Deck 5: Decision Making and the Health and Fitness Industry

Question 1

The International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) divides health and fitness clubs into three distinct segments: commercial clubs, not-for-profit clubs, and miscellaneous education-based clubs and rehabilitation or medical centers.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Commercial clubs make up the clear majority of all health and fitness clubs. They consist of investor or member-owned businesses that may be either individually owned entities or part of a larger fitness club chain.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Not-for-profit clubs make up the second largest segment and consist of clubs that are owned and operated by nonprofit organizations such as churches, educational groups, municipal entities, and the military. These clubs do not pay taxes but may conduct fundraising programs for their own benefit.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Professional service providers such as personal trainers and instructors or fitness gurus including Tony Horton (P90X), and Alberto "Beto" Perez (Zumba) and actor/fitness celebrities may be included in the not-for-profit fitness segment.

Question 5

Decision making is the process of selecting and implementing alternatives consistent with a goal. It is a series of activities that begins with defining the purpose or goal of the decision, then involves developing and evaluating alternatives, selecting an alternative, implementing the alternative, and then monitoring the results to ensure that the decision goals are achieved.

Question 6

Once the decision goals are clear, the next step is to gather as much information as possible relevant to the established goals.

Question 7

As the need to generate innovative alternatives intensifies, creativity becomes an ever more critical ingredient in the final step of the decision-making process.

Question 8

Qualitative methods used to evaluate decision alternatives have been found extremely useful in situations where all of the variables relative to the decision goals and alternatives can be expressed in numbers. These methods use mathematical and statistical techniques to analyze the decision alternatives.

Question 9

Break-even analysis is used to determine how many units of a product or serviced must be sold at what price for the producer or service provider to at least break even, given the cost of producing or providing that item or service.

Question 10

If there are two excellent internal candidates for the position of fitness program director, club management needs to assess the strengths and weaknesses of both. When quantitative techniques seem inappropriate or non-applicable, managers can employ a T-chart. The characteristics compared in T-charts are not like costs or numbers of items that are typically part of quantitative decisions. They are more qualitative or subjective in nature. They might include communication and organizational skills, for example, which are not easily expressed in numbers. The T-chart registers all the factors the manager is considering in a decision so that each factor can be considered carefully.

Question 11

24Hour Fitness, Gold's Gym, and Planet Fitness are examples of ___________________ clubs.

A) Commercial chain
B) Corporate fitness
C) Non-profit chain
D) Wellness center

Question 12

In 2010, there were there were ___________ health and fitness clubs in 80 countries worldwide with reported revenues exceeding ___________.

A) 13,000; $17 billion
B) 133,500; $71 billion
C) 1.3 million; 7 billion
D) 13 million; $710 million

Question 13

To retain and grow market share, some commercial clubs have adopted a clear differentiation strategy in which they have identified a particular market segment that they target. They work to establish a clear brand that will set them apart from others in the market place. Perhaps the most well-known specialized health and fitness club brand in the industry is _________________________.

A) Curves
B) Gold's Gym
C) Planet Fitness
D) YMCA

Question 14

One approach to overcoming information barriers in the decision-making process is called "______________________________________," or "MBWA."

A) Making broad workplace accommodations
B) Marking big word actions
C) Management by walking around
D) Management by working actively

Question 15

A number of techniques have emerged to help enhance creative capacity. The most familiar of these techniques is brainstorming, a group technique for generating the broadest possible range of alternatives. The general rules for brainstorming are listed below except:

A) Encourage all members of the group to participate.
B) Go for quality over quantity.
C) Go for quantity over quality.
D) No judgments allowed.

Question 16

Which of the following is not a step in the decision-making process?

A) Evaluate the alternatives for strengths and weaknesses.
B) Generate the broadest possible range of alternatives.
C) Involve others in the decision-making process.
D) Select the optimal alternative.

Question 17

A major barrier to gathering information in the decision-making process is:

A) Managers don't feel they have the time.
B) In many cases, the information is not available.
C) Effective techniques for gathering information have not been developed
D) All of the above.

Question 18

Creativity is of most importance in which step of the decision-making process?

A) Evaluate the alternatives for strengths and weaknesses.
B) Generate the broadest possible range of alternatives.
C) Involve others in the decision-making process.
D) Select the optimal alternative.

Question 19

In the health and fitness industry, a club manager might use_________________________to decide how many staff members will be needed on a particular day, given the number of clients expected, the areas of the club to be utilized, and the types of activities that will be held on a particular day.

A) Break-even analysis
B) Decision tree analysis
C) Linear programming
D) T-chart

Question 20

Consider how a club manager trying to choose between the construction of a climbing wall or dedicated Pilates studio might utilize ________________________ in the decision-making process. With this technique, the manager will be able to evaluate each alternative to determine which would be more profitable to the club. Of course, this approach is only as accurate as the probability estimates, which depend on the quality of research undertaken and the amount of experience the manager has had with the business that is being estimated.

A) Break-even analysis
B) Decision tree analysis
C) Linear programming
D) T-chart

Question 21

Following the upcoming spring term, you are planning to head back home for the summer. You are planning to work and to gain some professional experience, and would like to someday work in the health and fitness industry. As the beginning of your job search, identify, and explain the three classifications of clubs as calibrated by IHRSA, and then identify and explain at which type of club you would like to work.

Question 22

During the school year you worked at the front desk of your school's fitness facility performing basic functions such as checking in guests and cleaning cardio and weight machines. This summer your goal is to secure a job in the type of club of your choice. Identify and explain how you would employ the second, third, fourth, and fifth steps in the decision-making process to attain the goal.

Question 23

Frequently, the effectiveness of decisions hinge not only on the decision maker's ability to make the right decision, but on how successfully he or she involves other people in making and implementing the decision. In the chapter we discussed several specific for-profit commercial fitness chains. Identify one such club and specific issue it faces, and explain how managers at the club would involve club employees in the decision-making process to deal with a specific issue. Also, identify two advantages and three disadvantages (other than "groupthink") that come from involving others in the process.

Question 24

One potential problem with group decisions is the phenomenon of groupthink. Explain this phenomenon and the techniques that a club manager might use when involving employees to deal with an issue facing a specific not-for-profit club.