 37

When asked to give one major reason why an operations budget is prepared for a hotel, 45% of the respondents in the study selected the option that stated "it is used as a standard by which the lodging operation is managed".

Question 38

The majority of the respondents in the study, who used budgets, declared that the operations budget was used for budgetary control.

Question 39

One of the many skills required of a controller is that of an administrator?

Question 40

What is the most common reason hoteliers use budgets, according to the article?

A) As a planning tool
B) As a standard for comparison to actual performance figures
C) As a legitimacy factor
D) In order to determine a proper bonus structure
E) None of the above

Question 41

Up until the 1980's various tax benefits were the primary reason for the construction of U.S. hotels.

Question 42

In the role of an) ______________, the controller must have a foundation in the debits and credits of accounting?

A) Administrator
B) Adviser
C) Technician
D) Educator
E) Mentor

Question 43

In the role of an) ______________, the controller is involved in the development of people.

A) Administrator
B) Adviser
C) Technician
D) Educator
E) Mentor

Question 44

According to the article, the average daily purchase cost of a hotel could vary from a low of $3,000 to a high of $50,000 depending on the size of the property and level of business.

Question 45

Which of the following is not a category of receiving?

A) Hotel goods that are placed in storage in the purchasing area or items that are immediately issued to the requesting department.
B) Items that have been shipped to a registered guest.
C) Consumable food and beverage supplies consisting of all food items to be held in purchasing department storerooms.
D) Items consisting of office supplies, printed forms, and linen.
E) Neither c or d are categories of receiving.

Question 46

One of the most critical responsibilities of the purchasing manager is to become an expert on every product available from a vendor.

Question 47

It is critical that the purchasing manager develops a close working relationship with many managers within a hotel. One of such managers includes the director of rooms, as indicated by the authors.

Question 48

Key managers within a hotel that a purchasing manager must develop a close working relationship with includes:

A) Chief financial officer
B) Chief engineering officer
C) Executive chef
D) All of the above
E) Only a and c

Question 49

In the role of an) ______________, the controller provides information and recommendations to every department in the hotel.

A) Administrator
B) Adviser
C) Technician
D) Educator
E) Mentor

Question 50

A criticism, from many researchers, of data-mining is that it is not a useful technique to detect non-obvious, and previously unknown patterns or data trends.

Question 51

In the role of an) ______________, the controller is to instruct and train others.

A) Administrator
B) Adviser
C) Technician
D) Educator
E) Mentor

Question 52

The purchasing manager of a hotel usually reports to the general manager.

Question 53

C. Lee Evans provided examples of day-to-day interactions that occur between the purchasing manager and key managers. Which of the following was not listed as one of the key managers?

A) Chief financial officer
B) General manager
C) Director of food and beverage
D) Executive chef
E) Director of housekeeping

Question 54

It is essential that the purchasing manager develop close working relationships with key managers within the hotel. According to the article, these relationships should build and demonstrate ___________.

A) Trust
B) Confidence in judgment
C) Integrity
D) All of the above
E) Only a and b

Question 55

The hotel purchasing function supports virtually every department within the hotel property. Examples of items the purchasing department will order include:

A) Chemicals for housekeeping
B) Office supplies for marketing
C) Computer supplies for accounting
D) Food and beverage products for the restaurant outlets
E) All of the above

Question 56

The purchasing department can be organized into different areas. Which of the following was not listed as one of the three basic areas in which a purchasing department can be organized?

A) Administrative
B) Management
C) Issuing
D) Receiving
E) All of the above were identified as areas in which the purchasing department can be organized.

Question 57

The average workweek for a purchasing manager is 40 to 45 hours and rarely includes weekends.

Question 58

According to the article, data-mining technology extracts meaningful patterns and builds predictive customer-behavior models from stored information, in order to aid managers in the decision making process.

Question 59

According to the article, the definition of purchasing is "purchasing the right product, at the right prices, at the right time".

Question 60

As is the same with all other managerial roles, the controller must have many skills, which are used daily. As such, the controller is responsible for partaking in many roles. Which of the following was not a role listed in the article?

A) Administrator
B) Adviser
C) Discipliner
D) Mentor
E) Educator

Question 61

Data mining offers enormous benefits in terms of __________.

A) Performance
B) Speed of use
C) User friendliness
D) All of the above
E) Only a and b

Question 62

The hotel that was used as the example of successfully using a data-mining technique in this article was the Ritz Carlton Hotels and Resorts.

Question 63

According to the authors, psychology and emotion play a significant role in the hotel guest's decision process.

Question 64

Information generated by data mining does not account for the fact that approximately ______ percent of human communication is nonverbal.

A) 25
B) 50
C) 70
D) 80
E) 90

Question 65

According to the article, problems with data are usually related to one or more different shortcomings. Which of the following was not one of the listed shortcomings?

A) Missing or inaccurate data
B) Data transformation errors
C) Poorly coded data
D) Using homonyms and synonyms
E) All of the above were listed as potential problems

Question 66

Although the article demonstrated how a hotel could be successful in using data-mining, some individuals remain skeptical of data mining's customer benefits and long-term financial payoffs.

Question 67

By itself, data-mining is not able to capture all the information relating to what drives consumer behavior. As a result, data-mining technology should be used in conjunction with other forecasting and research techniques.

Question 68

According to the article, there are a number of analytical tools that can be employed to transform data into useful information. Which of the following is a common statistical technique?

A) Regression models
B) Structural equation modeling
C) Cluster analysis
D) Decision trees
E) Only a and b

Question 69

Some of the most-common analytical tools used by data-mining software include regression models, factor analysis, and cluster analysis.

Question 70

According to the article, in the hotel industry, the most common sources of data are CRSs and PMSs.

Question 71

Data-mining technology provides useful information about market segments not found in the company's databases.

Question 72

According to the authors, there are 10 guidelines that influence the effective management of data-mining technology.

Question 73

Although data mining has been shown to be extremely beneficial is conducted properly, that are limitations of data-mining technology. Which of the following was not one of the limitations listed by the authors?

A) Data mining does not effectively separate customers into major segments.
B) Data mining analyzes only data collected from existing customers.
C) Databases used in the mining process are often hotel-brand specific.
D) Data mining may not segment travelers by psychographic traits.
E) Data mining does not provide information about consumers' thought processes.

Question 74

There are seven guidelines that influence the effective management data-mining technology. Which of the following was not listed as one of the seven?

A) Match your IT priorities with an appropriate provider.
B) Build segmentation and predictive models.
C) Forecast customer acceptance.
D) Collect data to support the models.
E) Refine the process.

Question 75

Which of the following is not a category in which tasks performed by data mining can be grouped?

A) Classification arranges customers into pre-defined segments that allow the size and structure of market groups to be monitored.
B) Clustering customers based on domain knowledge and the database, but does not rely on predetermined group definitions.
C) Deviation detection uncovers data anomalies, such as a sudden increase in purchase by a customer.
D) Forecasting predicts the future value of continuous variables based on patterns and trend within the data.
E) All of the above were mentioned as a category.

Question 76

Some of the least common statistical methods used in data-mining applications are decision trees, neural networks, and genetic algorithms.