Deck 11: Strategy and Performance Excellence

Question 1

An iterative process in which employees at the lower level in the organization ask what senior management can do,what they need,and what conflicts may arise can avoid many of the implementation problems that managers typically face.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

A strategy is a pattern or plan that integrates an organization's major goals,policies,and action sequences into a cohesive whole.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Strategic objectives are what an organization must change or improve to remain or become competitive.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Matrix data analysis takes data and arranges them to display quantitative relationships among variables to make them more easily understood and analyzed.

Question 5

Mission is the pattern of decisions that determines and reveals an organization's goals,policies,and plans to meet the needs of its stakeholders.

Question 6

Process decision program charts are spreadsheets that graphically display relationships between ideas,activities,or other dimensions in such a way as to provide logical connecting points between each item.

Question 7

Effective strategy deployment is dependent upon,and tends to shape,organizational structure because the organizational structure must be aligned with and support the accomplishment of strategic initiatives.

Question 8

Mission statements typically include details of resource commitments and time horizons for their accomplishment.

Question 9

Strategic planning is the process of envisioning the organization's future and developing the necessary goals,objectives,and action plans to achieve that future.

Question 10

In the policy deployment process,employees negotiate with management the performance measures that are used to indicate progress toward accomplishing the objectives.

Question 11

Traditional organizations tend to develop structures that help them to maintain flexibility.

Question 12

The Organizational Profile provides the "finer picture" of the various organizational parts and thus sets the context for good strategic decisions.

Question 13

The second group of questions in the Baldrige Organizational Profile is listed under the heading "Organizational Environment."

Question 14

Catchball is an up,down,and sideways communication process as opposed to an autocratic,top-down management style.

Question 15

The use of arrow diagramming has generally been confined to technical experts.

Question 16

An interrelationship digraph shows that every idea can be logically linked with more than one other idea at a time,and allows for "linear thinking" rather than "lateral thinking."

Question 17

A key role of strategic planning is to align work processes and learning initiatives with an organization's strategic directions.

Question 18

Strategic challenges frequently are driven by an organization's future competitive position relative to other providers of similar products or services.

Question 19

The term "management challenges" refers to those pressures that exert a decisive influence on an organization's likelihood of future success.

Question 20

The Seven Management and Planning Tools had their roots in post-World War II operations research developments in Japan,but were combined and refined by several U.S.companies over the past several decades as part of their planning processes.

Question 21

According to the policy deployment process diagram,a catchball situation occurs between the _____ stage and the _____ stage.

A)corporate vision; long-term objectives
B)long-term objectives; midterm objectives
C)short-term objectives; policy deployment plan
D)policy deployment plan; plan approval

Question 22

Core competencies may involve technology expertise,unique service offerings,a marketplace niche,or a particular business acumen.

Question 23

Which of the following is true of the policy deployment process?

A)The supervisory level has the primary responsibility of actively participating in generating strategies and action plans to attain a vision.
B)At the top management level,progressively more detailed and concrete means to accomplish the objectives are determined.
C)Employees negotiate the final short-term objectives with the implementation teams.
D)Middle management negotiates with senior management regarding the objectives that will achieve the strategies.

Question 24

Essentially,strategy deployment links the _____,who focus on "doing the right thing," with the _____,whose focus is on "doing things right."

A)management; employees
B)leaders; supervisors
C)innovators; coordinators
D)planners; doers

Question 25

A _____ statement articulates the basic characteristics that shape an organization's view of the future and its strategy.

A)value
B)mission
C)vision
D)leadership

Question 26

Outsourcing refers to the practice of transferring the operations of a business function to an outside supplier.

Question 27

In line and staff organizations,staff departments carry out the functions of marketing,finance,and production for the organization.

Question 28

With _____,top management is responsible for developing and communicating a vision,and then building organization-wide commitment to its achievement.

A)policy deployment
B)value development
C)mission development
D)quality deployment

Question 29

In policy deployment,the _____ process is called catchball.

A)negotiation
B)implementation
C)review
D)communication

Question 30

If everyone is able to answer the question,"What does strategy mean in terms that I can act on," which aspect of deployment will it address?

A)Improperly defined organizational objectives
B)Lack of alignment across the organization
C)Misallocation of resources
D)Insufficient operational measures

Question 31

In the line and staff form of organization structure,quality managers and inspectors may take on the role of guardians of quality.

Question 32

A _____ might include a definition of products and services an organization provides,technologies used to provide these products and services,types of markets,important customer needs,and distinctive competencies or the expertise that sets the firm apart from others.

A)mission statement
B)strategy roadmap
C)value statement
D)leadership statement

Question 33

_____ represents the critical stage in planning when strategic objectives and goals are made specific so that effective,organization-wide understanding and deployment are possible.

A)Mission statement development
B)Vision statement development
C)Action plan development
D)Operations planning and scheduling

Question 34

Japanese firms introduced a newer deployment process adapted by Japanese and American companies known as _____.

A)SWOT
B)hoshin planning
C)management by exception
D)management by objectives

Question 35

_____ set an organization's longer-term directions and guide resource allocation decisions.

A)Management values
B)Strategic objectives
C)Core competencies
D)Workforce management principles

Question 36

One of the reasons for poor deployment of action plans is insufficient operational measures.Which of the following is a feature of this aspect?

A)New legislative mandates
B)Dedicating resources to make improvements or changes in those areas that are critical
C)Lack of changes resulting from new ventures
D)Insignificant innovations in products,services,and technology

Question 37

Effective implementation of a strategy is achieved through action plans.This is called _____.

A)proactive implementation
B)installation
C)deployment
D)strategic implementation

Question 38

An organization must address certain key practices to achieve a strategic focus on performance excellence.Which of the following is NOT one of them?

A)Gather and analyze relevant data and information pertaining to such factors as the organizations strengths,weaknesses,opportunities,and threats
B)Develop and refine a systematic approach for conducting strategic planning and setting strategic objectives
C)Understand the competitive environment,the principal factors that determine success,the organization's core competencies,and strategic challenges
D)Execute mergers and acquisitions,with an aim to expand business globally and to form coalitions and cartels to achieve the same

Question 39

_____ is essentially a quality-based approach to executing a strategy by ensuring that all employees understand the business direction and are working according to a plan to make the vision a reality.

A)Mission deployment
B)Policy deployment
C)Value development
D)Quality orientation

Question 40

In many cases,the decision to vertically integrate is based solely on costs without considering the impact on other business priorities.

Question 41

Which of the following is an advantage of the matrix type of organizations?

A)It is a one-size-fits-all quality organization.
B)It improves the efficiency of personnel use.
C)The division of loyalty is especially advantageous in a quality assurance area.
D)It is especially suited for small and medium firms.

Question 42

_____ coordinate the internal work processes and the external resources necessary to develop,produce,and deliver products and services to customers and to succeed in the marketplace.

A)Work systems
B)Operations scheduling systems
C)Organizational charts
D)Personnel management systems

Question 43

In the policy deployment process,the _____ forms the basis for shorter-term planning.

A)operational plan
B)organizational objective
C)mission statement
D)long-term strategic plan

Question 44

A firm purchasing a key supplier to strengthen its value chain is an example of _____.

A)collaboration
B)outsourcing
C)vertical integration
D)unrelated diversification

Question 45

Decisions about work systems are _____.

A)operational
B)strategic
C)customer-focused
D)administrative

Question 46

All of the following are key factors included in an environmental assessment EXCEPT:

A)the organization's SWOT profile.
B)the workforce profile and future requirements.
C)the regulatory environment.
D)the long-term organizational sustainability.

Question 47

In the context of the organization,which of the following is a factor that affects how work is organized?

A)Suppliers and partners
B)Competitiveness
C)Unionization of personnel
D)Customer influences

Question 48

An organization chart shows the _____ of the formal organization.

A)business model
B)apparent structure
C)competitive position
D)workforce distribution

Question 49

Which of the following is a management and planning tool for organizing a large number of ideas,opinions,and facts relating to a broad problem or subject area?

A)Affinity diagram
B)Interrelationship diagraph
C)Matrix diagram
D)Process decision program chart

Question 50

The goal of _____ is to envision the future for purposes of decision making and resource allocation.

A)environmental assessment
B)strategy development
C)work systems
D)core competencies

Question 51

The term "_____" refers to those pressures that exert a decisive influence on an organization's likelihood of future success.

A)strategic challenges
B)core competencies
C)work systems
D)strategic inertia

Question 52

Which of the following is NOT considered in strategic human resource plans?

A)Redesign of the work organization to increase empowerment and decision-making or team-based participation
B)Initiatives to reduce collective bargaining through union involvement
C)Initiatives to foster knowledge sharing and organizational learning
D)Partnerships with educational institutions to help ensure the future supply of well-prepared employees

Question 53

_____ is the process by which certain business functions are acquired and consolidated within a firm.

A)Acquisition
B)Outsourcing
C)Collaboration
D)Vertical integration

Question 54

Describe the Baldrige Organizational Profile.

Question 55

The major drawback of the matrix-type organization is that it:

A)can be used only for project work.
B)requires split loyalty.
C)decreases the efficiency of personnel use.
D)decreases the coordination in a project work.

Question 56

Why are action plans important in strategy deployment?

Question 57

Which of the following is a proper description of a tree diagram?

A)A tool for organizing a large number of ideas,opinions,and facts relating to a broad problem or subject area
B)A method for mapping out every conceivable event and contingency that can occur when moving from a problem statement to possible solutions
C)A tool to take data and arrange them to display quantitative relationships among variables to make them more easily understood and analyzed
D)A tool to map out the paths and tasks necessary to complete a specific project or reach a specified goal

Question 58

The clarification of authority,responsibility,reporting lines,and performance standards among individuals at each level of the organization is referred to as _____.

A)hoshin kanri
B)the QID
C)the organizational structure
D)organizational governance

Question 59

The _____ organization is the most prevalent type of structure for medium-sized to large firms.

A)line
B)line and staff
C)staff
D)matrix

Question 60

Gary Hamel and C.K.Prahalad suggested that a core competency meets three conditions.Which of the following is NOT one of them?

A)It provides focus to the organizational objectives.
B)It contributes significantly to customer benefits.
C)It provides access to many products and markets.
D)It is difficult for competitors to imitate.

Question 61

What is the mission statement of Branch-Smith Printing Division?

A)To provide expert solutions for publishers
B)To market leading business results through an expert team providing turnkey solutions to customer partners
C)To continuously improve results for all stakeholders through the application of its Innovating Excellence Process
D)To become the industry leader and achieve superior growth and market share

Question 62

How does Six Sigma help Cigna improve quality and productivity?

Question 63

What is Branch-Smith Printing Division's vision statement?

A)The objective of the Branch-Smith Printing Division is to provide expert solutions for publishers.
B)Branch-Smith Printing will seek to continuously improve results for all stakeholders through the application of its Innovating Excellence Process.
C)Our single focus will continue to be helping customers all over the world succeed in their businesses.
D)Market leading business results through an expert team providing turnkey solutions to customer partners.

Question 64

Which of the following is a key challenge of the U.S.health care marketplace?

A)A shift away from value-based models of health care toward a performance-based system
B)Rising consumer expectations curtailed by greater transparency of quality
C)The decreasing number of Americans who use emergency rooms for primary care because they lack health insurance
D)Demographic changes that necessitate the need for more care availability

Question 65

What are the factors that affect how work is organized in the context of an organization?

Question 66

What are the five strategic imperatives of Cigna?

Question 67

What is the quality policy of Branch-Smith Printing Division?

A)Our single focus will continue to be helping customers all over the world succeed in their businesses.
B)Market leading business results through an expert team providing turnkey solutions to customer partners.
C)Branch-Smith Printing will seek to continuously improve results for all stakeholders through the application of its Innovating Excellence Process.
D)The objective of the Branch-Smith Printing Division is to provide expert solutions for publishers.

Question 68

As part of its strategic planning process,managers at Cigna learn what behaviors are required to ensure effectiveness.Discuss.

Question 69

In Cigna's Holistic Six Sigma Model,_____ solves root cause problems to optimize existing processes.

A)hoshin kanri
B)kaizen
C)DMAIC
D)DFSS

Question 70

What are core competencies? Describe its characteristics.

Question 71

What are the Seven Management and Planning Tools?

Question 72

In Cigna's Holistic Six Sigma Model,tactical execution through _____ refers to an accelerated process streamlining event.

A)kaizen
B)hoshin kanri
C)DMAIC
D)DFSS

Question 73

What are the steps in the Branch-Smith strategic planning process?

Question 74

The challenges of the huge cost of care and quality of care facing the U.S.health care industry have led Cigna managers to wonder whether they could extend its improvement methodology to the industry as a whole.What are some of the key challenges in the U.S.health care marketplace?

Question 75

Discuss the strategic planning process used by Cigna.

Question 76

What simple fact could help explain the rapid growth,holistic use,and impressive results of Six Sigma at Cigna?

Question 77

What is the strategic planning process of Branch-Smith Printing Division?

Question 78

When Six Sigma was launched at Cigna,leadership made it clear the approach would _____.

A)be holistic
B)focus on health insurance
C)be innovation
D)focus exclusively on productivity improvement