TW MGMT Chap 8 – Flashcards

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Planning
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Defining the organization's goals, establishing strategies for achieving those goals, and developing plans to integrate and coordinate work activities
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Formal Goals
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Are written and shared
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Why do Managers Plan
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1. Planning provides direction- when employees know what their organization or work unit is trying to accomplish and what they must contribute to reach goals, they can coordinate their activities. 2. Reduces Uncertainty- forcing managers to look ahead, anticipate change, consider the impact of change, and develop appropriate responses. 3.Minimizes waste and redundancy - when work activities are coordinated around plans, inefficiencies become obvious and can be corrected or eliminated. 4. Establishes the goals or standards used in controlling- When managers plan they develop goals and plans. When they control, they see whether the plans have ben carried out and the goals met.
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Planning and Performance
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Organizations that plan don't always our perform but we can conclude that: -Formal planning is associated with positive finical results, higher profits, higher return on assets. -Doing a good job planning and implementing those plans play a bigger part in high performance. -In the organizations where planning didn't lead to higher performance usually external environment was to blame. -Planning-performance time period seems to have a big influence. It seems that at least 4 years of formal planning is required before it begins to affect performance.
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Goals (Objectives)
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Desired outcomes or targets/ provide direction and performance criteria
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Plans
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Documents that outline how goals are going to be met Describe how resources are to be allocated and establish activity schedules
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Types of Goals
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-Financial Goals -Strategic Goals
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Stated Goals versus Real Goals
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Broadly-worded official statements of the organization (intended for public consumption) that may be irrelevant to its real goals (what actually goes on in the organization) "Follies"
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Types of Plans
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Long-Term -Beyond 3 years Short-Term- 1 year or less Strategic-Entire organization, organizations overall goals Operational -Particular operational area of organization Standing - Ongoing plans that provide guidance for activities performed repeatedly Directional- flexible plans that set out general guidelines Specific - Clearly Defined, no room for interpretation Single Use plan - One time plan meet need for unique situation
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Traditional Goal Setting
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An approach to setting goals in which top managers set goals that then flow down through the organization and become subgoals for each organizational area.
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Management By Objective (MBO)
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Management By Objectives (MBO) -Specific performance goals are jointly determined by employees and managers -Progress toward accomplishing goals is periodically reviewed -Rewards are allocated on the basis of progress towards the goals -Key elements of MBO: -Goal specificity, participative decision making, an explicit performance/evaluation period, feedback -Employees must also have the competence to achieve the goals
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Planning Department
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A group of planning specialist who help managers write organizational plans
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________ involves defining the organization's goals, establishing strategies for achieving those goals, and developing plans to integrate and coordinate work activities.
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Planning
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The effect of planning on managers is that it forces them to ________.
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anticipate and respond to change
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Which of the following is true of the impact of formal planning on organizational performance?
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Formal planning is associated with positive financial results.
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When formal planning fails to lead to higher performance, which of the following is most likely to be the reason for the failure?
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Constraints of the external environment.
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Which aspect of planning refers to documents that outline how results are to be achieved?
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Plans
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Goals are different from plans because ________.
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goals are desired outcomes, and plans describe how those outcomes will be accomplished
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Which of the following statements is true regarding an organization's goals?
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Using a single goal such as profit may result in unethical behaviors by employees.
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Most company's goals can be classified as either ________ or ________.
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Strategic, Financial
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Nike, Inc. is a sportswear and equipment manufacturer that serves a multitude of sports disciplines. Which of the following statements from Nike would be the best example of a strategic goal?
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accelerating growth through focused execution
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An organization's ________ goals are official statements of what an organization says, and what it wants its stakeholders to believe its goals are.
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Stated
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Which of the following is the best indicator of an organization's real goals?
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organizational members' actions
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An organization's mission states that it "is committed to reducing its environmental footprint"; but its facilities do not comply with statutory environmental regulations. This is an instance of how ________.
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an organizations stated goals need not be its real goals
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Organizational plans can be classified on the basis of all of the following characteristics, except on the basis of their ________.
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B) attainability
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Strategic plans are usually ________.
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long term, directional, and single use
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________ plans apply to the entire organization and establish the organization's overall goals.
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strategic
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Operational plans are usually ________.
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short term, specific, and standing
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Plans that encompass only the production or the sales goals of a company are termed ________ plans.
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Operational
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Which of the following factors has contributed to the decline in the number of years used to define short-term and long-term plans?
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environmental uncertainty
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Long-term plans are defined as those with a time frame beyond ________.
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Three years
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Short-term plans are those covering ________ or less.
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one year
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________ plans are plans that are clearly defined and leave no room for interpretation.
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Specific
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What plans are preferable when uncertainty is high in the business environment?
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directional plans
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Which of the following is an example of a single-use plan?
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a plan developed to implement new environmental regulations
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A standing plan is ________.
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an ongoing plan that provides guidance for activities performed repeatedly
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Which of the following is an example of a standing plan?
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a fire escape policy establishing practices to be followed in an emergency
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In ________, goals set by top managers flow down through the organization and become subgoals for each organizational area.
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traditional goal setting
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Which of the following is an assumption associated with traditional goal setting?
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Top managers know what is best because they see the "big picture."
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Which of the following is one of the problems associated with traditional goal setting?
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Transition of strategic goals into departmental, team, and individual goals is difficult.
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A problem associated with traditional goal setting is that ________.
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clarity is lost as the goals make their way down from the top of the organization to lower levels
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Which of the following statements is true of traditional goal setting?
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Managers at each level define goals and apply their own interpretations and biases as they make them more specific.
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A ________ is an integrated network of goals in which the accomplishment of goals at one level serves as the means for achieving the goals, or ends, at the next level.
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means-ends chain
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Which of the following is the first step in MBO?
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The organization's overall objectives and strategies are formulated.
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Which of the following is the last step in MBO?
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Progress toward objectives is periodically reviewed, and feedback is provided.
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________ is a process of setting mutually-agreed upon goals and using those goals to evaluate employee performance.
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Management by objectives
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Which of the following is one of the elements of a management by objectives (MBO) program?
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participative decision making
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Which of the following is one of the elements of a management by objectives (MBO) program?
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performance feedback
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Which of the following reflects the way goals are set in an MBO program?
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Apart from being used to ensure that employees are doing what they are supposed to be doing, goals are used as a motivating tool for employees.
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Which is the first step managers should follow in goal setting?
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reviewing the organization's mission
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A ________ is a broad statement of an organization's purpose that provides an overall guide to what organizational members think is important.
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mission
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Well-written goals are ________.
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clear as to a time frame
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An organization is in the process of goal setting. It has finished reviewing the organization's mission. What should it do next?
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evaluate available resources
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Which of the following is the last step in goal setting?
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review results and whether goals are being met
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When uncertainty is high, plans should be ________ and ________.
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specific; flexible
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The commitment concept says that plans should ________.
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extend far enough to meet those commitments made when the plans were developed
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Top executives are mainly involved in ________ planning.
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strategic
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________ planning dominates managers' planning efforts at lower levels of the organization.
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Operational
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Which of the following is true of the traditional approach to planning?
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This approach makes managerial planning thorough, systematic, and coordinated.
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The statement that all stores should be well maintained both inside and out is an example of a ________.
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directional
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Downs wants to formulate a plan that lays out general guidelines for his employees and leaves room for interpretation. Which of the following types of plans would best suit his requirement?
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directional
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