Deck 1: Supervising in Uncertain Times

Question 1

The functional management approach focuses on determining the most efficient ways to increase output and productivity.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Quantitative/system approaches are frequently found in large organizations where sales costs and production data are analyzed using computer technology.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The term diversity refers to the cultural, ethnic, gender, age, educational, racial, and lifestyle differences of employees.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

As the number of service industry jobs has fallen in the U.S. in recent years, the number of manufacturing jobs has risen.

Question 5

Flextime allows employees to choose their work schedules within certain limits, for example, instead of working 9-to-5 an employee might elect to work from 8-to-4 instead.

Question 6

The fact that people will perform differently when being observed is known as the Hawthorne effect.

Question 7

An organization that seeks to obtain a competitive advantage can do so by hiring qualified people, training those people, and appropriately using those people's skills.

Question 8

Supervisors are middle managers who oversee entry-level employees.

Question 9

Compared to their parents, generation Xers require less leisure time and have far more concern about staying with companies for long periods of time.

Question 10

Foreman, team leader, and coach are other designations for working supervisor.

Question 11

The managerial function of controlling consists mainly of directing subordinates' actions.

Question 12

The Hawthorne studies concluded that workers perform differently than they normally did because the researchers were observing them.

Question 13

Henri Fayol identified planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling as critical to managerial effectiveness.

Question 14

Martina is employed by a company that allows her to work from an office in her home; she stays in touch with her employer primarily by e-mail. Martina is taking advantage of the administrative policy known as flextime.

Question 15

Both the labor force and the population are getting younger.

Question 16

Despite the rather low birthrate in recent decades, both the population and the workforce will continue to grow.

Question 17

One of the most dramatic changes that has occurred in the past several decades has been the increase in the number and percentage of women in the workforce.

Question 18

The notion of Frederick Winslow Taylor's scientific management approach gave rise to the functional management approach.

Question 19

The invisible barrier that limits the advancement of women and minorities is known as the glass wall.

Question 20

A key component of Frederick Winslow Taylor's scientific management theory was the belief that managers should plan what, where, and how employees should produce a product.

Question 21

Generally speaking, large companies allow supervisors a broader range of managerial opportunities, because fewer management positions exist in smaller companies.

Question 22

To provide a foundation for the type of corporate culture that is desired, companies develop mission statements and ethical codes statements.

Question 23

Like most managers, the primary challenge that Heather will face in the future is dealing with too many high-skilled workers.

Question 24

Today's employees expect opportunities for empowerment on the job.

Question 25

Human resources are any organization's most important resources.

Question 26

Typical of a Generation Xer, Zack is not very concerned about staying with his company for a long period of time.

Question 27

Selecting and training individuals to fill job openings is the first step in managing people.

Question 28

Most supervisors will be able to succeed in their jobs simply by knowing the basic concepts and skills identified in the text.

Question 29

The service sector will generate almost all employment gain through the year 2016.

Question 30

Supervisors must recognize the value of a diverse workforce and their own need to become more adaptable to change.

Question 31

Ali has been a supervisor for ten years; therefore, additional education or training would not benefit her.

Question 32

Mid-level management creates the overall philosophy and vision of a firm.

Question 33

Taylor's principles of scientific management include:

A) Analyze the tasks associated with each job.
B) Recruit the employee best suited to perform the job.
C) Instruct the worker in the one best way to perform the job.
D) All of the above.

Question 34

Effective supervisors must be able to maintain their perspective in the face of rapidly changing conditions.

Question 35

Conditional workers are part-time, temporary, or contract employees whose work is scheduled around the needs of the employer.

Question 36

Which of the following statements concerning supervisors is NOT True?

A) Supervisors are considered to be mid-level managers within an organization.
B) Managers expect supervisors to obtain better performance from their human resources in an environment that is constantly changing.
C) The work of supervisors requires professional and interpersonal skills.
D) It is typically the first management experience people obtain.

Question 37

Which of the following is NOT one of the steps of the functional approach to management?

A) Use organizational elements toward common objectives.
B) Design a structure, with clearly defined tasks and authority.
C) Plan a course of action.
D) Study employee motivation in relation to various supervisory approaches.

Question 38

Juanita's supervisor, Stephen, has asked her for input on how to make the workplace more enjoyable. Stephen is practicing participative management.

Question 39

The primary difference between a supervisor and a working supervisor is that:

A) Working supervisors make up the first tier of management, while supervisors are considered mid-level managers.
B) Supervisors usually manage entry-level employees, while working supervisors manage more experienced employees.
C) Working supervisors are not considered part of management.
D) Supervisors are not considered part of management.

Question 40

Organizations expect supervisors to role-model ethical behavior for employees.

Question 41

Frederick Winslow Taylor, the father of scientific management, felt the manager's job was to:

A) Research the industry in which the company does business.
B) Perform mental tasks, such as determining the "one best way" to do a job.
C) Design new approaches to completing tasks.
D) Maintain good rapport among co-workers.

Question 42

Which of the following is NOT a workplace trend?

A) Businesses will reduce the number of jobs that are eliminated and/or outsourced.
B) Continuing high cost of health care in the United States.
C) Growing need to develop retention strategies for the current and future workforce.
D) Labor shortage at all skill levels.

Question 43

Pulling organizational elements toward common objectives refers to which of Fayol's five functions?

A) Planning
B) Organizing
C) Coordinating
D) Controlling

Question 44

Emmanuel is a supervisor at a private retail store where employee productivity is high and turnover is low. He strongly believes that the secret to his store's success is rewarding the accomplishment of the worker financially. This belief best fits within which school of management thought?

A) The functional approach
B) The human relations approach
C) The systems approach
D) The scientific management approach

Question 45

Giving employees the authority and responsibility to achieve objectives is known as

A) Participative management
B) Autocratic management.
C) Empowerment
D) Two-tier management

Question 46

Sierra uses mathematical models to determine the effect on production if the cost of materials increases by 20 percent. She is utilizing:

A) Scientific management.
B) The behavioral science approach.
C) The functional approach.
D) The quantitative/systems approach.

Question 47

The supervisors at Millcroft Industries have been instructed to allocate more time for on-the-job employee training and to encourage workers to pursue continuing education. This is most likely because:

A) Millcroft will soon be instituting a job sharing program.
B) The majority of Millcroft's employees are underemployed.
C) Supervisors at Millcroft do not have enough to keep them busy.
D) The company hopes to gain a competitive advantage over its competitors.

Question 48

During training for her new job, Samara learned that her company has a mentoring program in place that is meant to engage new hires in a continuous process of assimilation and growth. This mentoring program best facilitates which process?

A) Outsourcing
B) Job redesign
C) Onboarding
D) Job sharing

Question 49

Quantitative approaches are often closely connected with ____________ approaches, in which mathematical models are used to analyze data for decision making.

A) behavioral
B) systems
C) scientific management
D) functional

Question 50

The set of shared values, purposes, and beliefs that employees have about an organization is its:

A) Organizational approach.
B) Values-and-beliefs statement.
C) Corporate climate.
D) Corporate culture.

Question 51

As foreman at a small but growing construction company, Ricky performs supervisory functions on a regular basis, but is not officially considered a part of management. Ricky can best be described as a:

A) Supervisor
B) Working supervisor
C) Contingent worker
D) Top-level manager

Question 52

Which of the following is True about the glass ceiling?

A) It is a visible barrier to upward mobility.
B) It only affects women.
C) It impacts both minorities and women
D) It means the same thing as the term "glass walls."

Question 53

Which of the following is considered to be one of the focal points of the Behavioral School of Management?

A) Emphasis is placed on the functions that managers perform.
B) The importance of what motivates individual and group behavior in organizations is emphasized.
C) Mathematical models are the key issues that management is concerned with.
D) Managers analyze the tasks that are associated with each job in an effort to improve productivity.

Question 54

As a manager, Jamie gives her employees authority and responsibility to accomplish their individual and the organization's objectives. What Jamie is doing describes _______.

A) engagement
B) empowerment
C) participative management
D) negative reinforcement

Question 55

Rita has recently been promoted from bank teller to first-level manager. As a result of the promotion, she is now in charge of eight bank tellers. Rita can best be described as a:

A) Supervisor
B) Working supervisor
C) Top-level manager
D) Senior manager

Question 56

The _____ was designed to protect employees by holding employers responsible for maintaining a hazard-free workplace.

A) Family and Medical Leave Act
B) Americans with Disabilities Act
C) Occupational Safety and Health Act
D) Fair Labor Standards Act

Question 57

Which of the following is NOT characteristic of the work attitudes and experiences of generation Xers?

A) They do not share their parents' views about company loyalty.
B) They are more patient and willing to accept change.
C) They expect employers to provide them with more personal and leisure time.
D) They tend to be more educated than previous workers.

Question 58

A continuous process of assimilation and growth within the organization for new hires is referred to as:

A) Onboarding
B) Outsourcing
C) Empowerment
D) Job enlargement

Question 59

Which of the following is NOT crucial for supervisors to become True professionals?

A) They must put work before family.
B) They have to develop as innovators and idea people.
C) They must lead by example.
D) They must constantly update their own skills and knowledge.

Question 60

Regarding international business:

A) Many U.S. firms may move production overseas because of low wages.
B) International opportunities for technically competent U.S. supervisors will decrease as countries develop their own management class.
C) Corporate culture is largely the same everywhere.
D) Supervisory techniques that work in the Untied States are almost always successful in other countries as well.

Question 61

The traditional mode of face-to-face communication has been altered most significantly by which change in technology?

A) Rise of social networking sites
B) Rise of telecommuting
C) Rise of globalization
D) Declining use of English as the language of business

Question 62

Sylvia just began a new job as a retail customer service representative. However, she is dissapointed that the new job does not allow her to use her technology literacy skills. Which of the following terms best describes Sylvia's level of employment?

A) Unemployment
B) Absolute advantage
C) Underemployment
D) Competitive advantage

Question 63

List and describe the five functions critical to managerial effectiveness according to Henri Fayol's school of thought.

Question 64

List at least five current workplace trends.

Question 65

You just began work at ABC International. Your supervisor informs you that ABC allows employees to choose their work hours within stated limits. This would be described as what type of workplace policy?

A) Flextime
B) Job sharing
C) Telecommuting
D) Job redesign

Question 66

What is corporate culture, and who is responsible for setting the tone of a corporate culture?

Question 67

Why are production facilities of U.S. firms being relocated to China, India, South Korea, Eastern Europe, South America, Africa, Mexico?

Question 68

What level of the management hierarchy are supervisors a part of? Who are supervisors responsible for managing?

Question 69

__________ are invisible barriers that compartmentalize women and minorities into certain occupational classes.

A) Glass hurdles
B) Glass bridges
C) Glass ceilings
D) Glass walls

Question 70

"Going Green" means that individuals and organizations voluntarily take steps to conserve energy and behave in:

A) Environmentally-friendly ways
B) Profit-minded ways
C) Socially just ways
D) Legal ways

Question 71

Suppose you are classified as a "Millennial." According to Neil Howe and William Strauss, you would prefer which of the following?

A) Loose rules
B) Group activities
C) High levels of responsibility
D) Individualistic cultures

Question 72

Lisa drives a bus for the county school system, where she works limited hours within a nine-month contract that is based on the school system's needs. She does not receive health or retirement benefits. Lisa is a member of the:

A) Exempt workforce
B) Contingent workforce
C) Non-contingent workforce
D) Non-exempt workforce

Question 73

Based on the notion of corporate socual responsibility, doing what is right, just, and fair relates to which level of responsibility?

A) Legal responsibility
B) Ethical responsibility
C) Economic responsibility
D) Philanthropic responsibility

Question 74

Gwendolyn loves her job and feels connected to her company's objectives because she feels she does something important, finds the work stimulating, and has plenty of opportunities for personal and professional growth. Gwendolyn can best be described as what type of employee?

A) Empowered employee
B) Disgruntled employee
C) Gruntled employee
D) Engaged employee

Question 75

A recent study reported that the median tenure for employees staying in the same job was ______ years.

A) 10.5
B) 8.7
C) 1.3
D) 4.1

Question 76

Discuss the measures companies have taken to help their employees balance their family and job responsibilities. Why are companies taking these measures?

Question 77

Wanda has observed that at her company, the human resources and accounting departments are made up almost entirely of women, while other areas such as sales are composed primarily of men. This is an example of which type of workplace barrier?

A) Glass ceiling
B) Glass wall
C) Invisible hurdle
D) Invisible ladder

Question 78

Nicole works from home full-time for a non-profit organization. She communicates over the phone several times a week with her supervisor and subordinates, though email is the primary form of communication within the organization. This is an example of:

A) Flextime
B) Job sharing
C) Telecommuting
D) Outsourcing

Question 79

__________ occurs when employees are in jobs that do not use their skills, knowledge, and abilities.

A) Competitive advantage
B) Contingent work
C) Unemployment
D) Underemployment

Question 80

According to the Hawthorne effect, what happens to employees while being observed?