MGC1 – Flashcards
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A value chain is the sequence of activities that begins with raw materials. What result does a value chain end with?
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Delivery of products or services
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What happens when an effective value chain is created?
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Profit margins are increased
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Industry and market analysis, competitor analysis, and social analysis are examples of which step in the strategic planning process?
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Analysis of external opportunities and threats
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Skilled management, positive cash flow, and well-known brands are examples of which component of the SWOT analysis?
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Strength
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What denotes skills or expertise in an activity that constitutes the roots of competitiveness in an organization?
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Core competencies
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According to Michael Porter's competitive environment model, how can suppliers influence strategic planning?
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Suppliers can reduce manufacturing time and increase product quality.
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A company offers unique products in its industry to create a competitive advantage. Which type of strategy is the company using?
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Differentiation
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Happy Inc. is a leading provider of family entertainment and BCD is a broadcasting company with news, cable, and entertainment networks. Happy Inc. recently acquired BCD in hopes of boosting its primary business of family entertainment. Which type of corporate strategy is represented by Happy Inc.'s purchase of their distribution network?
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Strategic alliances
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A local business has provided services to its customers for 40 years. The business's mission is "To give our customers the best service in town." The owner of the business has had a long-standing dream to franchise the business and become the best provider of its service in the United States. What describes the owner's dream?
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Strategic vision
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What is the first step of organizational strategic planning?
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Developing a strategic mission
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The introduction of statistical tools to analyze the causes of product defects is associated with which quality improvement approach?
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Six Sigma
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What is the principal idea of reengineering?
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To improve total quality in all businesses for the benefit of producers and consumers
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How many defects per million are there at Six Sigma, assuming a product or process is defect-free 99.99966% of the time?
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Less than 3.4
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What is the last step to Deming's 14 points of quality management?
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To take action to accomplish the transformation
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Process checklists and project audits are components of which management process?
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Quality Assurance
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What is the main objective of an internal quality audit?
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To measure effectiveness of an organization's quality management system
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A company is trying to systematically improve processes by eliminating nonconformity of their products to product specifications. The company believes their continuous effort to reduce variation in their process outputs is key to their business success. Which quality process is the company utilizing?
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Six Sigma
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Which concept entails all aspects of interaction a company has with its customers in both sales and service-related environments?
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Customer relationship management
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Dr. Ohmae indicates that customer, corporation, and competitors should be integrated in a strategic triangle. What does Dr. Ohmae indicate that an organization can obtain by doing this?
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Sustained competitive advantage
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What designates those who take hands-on responsibility for creating innovation such as new ideas, products, or methods within an organization?
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Entrepreneur
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Why is innovation an important element of entrepreneurship?
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Creates unique and different products or services
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Most successful entrepreneurs exhibit certain characteristics. Some entrepreneurs are open-minded, able to learn quickly, and skilled at conceptualizing. Which entrepreneurial personality trait is this?
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Creativity, self-reliance, and ability to adapt
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Which personality characteristics are believed to contribute to an entrepreneur's success?
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Determination
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Why would an entrepreneurial business choose to use its own resources versus seeking outside resources in financing a business venture?
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To maintain control
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Which activity should management use to encourage entrepreneurship within an organization?
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Encourage employees to work on informal job assignments
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What can managers do to encourage useful conflict during a meeting to lessen inhibition about disagreeing and make the conflict less personal?
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Involve others in collaboration
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Why is consideration of intentions important in conflict situations?
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People respond based on their interpretation of others' intentions.
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What describes dimensions of conflict-handling intentions?
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Cooperativeness and assertiveness
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A supervisor assigned office space to three new employees. The employees were upset by the offices they were given. The first had a large office but wanted a window, the second had a new computer but wanted room for some plants, and the third had a window but needed high-speed computing to perform the job well. Which conflict resolution technique can the supervisor use to create a win-win solution for these employees?
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Expansion of resources
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A corporation is experiencing dysfunction in their work teams. The team leader plans to realign work groups based on employees' work locations, and also to alter rules and regulations in the groups and make additional changes to "shake things up a bit." Which conflict-stimulation technique is the team leader applying?
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Restructuring the organization
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Which type of control system is being implemented when management uses prices, profit centers, and exchange relationships as a control?
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Market control
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What is the fourth step of the control process which ensures that operations are adjusted to achieve planned results?
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Taking corrective action
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A corporation recently disbanded its flex time schedule for employees and now requires that all employees work 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. The employees banded together in opposition of the change. What were the employees of the corporation experiencing?
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Timing
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The manager of the human resources department at a corporation agreed to authorize one-hour lunch breaks for all employees of the organization as long as the production manager agreed to shorten the morning and afternoon breaks of all employees to 15 minutes. Which approach were the managers using to enlist cooperation for the change?
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Negotiation and reward
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A corporation offers concrete incentives such as higher wages for cooperation with change. Which strategy is the corporation using to overcome resistance to change?
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Facilitation and support
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During a final job interview, the hiring manager asks candidates about age and national origin. Some of the rejected candidates suspect they did not get the job because of their age. Which law covers this type of discrimination?
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Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)
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After a major budget increase, a company finds itself in a position to hire 50 new employees. How can strategic human resource planning benefit the company in this situation?
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By organizing staffing needs and looking for people with the right skills
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In the five dimensions of Hackman and Oldham's model of job design, what does autonomy describe?
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Independence and discretion in making decisions
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A store that has had a high rate of employee theft wants to use an employee selection technique to hire new employees who are less likely to steal from them. Which type of employee selection instrument is most appropriate in this situation?
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Integrity test
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Which entities protect the rights of employees and potential employees from discrimination in the workplace?
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Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action
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During an international executive meeting, an executive used a word that did not translate into English. What type of cross-cultural communication barrier is this?
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Barrier caused by word association
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A younger employee becomes irritated by the sound of an older employee's voice and finds it difficult to work on projects with the older employee. This has caused conflict in the department. What is the source of conflict between the older and younger employees?
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Personal variables
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In which situation does religious preference inappropriately affect decision making?
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A publicly-held company has a policy limiting financial donations to one religious group
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A visually-impaired person has been hired to work in the human resources department of a small company. Which workplace accommodations would be reasonable in this situation?
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The company will purchase a large computer screen and a Braille keyboard
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What is a common component of effective diversity training programs?
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Building awareness
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When selecting an organizational structure, which key elements should be considered?
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Differentiation and integration
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What is the best way to succeed in a matrix organizational structure?
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Collaboration
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What is a reason to create a boundary less organizational structure?
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To make information available as needed
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Four small, independent organizations, each with its own type of expertise, plan to work together for six months for the sole purpose of developing a new product that will help each of them improve their ability to compete with larger organizations. Which type of organization does their relationship characterize?
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Virtual organization
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Which formal structure allows job holders to have broad responsibilities, accommodates decentralized and informal decision making, and values expertise?
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Organic
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One manager is responsible for all functional areas allowing the company to sell Product A, and another manager is responsible for all functional areas that allow the company to sell Product B. Which type of design does this corporation use?
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Divisional
