Deck 1: The Management Process Today

Question 1

Conceptual skills include the general ability to understand,alter,lead,and control the behavior of other individuals and groups.

Answer 1

False
Explanation: Conceptual skills are demonstrated in the general ability to analyze and diagnose a situation and to distinguish between cause and effect. Top managers require the best conceptual skills because their primary responsibilities are planning and organizing.

Question 2

The number of students competing for places in business courses is on a constant decline.

Answer 2

False
Explanation: Today more students are competing for places in business courses than ever before; the number of people wishing to pursue Master of Business Administration (MBA) degrees-today's passport to an advanced management position-either on campus or from online universities and colleges is at an all-time high.

Question 3

Restructuring involves contracting with another company,in a low-cost country abroad,to have it perform a work activity the organization previously performed itself.

Answer 3

False
Explanation: Restructuring involves simplifying, shrinking, or downsizing an organization's operations to lower operating costs. Restructuring can be done by eliminating product teams, shrinking departments, and reducing levels in the hierarchy, all of which result in the loss of large numbers of jobs of top, middle, or first-line managers, as well as nonmanagerial employees.

Question 4

Today,the term "chief operating officer" refers to the chief executive officer.

Question 5

The chief executive officer is a company's most senior and important manager,the one all other top managers report to.

Question 6

The controlling task helps managers evaluate how well they themselves are performing the other three tasks of management-planning,organizing,and leading-and take corrective action.

Question 7

Departmental skills that create a core competency give an organization a competitive advantage.

Question 8

An organization's vision is a short,succinct,and inspiring statement of what the organization intends to become and the goals it is seeking to achieve.

Question 9

In contrast to middle managers,top managers are responsible for the performance of specific departments.

Question 10

Organizations are efficient when managers maximize the amount of input resources.

Question 11

The array of technical skills managers need is independent of the position they hold in their organizations.

Question 12

Planning strategy is clear and easy,especially because planning is done under certainty when the result is known.

Question 13

Human skills can be learned through education and training,as well as be developed through experience.

Question 14

The middle managers supervise the supervisors.

Question 15

Managers at all levels and in all departments are responsible for planning,organizing,leading,and controlling.

Question 16

Identifying and selecting appropriate organizational goals and courses of action help managers perform the planning task.

Question 17

The top-line managers form the base of the managerial hierarchy.

Question 18

Organizations are collections of people who work together and coordinate their actions to achieve a wide variety of goals,or desired future outcomes.

Question 19

The outcome of organizing is the creation of a strategy.

Question 20

The planning,organizing,leading,and controlling of human and other resources to achieve organizational goals efficiently and effectively is known as management.

Question 21

Typically innovation takes place in small groups or teams.

Question 22

_____ is a measure of the appropriateness of the goals that managers have selected for the organization to pursue and the degree to which the organization achieves those goals.

A) Efficiency
B) Generalizability
C) Reliability
D) Utility
E) Effectiveness

Question 23

Outsourcing decreases efficiency because it increases operating costs.

Question 24

_____ is a measure of how productively resources are used to achieve a goal.

A) Validity
B) Generalizability
C) Efficiency
D) Effectiveness
E) Reliability

Question 25

Organizations appoint turnaround CEOs when the organizations become more efficient and effective.

Question 26

Innovation is the process of creating new or improved goods and services that customers want.

Question 27

Companies use their reward systems to promote empowerment.

Question 28

Managers seldom find it difficult to manage the diversity in today's workforce.

Question 29

An organization's efficiency decreases when it reduces the quantity of resources it uses to produce goods or services.

Question 30

When employees start using information technology (IT),they start losing their autonomy.

Question 31

Pressure to increase performance may induce managers to behave unethically.

Question 32

Which of the following is an appropriate definition of organizational performance?

A) It is the process of obtaining, analyzing, and recording information about the relative worth of an employee to the organization.
B) It is a measure of how efficiently and effectively managers use available resources to satisfy customers and achieve organizational goals.
C) It is an approach to modeling organizations using one-on-one interactions between members of the organization as a proxy for all value-adding activities in the organization.
D) It is a management framework that uses and integrates existing management methods and techniques to help teams deliver ever-improving services.
E) It is a measure of the interaction between the managerial culture, the workplace culture, and the surrounding culture.

Question 33

Innovation takes place when management centralizes control of work activities and creates an organizational culture that precludes risk taking.

Question 34

Not-for-profit sectors are not affected by global competition.

Question 35

The four building blocks of competitive advantage are superior efficiency,quality,innovation,and responsiveness to customers.

Question 36

Which of the following is NOT true about management and organizational resources?

A) Organizations are collections of people who work together to achieve a wide variety of goals.
B) Managers are responsible for making the most of an organization's human resources to achieve its goals.
C) Management is the planning, organizing, leading, and controlling of human and other resources to achieve organizational goals efficiently and effectively.
D) An organization's resources include assets such as machinery, raw materials, and computers and information technology.
E) Organizational performance increases in an indirect proportion to increases in efficiency and effectiveness.

Question 37

A self-managed team refers to a group of employees who assume collective responsibility for organizing,controlling,and supervising their own work activities.

Question 38

Restructuring results in the loss of jobs.

Question 39

Turnaround management is the creation of a new vision for a struggling company based on a new approach to planning and organizing to make better use of a company's resources and allow it to survive and prosper.

Question 40

Which of the following is true of efficiency?

A) It is a measure of the appropriateness of the goals that managers have selected for the organization to pursue.
B) Organizations are efficient when managers choose appropriate goals and then achieve them.
C) Lesser the efficiency, higher the organizational performance.
D) Organizations are efficient when managers minimize the amount of input resources.
E) Organizations are efficient when managers maximize the amount of time needed to produce a given output of goods.

Question 41

High efficiency/high effectiveness situations:

A) arise when managers choose the wrong goals to pursue and make poor use of resources.
B) result in the production of a low-quality product that customers do not want.
C) result in the production of a product that customers want at a quality and price that they can afford.
D) result in the production of a product that customers want, but that is too expensive for them to buy.
E) arise when managers choose inappropriate goals, but make good use of resources to pursue these goals.

Question 42

In _____,the task of managers is to evaluate how well an organization has achieved its goals and to take any corrective actions needed to maintain or improve performance.

A) planning
B) organizing
C) leading
D) staffing
E) controlling

Question 43

_____ is the process of structuring working relationships so that organizational members interact and cooperate to achieve organizational goals.

A) Planning
B) Leading
C) Commanding
D) Controlling
E) Organizing

Question 44

Which of the following is true of effectiveness?

A) Organizational performance increases in direct proportion to increase in effectiveness.
B) Organizations are effective when managers minimize the time needed to produce a given output of services.
C) It is a measure of how productively resources are used to achieve a goal.
D) Organizations are effective when managers minimize the amount of input resources.
E) Effectiveness is related to performance but not efficiency.

Question 45

Which of the following is true of low efficiency/high effectiveness situations?

A) They arise when managers choose the wrong goals to pursue and make poor use of resources.
B) They arise when managers choose the right goals to pursue, but do a poor job of using resources to achieve these goals.
C) They arise when managers choose the right goals to pursue and make good use of resources to achieve these goals.
D) They result in the production of a low-quality product that customers do not want.
E) They result in the production of a high-quality product that customers do not want.

Question 46

Which of the following refers to a cluster of decisions concerning what organizational goals to pursue,what actions to take,and how to use resources to achieve these goals?

A) Synergy
B) Value
C) Strategy
D) Mission
E) Business model

Question 47

A formal system of reporting relationships that coordinates and motivates organizational members so that they work together to attempt to achieve organizational goals is called an organizational:

A) culture.
B) psychology.
C) structure.
D) assimilation.
E) chart.

Question 48

Which of the following is true of low efficiency/low effectiveness situations?

A) They arise when managers choose the right goals to pursue, but do a poor job of using resources to achieve these goals.
B) They result in the production of a product that customers want, but that is too expensive for them to buy.
C) They result in the production of a product that customers want at a quality and price that they can afford.
D) They arise when managers choose the wrong goals to pursue and make poor use of resources.
E) They arise when managers choose inappropriate goals, but make good use of resources to pursue these goals.

Question 49

In what order do managers typically perform the managerial functions?

A) Organizing, planning, controlling, leading
B) Organizing, leading, planning, controlling
C) Planning, organizing, leading, controlling
D) Planning, organizing, controlling, leading
E) Leading, organizing, planning, controlling

Question 50

When managers _____,they articulate a clear organizational vision for the organization's members to accomplish,and they energize and enable employees so that everyone understands the part he/she plays in achieving organizational goals.

A) plan
B) organize
C) control
D) command
E) lead

Question 51

When a manager lays out the lines of authority and responsibility among different individuals and groups,the manager is:

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

Question 52

An organization's _____ is a short,succinct,and inspiring statement of what the organization intends to become.

A) goal
B) value
C) strategy
D) vision
E) mission

Question 53

Which of the managerial functions involves managers using their power,personality,influence,persuasion,and communication skills to coordinate people and groups so that their activities and efforts are in harmony?

A) Leading
B) Planning
C) Organizing
D) Controlling
E) Arranging

Question 54

Which of the following is true of leadership?

A) It helps managers evaluate how well they themselves are performing.
B) It revolves around encouraging all employees to perform at a high level to help the organization achieve its vision and goals.
C) Managers evaluate how well an organization has achieved its goals and take corrective actions needed to improve performance.
D) It revolves around regulation of organizational efficiency and effectiveness.
E) Managers decide which goals to measure and then design control systems that will provide the information necessary to assess performance.

Question 55

Which of the following processes gives the managers the ability to measure performance accurately and regulate organizational efficiency and effectiveness?

A) Controlling
B) Planning
C) Organizing
D) Leading
E) Staffing

Question 56

To perform the _____ task,managers identify and select appropriate organizational goals and courses of action.

A) planning
B) organizing
C) leading
D) controlling
E) commanding

Question 57

Which of the following strategies helps an organization to obtain customers by making decisions that allow it to produce goods or services more cheaply than its competitors?

A) Disintermediation strategy
B) Centralization strategy
C) Penetration strategy
D) Low-cost strategy
E) Differentiation strategy

Question 58

The strategy of delivering new,exciting,and unique products to the customers is known as a _____ strategy.

A) low-cost
B) disintermediation
C) centralization
D) penetration
E) differentiation

Question 59

The goals chosen by the management of Dino's Cafe seemed inappropriate for the store,but the management did make good use of the various resources in pursuing these goals.Dino's Cafe is said to have:

A) low efficiency and high effectiveness.
B) high efficiency and high effectiveness.
C) low efficiency and low effectiveness.
D) low conceptual skills and low human skills.
E) high efficiency and low effectiveness.

Question 60

How to allocate organizational resources to pursue the strategies that attain set goals,is a question addressed during:

A) regulating.
B) planning.
C) leading.
D) controlling.
E) commanding.

Question 61

Susan,the CEO of United Group Ltd.,reviews the performance of her company in the past month's Profit & Loss Statement to determine if the company is on pace to meet the planned sales and profitability goals.Susan is engaged in which of the following managerial functions?

A) Planning
B) Organizing
C) Staffing
D) Controlling
E) Leading

Question 62

Being a part of top management at a large fast food chain,Donald is most likely to spend more of his time in:

A) planning and organizing resources.
B) planning and controlling nonmanagerial employees.
C) planning and leading first-line managers.
D) organizing resources and controlling nonmanagerial employees.
E) organizing resources and leading first-line managers.

Question 63

Fresh Farms,Inc.,is facing financial problems.In order to tackle the situation,the management has decided to reduce the number of middle managers by 20 percent to help them cut costs.This is an example of:

A) telecommuting.
B) restructuring.
C) outsourcing.
D) empowering.
E) innovating.

Question 64

Which of the following is an accurate definition of a self-managed team?

A) It is a group of people who work interdependently and with shared purpose across space, time, and organization boundaries using technology to communicate and collaborate.
B) It involves several professionals who independently address various issues that an organization may have, focusing on the issues in which they specialize.
C) It lessens the autonomy enjoyed by the employee.
D) It refers to a group of employees who assume collective responsibility for organizing, controlling, and supervising their own work activities.
E) It refers to a team used only for a defined period of time and for a separate, concretely definable purpose.

Question 65

_____ skills include the general ability to understand,alter,lead,and control the behavior of individuals and groups.

A) Analytic
B) Cognitive
C) Human
D) Technical
E) Conceptual

Question 66

Who amongst the following is most likely to be a part of the top management team?

A) Supervisor
B) Head nurse
C) Chief mechanic
D) Divisional manager
E) Chief executive officer

Question 67

A bank allows its tellers to not only handle deposits and disbursement,but also distribute traveler's checks and sell certificates of deposit.This is an example of:

A) innovation.
B) restructuring.
C) total quality management.
D) empowerment.
E) outsourcing.

Question 68

Which of the following is true of top managers?

A) They are responsible for finding the best way to organize human and other resources to achieve organizational goals.
B) They are responsible for daily supervision of the nonmanagerial employees who perform the specific activities necessary to produce goods and services.
C) They find ways to help first-line managers and nonmanagerial employees better use resources to reduce manufacturing costs or improve customer service.
D) They have cross-departmental responsibility.
E) They are responsible for a single department.

Question 69

Which of the following is true of middle managers?

A) They decide how the different departments should interact.
B) They are responsible for daily supervision of the nonmanagerial employees who perform the specific activities necessary to produce goods and services.
C) They develop and fine-tune skills and know-how that allow the organization to be efficient and effective.
D) They are responsible for the performance of all departments.
E) They establish organizational goals.

Question 70

First-line managers:

A) increase efficiency by helping middle-level managers better use resources to reduce manufacturing costs or improve customer service.
B) are also known as supervisors.
C) are at the top of the managerial hierarchy.
D) work in one single department of an organization.
E) are responsible for finding the best way to organize human and other resources to achieve organizational goals.

Question 71

Which of the following is true of restructuring?

A) It increases the operating costs.
B) It reduces the morale of the remaining employees.
C) It does not change the levels in hierarchy.
D) It affects nonmanagerial employees, but not managerial employees.
E) Modern information technology's ability to improve efficiency has lessened the amount of restructuring in recent years.

Question 72

George works as the human resource manager at Maddy's Confectionaries.It was mandatory for his subordinates to obtain his signature on every document related to the hiring of a new employee.When he realized that this was increasing the duration of the hiring process,he told his subordinates that they no longer needed his signature unless the hire involved extraordinary circumstances.This is an example of:

A) restructuring.
B) outsourcing.
C) total quality management.
D) empowerment.
E) innovation.

Question 73

The job-specific skills required to perform a particular type of work at a high level are a part of a manager's:

A) human skills.
B) communication skills.
C) interpersonal skills.
D) technical skills.
E) conceptual skills.

Question 74

Which of the following management techniques involves giving employees more authority and responsibility over how they perform their work activities?

A) Innovation
B) Total quality management
C) Empowerment
D) Outsourcing
E) Restructuring

Question 75

The ability to analyze and diagnose a situation and to distinguish between cause and effect demonstrates a manager's:

A) interpersonal skills.
B) conceptual skills.
C) human skills.
D) technical skills.
E) communication skills.

Question 76

Mark,a manager at Matt's Shack,monitors the work performance of workers in his department to determine if the quality of their work is meeting the standards of the company.Mark is engaging in which of the following managerial functions?

A) Planning
B) Staffing
C) Organizing
D) Leading
E) Controlling

Question 77

Simplifying,shrinking,or downsizing an organization's operations to lower operating costs is known as:

A) restructuring.
B) outsourcing.
C) empowering.
D) innovating.
E) telecommuting.

Question 78

The company for which Margaret works has announced that due to declining global sales,it will lay off 12 percent of its labor force.This is an example of:

A) innovating.
B) telecommuting.
C) restructuring.
D) outsourcing.
E) empowering.

Question 79

The specific set of departmental skills,knowledge,and experience that allows one organization to outperform its rivals is known as the organization's:

A) strategy.
B) vision.
C) goal.
D) mission.
E) core competency.

Question 80

_____ involves contracting with another company,in a low-cost country abroad,to have it perform a work activity the organization previously performed itself.

A) Integrating
B) Telecommuting
C) Outsourcing
D) Restructuring
E) Insourcing