72.
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
Empowerment is a management technique that involves giving employees more authority
and responsibility over how they perform their work activities. Information technology is
being increasingly used to empower employees because it expands employees’ job
knowledge and increases the scope of their job responsibilities.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Remember
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Learning Objective: 01-05 Discuss some major changes in management practices today that have occurred as a result of
globalization and the use of advanced information technology (IT).
Topic: Recent Changes in Management Practices
73.
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
Empowerment is a management technique that involves giving employees more authority
and responsibility over how they perform their work activities. Information technology is
being increasingly used to empower employees because it expands employees’ job
knowledge and increases the scope of their job responsibilities.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Apply
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Learning Objective: 01-05 Discuss some major changes in management practices today that have occurred as a result of
globalization and the use of advanced information technology (IT).
Topic: Recent Changes in Management Practices
74.
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.
outsourcing
B.
total quality management
C.
empowerment
D.
innovation
Empowerment is a management technique that involves giving employees more authority
and responsibility over how they perform their work activities. Information technology is
being increasingly used to empower employees because it expands employees’ job
knowledge and increases the scope of their job responsibilities.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Apply
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Learning Objective: 01-05 Discuss some major changes in management practices today that have occurred as a result of
globalization and the use of advanced information technology (IT).
Topic: Recent Changes in Management Practices
75.
Which of the following is an accurate definition of a self-managed team?
A.
A group of people who work interdependently and with shared purpose across space,
time, and organization boundaries using technology to communicate and collaborate
B.
Several professionals who independently address various issues that an organization
may have, focusing on the issues in which they specialize
C.
A group of employees who assume collective responsibility for organizing, controlling,
and supervising their own work activities
D.
A team used only for a defined period of time and for a separate, concretely definable
purpose
Information technology facilitates the use of a self-managed team, a group of employees
who assume collective responsibility for organizing, controlling, and supervising their own
work activities. Using IT designed to give team members real-time information about each
member’s performance, a self-managed team can often find ways to accomplish a task
more quickly and efficiently.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Understand
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Learning Objective: 01-05 Discuss some major changes in management practices today that have occurred as a result of
globalization and the use of advanced information technology (IT).
Topic: Recent Changes in Management Practices
76.
Organizations that operate and compete in more than one country are known as ________
organizations.
A.
domestic
B.
central
C.
holding
D.
global
Global organizations are organizations that operate and compete in more than one
country. The rise of such organizations has pressured many organizations to identify better
ways to use their resources and improve their performance.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Remember
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Learning Objective: 01-06 Discuss the principal challenges managers face in today’s increasingly competitive global
environment.
Topic: Globalization
77.
The ability of one organization to outperform other organizations because it produces
desired goods or services more efficiently and effectively than its competitors is known as
its ________.
A.
competitive advantage
B.
strategy
C.
absolute advantage
D.
goal
Competitive advantage is the ability of one organization to outperform other organizations
because it produces desired goods or services more efficiently and effectively than its
competitors. The four building blocks of competitive advantage are superior efficiency,
quality, innovation, and responsiveness to customers.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Remember
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Learning Objective: 01-06 Discuss the principal challenges managers face in today’s increasingly competitive global
environment.
Topic: Globalization
1-65
78.
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 is ________ management.
A.
performance
B.
total quality
C.
turnaround
D.
impression
Turnaround management is the creation of a new vision for a struggling company using a
new approach to planning and organizing to make better use of a company’s resources
and allow it to survive and eventually prosper. It involves developing radical new strategies
such as how to reduce the number of products sold or change how they are made and
distributed, or close corporate and manufacturing operations to reduce costs.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
Blooms: Remember
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Learning Objective: 01-06 Discuss the principal challenges managers face in today’s increasingly competitive global
environment.
Topic: Globalization
Essay Questions
79.
What is organizational performance and what is its relationship with efficiency and
effectiveness?
Organizational performance is a measure of how efficiently and effectively managers use
available resources to satisfy customers and achieve organizational goals. Organizational
performance increases in direct proportion to increases in efficiency and effectiveness.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Blooms: Remember
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Learning Objective: 01-01 Describe what management is, why management is important, what managers do, and how
managers use organizational resources efficiently and effectively to achieve organizational goals.
Topic: Management
80.
Define efficiency. When is an organization said to be efficient?
Efficiency is a measure of how productively resources are used to achieve a goal.
Organizations are efficient when managers minimize the amount of input resources (such
as labor, raw materials, and component parts) or the amount of time needed to produce a
given output of goods or services.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Blooms: Remember
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Learning Objective: 01-01 Describe what management is, why management is important, what managers do, and how
managers use organizational resources efficiently and effectively to achieve organizational goals.
Topic: Management
81.
Explain effectiveness. When is an organization said to be effective?
Effectiveness 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. Organizations are effective when managers choose appropriate goals and
then achieve them.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Blooms: Remember
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Learning Objective: 01-01 Describe what management is, why management is important, what managers do, and how
managers use organizational resources efficiently and effectively to achieve organizational goals.
Topic: Management
82.
What are the reasons behind studying management?
Some of the reasons for studying management are
• In any society or culture resources are valuable and scarce; so the more efficient and
effective use that organizations can make of those resources, the greater the relative well–
being and prosperity of people in that society. Because managers decide how to use many
of a society’s most valuable resources, they directly impact the well-being of a society and
the people in it. Understanding what managers do and how they do it is of central
importance to understanding how a society creates wealth and affluence for its citizens.
• Although most people are not managers, and many may never intend to become
managers, almost all of us encounter managers because most people have jobs and
bosses. Moreover, many people today work in groups and teams and have to deal with
coworkers. Studying management helps people deal with their bosses and their
coworkers. It reveals how to understand other people at work and make decisions and
take actions that win the attention and support of the boss and coworkers. Management
teaches people not yet in positions of authority how to lead coworkers, solve conflicts
83.
Define planning. What are the three steps in the planning process?
Planning is the process of identifying and selecting appropriate goals. The three steps
involved in planning are
• deciding which goals the organization will pursue,
• deciding what strategies to adopt to attain those goals, and
• deciding how to allocate organizational resources to pursue the strategies that attain
those goals.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Blooms: Remember
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Learning Objective: 01-02 Distinguish among planning, organizing, leading, and controlling (the four principal managerial
tasks), and explain how managers’ ability to handle each one affects organizational performance.
Topic: Planning
84.
Explain the following terms: strategy, low-cost strategy, and differentiation strategy.
To perform the planning task, managers identify and select appropriate organizational
goals and courses of action; they develop strategies for how to achieve high performance.
• “Strategy” refers to the cluster of decisions concerning what organizational goals to
pursue, what actions to take, and how to use resources to achieve these goals.
• A low-cost strategy is a way of obtaining customers by making decisions that allow an
organization to produce goods or services more cheaply than its competitors so it can
Blooms: Remember
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Learning Objective: 01-02 Distinguish among planning, organizing, leading, and controlling (the four principal managerial
tasks), and explain how managers’ ability to handle each one affects organizational performance.
Topic: Planning
85.
What does the managerial function of organizing involve? What is its outcome?
Organizing is structuring working relationships so that organizational members interact
and cooperate to achieve organizational goals. Organizing people into departments
according to the kinds of job-specific tasks they perform lays out the lines of authority and
responsibility among different individuals and groups.
The outcome of organizing is the creation of an organizational structure, a formal system
of task and reporting relationships that coordinates and motivates members so they work
together to achieve organizational goals. Organizational structure determines how an
organization’s resources can be best used to create goods and services.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Blooms: Understand
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Learning Objective: 01-02 Distinguish among planning, organizing, leading, and controlling (the four principal managerial
tasks), and explain how managers’ ability to handle each one affects organizational performance.
Topic: Organizing
86.
Discuss the managerial function of leading. What is its outcome?
In leading, managers articulate a clear organizational vision for the organization’s
members to accomplish, and they energize and enable employees so everyone
understands the part he/she plays in achieving organizational goals. Leadership 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.
Leadership revolves around encouraging all employees to perform at a high level to help
the organization achieve its vision and goals. Another outcome of leadership is a highly
motivated and committed workforce.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Blooms: Understand
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Learning Objective: 01-02 Distinguish among planning, organizing, leading, and controlling (the four principal managerial
tasks), and explain how managers’ ability to handle each one affects organizational performance.
Topic: Leading
87.
What does the managerial function of controlling involve?
In controlling, 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.
The outcome of the control process is the ability to measure performance accurately and
regulate organizational efficiency and effectiveness. To exercise control, managers must
decide which goals to measure and then they must design control systems that will
provide the information necessary to assess performance. The controlling task also helps
managers evaluate how well they themselves are performing the other three tasks of
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Learning Objective: 01-02 Distinguish among planning, organizing, leading, and controlling (the four principal managerial
tasks), and explain how managers’ ability to handle each one affects organizational performance.
Topic: Controlling
88.
Identify the three levels of management and explain the basic responsibilities of each.
The three levels are first-line managers, middle managers, and top managers.
At the base of the managerial hierarchy are first-line managers, often called supervisors.
They are responsible for the daily supervision of the nonmanagerial employees who
perform the specific activities necessary to produce goods and services.
Supervising the first-line managers are middle managers, responsible for finding the best
way to organize human and other resources to achieve organizational goals. To increase
efficiency, middle managers find ways to help first-line managers and nonmanagerial
employees better use resources to reduce manufacturing costs or improve customer
service. To increase effectiveness, middle managers evaluate whether the organization’s
goals are appropriate and suggest to top managers how goals should be changed. Often
the suggestions that middle managers make to top managers can dramatically increase
89.
Identify and briefly define the three major types of managerial skills.
The three types of managerial skills are conceptual, human, and technical.
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.
Human skills include the general ability to understand, alter, lead, and control the
behavior of other individuals and groups. The ability to communicate, to coordinate, and to
motivate people and to mold individuals into a cohesive team distinguishes effective from
ineffective managers.
Technical skills are the job-specific skills required to perform a particular type of work or
occupation at a high level. Managers need a range of technical skills to be effective. The
array of technical skills managers need depends on their position in their organizations.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Blooms: Understand
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Learning Objective: 01-04 Distinguish among three kinds of managerial skill, and explain why managers are divided into
different departments.
Topic: Levels and Skills of Managers
90.
What is restructuring and what are its disadvantages?
Restructuring involves simplifying, shrinking, or downsizing an organization’s operations to
lower operating costs. It 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.
Restructuring can reduce the morale of remaining employees, who worry about their own
job security. Top managers of many downsized organizations realize that they have
downsized too far when their employees start complaining that they are overworked and
when customer complaints about poor service increase.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Blooms: Remember
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Learning Objective: 01-05 Discuss some major changes in management practices today that have occurred as a result of
globalization and the use of advanced information technology (IT).
Topic: Recent Changes in Management Practices
91.
Explain the significance of information technology with regard to empowering employees
and facilitating self-managed teams.
Empowerment is a management technique that involves giving employees more authority
and responsibility over how they perform their work activities. Information technology (IT)
expands employees’ job knowledge and increases the scope of their job responsibilities.
Frequently IT allows one employee to perform a task that was previously performed by
many employees. As a result, the employee has more autonomy and responsibility.
IT also facilitates the use of a self-managed team, a group of employees who assume
collective responsibility for organizing, controlling, and supervising their own work
activities. Using IT designed to give team members real–time information about each
member’s performance, a self-managed team can often find ways to accomplish a task
more quickly and efficiently. Moreover, self-managed teams assume many tasks and
responsibilities previously performed by first-line managers, so a company can better
utilize its workforce. First-line managers act as coaches or mentors whose job is not to tell
employees what to do but to provide advice and guidance and help teams find new ways
to perform their tasks more efficiently. Using the same IT, middle managers can easily
monitor what is happening in these teams and make better resource allocation decisions
as a result.
92.
Define competitive advantage. What are its four building blocks?
Competitive advantage is the ability of one organization to outperform other organizations
because it produces desired goods or services more efficiently and effectively than its
competitors. The four building blocks of competitive advantage are superior efficiency,
quality, innovation, and responsiveness to customers.
• Organizations increase their efficiency when they reduce the quantity of resources (such
as people and raw materials) they use to produce goods or services.
• Companies have introduced quality-enhancing techniques known as total quality
management for improving quality.
• Innovation is the process of creating new or improved goods and services that customers
want or developing better ways to produce or provide goods and services.
• Organizations compete for customers with their products and services, so training
employees to be responsive to customers’ needs is vital for all organizations, but
particularly for service organizations.
Feedback: Refer: Figure 1.6
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Blooms: Understand
93.
Discuss the concept of turnaround management.
Turnaround management is the creation of a new vision for a struggling company using a
new approach to planning and organizing to make better use of a company’s resources
and allow it to survive and eventually prosper. It involves developing radical new strategies
such as how to reduce the number of products sold or change how they are made and
distributed, or close corporate and manufacturing operations to reduce costs.
Organizations that appoint turnaround CEOs are generally experiencing a crisis because
they have become inefficient or ineffective; sometimes this is because of poor
management over a continuing period, and sometimes it occurs because a competitor
introduces a new product or technology that makes their own products unattractive to
customers.
AACSB: Analytical Thinking
Blooms: Understand
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Learning Objective: 01-06 Discuss the principal challenges managers face in today’s increasingly competitive global
environment.
Topic: Globalization