Research indicates that satisfied employees have lower levels of turnover while
dissatisfied employees have higher levels of turnover.
One reason people resist change in an organization is that they are afraid their skill set
will be obsolete.
Frederick Herzberg found that when employees were dissatisfied, they tended to cite
extrinsic factors arising from the job context such as company policy and
administration, supervision, interpersonal relationships, and working conditions.
According to the concept of bounded rationality, managers make decisions rationally,
but are limited by their ability to process information.
According to the socioeconomic view, managers’ social responsibilities go beyond
making profits to include protecting and improving society’s welfare.
When the twelve original members formed the European Union in 1992, the primary
motivation was to reassert the region’s economic position against the United States and
Japan.
In a learning organization, employees continually acquire and share new knowledge and
apply that knowledge in making decisions or doing their work.
Managers engage in controlling activities to protect the organization and its assets.
At one end of the spectrum, organizations can be absolutely centralized, while at the
other end, they can be completely decentralized.
The availability bias describes the actions of decision makers who try to create meaning
out of random events.
The horizontal boundaries imposed by work specialization and departmentalization are
a part of an organization’s external boundaries.
In strong organizational cultures, employees have little knowledge of company history
or heroes; what is important is present performance.
A great manager can inspire employees professionally and personally.
Licensing and franchising are similar approaches involving one organization giving
another organization the right to use its brand name, technology, or product
specifications in return for a lump sum payment or a fee usually based on sales.
During the ________ stage of the group development process, a relatively clear
hierarchy of leadership and agreement on the group’s direction emerge.
A) forming
B) storming
C) norming
D) performing
Dr. Miller teaches in a major university. For course-related issues, he reports to the
Dean of the School of Business and Economics. But he also reports to the
Vice-Chancellor for Undergraduate Academic Affairs for student-specific issues. This
university uses a ________.
A) project structure
B) matrix structure
C) team structure
D) network structure
A disadvantage of ________ departmentalization is poor communication across the
different groups.
A) geographic
B) functional
C) process
D) customer
Plans that encompass only the production or the sales goals of a company are termed
________ plans.
A) operational
B) strategic
C) informal
D) financial
A company with low departmentalization, wide spans of control, centralized authority,
and little formalization possesses a ________ structure.
A) simple
B) functional
C) divisional
D) matrix
Computer peripherals provider Ascent plans to enter a new market in another country.
Which of the following represents a threat for Ascent?
A) Ascent’s profit margin in the previous year was its lowest on record and it will
require long-term planning to improve margins.
B) Ascent lacks the resources to enter the market on its own and has to find a partner in
the new market.
C) Ascent will have to plan its entry carefully as the laws in the country do not favor
foreign businesses.
D) Ascent needs to improve its service capabilities in the new country as this is an
important source of revenue.
Which of the following refers to independent formal groups whose members, in
addition to their regular jobs, take on traditional managerial responsibilities, such as
hiring, planning and scheduling, and evaluating performance?
A) command groups
B) task groups
C) self-managed teams
D) cross-functional teams
At the ________ level of moral development, ethical decisions rely on maintaining
expected standards and living up to the expectations of others.
A) preconventional
B) conventional
C) principled
D) post-conventional
When supermarkets and other retailers use scanners that provide instant inventory
information, they are adopting ________ changes.
A) technological
B) people
C) efficiency
D) structural
Top executives are mainly involved in ________ planning.
A) functional
B) operational
C) strategic
D) departmental
Rules of thumb that managers use to simplify decision making are known as ________.
A) heuristics
B) folksonomies
C) algorithms
D) sophisms
Bryan must select a new supplier for lighting fixtures for his company’s mobile homes.
He has decided quality is more important than price but price is more important than
lead times. Bryan will use these priorities to ________.
A) analyze alternatives
B) set his decision criteria
C) allocate weights to the criteria
D) develop alternatives
Which of the following is a type of general training provided by organizations?
A) customer service
B) basic life-work skills
C) managing change
D) customer education
The two most common forms of representative participation are ________.
A) board representatives and cross-functional teams
B) task forces and cross-functional teams
C) work councils and board representatives
D) work councils and cross-functional teams
________ is the degree to which people believe they control their own fate.
A) Ego strength
B) Locus of control
C) Social responsibility
D) Social obligation
“In this company, what you do matters a whole lot more than your last name.” Bill’s
father, the company founder, expected Bill’s supervisor to mentor the young man, to
help him set goals, to train him and to develop his managerial skills with an emphasis
on continuous improvement. Bill likely lives in a country with ________.
A) a high in-group collectivism culture
B) a high institutional collectivism culture
C) a high performance orientation culture
D) a high assertiveness culture
A policy ________.
A) typically serves as a guideline for decision making by setting general parameters
B) specifically states what should or should not be done
C) is a series of sequential steps a manager uses to respond to a structured problem
D) is used when dealing with unstructured problems and non-programmed decisions
The goal-setting theory has most value in countries where ________.
A) there is low uncertainty avoidance
B) there is high power distance
C) individuals are low in assertiveness
D) subordinates are reasonably independent
What do you think are the benefits of benchmarking? Provide examples of
benchmarking practices.
Discuss the various traditional and technology-based training methods that managers
use to improve employee skill sets.
List and discuss three arguments in favor of business social responsibility and five
arguments against it.
Explain why human resource management (HRM) is important to organizational
success.
Explain the concept of strategic partnerships and highlight some of their advantages.
Why do people resist change?
Explain the concept of open innovation and highlight some of its benefits and
drawbacks.
In a short essay, list and discuss five personality traits (not the Big Five) that have
proven to be powerful in explaining individual behavior in organizations.
Describe and explain the “calm waters” view of organizational change.