1. What is management and what resources does it involve?
2. How does the organization’s mission differ from its strategic planning?
3. Choose any company that you are familiar with and describe one specific example of each of the four areas of a
SWOT analysis.
4. In what ways does leading differ from motivating?
5. How would you expect top managers to spend most of their work time?
6. Which level of management has the closest contact with workers paid by the hour? How do these managers spend
most of their time?
7. Why would technical skills be important to first-line managers?
8. Describe the style of the democratic leader.
9. Which of the three leadership styles described in the textbook is the most effective? Support your position.
10. Define the aspects of a SWOT analysis and how it can benefit a company.
11. Identify and describe each of the major steps in the managerial decision-making process.
12. What are two components that are crucial to the effectiveness of a total quality management program?
Centrum Springs, Inc.
Riley has worked for Centrum Springs, Inc., for many years and has now been given the opportunity to advance in
the company. His manager is retiring and hopes that Riley will take over for him. However, even though Riley is an
experienced employee, there are many things that he still needs to learn. Riley has trained many new employees,
but he has never held a management position. Riley needs to have a general understanding of what it takes to be a
manager.
There are many problems in Riley‘s department. There are no plans to fall back on in case the initial plan fails.
Riley also will need to learn how to direct people in such a way that makes them want to do more than they
absolutely have to. Riley feels that this is a great opportunity, and he is anxious to learn everything to be a great
manager. He knows that if he performs well in this position, he will have the opportunity to move up the corporate
ladder.
13. Refer to Centrum Springs, Inc. Riley’s usual duties represent which of these areas?
a. Financial management
b. Operations management
c. Marketing management
d. Human resources management
e. Administrative management
14. Refer to Centrum Springs, Inc. The different resources available to all managers include all of the following except
a. material.
b. competitors.
c. financial.
d. human.
e. information.
15. Refer to Centrum Springs, Inc. When Riley learns all that it takes to be a manager, he will be involved in
a. marketing, planning, hiring, and training.
b. controlling, organizing, planning, and leading.
c. leading, motivating, hiring, and firing.
d. planning, controlling, leading, and motivating.
e. leading, motivating, training, and organizing.
16. Refer to Centrum Springs, Inc. In the department where Riley works, what types of plans are lacking?
a. Operational
b. Tactical
c. Strategic
d. Technical
e. Contingency
17. Refer to Centrum Springs, Inc. If Riley were to take this first step up the corporate ladder, he would be classified
as a
a. top manager.
b. strategic manager.
c. tactical manager.
d. first-line manager.
e. general manager.
Dazzle Magazine
Rosalea recently switched careers. Previously, she was a college professor, but she felt she needed more real–
world experience to help her business students more fully. She became a manager at Dazzle Magazine, where she
was in charge of the layout. Always open to new ways of doing things, Rosalea let her staff implement their ideas
at times. Rosalea learned firsthand the different roles she had to play as a manager.
It always got stressful when the publication deadline neared. At one point, there was a major mix-up in the layouts
for the front cover. Rosalea was not sure of the correct layout because she had allowed one of her employees,
Joseph, to modify and run with his idea on this matter. However, she could not ask for Joseph‘s help with the
covers because he happened to be out of town at the time. Rosalea quickly looked over the layouts but felt that
they still needed some work.
She decided to ask the design manager for her help. The design manager did not feel comfortable making a decision
on the issue, so she did not give Rosalea an answer. Rosalea then went to an employee within her department for
advice. That employee suggested some ideas, but Rosalea was still not satisfied. Finally, Rosalea called one of her
top graduate students with whom she had kept in contact and asked her if she could offer some ideas. The graduate
student quickly came to the magazine’s office and helped Rosalea decide on the alternative that should be
implemented. Rosalea greatly appreciated the assistance and the suggestion. The final cover design went to press,
and that issue of the magazine was successful. This helped Rosalea realize that considering the big picture was
good, but equally important were the little details.
18. Refer to Dazzle Magazine. What type of manager was Rosalea at Dazzle Magazine?
a. Laissez-faire
b. Formal
c. Authoritarian
d. Official
e. Democratic
19. Refer to Dazzle Magazine. As a manager, Rosalea would have played all of the following roles except which
one?
a. Conceptual
b. Interpersonal
c. Informational
d. Decisional
e. Negotiator
20. Refer to Dazzle Magazine. The graduate student’s assistance represents which step of the decision-making
process?
a. Evaluate solution
b. Generate many alternatives
c. Identify problem and opportunity
d. Select alternative
e. Implement solution
21. Refer to Dazzle Magazine. Now that Rosalea has real-world experience, she understands more than ever that
certain skills are needed for any manager’s success. These skills include all of the following except
a. oral communication skills.
b. written communication skills.
c. analytic skills.
d. corporate behavior skills.
e. conceptual skills.
22. Management can achieve its goals by coordinating what four types of resources?
a. Financial, material, organizational, and operational
b. Informational, human, controllable, and tangible
c. Tangible, intangible, human, and financial
d. Human, material, financial, and intangible
e. Material, informational, human, and financial
23. Coordinating people and the other resources of an organization to achieve the goals of the organization is the
process of
a. management.
b. planning.
c. organizing.
d. directing.
e. leading.
24. When Herbert took a new position at Galbrook Manufacturing Company, the firm was near insolvency. One of
Herbert’s first acts was to establish specific goals for sales growth and a strategy for achieving them. He also
changed the organizational structure and developed an elaborate control system for keeping the company on track.
Herbert is functioning in a(n) position at Galbrook Manufacturing.
a. clerical
b. sales
c. technical
d. managerial
e. operative
25. An organization’s most important resource is its resources.
a. material
b. human
c. financial
d. information
e. technical
26. Airplanes, crates, and trucks represent resources for Federal Express.
a. revenue-producing
b. material
c. human
d. financial
e. informational
27. Lawyers, accountants, and engineers are resources of Microsoft.
a. informational
b. non-revenue-producing
c. material
d. human
e. financial
28. Jessica is hired to keep the books and pay the bills for a small company. She provides a(n)
firm.
a. financial
b. informational
c. human
d. capital
e. material
resource for the
29. resources are used to meet obligations to investors and creditors.
a. Tangible
b. Intangible
c. Material
d. Financial
e. Human
30. Revenues, proceeds from stock sales, and loans from banks are resources for Sears.
a. financial
b. material
c. informational
d. monetary
e. human
31. As an upper-level manager for IBM, Rodney is one of many people responsible for allocating organizational
resources in order to achieve the key goals of the company. Specifically, Rodney is in charge of collecting and
analyzing data on consumer preferences in personal computer design and technology and is thus responsible for
what general type of resources?
a. Material
b. Human
c. Informational
d. Financial
e. System
32. Planning, organizing, leading, motivating, and controlling make up the
a. four organizational goals every firm wants to achieve.
b. step-by-step management procedure.
c. four basic functions in the management process.
d. process of coordinating people and other resources to achieve the goals of the organization.
e. steps taken to achieve an organization‘s operational plans.
33. is called the “first” management function because all other management functions depend on it.
a. Leading
b. Organizing
c. Controlling
d. Planning
e. Motivating
34. Specific statements detailing what the organization intends to accomplish over a short period of time are called
a. planning statements.
b. strategies.
c. control statements.
d. objectives.
e. goals.
35. IBM’s principal reason for existing is to earn a profit for its shareholders. The means by which IBM does this is
through the manufacture of computers. These two statements describe, respectively, IBM’s
a. strategy.
b. mission.
c. policy.
d. tactical plan.
e. control process.
36. Which of the following items is not a part of planning?
a. Strategic plan
b. Tactical plan
c. Objective plan
d. Contingency plan
e. Operational plan
37. If Martin Jones, VP Finance, meets with Susan Sheridan, CEO, to discuss how much of the budget can be allotted
to certain departments for next year’s project plans, the two are engaging in
a. stating objectives.
b. contingency planning.
c. strategic planning.
d. tactical planning.
e. financial planning.
38. A timeline for a strategic plan can be as long as 10 years. However, the timeline for a strategic plan for a company
is generally
a. a maximum of one year.
b. a minimum of one year.
c. one to two years.
d. five years.
e. seven years.
39. If on January 1, 2011, Microsoft stated that by 2020 it wants to have a 85 percent share of the U.S. software
market, it is stating a(n)
a. goal.
b. objective.
c. plan.
d. strategy.
e. task.
40. A certain chicken company decides that it will become the market leader in the poultry business in five years with a
40 percent share of the market. This statement would be classified as a(n)
a. objective.
b. mission.
c. strategy.
d. operational plan.
e. goal.
41. Karen Smith is a division manager at General Motors and, as such, must ensure that some sort of balance is
achieved between the sometimes conflicting goals of the various departments within her division. For example, the
marketing department’s goal might be to increase sales by 15 percent, whereas the accounting department might
strive for certain cost efficiencies. In compensating for these disparate goals, Karen is engaging in
a. planning.
b. organizing.
c. controlling.
d. conflict minimization.
e. optimization.
42. Ted Thompson is responsible for two departments that continually set conflicting goals. Ted must get involved in
to achieve some sort of balance between those goals.
a. optimization
b. maximization
c. planning
d. controlling
e. organizing