Flashcards About MGMT Quiz 5
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A car company that puts more effort into measuring quality than total units sold most likely wants to excel at ________. A) customer satisfaction B) employee satisfaction C) cost per unit D) efficiency
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(A) The company is showing its priorities by what it chooses to measure. Since it is concerned with quality, the company is clearly less interested in efficiency and unit cost than how satisfied its customers are, making "customer satisfaction" the correct response. Employee satisfaction is not directly related to measuring quality, so it is not a correct response.
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A well-run company that has well-thought-out plans, motivated and productive workers, and an efficient organizational structure ________. A) may not always attain its goals B) rarely attains its goals C) has no reason to monitor its performance D) always attains its goals
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(A) Though it is likely that a well-run company will attain its goals, only monitoring an organization's activities and comparing them to standards can confirm whether or not those goals have been met. This rules out "rarely attains its goals," since most well-run companies do attain goals, and it also rules out "always attains its goals" because a company may seem to do everything right and still not attain its goals. "Has no reason to monitor its performance" is incorrect because monitoring is the one way in which a company can determine for sure whether it has achieved its goals. Since all other choices have been eliminated, "may not always attain its goals" is the correct response since it correctly identifies the unlikely but still possible eventuality that a company that does all the right things could still fail to attain its goals.
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Controlling provides a critical link back to planning that compares actual outcomes to planned outcomes. A) True B) False
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(A)
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A manager measuring actual performance is like a teacher ________. A) making an assignment B) composing a test C) helping a student study for a test D) grading a test
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(D) When a teacher composes a test, gives an assignment, or helps a student prepare for a test, she is not actually assessing or measuring performance. Instead, she is creating the tools for assessing performance. Only when a teacher evaluates the test is she measuring actual performance, making "grading a test" the correct response.
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Some control criteria, such as employee satisfaction and absenteeism, are applicable to almost any management situation. A) True B) False
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(A)
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Personal observation as a form of control measurement requires little time. A) True B) False
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(B)
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When actual performance falls outside an acceptable range of variation, it is termed a(n) ________. A) acceptable deviation B) insignificant deviation C) large deviation D) significant deviation
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(D) Any measure of actual performance that does not fall within the limits of what the manager has termed an acceptable range of variation is termed a significant deviation, making this choice the correct response and eliminating all other responses. Note that a significant deviation is defined entirely by the situation and the manager. The same deviation in two different situations, or when evaluated by two different managers, may be assessed differently.
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Controlling compares ________ to see if goals are being achieved. A) planned performance to standard performance B) standard performance to ideal performance C) actual performance to competitor performance D) actual performance to planned performance
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(D) Controlling compares how the organization actually performed to the goals and plans that were set during the planning stage of the management process, making "actual performance to planned performance" the correct response and ruling out all other responses. If the actual performance matches what was planned, goals are considered met and the organization in most cases can consider itself successful. However, if actual performance is judged to be insufficient for some reason, then the organization will consider its performance to be inadequate and take some kind of action to remedy the situation.
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Immediate corrective action is designed ________. A) to punish employees for poor performance B) to get performance back on track C) to get to the root cause of a problem D) to shake up an organization
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(B) Immediate corrective action is the simplest corrective action a manager can take. It solves the problem at hand quickly and effectively without necessarily getting at root causes or shaking up the organization. While immediate corrective action may include punishment, it would not necessarily require punishment, so that choice is not a correct response. These factors make "get performance back on track" the correct response as it is the only choice that deals purely with performance.
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A GPS that tells you that you are making a wrong turn is an example of concurrent control. A) True B) False
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(A)
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In its entirety, the value chain can encompass the supplier's ________ to the customer's ________. A) suppliers; customer B) suppliers; suppliers C) customers; suppliers D) customers; customers
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(A) This statement takes the value chain for a given company beyond the limits of the company itself. For example, the tractors used by Starbucks coffee growers in Guatemala are suppliers of suppliers. Clients of a design firm who enjoy Starbucks coffee during a meeting are customers of customers. This situation clearly describes "suppliers; customers" as the only answer that makes sense for this question.
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Which of the following is NOT an example of a service organization? A) a lens maker B) a hospital C) a military force D) a university
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(A) The products or outputs of a hospital (care), a military force (protection), and a university (knowledge) are all nonphysical entities, making these organizations service organizations. A manufacturer of lenses, on the other hand, is creating tangible, physical objects as output, so it is not a service organization, making "a lens maker" the correct response.
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Value is any aspect of a product that customers ________ in the product. A) want to see B) will pay for C) like or admire D) notice
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(B) The key to value is that it is not simply something that customers notice, admire, or would like to have in a product. Value is something that customers are willing to pay for in one way or another, either with money or some other resource. This makes "will pay for" the correct response.
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A laptop computer company is a ________ organization because its product is ________. A) service; a computer B) manufacturing; a computer C) manufacturing; electronic D) service; electronic
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(B) A computer company takes raw materials and makes a physical product, a computer, so it is a manufacturing organization, making "manufacturing; a computer" the correct response. "Service; electronic" and "service; a computer" can be ruled out because they identify the company as a service organization, which is not true since it makes a physical product. "Manufacturing; electronic" is incorrect because the company's product is a computer, not an electronic product.
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_______ management oversees the transformation process that converts resources such as labor and raw materials into finished goods and services. A) Control B) Systems C) Operations D) Planning
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(C) Operations management is defined as the process that oversees every step of the transformation process, making "operations" the correct response and ruling out the other responses. The transformation process is what turns material and nonmaterial inputs into goods and services, so operations management is the management of this process that converts raw inputs into finished product outputs.
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Manufacturing organizations produce both physical and nonphysical outputs. A) True B) False
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(B)
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In a transformation process, people are considered to be inputs because they ________. A) perform tasks that are needed to create outputs B) are costly C) are material beings D) have knowledge and information
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(A) What makes people qualify as inputs in the transformation process is not that they are costly or are material beings. Some inputs, such as information, for example, are nonmaterial, so being material is not a necessary characteristic of an input. The fact that people have knowledge and information also does not qualify them as inputs. People are inputs only because they use that knowledge and information to perform tasks that turn goods and services into outputs, making "perform tasks that are needed to create outputs" the correct response. People are inputs because they help the transformation process transform raw inputs into finished products.
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Operations management includes service industries but not manufacturing firms. A) True B) False
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(B)
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________ focuses on providing an efficient flow of resources to an organization. A) Supply chain management B) Value chain management C) Value D) Supply
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(A) Value chain management is an externally oriented process that focuses on anything that provides value for a value chain, both inputs and outputs. Supply chain management, on the other hand, focuses entirely on incoming resources, not outputs, making this choice the correct response. Value and supply themselves are what guide each management process, not the management processes themselves.
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Which of the following is NOT a way to increase productivity? A) decrease costs B) increase outputs C) increase efficiency D) increase inputs
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(D) Increasing efficiency is an effective way to increase productivity. Decreasing costs and increasing outputs are ways to increase efficiency, so both also increase productivity. Increasing inputs usually decreases efficiency since efficiency is defined as the ratio of outputs to inputs, so "increase inputs" is the correct response.
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A major part of the controlling function of management is to __________. A) formulate strategies B) set standards C) correct performance problems D) structure an organization
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(C) In addition to making sure that goals have been met, a major function of controlling is to correct performances that are not up to standards, making "correct performance problems" the correct response. Both formulating strategies and setting standards fall primarily under the planning function, while structuring an organization is part of the organizing function.
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This type of performance measurement format would most likely include graphs, tables and computer outputs. A) Oral report B) Statistical report C) MBWA D) Written report
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(B) Since neither an oral report nor MBWA includes written material, neither would be likely to feature charts and graphs, making those two choices incorrect responses. A written report might include quantitative data, but quantitative data would not be an essential element of the report as it would be in a statistical report. This makes "statistical report" the correct response and eliminates "written report" as a correct response.
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When should a manager's course of action be to do nothing? A) When the cause of the variation has been identified. B) When the standard is acceptable. C) When the standard is not acceptable. D) When the variance is acceptable.
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(D) By definition, when the variance of performance is within an acceptable range, it means that the manager finds that performance level to be functional or better, so there is no need to take corrective action. This makes "acceptable variance" the correct response and rules out all other responses.
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A fast-food restaurant is querying prospective customers about the features they would like to see in a new sandwich. What kind of control is being used? A) Concurrent control B) Feedback control C) Feedfoward control D) Anticipation control
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(C) Since the company is asking for input before the actual product exists, feedforward control is being used, making this choice the correct response. Feedback control would have participants making comments about the sandwich after it was created, while concurrent control would have customers participate in the actual creation of the sandwich. Anticipation control is not a recognized control term.
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When a budget is used for controlling, it provides ______ against which resource consumption can be compared. A) quantitative standards B) qualitative standards C) flexible standards D) non-numerical standards
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(A) A budget provides definite, quantitative standards that can be used for comparison with actual consumption data, making "quantitative standards" the correct response. Budgets provide precise quantities that are clearly not nonnumerical, flexible, or qualitative.
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As a product, piano lessons are _____. A) a good because you can purchase them B) a service because they are nonmaterial C) a good because they can be divided into discrete lessons D) a service because someone needs to give them
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(B)
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Organizational processes in value chain management organizations need to eliminate _______. A) Non value-adding activities B) demand forecasting C) ties between customers and suppliers D) organizational core competencies
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(A) Organizational processes require that such things as demand forecasting and customer-supplier ties be increased rather than decreased. Core competencies are exploited by an organization in this situation, not eliminated. What managers must do is get rid of any activities that are not adding value to the value chain, making "nonvalue-adding activities" the correct response.
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Durability and features are measures of ______. A) product quality B) service quality C) product value D) service value
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(A) Product quality measures such dimensions as durability, performance, and features, making this choice the correct response. Service quality measures dimensions such as timeliness, courtesy, and consistency, so this choice is not correct. Product and service value are not quantifiable measurements that managers make in assessing quality.
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When a customer gets frustrated from being put on hold for 30 minutes during a call, the company is having problems with which service quality dimension? A) Timeliness B) Consistency C) Convenience D) Courtesy
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(A) How long it takes for service to occur and whether the service task gets completed in its designated time period is a measure of timeliness, making this choice the correct response. Consistency is providing the same customer experience from time to time. Courtesy is providing a helpful, polite, cheerful customer experience. Convenience measures how accessible service is.
