Q&A Hero

Q: A strategy that sets the long-term direction for an organization as a whole is called a __________. a) corporate strategy b) financial strategy c) functional strategy d) business strategy

Q: What are the three levels of strategy used in organizations? a) Personal, competitive, and corporate b) Competitive, corporate, and legal c) Corporate, business, and functional d) Business, functional, and competitive

Q: Operating in successful ways that are difficult to imitate results in __________. a) a strategy b) a strategic intent c) the vertical integration of a company d) a sustainable competitive advantage

Q: The ability to outperform rivals is called a __________. a) strategy b) strategic intent c) business plan d) competitive advantage

Q: Microsoft promised to put a computer within an arm's reach of every consumer in the world. This could be considered a statement of __________. a) strategic intent b) strategy c) competitive advantage d) global positioning

Q: A ____________ is a clear and lofty sense of why a business exists. a) mission b) vision c) strategic intent d) logo

Q: A(n) ______________ is a comprehensive action plan that identifies long-term direction for an organization. a) competitive advantage b) strategy c) objective d) idea

Q: Discuss just-in-time scheduling (JIT). As a manager of a firm, would you use this approach to inventory control? Give reasons.

Q: Discuss breakeven analysis. What is its intent? How is it calculated?

Q: Define and discuss the components of TQM (total quality management).

Q: Define the three types of time-related controls and their relationship to work inputs, work throughputs, and work outputs.

Q: As a manager of a firm, what steps would you take to increase internal control within employees?

Q: Discuss the managing by objectives technique for integrating planning and controlling.

Q: Describe the basic steps in the control process.

Q: A __________ measures performance on financial, customer service, internal process, and innovation and learning goals.

Q: __________ measures asset and inventory efficiency.

Q: ___________________ measures profit generation.

Q: The point where losses end and profits begin is known as the __________.

Q: To improve workflow and reduce costs, __________ seeks to arrange for materials to arrive right as they are needed.

Q: ____________ is responsibility for the overall planning, supervision, and control of projects.

Q: The common phrase for operations, built upon continuous improvement, that seek to make quality an everyday performance objective is __________.

Q: __________ document intentions to accomplish personal growth, such as expanded job knowledge or skills.

Q: Business firms adjusting products, price, and other practices in response to customer feedback and competitor moves illustrates __________.

Q: Bureaucratic control is an example of __________.

Q: If you follow-up with clients to see what they thought of the service level that you provided, you are using a __________ type of control.

Q: Concurrent controls are also called __________.

Q: __________ use past experience as a basis for evaluating current performance.

Q: Control equation: Need for Action = __________ Performance " __________ Performance.

Q: The purpose of __________ is to make sure that plans are achieved and that actual performance meets or surpasses objectives.

Q: The function of the economic order quantity method is to hold down both order costs and inventory costs.

Q: The reality of "continuous improvement" is that you can never be satisfied, that something can and always should be done better.

Q: Six Sigma is not a common quality standard in our global marketplace because it is often too difficult to achieve.

Q: While writing a good performance objective, you should identify a date by which the key result will be accomplished.

Q: Managing by objectives is a system that works only to improve organizational improvement objectives.

Q: The advantage of feedforward controls is the opportunity to intervene immediately when problems are detected.

Q: Historical comparisons benchmark our performance against that being achieved by other people, work units, or organizations.

Q: Conformance with rules and procedures, efficiency in the use of resources, and work attendance are examples of input standards.

Q: Which of the following financial ratios measures use of debt? a) Profitability b) Asset management c) Liquidity d) Leverage

Q: Which of the following financial ratios is the correct formula for the current ratio? a) Current Assets " Inventory/Current Liabilities b) Current Assets/Current Liabilities c) Sales/Average Inventory d) Current Assets/Total Liabilities

Q: __________ measures ability to meet short-term obligations. a) Liquidity b) Leverage c) Asset management d) Profitability

Q: The two types of cost used to determine the breakeven point are __________ and __________. a) minimum cost; maximum cost b) direct cost; indirect cost c) fixed cost; variable cost d) hard cost; soft cost

Q: __________ performs what-if calculations under different revenue and cost conditions. a) Breakeven analysis b) Profit analysis c) Loss analysis d) Marginal analysis

Q: The point at which revenues just equal costs is called the __________. a) profit margin b) breakeven point c) maximum cost point d) marginal revenue point

Q: __________ routes materials to workstations just in time for use. a) On-time scheduling b) Almost-on-time scheduling c) Strategic scheduling d) Just-in-time scheduling

Q: The __________ places new orders when inventory levels fall to predetermined points. a) master level method b) economic order quantity method c) purchasing control level method d) financial minimum level method

Q: __________ ensures that an inventory is only big enough to meet immediate needs. a) Financial planning b) Management control c) Inventory control d) Direct control

Q: The pathway from project start to conclusion that involves the longest completion time is called the __________. a) critical path b) economic order quantity c) purchasing control level d) financial minimum level

Q: __________ is a combination of the critical path method and the program evaluation and review technique. a) CPM/PERT b) A Gantt chart c) A Pareto chart d) Project management

Q: A __________ graphically displays the scheduling of tasks required to complete a project. a) business chart b) Gantt chart c) Pareto chart d) project chart

Q: Which of the following types of management makes sure that activities required to complete a project are planned well and accomplished on time? a) Business management b) Financial management c) Strategic management d) Project management

Q: One time activities with many component tasks that must be completed in proper order and according to budget are called __________. a) reviews b) assessments c) projects d) controls

Q: The process of always searching for new ways to improve work quality and performance is called __________. a) just-in-time scheduling b) supply chain management c) continuous improvement d) quality circles

Q: Which of the following quality tools is used to graphically display trends, so that exceptions to quality standards can be identified? a) Instruction manuals b) Equations c) Control charts d) Just-in-time data

Q: Which of the following terms describes efforts to make quality an everyday performance objective and strive to do things right the first time? a) Quality circles b) Total quality management c) Supply chain management d) International quality control

Q: The goals set in the managing by objectives process should be: a) specific and measurable. b) flexible with regard to deadlines. c) easy to accomplish. d) vague in accountability.

Q: Managing by objectives requires all of the following EXCEPT: a) a structured process. b) regular communication. c) objectives set by a management. d) standards for measurement.

Q: The two important objectives in the managing by objectives process are improvement objectives and __________. a) strategic objectives b) financial objectives c) personal development objectives d) specific action objectives

Q: Which of the following refers to the process of joint objective setting between a superior and a subordinate? a) Managing by directives b) Managing by objectives c) Performance appraisals d) Salary reviews

Q: The influence of competition on the behavior of organizations and their members refers to _____. a) internal control b) clan control c) bureaucratic control d) market control

Q: Influencing behavior through norms and peer expectations is called __________. a) market control b) external control c) bureaucratic control d) clan control

Q: Which of the following controls influences behavior through authority, policies, procedures, job descriptions, budgets, and day-to-day supervision? a) Internal control b) External control c) Bureaucratic control d) Market control

Q: If managers at XYZ Inc. utilize direct supervision and other administrative systems as control mechanisms, which of the following controls do they exercise? a) Internal control b) External control c) Bureaucratic control d) Reward control

Q: __________ occurs as people exercise self-discipline in fulfilling job expectations. a) Steering control b) Feedback control c) Internal control d) Concurrent control

Q: A manager stopping by before a shift to see if everything is ready for the day's work illustrates __________. a) steering control b) feedback control c) feedforward control d) concurrent control

Q: Which of the following is regulated by feedback controls? a) Work throughputs b) Work inputs c) Work outputs d) Work clans

Q: Which of the following is regulated by concurrent controls? a) Work throughputs b) Work inputs c) Work outputs d) Work clans

Q: Which of the following types of managerial control regulates work inputs? a) Feedforward control b) Concurrent control c) Feedback control d) Internal control

Q: Miriam, the customer service manager in a pharmaceutical company, is keen on ensuring customer satisfaction and loyalty. She sends follow-up mails to customers, gathers their responses to different products, and ensures that changes are made in the products accordingly. Which of the following types of control does this scenario illustrate? a) Concurrent control b) Market control c) Feedback control d) Clan control

Q: Which of the following types of control takes place after completing an action? a) Feedforward control b) Feedback control c) Concurrent control d) Preventive control

Q: Which of the following scenarios illustrates concurrent control? a) Susan, the customer care manager in an amusement park, actively seeks feedback from visiting tourists. b) Jean, the manager in a restaurant, ensures that the vegetables used in cooking are organic. c) Rebecca, the supervisor in a toy factory, gives suggestions to workers when they look for new designs. d) Joshua, the stock manager in a steel factory, checks every evening whether adequate stocks are available for the next day's operations.

Q: The type of managerial control that focuses on what is happening during the work process is called _____. a) feedforward control b) feedback control c) analytic control d) concurrent control

Q: Ensuring clear directions and needed resources before work begins refers to ___________. a) feedback control b) feedforward control c) concurrent control d) relative control

Q: Which of the following is the final step in the control process? a) Taking corrective action as needed b) Comparing performance with standards c) Establishing objectives and standards d) Measuring actual performance

Q: Which of the following types of comparisons benchmarks performance against that being achieved by other people, work units, or organizations? a) Historical comparison b) Engineering comparison c) Relative comparison d) Empirical comparison

Q: UPS carefully measures the routes and routines of its drivers to establish the time expected for each delivery. When a delivery manifest is scanned as completed, the driver's time is registered in an electronic performance log that is closely monitored by supervisors. In this scenario, UPS uses __________. a) historical comparisons b) engineering comparisons c) local comparisons d) relative comparisons

Q: Focusing on substantial differences between actual and desired performance is called management by ___________. a) design b) principal c) direction d) exception

Q: At Home Dcor Inc., the production manager demands zero defects on all raw materials received from its vendors. Which of the following concepts does this scenario illustrate? a) Output standard b) Feedback control c) Input standard d) Historical standard

Q: Which of the following skills is NOT required to measure actual performance for the control process? a) You must be able to conduct accurate measurements. b) You must be timely in the measuring process. c) You must be willing to measure. d) You must be able to graph performance objectives and standards.

Q: A(n) __________ measures work efforts that go into a performance task. a) input standard b) output standard c) transparent control d) leadership control

Q: Output standards in business would include the: a) average educational level of employees. b) quality of the raw materials used to make a product. c) quality ratings of the final product. d) reliability ratings on production equipment.