Deck 9: Strategy Implementation: Staffing and Directing

Question 1

If a planned strategy is fully compatible with the company's current culture, what should the company do?

A) Find a joint-venture partner or contract with another company to carry out the strategy.
B) Implement new strategy and identify how it is superior to the old strategy.
C) Move forward very carefully by introducing small steps and modifications before implementation.
D) Manage around the culture by establishing a new structural unit to implement the new strategy.
E) none of these.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

What did a study of 173 firms over a 25-year period reveal about CEOs of successful corporations?

A) They tended to have less loyalty than former CEOs, switching companies as a faster pace.
B) They tended to have the same functional specialization as the former CEO.
C) They tended to be more aggressive in their risk-taking than former CEOs.
D) They tended to rely more on skills developed through group decision-making.
E) They tended to make decisions with no input from others.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Which guideline for successful downsizing encourages an organization to spend the time to research where money is going and to eliminate the task that does not add value to what the firm is producing?

A) Develop value-added jobs to balance out job elimination.
B) Plan for long-run efficiencies.
C) Eliminate unnecessary work.
D) Invest in remaining employees.
E) Outsource everything.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

What term is used to describe the approach used by human resource managers to identify good performers within an organization with promotion potential?

A) abilities identifier
B) job evaluation
C) the 5-E system
D) performance appraisal system
E) responsibility centers

Question 5

Which type of chief executive officer would be appropriate for a weak corporation in a relatively attractive industry, having a challenge-oriented ability useful for saving a company?

A) professional liquidator
B) dynamic industry expert
C) turnaround specialist
D) analytical portfolio manager
E) cautious profit planner

Question 6

According to the text, Enterprise Rent-A-Car follows a staffing policy of

A) promotion from within.
B) recruiting outside the company for upper level management positions.
C) outsourcing its staffing functions.
D) hiring a hatchet man/woman to implement its turnaround strategy.
E) downsizing to be "lean and mean".

Question 7

The concept of continuous improvement is part of

A) Management By Objectives.
B) Total Quality Management.
C) Action Planning.
D) Reengineering.
E) Resource-based View of the Firm.

Question 8

Which method of managing disparate cultures is the most common and the most destructive method of dealing with two different cultures because one company imposes its demands at the expense of another company's culture?

A) separation
B) deculturation
C) integration
D) assimilation
E) segmentation

Question 9

Which method of managing disparate cultures involves a relatively balanced give-and-take of cultural and managerial practices between the merger partners, and no strong imposition of cultural change on either?

A) separation
B) deculturation
C) integration
D) assimilation
E) segmentation

Question 10

If a planned strategy is not compatible with the company's current culture, and management is not willing to make major organizational changes required to manage around the culture, what should the organization do?

A) Find a joint-venture partner or contract with another company to carry out the strategy.
B) Implement new strategy and identify how it is superior to the old strategy.
C) Move forward very carefully by introducing small steps and modifications before implementation.
D) Manage around the culture by establishing a new structural unit to implement the new strategy.
E) none of these.

Question 11

Which one of the following is NOT a problem associated with inappropriate downsizing?

A) Produces no short-term benefits.
B) Morale declines.
C) Surviving employees experienced decreased morale.
D) Surviving employees had to do extra work in addition to their own.
E) Overall productivity declines.

Question 12

Strategic goals can be accomplished through defining an action plan. Which one of the following is NOT one of the components which make up an action plan?

A) states what action is going to be taken
B) states by whom the action will be done
C) states during what time frame the action will be done
D) states where the action will be done
E) states what are the expected results of the action

Question 13

Which type of chief executive officer would be appropriate for a corporation following a concentration strategy emphasizing vertical or horizontal growth with a great deal of experience in that particular industry?

A) professional liquidator
B) dynamic industry expert
C) turnaround specialist
D) analytical portfolio manager
E) cautious profit planner

Question 14

According to research by Hofstede on various national cultures, the dimension which measures the extent to which the society is oriented toward money and things or toward people is called

A) long-term orientation.
B) power distance.
C) masculinity-femininity.
D) uncertainty avoidance.
E) individualism-collectivism.

Question 15

If a planned strategy is not compatible with the current culture, but the culture can be easily modified to make it more compatible with the new strategy, what should the organization do?

A) Find a joint-venture partner or contract with another company to carry out the strategy.
B) Implement new strategy and identify how it is superior to the old strategy.
C) Move forward very carefully by introducing small modifications before implementation.
D) Manage around the culture by establishing a new structural unit to implement the new strategy.
E) none of these.

Question 16

Which one of the following is NOT one of the activities and techniques used in an assessment center to evaluate a person's suitability for advancement?

A) leaderless group discussions
B) management games
C) in-basket exercises
D) IQ tests
E) case analyses

Question 17

Which method of managing disparate cultures involves one firm's domination over another willing firm?

A) separation
B) deculturation
C) integration
D) assimilation
E) segmentation

Question 18

That part of strategy implementation which focuses on the selection & utilization of employees is

A) staffing.
B) directing.
C) organizing.
D) planning.
E) controlling.