Fundamentals of Management, 10e (Robbins)
Chapter 5 Foundations of Planning
1) Which of the following is NOT a function of planning?
A) defining goals
B) identifying a strategy for attaining goals
C) settling disputes between employees
D) coordinating organizational activities
2) Planning is concerned with ________.
A) both ends and means
B) ends only
C) means only
D) neither ends nor means
3) In informal planning, goals are usually ________ shared with others in the organization.
A) written, but little is
B) unwritten, and little is
C) written, and much is
D) unwritten, but much is
4) Informal planning is ________.
A) always performed at the lowest organizational level
B) general and usually lacks continuity
C) performed exclusively by middle managers
D) more specific than formal planning
5) In formal planning, ________.
A) specific goals covering a period of years are defined
B) to maximize flexibility, specific goals are never spelled out
C) very broad general goals are developed
D) goals may be written or unwritten
6) Which of the following is NOT a reason for managers to plan?
A) to give direction to an organization
B) to deal with change
C) to establish goals
D) to establish responsibility for mistakes
7) Planning gives organizations direction that primarily helps them ________.
A) improve teamwork and coordinate activities
B) improve their image in the business community
C) improve morale of middle managers
D) improve morale of all employees
8) Planning gives organizations a way to deal with change that ________.
A) eliminates all uncertainty
B) reduces uncertainty
C) reduces certainty
D) increases ambiguity
9) Organizations that don’t formally plan may be more likely to have ________.
A) corrupt managers
B) legal problems
C) multiple departments performing the same task
D) a single department carrying out all company functions
10) One effect of planning on managers is that it forces them to ________.
A) fear change
B) anticipate and consider the effect of change
C) work to prevent change
D) ignore any change that doesn’t directly affect them
11) Managers who fail to plan may ________.
A) take advantage of change
B) stimulate change
C) be positively affected by change
D) be adversely affected by change
12) Which of the following is a frequently cited criticism of formal planning?
A) Plans lock organizations into rigid goals and timetables.
B) Plans take too long to create.
C) Plans create resentment within different levels of the organization.
D) Formal planning works well only for smaller companies.
13) One criticism of formal planning is that it focuses on how to beat the competition rather than
how to ________.
A) have cordial relationships with the competition
B) focus on new opportunities
C) balance the organization’s budget
D) cooperate with the competition
14) Failing to discard successful plans from the past is likely to lead to ________.
A) more success because conditions are unlikely to change in the future
B) failure because conditions are likely to change in the future
C) success because of the high quality of the plans
D) failure because of the low quality of the plans
15) Studies of performance in organizations that plan have reached ________ with respect to the
benefits of formal planning.
A) somewhat negative conclusions
B) no conclusion
C) extremely negative conclusions
D) generally positive conclusions
16) Studies of planning show that the key to successful planning is to make sure that the plans
________.
A) cover every possible detail
B) are high in quality and insight
C) are exceedingly simple to follow
D) are not shared with employees
17) In studies in which formal planning did not lead to higher performance, ________ usually
the culprit.
A) unforeseen events in the environment were
B) demanding employees were
C) stubborn ownership was
D) lack of communication was
18) Formal planning typically leads to which of the following?
A) higher profits
B) lower productivity
C) higher sales, but lower profits
D) tension between different management levels
19) All managers plan in some way, either formally or informally.
20) Informal plans are not recognized as true organizational plans and are rarely carried out by
managers.
21) At some point, all managers create formal plans.
22) Planning provides direction to managers and nonmanagers alike.
23) A key function of planning is to create goals.
24) Informal planning typically works better in large organizations.
25) The four reasons that organizations plan are to establish coordinated effort, set standards,
minimize waste, and reduce uncertainty and the impact of change.
26) Planning rarely improves teamwork and cooperation among employees.
27) An organization that fails to plan will find it hard to assess progress.
28) A major argument against formal plans is that they can’t replace intuition and creativity.
29) Formal planning can enhance creativity in an organization.
30) A criticism of formal planning is that it focuses too much on groundbreaking visions and
deals with ideas that are too innovative to work.
31) A major strength of formal planning is that it reinforces past successes and incorporates them
into the future.
32) A major strength of formal planning is that it gives an organization rigidity.
33) A major strength of formal planning is that it generally correlates with higher profits.
34) Successful planning depends more on whether managers plan than on the quality of their
planning.
35) Research indicates that organizations that don’t use formal planning always outperform
organizations that do use formal planning.
36) In a short essay, define planning and compare formal and informal planning as they are used
in various organizations.
37) In a short essay, list and discuss two reasons for planning.
38) In a short essay, identify criticisms of formal planning.
39) The first step in the six-step strategic management process is to ________.
A) analyze the organization’s strengths and weaknesses
B) identify the organization’s mission
C) identify feasible strategies
D) analyze the opportunities the organization has
40) The first three steps of the strategic management process involve ________ strategies.
A) planning
B) implementing
C) evaluating
D) identifying
41) A mission statement includes identification of an organization’s ________.
A) strengths and weaknesses
B) purpose and basic philosophy
C) assets and resources
D) resources and strengths
42) A mission statement does NOT include which of the following?
A) the customers of a company
B) major competitors
C) why the company is in business and what it hopes to accomplish
D) the company’s basic beliefs
43) An external analysis, the second step of the strategic management process, helps identify
________.
A) the products that a company makes
B) the long-term goals of a company
C) a company’s opportunities and threats
D) a company’s concern for its employees
44) An internal analysis, the third step of the strategic management process helps identify
________.
A) opportunities and threats
B) resources and capabilities
C) opportunities and possibilities
D) values and philosophy
45) Which term refers to an organization’s capital, workers, and patents?
A) resources
B) capabilities
C) abilities
D) core competencies
46) An organization’s resources identify ________.
A) how the organization gets things done
B) where the organization operates
C) when the organization operates
D) what the organization has
47) An organization’s capabilities identify ________.
A) what the organization knows
B) who the organization is
C) assets that the organization can rely on
D) what the organization can do
48) Together, an organization’s resources and core competencies make up which of the
following?
A) core philosophy
B) competitive weapons
C) core assets
D) fundamental beliefs
49) SWOT analysis identifies and analyzes an organization’s ________.
A) strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
B) strategy for competing in the market
C) human resource assets
D) long-term goals
50) SWOT analysis combines ________.
A) a company’s mission with its goals
B) external and internal analyses
C) a company’s philosophy with its ethics
D) profit with productivity
51) Once SWOT analysis is complete, managers ________ to address the issues that came up
during the analysis.
A) formulate strategies
B) implement strategies
C) evaluate strategies
D) eliminate strategies
52) Which of the following do managers NOT typically use to formulate strategies?
A) finding ways to exploit the organization’s strengths
B) finding ways to protect the organization from external threats
C) finding ways to rule out existing organizational opportunities
D) finding ways to correct organizational weaknesses
53) The three different types of strategies that managers implement are ________.
A) corporate, private, functional
B) corporate, competitive, functional
C) long-term, short-term, public
D) competitive, noncompetitive, corporate
54) A corporate strategy focuses primarily on ________.
A) an organization’s mission
B) an organization’s strengths
C) an organization’s weaknesses
D) an organization’s people
55) Which of the following makes up the three main types of corporate strategies?
A) growth, vertical integration, horizontal integration
B) growth, retrenchment, renewal
C) renewal, retrenchment, diversification
D) growth, stability, renewal
56) Growth strategies include ________.
A) diversification, concentration, integration, stabilization
B) vertical integration, horizontal integration, concentration, diversification
C) vertical integration, horizontal integration, lateral integration, horizontal concentration
D) integration, renewal, horizontal diversification, vertical diversification
57) General Mills expanding its line so that it sells several different types of Cheerios is an
example of which of the following?
A) concentration
B) horizontal integration
C) vertical integration
D) diversification
58) A salad dressing company that buys a large olive grove to produce olive oil is practicing
which of the following?
A) concentration
B) forward vertical integration
C) backward vertical integration
D) horizontal integration
59) A sneaker company creating its own stores where it sells only its own brand is an example of
which of the following?
A) forward vertical integration
B) backward horizontal integration
C) forward horizontal integration
D) reverse vertical integration
60) In forward vertical integration, a company becomes its own ________, while in backward
vertical integration, the company is its own ________.
A) supplier; distributor
B) supplier; customer
C) distributor; monitor
D) distributor; supplier
61) Two movie studios combining to form one larger studio is an example of which of the
following?
A) forward vertical integration
B) horizontal integration
C) backward vertical integration
D) diversification
62) Which of the following functional areas has become an important strategic element for
companies such as Prada?
A) customer servicer
B) cost control and accounting
C) human resources
D) information technology