111) In a short essay, discuss Porter’s differentiation strategy.
112) In a short essay, discuss Porter’s focus strategy.
113) Which of the following best defines plans?
A) documents that identify company problems
B) documents that define goals
C) documents that describe how goals will be met
D) documents that identify how goals from the past were met
114) Which of the following best defines goals?
A) likely outcomes for the future
B) unlikely outcomes for the future
C) desired outcomes for the future
D) short-term targets
115) In reality, all organizations have ________.
A) a single goal
B) multiple goals
C) the same goals
D) the same single goal
116) In most cases, strategic goals include ________.
A) all financial objectives
B) all objectives that are not financial
C) all objectives, both financial and nonfinancial
D) some financial objectives
117) Which of the following is an example of a strategic goal for a professional baseball team?
A) to increase attendance by 5 percent over the next three years
B) to increase television revenues over the next 5 years
C) to decrease payroll by 20 million over the next 2 years
D) to average over 90 wins a year for the next 5 years
118) An organization’s real goals and priorities are best revealed by ________.
A) its official stated goals
B) its actions in the marketplace
C) its statements to the press
D) its mission statement
119) ________ are important because they provide the standards against which all organizational
accomplishments are measured.
A) Goals
B) Guidelines
C) Models
D) Rules
120) In traditional goal setting, these individuals set goals.
A) top managers
B) middle and low-level managers
C) middle managers
D) managers and employees
121) In traditional goal setting, as they work their way from top management to employees,
goals are likely to ________.
A) become more clear
B) be more rigorously followed
C) be unchanged
D) become more specific
122) In a means-ends chain, a goal at a lower level ________.
A) is the bridge to a goal at the next higher level
B) is attained only after higher level goals are fulfilled
C) is separate from the goal at the next higher level
D) is ignored if goals at higher levels are attained
123) In management by objectives (MBO), goals ________.
A) must be easily accomplished
B) are jointly determined by employees and managers
C) are determined by top management
D) are developed by employees
124) In addition to being made by both managers and employees, MBO goals must be ________.
A) nonspecific and open-ended with regard to time
B) specific and open-ended with regard to time
C) specific and include an explicit time limit
D) nonspecific and include no time limit
125) MBO programs usually are successful largely because they ________.
A) give employees a sense of ownership of goals
B) free managers from the responsibility of setting goals
C) give managers a sense of ownership of goals
D) free employees from responsibility if goals are not met
126) Which goal-setting sequence is correct for the following steps?
1. Evaluate resources.
2. Identify goals.
3. Review the mission and job tasks.
4. Communicate goals.
5. Link rewards to goals.
6. Build feedback mechanisms.
A) 1, 2, 4, 6, 3, 5
B) 4, 2, 5, 3, 1, 6
C) 3, 4, 2, 6, 5, 1
D) 3, 1, 2, 4, 6, 5
127) The breadth of a plan refers to ________ concerns.
A) long-term versus short-term
B) strategic versus tactical
C) specific versus directional
D) single use versus standing
128) The specificity of a plan refers to ________ concerns.
A) long-term versus short-term
B) strategic versus tactical
C) specific versus directional
D) single use versus standing
129) Strategic plans address ________.
A) overall organizational goals
B) goals for a single branch of the organization
C) how overall goals are to be achieved
D) how a single goal is to be achieved
130) Tactical plans are operational plans that identify ________.
A) overall organizational goals
B) how overall goals are to be achieved
C) the mission of an organization
D) specific goals for accomplishing a specific objective
131) A politician whose ultimate goal is to get elected is planning campaign ads for TV. In
planning the ads, the politician is functioning at a ________ level.
A) strategic
B) long-term
C) tactical
D) directional
132) Which of the following defines the time frame of a long-term plan?
A) over seven years
B) over three years
C) under three years
D) over one year
133) Directional plans ________.
A) leave no room for interpretation
B) are flexible general guidelines
C) are difficult to modify
D) must be short-term plans
134) Standing plans typically can be used ________.
A) only once
B) only in conjunction with specific, long-term plans
C) twice at most
D) repeatedly
135) Top managers, for the most part, focus on this type of planning.
A) operational
B) strategic
C) tactical
D) short term
136) The more uncertain a situation is, the more ________ plans must be.
A) unspecific
B) long term
C) flexible
D) short term
137) The commitment concept states that plans should ________.
A) always stake out a longer time period than is estimated
B) always stake out a shorter time period than is estimated
C) stake out a time period that is neither too long nor too short
D) not include time periods because they are too confining
138) Most managers feel that formal, top-down plans created by corporate planning departments
are ________.
A) very useful
B) usually unsatisfactory
C) very detailed
D) excellent
139) Goals are documents that outline how plans are to be carried out.
140) Traditional goal setting requires top managers to set goals that are carried out by the
organizational levels below.
141) The key to MBO, or management by objectives, is that managers and subordinates mutually
agree on goals.
142) Goals typically should be reserved for managers only. Goals should not be shared with
subordinates.
143) Long-term plans used to refer to plans that covered a period of over three years, but now it
refers to any time period over one year.
144) A six-month plan qualifies as a short-term plan.
145) Directional plans leave no room for interpretation.
146) In general, upper-level managers focus on tactical or operational planning.
147) In a short essay, compare strategic plans and tactical plans.
148) In a short essay, compare specific plans and directional plans.
149) In a short essay, define and discuss management by objectives (MBO).
150) In the twenty-first century, managers increasingly need to consider their plans as ________.
A) highly explicit recipes that must be scrupulously followed
B) a vague philosophy that should not interfere with actions
C) flexible road maps with destinations that may change
D) rigid road maps with a single destination
151) A cell phone company might ask managers to do some environmental scanning of blogs
that deal with electronics as a way to ________.
A) obtain new customers
B) identify emerging trends
C) obtain new advertisers
D) identify potential rivals
152) Which of the following is NOT something that a company would be likely to do as a part of
a competitive intelligence program?
A) buy competitors’ products
B) attend trade shows
C) have employees evaluate competing products
D) buy stock in a competitor’s company
153) Buying a competitor’s product for evaluation is a form of environmental scanning.
154) In a short essay, discuss environmental scanning and competitive intelligence.