Question 1

A criticism of the bureaucratic approach to management is that

Accepted Answer

The bureaucratic approach to management is known for its rigid structure and rules, which make it difficult to dismantle once established. This can lead to organizational inflexibility and an inability to adapt to changing circumstances.

Question 2

An important contribution of Frederick Taylor was his

Accepted Answer

The answer of An important contribution of Frederick Taylor was...

Question 3

Lillian Gilbreth studied how job satisfaction motivated employees, how motion studies could be used to help disabled individuals perform jobs, and how fatigue and stress affected workers' well-being and productivity. Why did she focus her attention in these areas?

Accepted Answer

Lillian Gilbreth was interested in the human side of management and believed that understanding workers’ needs could increase productivity and job satisfaction.

Question 4

A criticism of the human relations approach to management is that

Accepted Answer

The human relations approach to management emphasizes the importance of the informal organization and the relationships among employees, often at the expense of the formal organization and its important characteristics. This can lead to a neglect of procedures and rules, and ultimately harm the organization.

Question 5

Systematic management

Accepted Answer

Systematic management focused on the internal operations of organizations, emphasizing adequate staffing, inventory maintenance, and organizational control to ensure efficiency and effectiveness.

Question 6

Why was Frederick Taylor's principle of the piecerate system beneficial to workers and managers?

Accepted Answer

The piece-rate system incentivized workers to accomplish more, as well as earn more money for themselves, leading to increased productivity and higher earnings. This was beneficial for both workers and managers, as it resulted in increased output and profitability.

Question 7

________ introduced the scientific management approach in response to the failure of systematic management to bring about widespread production efficiency.

Accepted Answer

Frederick Taylor is known for introducing the scientific management approach, which emphasized standardization, efficiency, and productivity in the workplace. This approach became popular in response to the failure of earlier management methods to improve productivity and efficiency in factories and other production settings. Taylor's approach involved breaking tasks down into smaller, simpler components and using time and motion studies to identify the most efficient ways to perform them.

Question 8

In the context of Henri Fayol's 14 principles of management, ________ refers to making expectations clear and punishing violations.

Accepted Answer

According to Fayol, discipline refers to ensuring that everyone in the organization follows the established rules and procedures. This is achieved through making expectations clear and punishing violations.

Question 9

Taylor's theory is criticized because it

Accepted Answer

Taylor's theory, also known as scientific management, is criticized for only focusing on financial incentives and ignoring job-related social and psychological factors that influence worker behavior and productivity. This limited view of motivation has been shown to be insufficient to fully understand human behavior in the workplace.

Question 10

According to Henri Fayol's principles of management, ________ refers to promoting a unity of interest between employees and management.

Accepted Answer

The principle of esprit de corps refers to promoting a sense of unity and harmony among employees and management. This encourages teamwork, cooperation, and communication, ultimately leading to a more efficient and effective organization.

Question 11

________ management emphasized internal operations because managers were concerned primarily with meeting the explosive growth in demand brought about by the Industrial Revolution.

Accepted Answer

The answer of ________ management emphasized internal operations because managers...

Question 12

In the context of the classical approaches to management, ________ did not address all the issues faced by 19th-century managers, but it tried to raise managers' awareness about the most pressing concerns of their job.

Accepted Answer

Systematic management was an early approach that aimed to address the challenges faced by managers in the 19th century by focusing on efficiency and organization, but it did not cover all managerial issues comprehensively.

Question 13

The ________ approach to management was criticized for being too simplistic, believing that a happy worker was a productive worker.

Accepted Answer

The human relations approach to management was criticized for being overly simplistic in its assumption that a happy worker is necessarily a productive one. This approach emphasized the importance of social factors and employee satisfaction in the workplace, suggesting that if workers are happy, they will be more productive. Critics argue that this perspective overlooks other important elements that contribute to productivity.

Question 14

Taylor introduced the scientific management approach because he

Accepted Answer

Frederick W. Taylor introduced the scientific management approach because he concluded that management decisions were often unsystematic and lacked a scientific basis to determine the best means of production. He aimed to improve efficiency by studying tasks and developing precise procedures for their execution.

Question 15

Why did Henry Gantt suggest that frontline supervisors should receive a bonus for each of their workers who completed their assigned daily tasks?

Accepted Answer

Gantt believed that offering bonuses to supervisors for their workers' completion of daily tasks would motivate them to provide extra attention and training to weaker employees. This would ultimately lead to an increase in productivity for the entire team.

Question 16

The aim of the human relations approach to management was

Accepted Answer

The human relations approach to management emphasized the understanding of psychological and social processes that interact with the work situation to influence performance. This approach focused on improving job satisfaction and motivation, rather than just increasing efficiency and productivity.

Question 17

According to Max Weber, bureaucratic positions foster specialized skills, eliminating

Accepted Answer

Max Weber believed that bureaucratic positions fostered specialized skills, which in turn eliminated the need for subjective judgments by managers. This is because the rules and procedures of a bureaucracy dictate the appropriate steps for any given situation, leaving little room for individual decision-making. Therefore, option B is the correct answer, as it directly relates to Weber's ideas about the role of specialized skills in bureaucratic organizations.

Question 18

Abraham Maslow argued that people try to satisfy their

Accepted Answer

Maslow's hierarchy of needs suggests that individuals first satisfy their physiological and safety needs (which are lower-level needs) before moving on to satisfy their higher-level needs such as love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. Therefore, the correct answer is A) lower-level needs and then progress upward to the higher-level needs.

Question 19

John, a floor manager in an automotive parts manufacturing plant, noted that production declined by 20 percent during a 6-month period. In an effort to understand why, John moved his office to the manufacturing floor and began periodic floor "walks" over a 3-month observation period. No changes were made to personnel or to production methods during this time. After the observation period, John re-examined production figures and noted that they were at an all-time high. The sharp upturn in production was most likely due to the

Accepted Answer

The Hawthorne effect refers to the phenomenon where individuals modify their behavior or performance when they know they are being observed. In this case, John's presence and observations likely had a positive effect on the workers' motivation and productivity, leading to the sharp increase in production. The other choices are not applicable in this scenario.

Question 20

________ approach to management ignored the more rational side of the worker and the important characteristics of the formal organization.

Accepted Answer

The human relations approach to management focused on the social factors at work and the behavior of employees within an organization, often neglecting the more rational, formal aspects of organizational structure and the individual worker's productivity-focused aspects.

Quiz 2: The Evolution of Management